Lookout 6.1 application will not start

[skibum019]

I have Lookout 6.1 with updates installed on my server. Within the last 3-6 months it has begun having a difficult time starting the Lookout application (not a specific process, just opening the Lookout application). The application launches the splash screen showing "Lookout Version 6.1", but it hangs there for what seems an indefinite period of time. I don't see any errors or events in the event log that would point me to a solution. This is extremely frustrating and is causing us problems with tracking critical manufacturing data. I have in the past been able to restart the server or "repair" Lookout installation and eventually get the application to start, but this is extremely inconsistent and is not a preferred solution.
Today the problem occurred again, tried repairing 6.1, no luck.  Have restarted the server multiple times, still no luck.  It just seems to hang at the splash screen and the application never loads.

[reandy]

i know this advise i will give is very basic, but it has worked for me.

be sure you are logged in as an administrator on that box (puter)

reinstall from the cd (don't just do a repair)

restart the computer twice.

and don't run Lookout on a 'server' version of Windows (I tryed that once. I figured i wanted a 'great' computer, with all kinds of redundencies to run my lookout process on. uggg, big mistake)

RichA

[LookoutUser]

ANY FIX FOR THIS PROBLEM I HAVE BEEN HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS FOR ABOUT A YEAR NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

THE LOOKOUT SERVER WAS LOCKING UP THE XP OS ONCE A WEEK UP UNTIL ABOUT A MONTH AGO.

sorry for the caps but I am pissed off and want a fix

[reandy]

something else that comes to mind for me. I had an issue with a Lookout Application that I made. And I had that application set in the "startup" for lookout (so it would auto launch that application when lookout started). I found out that that application was causing Lookout to hang on startup. But, it was kind of a "Catch 22" because how do I get back into lookout to stop auto launching that file if lookout hangs on startup....

So, if you do have a file listed in the "startup" list, try to move the file, or rename it, so lookout can't find it, and can't auto launch it.

Do you have any file in the "startup" list?

What version of OS are you running?

What kinds of PLC's are you talking to?

Any other information you have about that computer?

Have you tryed to install lookout on another computer? if so, how did it run right after the install, using all the defaults (nothing happening)?

RichA

[Mike@DTSI]

Some more things to check. 

Panel.Print - We have some machines that print the panels at startup and regular intervals, had to cancel the startup print otherwise would hang.

Vista Problem - Cannot run as a service, also needs to start as administrator for our systems.

Windows Server - My development machine is running Server 2008 without major issue.

Vista/2008.  No Save-All without crashing and random "cannot drop here" when right clicking causes instant crash.

But back to startup, we set the Lookout Applicaton in the All Users > Programs > Startup folder, not the service.

Good luck

Mike

[skibum019]

We are running this system on a Windows 2003 Server.  It is talking to NI FieldPoint OPC as well as a couple of Kepware OPC Servers.  It is not set as a service, nor is it set to start at startup of machine.  There are no automatic startup processes for this system.  By the way, those processes can be found in the Lookout.ini file, so if you are stuck in a loop with the startup, you can manually modify the Lookout.ini file and remove the statup processes there. 

I wish there were some kind of error or debugging mode I could put the actuall Lookout application into to see what is causing the hang.  Like I said, there are no startup processees running, the application goes to the splash screen for Lookout and basically seems to stop there.  Would really like a resolution to this before I have to try and restart the system again.  Last time I had to uninstall Lookout, and reinstall Lookout, which is not fun, nor is it a quick resolution.  Anyone from NI have any ideas?  Debugging options for Lookout startup?  Maybe a startup switch in the command line that would enable detailed debugging?

[Ryan.S]

Go to Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services, restart/start National Instruments Citadel, National Instruments PSP Server Locator and National Instruments Time Synchronization. If you get error or no response in either service, this may be the issue. When lookout starts, it will wait until several services are started.

Is it possible that a dialog box pops up, such as the user login or activation dialog, but is covered by the splash screen? Do you use the remote desktop?

[skibum019]

It seems that restarting the 3 services as Ryan recommended allowed my Lookout to start properly again.  I had attempted to open Lookout after a crash with no luck, froze up at the Splash screen.  I restarted the computer and tried again, still no luck, frozen at the splash screen.  I restarted Citadel then PSP then Time Sync and then opened Lookout with no problem.  I never saw any error messages.  I am running this through a remote console connected to the admin session of the server, but I also have had the same results when working physically at the terminal.  We'll see now if my processes will start as needed.

[LookoutUser]

Do you have any file in the "startup" list? NO

What version of OS are you running? XP Pro was having issues on 2003 server so we rolled back to XP Pro

What kinds of PLC's are you talking to? Automation Direct DL05 and DL06

Any other information you have about that computer?

XP PRO SP 3

Dual Intell Xeon 1.6

2 Gig of Ram

Have you tryed to install lookout on another computer? if so, how did it run right after the install, using all the defaults (nothing happening)? Reinstalled it this morning and rebooted and am having the same results

[Ryan.S]

Have you tried to restart the three services I mentioned above?

Usually the service is the one that hangs lookout at the splash screen.

By the way, what's your lookout version?