Continues Errors at startup "Metadata staging failed"

[amtino]

I have this 131 error. It seems to have occurred since a system restore I did after I had WiFi adapter problems. Meanwhile I have disabled device driver updates. I had a large backlog of "recommended" updates, recently I installed a few after checking what they actually do.

I do not honestly think your system restore is the culprit but stand corrected if anyone proves otherwise. When this issue raised its head I had done nothing to my system at all, no restore, no updates, no hardware changes, nothing at all. My system was fine at 9am on booting up, from 9.30 am onwards I have the error constantly since 6th May. I tried system system restore to before the event and then reversed it back, had no effect at all. You will also note from my post above, I have tried a complete fresh install of Windows 8 both with no updates at all and also with 'all' udates recommended, optional, etc et. made not a scrap of difference to the 'metadata error' The only fix I have at present is the registry key to hit the server directly rather than the link forwarding us or turning off the hardware and devices updates completely. Either TEMPORARY 'mask' kills the error completely. I have 5 operating systems in the house, all have the same illness!

Will keep you all up to date.

 

[amtino]

Did the registry change recommended here, and the error messages have stopped in both reboot and "refresh" in Devices and Printers.

I also notice that there are 10 "recommended" Windows Updates waiting for my 8.1 (which I have not run). Do we know whether any of them is related to this problem?

Thanks.

The only fix I have at present is the registry key to hit the server directly rather than the link forwarding us or turning off the hardware and devices updates completely. Either TEMPORARY 'mask' kills the error completely. I have 5 operating systems in the house, all have the same illness! As in my post above, no updates at all, all updates, makes not a scrap of difference to my systems. They are all windows 8 but have different devices loaded etc etc the only common denominator here is the url!

 

[jds63]

I am no technology expert myself and confess I am self taught but like to try and get to the bottom of any errors that I have system wise when I know for certain I have made no changes to the system.
I spend hours reading, researching and literally getting my teeth in as I like to see s resolution when I believe there is one.
However, my first contact with Microsoft started 3 weeks ago and I have had 3 calls from them so far, they were regular but now it would seem they are busy in the background and having nothing to report.
Initially the Engineer wanted to know:
When I did I first see this error? - most certainly 6th May on my system between 9 and 9.30 am UK Time.
Had I made any system changes - No
What was I actually doing when the event first occurred - merely booting up the system.
The Engineer logged on to a screen sharing session and used something called ' problem step recorder' - I pointed out the events in the log via the mouse, I also did a refresh of the metadata so he could see the system generating the error: Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, Devices and Printers, right click on any blank space on this page and click 'refresh' this immediately generates the error because we are running the metadata task on demand.
He then tested his own system to see if the errors were generated at his end, initially he said not but then after rebooting he did indeed see the errors.
He emailed the recordings to himself together with several screen shots of the event log and said these would be sent to the relevant Department to assist them in tracking the issue.
Last Saturday I received a call saying 'this was a major concern' and did I have any other relevant information that may assist as they appreciated the insight and the research I had already done.
I explained that the temporary working scenarios were to change to forwarding url in the registry ' not ideal' tampering with registry keys is merely a mask.
The other temporary fix is to turn off this task completely: Go to Control Panel > Type in the search "device installation" > Click on "Change device installation settings"

Click on "No let me choose what to do" > choose the option "Never install driver software from Windows Update" and make sure that "Automatically get the device app and info provided by your device manufacture" is UNCHECKED.
He stated he would be reporting this back to the backend team and would keep me updated.
I am still convinced after more testing and event log reading yesterday that IE and a time issue are in some way connected here. The task does complete if you trace it back in the application log but not quite fast enough to stop the system generating the Event ID 131.
I do know what doesn't work:
System restore to a date prior to the event first being seen: negative result
Completely reinstalling the operating system from scratch - negative result
Not performing any windows updates at all - negative result
Making sure all updates are complete - negative result
Reset IE - negative result
Stop and restart the Windows Time Server - negative result.
W32tm - unregister - register - negative result
W32tm - resync - negative result
Flush the Dns Cache - negative result.
Delete all netsh profiles and start again - negative result.
I hope some of this blurb and ranting is helpful to people who are concerned about this event - ~those who do not try do not succeed~ patience is a virtue~

Thanks for your the great effort you have shown with this unresolved error. We appreciate all feedback you give us. In process you arel earning more, don't forget that.

 

[amtino]

Jds63 - Thank you so much

 

[jds63]

Jds63 - Thank you so much

Your welcome, been keeping up with this post. Seems to also be issues with windows updates also for me besides this not being able to fix files with sfc due to an update.

 

[amtino]

Jds63 - Thank you so much

Your welcome, been keeping up with this post. Seems to also be issues with windows updates also for me besides this not being able to fix files with sfc due to an update.

Thanks again, just out of interest di you or any of the other forum members following this thread, see a hidden update arrive on your system?
On boot up today I saw the Device Setup Manager warning that I am accustomed to seeing when there is a 'delay' eg system restore point, installing a mouse etc etc.
I tried to follow this through and also saw 1 Windows update in the event viewer?
In windows Update, no updates shown for today or the last 7 days in the list. In Installed Updates, no updates shown again.
I have automatic updates turned off and manually decide when and if to install them. Cannot locate a KB Update number anywhere, however, checking system restore, a restore point was created, 'Install - Windows Modules Installer' Did anyone else get this, not having any adverse effect on my system as yet, not show how it crept in????

 

[jds63]

Device setup manager is a service in services.msc. As i do not see any other errors or warnings in Event Viewer to say that. If knew exact windows update you feel then we would know. Had no new updates lately, usually on tuesdays. I have 10 optional updates i have not installed yet, from the past.

 

[amtino]

Thanks: What I saw in the event log was a pattern: this was immediately following boot up: Device set up manager delay>= 1 Windows Update =1> System Restore =1
I knew I had not installed any updates: The event log shows one on boot up but no KB Number: System Restore = restore point created 'Windows Modules Installer' Nothing appears in the installed updates on windows update, but the event log tells me it has installed an update and the system has created a restore point for it - these things are sent to try us ....

 

[jds63]

Thanks: What I saw in the event log was a pattern: this was immediately following boot up: Device set up manager delay>= 1 Windows Update =1> System Restore =1
I knew I had not installed any updates: The event log shows one on boot up but no KB Number: System Restore = restore point created 'Windows Modules Installer' Nothing appears in the installed updates on windows update, but the event log tells me it has installed an update and the system has created a restore point for it - these things are sent to try us ....

Truthfully i have sent event viewer warnings and errors posted them here and most never had a clue to understanding them. Another thing is some can be even stored in crash dump then need to debug that, again hard to ever get a resolve, just talking about issues i had in past with other stuff. So i am also clueless on event viewer, seems so are some MVP.

 

[amtino]

An update from Microsoft

Hi just to keep you up to date with the loop:

I received a further call from the Level 3 Support Engineer as promised.

We have established thus far that event id 31 ' metadata staging failed' is generated by the Task Scheduler running the task to update Hardware and Devices, this uses the forwarding url which we believe is malfunctioning.

I am no longer stating that this url fails: It doesn't - When you see event id131 'metadata staging failed' e.g. 9.31 am if you trace back this event and read all the events in the Application Log you will see that following the red cross for the error 131 you will get the success mark within a few milliseconds stating the event did indeed complete - processed x number of tasks and updated etc etc.

What we have not established is why the url is taking so long to forward thus allowing the operating system to think this task has failed just a few seconds prior to it completing.

We do know that removing the link in the registry and going directly to device metadata prevents this error occurring and obviously gives a faster more direct update via the Microsoft Server.

I have also noticed a slight time lag with other things on the system, pop-up blocks in IE etc seem to be a little behind times and often appear on the second time of opening or the second click of the Mouse rather than the first. eg after resetting IE you see the pop-up the first time you sign into a site for example your email ' do you want IE to remember your passwords? Don't Ask me again etc. This no longer appears on the first launch.

I have passed all this to the engineer, he has tested this on his own system and traced the events, he agrees it 'may' be a time issue on the server. Note updating and resyncing to Windows Time has a negative result.

What happens next - all these recordings and observations have been passed to ' the back end team' to investigate the hold up in this url to establish why things are not happening at the correct speed.

I have been asked to give them time and assured I will receive a further call on Friday or Saturday. I will keep you all updated.

In the meantime, if anyone observes anything they think may be relevant or of assistance please post this, as every little helps.

In the meantime I was very interested to note on the roll out of Windows 10 Options icon yesterday, there are notes in the article that state some forwarding url links are not working ..... Windows 10 to follow in the footsteps of Windows 8 maybe???

Update for Windows 7 and 8.1 silently installs Windows 10 downloader - Myce.com

 

[wrogg]

Thanks for the update, mine disappeared for a few days, however when I received the email notification for this thread I looked and there are 27 when I rebooted this morning.
They are the only ones in the last 7 days, there are also an equal amount of "A connection to the Windows Metadata and Internet Services (WMIS) could not be established" in warnings.
It works it just takes too long and is creating these logs as far as I can see.
Thanks again.

 

[amtino]

Thanks for the update, mine disappeared for a few days, however when I received the email notification for this thread I looked and there are 27 when I rebooted this morning.
They are the only ones in the last 7 days, there are also an equal amount of "A connection to the Windows Metadata and Internet Services (WMIS) could not be established" in warnings.
It works it just takes too long and is creating these logs as far as I can see.


Thanks for that, it is appreciated. I agree this appears to be time related but I am not a wizard with these things and I think it is fair to say I have dug a deep hole and cannot dig any deeper, I have exhausted my knowledge base.

However, following this in the event log this task runs on what is stated as 'regular intervals' my perception of this:

If you refresh your hardware page it will run on demand
If you install a new device, it will run
If you do nothing it will run every 7 days.

merely my perception but if you 'do nothing' it does tend to make you think it has vanished until you get to the 7th day then the error re-appears.

With reference to your warnings - the numbers will correspond, hopefully to the number of devices the metadata is trying to refresh. Initially I had the warnings too, since I checked for Windows updates manually and somehow appeared to get a fast connection to WMIS -the warnings have gone away, temporary or permanent remains to be seen. The Errors remain.
Kind Regards
For now, I am observing and leaving Microsoft to continue the digging.

 

[wrogg]

That would make sense. I did update my Nvidia driver last night, but yes it is the seventh day!

 

[jds63]

Hi just to keep you up to date with the loop:

I received a further call from the Level 3 Support Engineer as promised.

We have established thus far that event id 31 ' metadata staging failed' is generated by the Task Scheduler running the task to update Hardware and Devices, this uses the forwarding url which we believe is malfunctioning.

I am no longer stating that this url fails: It doesn't - When you see event id131 'metadata staging failed' e.g. 9.31 am if you trace back this event and read all the events in the Application Log you will see that following the red cross for the error 131 you will get the success mark within a few milliseconds stating the event did indeed complete - processed x number of tasks and updated etc etc.

What we have not established is why the url is taking so long to forward thus allowing the operating system to think this task has failed just a few seconds prior to it completing.

We do know that removing the link in the registry and going directly to device metadata prevents this error occurring and obviously gives a faster more direct update via the Microsoft Server.

I have also noticed a slight time lag with other things on the system, pop-up blocks in IE etc seem to be a little behind times and often appear on the second time of opening or the second click of the Mouse rather than the first. eg after resetting IE you see the pop-up the first time you sign into a site for example your email ' do you want IE to remember your passwords? Don't Ask me again etc. This no longer appears on the first launch.

I have passed all this to the engineer, he has tested this on his own system and traced the events, he agrees it 'may' be a time issue on the server. Note updating and resyncing to Windows Time has a negative result.

What happens next - all these recordings and observations have been passed to ' the back end team' to investigate the hold up in this url to establish why things are not happening at the correct speed.

I have been asked to give them time and assured I will receive a further call on Friday or Saturday. I will keep you all updated.

In the meantime, if anyone observes anything they think may be relevant or of assistance please post this, as every little helps.

In the meantime I was very interested to note on the roll out of Windows 10 Options icon yesterday, there are notes in the article that state some forwarding url links are not working ..... Windows 10 to follow in the footsteps of Windows 8 maybe???

Update for Windows 7 and 8.1 silently installs Windows 10 downloader - Myce.com

Nice to hear they responded back, good work Amtino again. Where in the Application log are you seeing this, trying to find it ? For me i used to get almost 8 or so Metadata failed a day, lately in the past days i am only getting 2 a day now.

So much to keep up with lately as had issues with an update causing sfc not being able to fix corrupt files, KB3022245. Has to do with enabling Diagnostic tracking service be in Services.msc. At first showed as a optional i never installed it, but then it slipped by me as becoming important or recommended as i take those updates, i uninstalled it, but it came back.

Besides this then there is the other recommended update brought in the Windows 10 icon for reserving. Hopefully even if article feels this will be issues with servers on Win 10 probably would seem right since it's on Windows 8.1 for some already as issue effects both, but why only some complaining unless most are unaware of event viewer errors happening.

 

[amtino]

Hi

Some users may never even open 'Event Viewer' Some may only check once a month - therefore they may or may not be aware of the issue at present. Unfortunately for me I have this terrible habit of checking the Event Log immediately after Booting up and also before Shutting Down -

with reference to the number of errors we see at any given time and how often depends when the metadata task runs:

If you refresh your hardware page it will run on demand Click on Hardware Sound>Devices and Printers> Click a Blank space and click refresh - running this task on demand 'should' produce a number of errors equivalent to the number of devices you have installed or are refreshing at that time.


If you install a new device, it will run automatically, this would only produce one or two errors depending on how long the task takes to complete - which at present we know is just 'not fast enough' So for one new device I see 2 errors at present

If you do nothing it will run every 7 days - this is my perception of the task stating ' the task will run at regular intervals' - again you would see a larger number of errors as the task will try to update all devices during this scheduled task. It is running weekly on my system.


To view the full log and see exactly what is occurring:


Event Viewer >Open Applications & Services>Microsoft Folder>Windows Folder>Device Set-up Manager Folder:> Admin Log

You should see the errors closely followed by the success: we are talking seconds but a long enough delay to product the error to say the task failed:

eg From my log:

Error Time 3.07.10 - Device Metadata Staging failed for container 00000 - FFFFF etc etc


Information Log directly above: - Device Desktop Pc container 00000 - FFFFF etc etc has been serviced: Processed 1 Task, wrote 34 properties, active worktime 868 milliseconds


Information Log directly above - Time 3.09.01 DSM Service shutting down - Service uptime was 440 seconds active workrtime was 3650 Milliseconds


If you view the Operational Logs you will see the confirmation that the task completed successfully.



Hope this helps - your continued interest and support is appreciated. Thank You

 

[jds63]

Hi

Some users may never even open 'Event Viewer' Some may only check once a month - therefore they may or may not be aware of the issue at present. Unfortunately for me I have this terrible habit of checking the Event Log immediately after Booting up and also before Shutting Down -

with reference to the number of errors we see at any given time and how often depends when the metadata task runs:

If you refresh your hardware page it will run on demand Click on Hardware Sound>Devices and Printers> Click a Blank space and click refresh - running this task on demand 'should' produce a number of errors equivalent to the number of devices you have installed or are refreshing at that time.


If you install a new device, it will run automatically, this would only produce one or two errors depending on how long the task takes to complete - which at present we know is just 'not fast enough' So for one new device I see 2 errors at present

If you do nothing it will run every 7 days - this is my perception of the task stating ' the task will run at regular intervals' - again you would see a larger number of errors as the task will try to update all devices during this scheduled task. It is running weekly on my system.


To view the full log and see exactly what is occurring:


Event Viewer >Open Applications & Services>Microsoft Folder>Windows Folder>Device Set-up Manager Folder:> Admin Log

You should see the errors closely followed by the success: we are talking seconds but a long enough delay to product the error to say the task failed:

eg From my log:

Error Time 3.07.10 - Device Metadata Staging failed for container 00000 - FFFFF etc etc


Information Log directly above: - Device Desktop Pc container 00000 - FFFFF etc etc has been serviced: Processed 1 Task, wrote 34 properties, active worktime 868 milliseconds


Information Log directly above - Time 3.09.01 DSM Service shutting down - Service uptime was 440 seconds active workrtime was 3650 Milliseconds


If you view the Operational Logs you will see the confirmation that the task completed successfully.



Hope this helps - your continued interest and support is appreciated. Thank You

Well i have had same devices on my PC since this event started, no changes. I see what you mean in operational logs, but same to me shows in Device Set-up Manager folder under Admin as it does in Custom Views folder under Administrator events. As said less Metadata failed in past days as from before was more errors.

Your welcome, i always have interest an try to be supportive when comes to PC help, all in all you are learning a lot more then you needed to, but making you more knowledgeable in long run, keep up the good work !

 

[amtino]

Registry key default values

I am still looking at this naturally and just out of interest I have spotted some different values in the registry here on some of my machines:

If any of you get a moment can you look at the following and tell me value Binar Value you see - ie. what is the default value 0 or 1?

Thanks so much
HKEY LOCAL MACHINE
SOFTWARE
MICROSOFT
WINDOWS
CURRENT VERSION
DEVICE METADATA

Next to last item in tree: Prevent Device Metadata from Network - Binary Value does it read 0 or 1? If have conflicting issues here and someone with an unamended registry can perhaps tell me the default value please?

Cheers

 

[Saltgrass]

Mine Shows 0

This is what it shows for the DeviceMetadataServiceURL

go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=252669&clcid=0x409

 

[amtino]

Mine Shows 0

This is what it shows for the DeviceMetadataServiceURL

go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=252669&clcid=0x409

Thanks for your response, do you see event ID 131 'metadata staging failed ' in your event log?

 

[jds63]

Mine also shows 0 and DeviceMetaDataServiceURL http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=252669&clcid=0x409