FAQ: Software Watchdog – [SiteKiosk] abnormal sitekiosk program termination – [SiteKiosk] crashed – [SiteKioskNG] Previous SiteKioskNG instance has not been shutdown properly

Description

Usually, the log entry "[SiteKiosk] abnormal sitekiosk program termination" (or, in older SiteKiosk versions, "[SiteKiosk] crashed") means that SiteKiosk was not ended “normally” (e.g. by using the Escape menu). When using the Chrome browser engine you might also see the entry "[SiteKioskNG] Previous SiteKioskNG instance has not been shutdown properly".

Abnormal terminations of SiteKiosk occur, for instance, when the computer is shut down externally or somebody pulls the power plug.

Abnormal termination may also occur when Software Watchdog, which constantly monitors SiteKiosk, has to intervene.

SiteKiosk is required to report back to the Software Watchdog (watchdog.exe) after certain (adjustable) intervals (30 seconds by default).
( SiteKiosk configuration-->Maintenance-->Monitoring-->Settings).
If SiteKiosk fails to report back within the set interval, the Software Watchdog restarts either the SiteKiosk browser or the entire system.
This ensures that there is little to no downtime of the application!

If you see this entry only on occasion, you should not worry about it too much.
If you operate terminals that are in constant use 24/7, it is not unusual for this entry to occur every once in a while, as, for instance, users sometimes open an HTML page that contains errors.

In addition, the default 30 second interval may be too short if SiteKiosk is run on slower computers.
If, for example, the computer is busy launching a program or loading a page and is taking longer than 30 seconds to do so, the SiteKiosk browser may not respond during this period and cause the Software Watchdog to perform a restart.
In this case, you should increase the time interval. (SiteKiosk configuration-->Maintenance-->Monitoring-->Settings).


You should never turn off the Software Watchdog altogether!
As this would disable this safety feature completely, you could no longer be sure that your terminals will be operational at all times.

Remember that the Software Watchdog is not the cause of any possible problems, but it prevents a terminal that is experiencing problems from remaining in an unusable state.

At no time will money be lost because the current balance will always be stored in the file "SiteCash_AccMoney.dat" in the directory ..\SiteKiosk\SiteCash.
You can, therefore, be sure that your existing balance will still be there even after a power outage.

If you still frequently come across this log entry, you might want to check the hardware of your computer.
FAQ: https://provisio.com/en-GB/CustomerSupportCenter/ArticleDetails.aspx?ArticleID=388

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