362 - Unable to start server

Symptom

The StorageServer or AccountServer service refuses to start. In the log files, the following message is shown:

11:03:24.798 (00000000.06)  Info: SPService: Starting service SS_Service...
11:03:27.720 (00000000.06) Error: SPService: Unable to start server: The type initializer for 'Attix5.StoragePlatform.StorageServer.SSGlobals' threw an exception.

In the error log files, the following stack trace is shown:

11:03:27.720 (0000000006) Error: Unable to start server: The type initializer for 'Attix5.StoragePlatform.StorageServer.SSGlobals' threw an exception.. System.TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for 'Attix5.StoragePlatform.StorageServer.SSGlobals' threw an exception. ---> System.Xml.XmlException: '.', hexadecimal value 0x00, is an invalid character. Line 1, position 1.
   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(Exception e)
   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(String res, String[] args)
   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseText(Int32& startPos, Int32& endPos, Int32& outOrChars)
   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseText()
   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseDocumentContent()
   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Read()
   at System.Xml.XmlReader.MoveToContent()
   at Attix5.Utilities.Settings.SettingsSerializer.Deserialize[T](T instance, Stream input)
   at Attix5.Utilities.Settings.SettingsManager.Load[T](String path, T instance)
   at Attix5.StoragePlatform.StorageServer.SSGlobals..cctor()
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at Attix5.StoragePlatform.StorageServer.SSManager.Start()
   at Attix5.StoragePlatform.Common.SPService.OnStart(String[] args)

Cause

The settings.xml file is corrupt or contains incorrectly formatted XML, so cannot be properly read. This can occur after a disk-related failure on the system disks. 

Solution

1. Try rolling back the settings.xml by renaming one of the settings.xml.day files (e.g. settings.xml.Mon).
2. If this does not work, move the settings files out of the SS_Service folder, then start the service. This will create an empty settings file which can be edited. Enter the master password in unencrypted format between the AdminPass tags (it will be encrypted when the service starts).

For example:
<AdminPass encrypted="false">Password123</AdminPass>
Re-enter the server GUID, IP address, port and Storage Volume path values with the original details within the tags as a minimum set of settings.
For example:
<ServerGuid>f77630bd-4b39-4b2c-a0be-bf5294d1006f</ServerGuid>
<PublicPort default="443">443</PublicPort>
<PrivatePort default="0">9443</PrivatePort>
<PrivateIp default="0.0.0.0">0.0.0.0</PrivateIp>
<PublicIp>
<String>0.0.0.0</String>
</PublicIp>
<StorageVolumes>
<String>E:\Program Files\Attix5 Backup Professional Server\Data\LBData</String>
</StorageVolumes>