TSM: MMC Failed to Load IBM Flash Copy Manager Snap-in

It took me weeks to get this issue fixed, I never can think of the root cause is …

In my Sandbox, Windows MMC gave me such error when I tried to launch the ‘DP for Exchange Management Console’ after installed  ‘TSM Data Protection for Exchange’.

The full exception message is this:

The following parameter must be >= ‘0’ and <= ‘SmallImages.Images.Count’: imageIndex.
Parameter name: imageIndex
Actual value was 20.

Exception Message:

at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.SynchronousUpdateOperation.OnStart()
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.RunningOperationsTable.EnqueueOperation(Operation operation)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.CommandOperationActivator.Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.ICommandProcessor.ProcessCommand(Command cmd, CommandResult& result)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.CommandChain.ProcessCommand(Command command, CommandResult& result)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.SnapInHost.Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Internal.ISnapInPlatform.ProcessCommand(Command command)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Internal.ISnapInPlatform.ProcessCommand(Command command)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.NodeSyncManager.AddNodes(ScopeNode[] items, Int32 index)
at Fm.Ux.ExtensibleComputerSnapIn.OnInitialize() in D:\auto\fcm310\build_x32\agents\mmc\fm.ux\Parts\SnapIn\FmUxSnapin.cs:line 119
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.SnapInBase.Initialized()
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Internal.SnapInClient.Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Internal.ISnapInClient.Initialize(ISnapInPlatform snapInPlatform)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.SnapInInitializationOperation.OnStart()
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.RunningOperationsTable.EnqueueOperation(Operation operation)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Advanced.FrameworkSnapInFactory.Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Advanced.ISnapInFactory.CreateSnapIn(Int32 bookkeepingId, String snapInKey, Object& snapIn)

I thought it could be something that corrupted the MMC console, however  the MMC is able to load other snap-in without any problems. So I am sure MMC is still good.  Then I tried IBM suggested solution ( http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21591319), but still had the same issue.

After struggling for weeks, I eventually found the root cause – the event log file is full. How can I think of this?! I have never seen the full event log can trigger a program’s exception. The worse thing is the application can not handle the exception and gives out useless information whichy  misleads me to the wrong direction. Cleaning the logs solved the problem right away.