I am facing an issue with an error message when trying to send forms. I have seen similar posts on the forum but none of them helped me solve the problem we’re facing.
I have 128 forms on the Kobo Collect App on one of the devices (we managed to send the forms from all other devices). When I’m trying to send them, the error message appears which says ‘Error: instance XML file does not exist’. Moreover, when I open the forms, it seems as if there is no data in them, while they do appear as finalised. The device in question is Tablet Galaxy Tab A, SM-T295.
Welcome back to the community, @mrichter! So you mean you were not able to submit data collected from your android device to the server from one of the devices. Were you able to submit the data collected for the same project from other devices? Could you also share with us a screenshot of the same so that we should be able to understand the issue more pictorially?
Hello Kal_Lam and thank you for your response. Indeed, the issue is on this particular tablet, while we managed to send the data on the other devices.
I am attaching two photos: one of all the survey saved which shows that we failed to send them and the error message which appears when I tried to send one of them again.
Hello Kal_Lam! It’s not fully possible to check as the surveys seem empty when we click into them so I cannot confirm if they are already in our database (we have about 2,000 entries). Not sure then if the enumerators filled it in wrong or if there is some sorts of encrypting in place to prevent us from viewing them.
Hi @mrichter
This behavior mimics a situation where the folders with the instances were deleted. Could you confirm the following checks:
Check and see if you are able to open a blank file?
Confirm the settings on the application specifically form management and end a screenshot of what you have there. (I hope you re the one who has the device)
A research assistant is dealing with the above issue as part of an ongoing study. I’d like to know what solutions we have.
In response to @stephanealoo’s last suggestions, yes, the RA can open a blank form and the settings are correct. In fact, this only happened to about 17 forms. The data collected after it has been submitted correctly to the server. It will be very difficult to redo the interviews because of the distance. We can’t even see the responses for those 17 forms in view mode to duplicate them.
Can we manually access the forms by copying the raw data from the tablet to a computer? Unfortunately, I can’t check this right now because the team is on the field and there’s no computer available. I’d be happy to hear from others who faced this issue and to know how they finally dealt with it.
This usually happens when the saved submission file (the XML) gets corrupted or deleted on the device, even though the form still shows as “finalized.” That’s why it appears empty when you open it.
A few things you can try:
Check the KoboCollect/instances folder on the device to see if those XML files are actually there.
If possible, connect the tablet to a computer and look for any backup copies of the instances.
Unfortunately, if the XML files are missing, the data can’t be recovered or sent.
For next time, it’s a good idea to regularly send finalized forms and keep backups, especially when collecting large numbers of submissions on one device.
