I installed NCrunch grid on a remote server and it seemed fine until starting building when it suddenly became disconnected (and service died).

Noticed below logs from event viewer:

I'm experiencing a similar issue... I have three grid nodes running version 2.4.2. One of the grid nodes, after working flawlessly for a few weeks started getting the same errors that were reported by GreenMoose.

I have tried...
- restarting the grid node
- repairing the .NET 4.5.1 install
- recreating the connection to the grid node
- removing the existing snapshots
- tried running the grid node service with different credentials
- banging my head on the keyboard
- ...

I don't know how to resolve this.

Well, I installed version 2.5.12, and the errors went away. Unfortunately, they were replaced by two new errors...

System.InvalidOperationException: No process is associated with this object.
at System.Diagnostics.Process.EnsureState(State state)
at System.Diagnostics.Process.EnsureState(State state)
at System.Diagnostics.Process.get_Id()
at nCrunch.Core.ProcessManagement.ExternalProcessManager.#=qwKx9UTZfNu4eo8cyEwxm2iOBqTWlEPKzR2jfSsoXgd4=(ExternalProcess #=qfZVyazCm0UXMZjLYldJK9w6YprGY4CU_VMWgrbstMp0=)
at nCrunch.Core.ProcessManagement.ExternalProcessManager.#=qhE0D27jwTh_bBa$ZyNAu7Q==(ProcessorArchitecture #=qcbgIqBCZV82zz1kScvYzLg$ao0g0hfWwBfzquqI6Gnw=, Nullable`1 #=qNYMmme4EoyKeaypOhGAFGXTw3dp4x1k4twttiDI49oo=, Type #=qIRQwTvF5bh$xF1JwMeSVig==, DirectoryPath #=qd7vDe__gMs$dA8PIrEXkeorL9mld002GkSq26NbZXXM=, FilePath #=qV82A8UoaPcjsMqrAjUw_bQ==, FilePath #=qFZjFsnimCXA6DCWiTDb6m3AjlUpThMDpZ0Rd5QPD29o=, Boolean #=qhsM_SDj1ErAzd7UtpZyGLxEP9vNMz5yS54AeO7NpVTs=, Boolean #=qnEvvLC78oy9p9criQQbVtrsj87pIEZsgLbYYDeKwg9o=, String #=qXzkCR1JMEw1OYqKTFxitKg==, IDictionary`2 #=qrp_ZujbCKEmiJPgoEjpxPck7J9u28fIRqxA_kG9_OLg=, IProcessLoader #=qaJoNgaiYJw$NC72hD5DVfw==)
at nCrunch.Core.ProcessManagement.ExternalProcessManager.LoadExternalProcess(ProcessLoadParameters parameters, GridClientId client)
at nCrunch.Core.BuildManagement.BuildProcessLauncher.#=qKKrZkT6V0PJP_1tCv$n$iS6e7xqz3tI5cgL4hBXx6jVZoZDQ$VGUt8GK4q9Gd41I(Action`1 #=qzjbGNSs0qF_I4$s0T0icbw==, ProcessorArchitecture #=qRBrPn1BSCfWNHUqaQyBvDwmziA_T7n32K2zLtbzzMbA=, GridClientId #=qkRPlP398aQ3goZ9dLMTDmQ==, IBuildableProject #=qWX1NsbZzag_vkkukM5tiEgKMHfItTVyGItgx$M2f7ro=, CustomEnvironmentVariable[] #=qCh9FbQxTfUpbXzMAV5RSg49y7fqC_Jk1usFES0DYJB0=)
at nCrunch.Core.BuildManagement.BuildProcessLauncher.BuildComponentInExternalProcess(ComponentBuildParameters parameters, ProcessorArchitecture processorArchitecture, VisualStudioVersion vsVersion, GridClientId client, CustomEnvironmentVariable[] customEnvironmentVariables)
at nCrunch.Core.BuildManagement.BuildEnvironment.Build(SnapshotComponent snapshotComponentToBuild, IList`1 referencedComponents, GridClientId gridClientId, CustomEnvironmentVariable[] customEnvironmentVariables)
at nCrunch.Core.Processing.BuildTaskLogic.DoProcessTaskAndReturnSuccessFlag()
at nCrunch.Core.Processing.TaskLogic.ProcessTaskAndReturnSuccessFlag()
at nCrunch.GridNode.NodeTaskProcessor.#=qma68oYjPTUKJjuZ5G5Ccis1kGhNe$AZP_nfv3GSijhg=.#=q2XKgKXNsGmbzK9IM7qoeWDxzMUzBc6U4XHUlIPfS$tg=.#=qyBksZjtAbhwTEvE$KFIAR2PPSXpUsEKT4vrVCx0rqCk=()
at nCrunch.Common.ErrorHandler.DoWithErrorHandling(Action action, Object context)

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at nCrunch.Core.Processing.BuildTaskLogic.CompleteProcessing(Boolean processingSuccessful)
at nCrunch.GridNode.NodeTaskProcessor.#=qma68oYjPTUKJjuZ5G5Ccis1kGhNe$AZP_nfv3GSijhg=.#=q2XKgKXNsGmbzK9IM7qoeWDxzMUzBc6U4XHUlIPfS$tg=.#=qFdnDO_76_IcE7VUNzyNXAYHy00ZTNH67quwPs135GqM=()
at nCrunch.Common.QueuedActionHandler.#=qJ$x2e2UDXa_G2DJSABfw4g==(#=qKDQz1sDtHErQpb0Wn8QXcJ7g3M19R0vu6O72iJ5Le2U= #=qHEnqUVU29btm7G5_SKI2AA==)

• Does this problem show up consistently? Yes
  
• Are you able to run any tests within this solution? No; the solution won't even build.
  
• If you set up a dummy test solution containing a v4.5 test project, does the problem appear? Yes.
  
• What if you change the .NET framework version to v4.0? Still works in the dummy test solution.
  
• Do you see any interesting errors in your system/application event log? From the event log...
  
  Quote:

  Log Name: System
  Source: Service Control Manager
  Date: 2014-03-03 2:05:51 PM
  Event ID: 7022
  Task Category: None
  Level: Error
  Keywords: Classic
  User: N/A
  Computer: CPUG065.aglc.goa.ds
  Description:
  The NCrunch Grid Node Service service hung on starting.
  Event Xml:
  <Event xmlns="(- BROKEN LINK -)">
  <System>
  <Provider Name="Service Control Manager" Guid="{555908d1-a6d7-4695-8e1e-26931d2012f4}" EventSourceName="Service Control Manager" />
  <EventID Qualifiers="49152">7022</EventID>
  <Version>0</Version>
  <Level>2</Level>
  <Task>0</Task>
  <Opcode>0</Opcode>
  <Keywords>0x8080000000000000</Keywords>
  <TimeCreated SystemTime="2014-03-03T21:05:51.637635100Z" />
  <EventRecordID>219028</EventRecordID>
  <Correlation />
  <Execution ProcessID="552" ThreadID="556" />
  <Channel>System</Channel>
  <Computer>CPUG065.aglc.goa.ds</Computer>
  <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
  <Data Name="param1">NCrunch Grid Node Service</Data>
  </EventData>
  </Event>
  
  
• If you browse to grid node installation directory then try running nCrunch.TaskRunner45.x86.exe directly .. what is the result that you get? Restarted the box, since it's slow, and the service didn't start when the box came back up. Started the service and the grid node is working. Perhaps the box is just doing too much stuff on start-up and timing-out... I'll switch the service to 'Automatic (Delayed Start)' and see what happens... Seems to be working.[/b]
  

I got really confused when doing this... I rebooted the box a couple times while looking at this and if it was simply a time-out issue maybe some of the things that worked above wouldn't work if I rebooted again. I don't know... I'm leaving the "Delayed Start" on the service and I'll let you know if it stops working.