Installer Crashing without Logs
Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 3:28 pm
Background:
Our installer in IAx13 is around 500 MB in size (lots of files). We use Azure VM's (Windows 10) for testing our installs so as to prevent bad installs from messing up our personal machines. The only AV running is the built-in Windows Defender. We use single file compilation with compression set exactly in the middle of the slider. We have several other IA installers that were built with IAx7 that don't have this issue (we haven't updated them to X13 yet). This is a new installer and has never been in production yet.
Problem:
We are experiencing an intermittent issue when our install starts. The splash screen appears and decompression begins. Then the program just crashes (confirmed in Task Manager that it is not running anymore). Launching via command line and adding the /l=<path to log> parameter shows nothing in the log file. We have added our own logging to the top of the MSI code of the installer and that also shows nothing. So I can only conclude that neither Windows Installer nor our own coding within our installer is causing the issue.
It appears to happen more frequently when a user starts the install, then cancels out of it, then starts the same install again. It also appears to usually work the first time, but fail later (preventing repairs). For each of these instances, the same build of the install is used. However, we have done many builds, and are seeing the problem with all of them.
Initially, we reduced the compression strength from the default (3rd from the right side, if I member correctly) to the middle, which seemed to reduce the incident rate, but not eliminate it.
The Ask:
1) What are the system requirements for the different compression strengths? The UI gives requirements about compressing, but not decompressing, for most of them. Some don't mention any requirements. I need to confirm that our VM's meet these requirements.
2) I've seen others complain in the forums about similar sounding issues for many versions. I haven't seen any satisfactory results of figuring out the issue with any of them. Any progress in this area? Any definitive work-around/solution?
3) Any recommendations/best practices for dealing with very large installs like ours to prevent issues?
Our installer in IAx13 is around 500 MB in size (lots of files). We use Azure VM's (Windows 10) for testing our installs so as to prevent bad installs from messing up our personal machines. The only AV running is the built-in Windows Defender. We use single file compilation with compression set exactly in the middle of the slider. We have several other IA installers that were built with IAx7 that don't have this issue (we haven't updated them to X13 yet). This is a new installer and has never been in production yet.
Problem:
We are experiencing an intermittent issue when our install starts. The splash screen appears and decompression begins. Then the program just crashes (confirmed in Task Manager that it is not running anymore). Launching via command line and adding the /l=<path to log> parameter shows nothing in the log file. We have added our own logging to the top of the MSI code of the installer and that also shows nothing. So I can only conclude that neither Windows Installer nor our own coding within our installer is causing the issue.
It appears to happen more frequently when a user starts the install, then cancels out of it, then starts the same install again. It also appears to usually work the first time, but fail later (preventing repairs). For each of these instances, the same build of the install is used. However, we have done many builds, and are seeing the problem with all of them.
Initially, we reduced the compression strength from the default (3rd from the right side, if I member correctly) to the middle, which seemed to reduce the incident rate, but not eliminate it.
The Ask:
1) What are the system requirements for the different compression strengths? The UI gives requirements about compressing, but not decompressing, for most of them. Some don't mention any requirements. I need to confirm that our VM's meet these requirements.
2) I've seen others complain in the forums about similar sounding issues for many versions. I haven't seen any satisfactory results of figuring out the issue with any of them. Any progress in this area? Any definitive work-around/solution?
3) Any recommendations/best practices for dealing with very large installs like ours to prevent issues?