IA 6.5 and Windows 7 x64 : building installer fails

keith · Post by **keith** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 2:22 pm

Hello,

I'm migrating over to a new Win7 x64 box and have run into a problem with IA 6.5. The project I'm trying to build works just fine on XP x86, but when I try to build the same project on Win7 x64 I get:

Building Project: <snip>
Output Folder:<snip>
Deployment Type: Compressed Single Self Installing EXE
Code Signing: Disabled
Compression: Default
###
Cleared output folder <snip>
Built plug-in action Windows Installer
Built plug-in action Windows Installer
Built plug-in action Windows Installer
Built plug-in action .NET Framework
Built plug-in action MSXML
Built plug-in action Windows Installer
Built plug-in action (Un)Install MSI Setup
Built plug-in action Windows Installer
Built plug-in action Windows Installer
Built plug-in action .NET Framework
Built plug-in action MSXML
Built plug-in action File Bag
Built plug-in action (Un)Install MSI Setup
Built plug-in action (Un)Install MSI Setup
Built plug-in action (Un)Install MSI Setup
Built plug-in action Windows Installer
Error during build: Access violation at address 00000000. Read of address 00000000

Is there a way to determine what is actually causing this? More build output perhaps? I use a few 3rd party plugins, could one of them be the culprit?

Thanks!

keith · Post by **keith** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 2:25 pm

BTW this still happens if I run IA as Administrator...

MichaelNesmith · Post by **MichaelNesmith** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:41 pm

Try InstallAware 8 on Windows 7.

keith · Post by **keith** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:23 pm

Michael,

I've tried IA 8 and still get the same error. After digging into this a bit more I've determined that the culprit is the Bundle Files plugin I'm using. Attempting to edit existing MSICode that uses it or adding new calls to it causes the same access violation error I see when building.

Unfortunately the plugin doesn't seem to be available from the developer anymore either so I'm a bit stuck. I do have the source but I'm not sure I want to get involved in that.

Do you know anything about the status of this plugin? Any other suggestions?

Keith

MichaelNesmith · Post by **MichaelNesmith** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 9:49 pm

Ah, this is not InstallAware code. Use the File Bag plug-in instead. That is our code and supported.

keith · Post by **keith** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:55 pm

Michael,

I started using Bundle Files a while back because I couldn't get File Bag to work the way I needed. I use Bundle Files to package and copy some 3rd party prerequisite installers to the SUPPPORTFILES dir, then I run them using Run Program.

Since they are prereq's I need to install them BEFORE Apply Install happens, but if I recall correctly the installers - or any file used with File Bag - won't exist until AFTER Apply Install completes. Is this correct? Also, can PackageAware capture/convert these installers and add them to IA as an application runtime?

I'd appreciate any suggestions you might have on how to approach this issue.

Keith

keith · Post by **keith** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:31 pm

MichaelNesmith · Post by **MichaelNesmith** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:15 pm

Wrong - File Bag is immediate. Its a more flexible support files mechanism as it supports wildcards and subfolders. It is what you need to use.

keith · Post by **keith** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 2:41 pm

Michael,

My apologies; the File Bag works just fine. Thanks for the information and your patience ;-)

Keith

bokkie · Post by **bokkie** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 2:47 pm

I had this Access violation at address 00000000. Read of address 00000000 error myself today. I had the code for the GenerateGuid sample plug-in and made some changes to it. When I added the statement to the MSI code it immediately threw the error message. Clearly, I had broken it. I mention this because the common link we have is a third-party plug-in. Once I backed out the code change the error disappeared. It might be a coincidence that it is related to something you experienced but I reckoned it was worth mentioning.

MichaelNesmith · Post by **MichaelNesmith** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:55 pm

Do you have a link to that plug-in? We may need to notify the plug-in author.