Built in update still not working

Yesterday, DOpus reported that 10.0.4.0 version is released, and started downloading the update. Before that I had 10.0.3.0 (stable version, not a beta). Update was downloaded, and I started the update process. I followed the dialog, until it got stuck on replacing dopusrt.exe file, saying that file exists and it can't be replaced. I opened the Task Manager, and there was still dopus.exe process running. I killed it, and retried replacing file in the installer, but it still refused to do it. I clicked Ignore, installer finished, and restarted Windows. After Windows started again, DOpus was broken and it wouldn't run. I had to download installer from website and run it manually to get it started.

Same problem existed with any 10.0 version I tried to update through auto updater (and I did that for 10.0.1, 10.0.2 and 10.0.3). I use MS Windows 7 Home Premium x64, with x64 version of DOpus. Is there a way to set this up so it will work, or should I just manually do it?

Milan

What's the actual error message that you see? Can you post a screenshot?

Installshield sometimes gives very misleading error messages. For example, we have seen it complain that one of the Opus EXE files cannot be replaced when the real problem is that the Desktop folder, or existing Opus shortcut within it, has been set read-only or permissioned to deny access to change/update the shortcut.

I can't, I have installed everything already. But, I don't even have desktop folders, or even DOpus shortcut on the desktop (I have 3 icons on desktop only, all of them are system icons: My Computer, Network, Recycle Bin). And the message is that dopusrt.exe already exists and can't be replaced, I am not sure on exact wording 100%, but that is the point of the message. Always, problem is with that same file.

Milan

How did you do the successful install?

I had to restart computer, download installer and run it. After the auto update failed, after restart, DOpus wasn't working, dopusrt.exe was missing (due to updater problem with that file most likely).

Can installer terminate all DOpust processes before installing, and kill all hooks that might be active? Installer for TortoiseSVN was changed recently to do just that, eliminating need for restart. Before they made such change, TortoiseSVN after each installation required system restart, but now, they made installer kill all open hooks or processes (and it was also deeply integrated into shell), installs and works without restart. Maybe DOpus can do the same?

Milan

Not easily, since Opus's DLLs get loaded into more processes and Windows does not provide a reliable way to get them unloaded, other than rebooting.

(And to be honest, while what TortoiseSVN's installer is doing is a good idea for shell-extensions and works sometimes, I have found that it doesn't always work on my machine, and I sometimes end up with the desktop/shell not running after the install and then still have to reboot the machine because some other processes still has the DLLs locked...)

OK, thanks. I will wait for next DOpus update and if I run into problems I will take screenshots of installer messages and task manager. Maybe that can help than.

Milan

I run update from 10.0.4 to 10.0.5 and same problem happens. I attached image with the error screenshot. So, after error was displayed, I let is slide (Ignore error). Installer finished, and I restarted Windows. After Windows started, I got another error that Dopus versions are mismatch and I have to reinstall it. I did that, but again, I got the same error as on screenshot. I had to uninstall Dopus, restart and install it again to work. And all my settings and license info were gone (I was lucky to have setting backup).

Regards,
Milan

Something might be wrong with the file permissions or file attributes in your Opus program folders. See the second part of this guide: Problems installing Opus

Or you may have an anti-virus scanner which is blocking the executables from being written (maybe because they are too "new" for it to recognise as safe).

I always get the same error when installing a new version. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with file permissions. The error message is similar to the message you'll get when you try to rename a file to an already existing file name. So what happens seems to be that the installer tries to rename a temporary file to "dopusrt.exe" while the old file still exists. In my case I'm pretty sure this happens because Kaspersky Internet Security (or something else) locks the old file. I found that the installation continues successfully when I wait some minutes (until the old dopusrt.exe was unlocked and deleted) and press "retry" to the error window.
What always worked in the past was: exit DOpus completely, kill dopusrt.exe with taskmanager and delete all files (not folders) in "C:\Program Files\GPSoftware\Directory Opus" using Windows Explorer before starting the installer.

Here's the ProcMon Logfile showing what happened with the installer (renamed to "DOpusinstall_10.0.5.0_x64.exe") up to the point where the error message appeared. Near the end you'll find the Result-entry NAME COLLISION. In the details for this event you can read: "ReplaceIfExists: False FileName: C:\Program Files\Directory Opus\dopusrt.exe
There are some more suspicious entries like SHARING VIOLATION, NAME NOT FOUND and CANNOT DELET (dopus.exe in this case) before that.
Logfile.zip (22 Bytes)

I suspected Anitvirus also (I use Avira Internet Security), but before installation, I have disabled Avira. But, I inspected what is locking the dopusr.exe file (even when it is closed and killed in the Task Manager) using LockHunter, and it can't be killed even with that program, saying that dopusrt.exe is locked by the 'System'. That is the Windows itself, so there is no way to really kill it. Also, all this seams to be happening only on x64 version of Windows.

Milan

...but you can easily delete dopusrt.exe manually from an Administrator Account before you start the Installer. So the Installer itself seems to be responsible to make the file "temporarily unavailable". Wait some minutes (~3-5) while the error message is displayed, klick "Retry" and it should work.

If the installer itself was locking something then we'd all be seeing it rather than just two people (that we know of at least). (I'm not sure that the lock would be attributed to "System," either, although I guess it's possible.) (I also doubt the installer would lock a file, then wait 3-5 minutes to unlock it, while in the middle of waiting for you to push retry. That would mean it's locking things via a timer or another thread, which seems unlikely to me given what installers do.)

The installer may temporarily open dopusrt.exe to check its version information, to see if it needs updating, so that could be triggering something you both have installed to lock the file.

Note that many virus scanners, firewalls, etc. are not truly disabled unless you uninstall them; 'disabling' them usually just puts them into a more passive mode, but they are still there having all file operations passed through them. (It could be something else, though. I'm not saying it's definitely that.)

I think when files are open via network shared, the locks are attributed 'System'. Do you have the directory that Opus is in shared over the network? Maybe something is accessing the share and has the files in it locked. You can get a list of current share sessions via the Computer Management admin-tools control panel if you want to check that idea.

Certainly not.
I really don't want to uninstall/reinstall Kaspersky because it's a real pain.
I could do some more testing with ProcMon or another tool if needed.

I can live with this issue, it inspired me to create a button that downloads the latest german Beta (or Full Version on right-click) with aria2c.exe, asks me if I want to install now and when confirmed kills and renames (or deletes) dopusrt.exe before starting the Installer. With the help of a nircmd script and the Firefox Add-On "Custom Buttons" I should be able to integrate this Button directly into Firefox so when I see there's a new Version I can start download (fast) and Installation (working) with a single click.