Dopus 10 Causes BSOD in XP SP2

Hi,

In XP SP2, trying to install dopus causes the following BSOD:

Then, after restarting, trying to run dopus via the shortcut that is created on the desktop by running the above installation program causes the following BSOD:

This is running the DOpusInstall.exe downloaded today, with a digital signature sign date of mon 2 may 2011 @ 3:17:31 am, and a md5 of 4B6736B06C6B20C5A7427BFAEAA6CE14.

Any ideas what to try?
Sam

Opus, and the Opus installer, physically cannot be the cause of a BSOD.

BSOD can only happen if a driver or kernel component crashes.

Most likely you have a problem with your anti-virus software (which runs as a driver and probably wants to scan the installer when you double-click it), or with your hardware drivers, or a physical hardware problem.

Thanks for your reply.

This is a new plain vanilla XP install from a Microsoft official CD. There is nothing else at all installed in the system but Dopus. Everything else runs fine. Trying to install Dopus or run the (failed?) install causes the BSODs that I have shown. It may be a kernel related problem, but running Dopus (and only running Dopus) causes the BSOD, and it causes it every time it is run, so it must be Dopus that is incompatible with the OS in some way. I have not had the same problem with any of the previous versions of Dopus, so it must be v10 that I downloaded today as I have described.

The hardware is the same hardware that the same OS was installed on for the last 3 years. It is just a simple reinstall of the same OS on the same hardware. I have just tried it again by installing the same OS in VMWare and then trying to install the same Dopus within it, and I get the same BSODs. I fail to see how it can be either the hardware any other software (because there isn't any). As I have been using previous versions of Dopus in the same OS and on the same hardware for years and have never seen a BSOD before, I can only imagine that it is the v10 that I have installed today that is causing the problem.

I am going to create a fresh virtual machine and install Dopus v9 in it now, just to see what happens.

You get the BSOD in the VM, or in the real machine that's running the VM?

We're not even talking about Opus itself here; we're talking about the Opus installer, which is standard InstallShield stuff and doesn't BSOD anyone else's machine that we know of. I've installed it on Windows XP multiple times myself.

Windows comes with drivers for your hardware, which may need to be updated/replaced to work properly. Have you done a full Windows Update before installing Opus?

One thought, have you tried to retrieve a fresh copy of the Dopus install?

Not likely to be implicated here, but I have seen installation issues resulting from damaged installation files.

The MD5 matches the 2nd May 10.0.0.0 32-bit installer so the file itself should be okay.

Might be worth trying the latest installer anyway, in case that doesn't trigger whatever is happening.

You get the BSOD in the VM, or in the real machine that's running the VM?[/quote]

Both.

We're not even talking about Opus itself here; we're talking about the Opus installer, which is standard InstallShield stuff and doesn't BSOD anyone else's machine that we know of. I've installed it on Windows XP multiple times myself.[/quote]

I'm not sure which it is because the install got as far as putting a shortcut on the desktop before the BSOD during the install. Then the shortcut causes a BSOD too (but that is not that surprising).

I've also installed previous Dopus versions multiple times in XP with no problems before now.

Windows comes with drivers for your hardware, which may need to be updated/replaced to work properly. Have you done a full Windows Update before installing Opus?[/quote]

Yes, in both. I go: installation CD, drivers, Dopus, other software. I always do it that way. It's always worked til now.

[quote="michaelkenward"]One thought, have you tried to retrieve a fresh copy of the Dopus install?

Not likely to be implicated here, but I have seen installation issues resulting from damaged installation files.[/quote]

Yes I did this. I had a previous v10 install that caused a BSOD, so I thought as you did, and went and got a fresh copy, which also happens to be an updated copy with a later digital signature. So it's not just one version of the v10 installer that is causing it, but two different ones (including the latest one from today). Both, by the way, pass when you check their signature, so I don't think either is corrupted - isn't that proved indirectly when they pass a signature check?

[quote="leo"]The MD5 matches the 2nd May 10.0.0.0 32-bit installer so the file itself should be okay.

Might be worth trying the latest installer anyway, in case that doesn't trigger whatever is happening.[/quote]

Ok, did this. I got the same BSOD as my 2nd screenshot in my first message.

In XP SP2

Did you also try installing SP3?

When you say "both" presumably you mean the VM BSODs when you run the installer in the VM, and the real machine BSODs when you run the installer on the real machine? (Not that both VM and real machine BSOD at once when you run the installer in the VM; that would be difficult to see.)

Microsoft have an article on troubleshooting STOP 0xc000021a errors:

support.microsoft.com/kb/156669

[quote="kundal"]In XP SP2
Did you also try installing SP3?[/quote]

Installing SP3 is definitely worth doing since XP SP3 is the only version of (32-bit) XP that Microsoft still support (and thus the only version that the tools used to build Opus and most other programs still guarantee their programs will work on, although I'd be surprised if a BSOD resulted from the mismatch).

Lack of SP3 also suggests that Windows Update hasn't been done fully.

Ok, here's (some) of what I did:

I originally installed:

DOpusInstall.exe (v10)
Signed Sat 30 Apr 2011 @ 7:55:12am
MD5 4216DCEE4A925FF4155B49F547183A1C

In a fresh XP install on real hardware, where it caused the BSODs.
In a fresh VMWare XP virtual machine, where it caused the BSODs.

Then I tried the current non beta v10:

DOpusInstall.exe (v10)
Signed Mon 2 May 2011 @ 3:17:31am
MD5 4B6736B06C6B20C5A7427BFAEAA6CE14

In a fresh VMWare XP virtual machine, where it caused the BSODs.

Then I tried the current beta that I was pointed to:

DOpusInstall.exe (v10)
Signed Fri 3 Jun 2011 @ 7:51:46am
MD5 A5D9ADB997E2EA1F62AC7978858A87D8

In a fresh VMWare XP virtual machine, where it caused the BSODs.

Then I tried the v9 that I was previously using:

DOpusInstall.exe (v9.5.6.0)
Signed Thu 14 Oct 2011 @ 3:33:02am
MD5 E68BAB89796D989D37279B64DF634FAA

In a fresh VMWare XP virtual machine, where it worked.
In a fresh XP install on real hardware, where it worked.

Conclusion: v10 is not working in XP on my real hardware nor in VMWare (I've tried 3 versions now). I don't see as I can do any more! I'm going back to v9 because it works. If the developers want me to test anything I will be glad to, but they could do it themselves using a fresh XP install in VMWare and running any of the above v10 installers.

Other than the multiple suggestions and links in this thread?

Have you read the Microsoft article I linked about this very error?

Have you installed Windows XP SP3 so you're using a version of XP that Microsoft support?

[quote="leo"][quote="kundal"]In XP SP2
Did you also try installing SP3?[/quote]

Installing SP3 is definitely worth doing since XP SP3 is the only version of (32-bit) XP that Microsoft still support (and thus the only version that the tools used to build Opus and most other programs still guarantee their programs will work on, although I'd be surprised if a BSOD resulted from the mismatch).

Lack of SP3 also suggests that Windows Update hasn't been done fully.[/quote]

Regarding the SPs: the installation CD I have installs as SP2, and I have therefore been testing the VMWare installs using that (I only installed the hardware drivers to get it 'working' on top of that, some via Windows Update and some via the hardware manufacturer's site, then I made a copy of that working fresh VMWare machine to use in each test).

When I first reinstalled on my real hardware (by my own choice, nothing to do with Dopus) I did the CD install to get SP2, Windows Update to get SP3 + some of the hardware drivers, and then the hardware manufacturer sites to fill in the missing links (I only needed that to get a sound driver). So, in the first iteration, on my real hardware, I had SP3, and got the BSOD from Dopus. Naturally, given how long it takes to do all that updating, I have stopped at the vanilla SP2 that the Windows CD installs to do my other tests.

In any case, I can't believe that the developers of Dopus, given a history going back to, what, Amiga days?, would say that newer versions of Dopus aren't going to work in XP SP2? v9 works in SP2, and neither my hardware nor my installation CD have changed in all this, only the Dopus installer has changed. I know not. Maybe it is the case that Dopus v10 requires SP3. I'll install SP3 in VMWare then try Dopus v10 to see what happens (I'm not going to install Dopus v10 on my real hardware again until I can get it working in VMware).

Other than the multiple suggestions and links in this thread?

Have you read the Microsoft article I linked about this very error?

Have you installed Windows XP SP3 so you're using a version of XP that Microsoft support?[/quote]

I am not going to debug system processes using Dr Watson! I am an end user, not a hacker. I click install and expect it to work!!

I am going to install SP3 in VMWare to see if it makes a difference.

I already tried the beta I was pointed to.

Have I missed anything else?

Yes, the first one.

It's going to take 55mins to get SP3 again....so I'll post here once it has arrived and I've tried it!

It's worth updating to have the latest sp on the VM anyway - but if you're saying you already applied sp3 and latest updates on the PHYSICAL hardware - where you still get the same BSOD, then I don't expect it to make a difference inside the VM.

That said... just know that your suggestion that the v10 installer somehow doesn't GENERALLY work properly with WinXP is false. I've installed v10 over a dozen times on 2 physical WinXP systems and various VMware XP images and have never seen this problem. Certainly it seems to be an issue on your system - but not a general issue with the OS version. Unfortunately, I don't even know what the InstallShield folks could/would do to try and debug this... but it definitely sounds like the installer for v10 is doing something differently than the old installer that is somehow triggering the issue.

I've seen some installers cause BSODS that ultimately wound up to be caused by two different things:

1.) goofy promise RAID drivers - no explanation why other
2.) messed up gfx (I recall it being a cheap OEM'd ATI card) drivers...