[izpack-devel] Shortcut Panel Crashes on Windows 2000

Hal Vaughan hal at thresholddigital.com
Wed May 31 03:06:48 CEST 2006 

On Tuesday 30 May 2006 20:54, Elmar Grom wrote:
> Hal,
>
> hmmmm, interesting...
>
> I think it would be a good idea to try to isolate this problem to the
> use of a specific module. From what you write it sounds very much
> like the shortcut panel is the culprit. However, there is no proof at
> this point. So before spending a lot of time on digging into this
> area it might be valuable to first make sure it is actually in this
> module.
>
> The 20 min thing is not exactly helping... can you put a dummy
> together that does not take that long to build and see if that
> exhibits the same problem? if so, we can use that to debug the
> problem if not we would probably have to search into an entirely
> different direction...

Not immediately, but I can do that.  As of now, the jar is created by a 
program that's part of an overall system.  It lets me automatically 
create an encrypted jar with keys specifically for a particular client, 
automatically upload it to the web, as well as burn it to a CD.  (BTW, 
just for reference in case it helps others, since this install is so 
big, I have a master copy, and when I make a copy for a client, I use 
rdiff, and upload only the delta files.  When the client needs a web 
installer, it takes less than 20 seconds to recreate the large file 
from the master and the rdiff delta files.)

When I get a few things resolved and finished off, I'll put together a 
dummy and see what happens.  I guess all it needs are a few files.

> BTW, I got to go and drink some beer pretty soon, you can reach me
> for about another 1/2 hour and after that tomorrow morning again (US
> Pacific Time).

You mean there's actually another Yankee working on this thing besides 
me? ;-)

Hal

> 	Elmar
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: izpack-devel-admin at berlios.de
> [mailto:izpack-devel-admin at berlios.de]On Behalf Of Hal Vaughan
> Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 5:33 PM
> To: izpack-devel at berlios.de
> Subject: Re: [izpack-devel] Shortcut Panel Crashes on Windows 2000
>
> On Tuesday 30 May 2006 18:43, Elmar Grom wrote:
> > Hal,
> >
> > sure there is a DLL. As I wrote in the last mail, it just uses
> > regular OS calls, nothing off the hook. I even developed it on
> > Windows 2000 and it is in use for years now with no reports of this
> > kind...
>
> Okay.  I forgot who write the DLL.  I see what you're saying.  My
> misunderstanding.
>
> > In theory Java should not cause such problems. In reality I have
> > seen the odd strange thing, though not in a while...
>
> What's weird is that it isn't a crash, a blue-screen-of-death, or
> anything else.  It's a total reboot, and I just can't imagine a darn
> thing in Java doing that.  I can try redirecting the output and
> errors to a file next time, if you think that'll help.
>
> > At this point I have no idea at all what it could be, so the
> > strategy is to change various things that might alter the operating
> > conditions enough to stop this from happening or to change what
> > exactly happens.
>
> I know it works in WinXP.  I haven't experimented too much yet, since
> it takes 20 minutes to compile the Install.jar!  I'm open to ideas of
> what to change.
>
> > If we can accomplish that, we might already gain some insight or at
> > least devise a strategy that allows us to hone in on the problem.
>
> I can try different settings.  I think it best to remove one of the
> short cuts and that could narrow it down quickly.  I was worried that
> the SimpleConfig.class that Fabrice and I have been working on could
> cause some problem, but it's not in use at all when ShortcutPanel is
> working -- and I just don't see what could be going on in Java that
> could automatically reboot the system.
>
> > One thing of interest would also be the VM you are running. Perhaps
> > changing that might also change things.... and then there is always
> > the outside possibility of something being wrong with you OS
> > installation (corrupted file etc.).
>
> It could be any of those.  It's on a multi-partitioned system, and
> the partition was set up for testing, so it would be a pain to
> reinstall Windows, since I'd still have to go back and re-install
> GRUB over the boot block and make sure the config is okay.
>
> I'm using Java 1.5, if that helps.
>
> Hal
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: izpack-devel-admin at berlios.de
> > [mailto:izpack-devel-admin at berlios.de]On Behalf Of Hal Vaughan
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 12:19 PM
> > To: izpack-devel at berlios.de
> > Subject: Re: [izpack-devel] Shortcut Panel Crashes on Windows 2000
> >
> > On Tuesday 30 May 2006 15:10, Elmar Grom wrote:
> > > Hi Hal,
> > >
> > > I never heard of such behavior. There is also nothing in the code
> > > that could cause the OS to reboot. In theory it should not be
> > > possible to cause this from within a Java application and the
> > > native code uses regular OS calls, no trickery or smoke and
> > > mirrors. So that makes the entire situation really strange.
> >
> > Isn't there a native .dll that could cause some problems?  The
> > shortcuts are never even created and I don't see any sign of them
> > on reboot.
> >
> > > Just to explore the situation a bit more, could you try to insert
> > > another panel after the shortcut panel and see what happens?
> >
> > Are you thinking it might be the next panel?  I can try that later
> > this evening.  I'll also be glad to use any debugging tools you
> > recommend, provided I understand what I'm doing.  (There's a big
> > gulf of skills if you're self taught!)
> >
> > Hal
> >
> > > 	Elmar
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: izpack-devel-admin at berlios.de
> > > [mailto:izpack-devel-admin at berlios.de]On Behalf Of Hal Vaughan
> > > Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 9:39 AM
> > > To: izpack-devel at lists.berlios.de
> > > Subject: [izpack-devel] Shortcut Panel Crashes on Windows 2000
> > >
> > >
> > > I wanted to bring this up here before I submitted it as a bug,
> > > since I have no debugging info (it just crashes!).  I've included
> > > my shortcutSpec.xml at the bottom of this e-mail, in case there's
> > > something I missed that could create a problem.
> > >
> > > I'm using a shortcut panel as the last functional step in
> > > installing my program.  It works fine on Windows XP, but whenever
> > > I get the ShortcutPanel on Windows 2000, when I click "Next",
> > > instead of getting shortcuts, my computer reboots.  As you can
> > > imagine, this means I can either not support Windows 2000 or come
> > > up with really crazy work around.
> > >
> > > Has anyone else seen this behavior?
> > >
> > > I've got working directories set, but the shortcuts are to .vbs
> > > files that don't really need environment variables.  They figure
> > > out where they are and then run .bat files in the same directory
> > > with a few arguments the .vbs scripts figure out on their own. 
> > > I'm not using special icons (just the standard .vbs icon) either.
> > >
> > > Any ideas on this would be helpful.  I think it's likely a bug of
> > > some kind, but I'm once again working on very little sleep for a
> > > number of days, so I could be missing the extremely obvious.
> > >
> > > Thanks!
> > >
> > > Hal
> > > ----------------------------shortcutSpec.xml---------------------
> > >-- -- ------- -----
> > > <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>
> > > <shortcuts>
> > > 	<skipIfNotSupported/>
> > > 	<programGroup defaultName="threshNet Agent"
> > > location="startMenu"/> <shortcut
> > > 				name="threshNet Control Panel"
> > > 				target="$INSTALL_PATH\TNetControlPanel.vbs"
> > > 				commandLine=""
> > > 				workingDirectory="$INSTALL_PATH\"
> > > 				description="Runs the threshNet Control Panel"
> > > 				initialState="noShow"
> > > 				programGroup="yes"
> > > 				desktop="yes"
> > > 				applications="no"
> > > 				startMenu="no"
> > > 				startup="no">
> > > 		<createForPack name="threshNetAgent"/>
> > > 	</shortcut>
> > >
> > > 	<shortcut
> > > 				name="threshNet Test"
> > > 				target="$INSTALL_PATH\TNetTest.vbs"
> > > 				commandLine=""
> > > 				workingDirectory="$INSTALL_PATH\"
> > > 				description="Runs tests to verify threshNet Agent functions"
> > > 				initialState="noShow"
> > > 				programGroup="yes"
> > > 				desktop="no"
> > > 				applications="no"
> > > 				startMenu="no"
> > > 				startup="no">
> > > 		<createForPack name="threshNetAgent"/>
> > > 	</shortcut>
> > > </shortcuts>
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > izpack-devel mailing list
> > > izpack-devel at lists.berlios.de
> > > http://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/izpack-devel
> > >
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> >
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