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ZKL unable to launch with Windows 8.1

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8 years ago
I've got a new laptop with win8.1 on it but unable to get ZKL to work on it. Any attempts at launching result in this error popping up over and over again until the task is force closed.

This error has been reported by me before but has been brushed away because zkl typically launched anyways after a few minutes of this, then never appeared again. This is not the case anymore and is this bug is now completely blocking me from playing ZK.

I've attempted to force writable permissions for the directory in question, no change.
+0 / -0

8 years ago
This happens on every windows install. Every time. Just wait a bit. Go to the place you told it to install and create a shortcut for zreok.exe.
+0 / -0
That's my usual approach and what worked on windows 7. Days of waiting and trying again and again and I'm still at the same spot.

Attempted to create my own shortcut before. Same result.

Directly running .exe as administrator also same.
+0 / -0

8 years ago
Guess you have to wait for licho to respond. That worked for me on 8.1.
+0 / -0
I can't use any other lobbies now because of server split, correct?
EDIT: Incorrect, reactSWL works but you need to input custom server lobby.zero-k.info
+0 / -0
Yeah, ZKL's installer doesn't seem to play nice with Win8.1's security. You need to manually copy the Zero-k.exe into your folder. I copied the Zero-k.exe into the Documents/My Games/Spring folder.
+1 / -0
True, just manually copy portable ZKL ( http://zero-k.info/lobby/Zero-K.exe )into "Documents/My Games/Spring" to skip the issue.
+0 / -0

8 years ago
im on win 8.1 and install dir is in "myDocuments". never had problem since. :/
+0 / -0

8 years ago
Please merge with:

http://zero-k.info/Forum/Thread/5088 (read this one!)
http://zero-k.info/Forum/Thread/7273
http://zero-k.info/Forum/Thread/11639

Its good to see that this community is always here... tirelessly repeating the same things again and again. Well... with some variation regarding the versions of windows being at fault...

http://zero-k.info/Forum/Thread/9115?page=1#98543

Look at this other report:

https://code.google.com/p/zero-k/issues/detail?id=2114

I have the impression that the bug was there before win 8.1 ... and that the handling of this issue has been a total failure for years... wasting the time of a lot of people, and potentially causing loss of players.

So, can we make some progress and admit that maybe, there is a bug in the installer, and NOT with ""insert current version of windows here"" ?

I'd love to find where the bugs are... but how the setup.exe is generated is a mystery. I can't find any indication on how to build it from the repository.

I can even find 2 different versions of the installer...

http://zero-k.info/lobby/setup.exe
http://zero-k.info/lobby/Zero-K.setup.exe

I'm sure "someone" will quickly point out that one of these 2 is not being used by players... but I'd prefer to focus on how those are generated and deployed. Maybe we can find some script of source code in there... and maybe we can fix it?

Anyway, the error is not issued by the installer, but by ZKL itself:

https://github.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K-Infrastructure/blob/master/ZeroKLobby/Program.cs#L161

An interesting condition:

StartupPath.Contains("Local\\Apps")

look again at OP's screenshot...

Then here:

https://github.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K-Infrastructure/blob/master/ZeroKLobby/Program.cs#L171

So, zero-k.exe is moved to ...local\apps\... then started again, then of course, when its checking whether it is in local\apps, it complains again...

Note: a similar problem exist on my machine... running the installer again result in a superfluous zero-k.exe download, which, when launched, will make the same complains. But its not happening further.

Details & source to build installer are now required to debug any further... without the feeling that I'm reverse engineering something designed to be obfuscated.
What I found: installer is MS clickonce... and installer creates a log. At the end of the log:

quote:

Launching Application.
Application appears to be an application manifest
Launching application manifest via dfshim


So I check how it is run using https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx

And obviously, the installer starts zero-k.exe from the apps\local folder... which again triggers this:

https://github.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K-Infrastructure/blob/master/ZeroKLobby/Program.cs#L161

So... none of this appears related to windows. All the behavior is coded right into ZKL.

My guess is that someone wants to use ClickOnce just for the initial setup, but can't/don't know how to control where the lobby exe is installed, or something similar. So a "workaround" was coded to then copy the exe to spring folder, where it will feel more at home.
+6 / -0


8 years ago
Moving Zero-K.exe over to another folder worked perfectly, thanks guys.

Would it be difficult to change ZK install directory on windows with installer?
+0 / -0
I thought you left, BRrank[V]sheep. Still drama whoring and sarcastically flaming devs, I see.

For the record, I still think you might have a point technically... and I still think that whether that's true or not is irrelevant to whether your attitude is justified.

EDIT: A far more diplomatic rendering of the above:
http://pastebin.com/NeAnW8hq
+0 / -2


8 years ago
The current plan is that ClickOnce will be replaced with a proper standalone installer (alongside Steam distribution).
+0 / -0
CArankTheMooseIsLoose - the problem is that ZK uses Microsoft ClickOnce, which is an extremely restrictive installer.

Microsoft offers several installation channels, all of them bad:

MSI, which is a zillion years old and hairy as heck

Executable non-standard installers that half the MS infrastructure will fight with

ClickOnce, which is designed to allow you to install stuff directly into your appdata provided you do all the right incantations and follow the security model perfectly and the dice roll just right

And Windows Store, the less said the better on that one.

MSI is the best option, but it's a tremendous pain.

BRrank[V]sheep - so have you made a pull-request to fix it?
+0 / -0

8 years ago
CArankPxtl I see that you are way more knowledgeable than I am regarding windows installer options. I'm not a "windows developer"... I just took a few hours of my time to diagnose this particular problem because I was not satisfied with the explanation that "it is windows's X fault", meaning "we can't do anything about it". Sorry to disappoint you, but this expedition in clickonce has left more questions than answers... yet I believe it is possible to make an installer that does not popup error messages for every user.

As you could read in my message, I don't know how installer is generated. So before asking me for a pull request (I see what you do), would you first support my request to see installer configuration added to the repository? Maybe I missed something... so please show me where this is.

quote:

ClickOnce, which is designed to allow you to install stuff directly into your appdata provided you do all the right incantations and follow the security model perfectly and the dice roll just right


That is consistent with my understanding of ZKL code, it is trying to escape the security model of ClickOnce, by copying itself out of clickonce dir. But the link is generated by clickonce to the exe kept inside local\apps. Which is why this problem keeps happening until manual link is recreated.

Sorry, I don't know how to fix it properly... just like I don't know why "windows version X" was blamed over the years.

Hopefully, the standalone installer described by @KingRaptor will happen. In the meantime, I think it would be wise to accept the problem... stop trying to point fingers. Maybe we can add it to a FAQ... to prevent such discussion from happening again and again, and further harming new players:

http://zero-k.info/Wiki/FAQ
+0 / -0
8 years ago
There were many forum threads but no bugtracker ticket, as reference for the inevitable next few threads:
https://github.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K-Infrastructure/issues/608
+3 / -0