hubFS: THE place for F#

I just installed SP3 for WinXP.  Now the new F# release won't install.  It hangs with a dlalog box:

"The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package.  This may indicate a problem with this package.  The error code is 2908."

Doesn't matter which F# release I use:  They all fail.  Can anyone help me with this?  Thanks.

Bob

Hi Bob,

Could you provide more information on the issue you are seeing, so I can try and see if I can reproduce it?

Common questions:

• What edition of XP are you using? Professional/Home/Tablet/etc...? What language?
• Did you upgrade from XP SP2 or SP1?
• Was Visual Studio installed on the machine before the upgrade? If so, what edition?
• Was any version of F# installed on the machine before the upgrade? If so, what version? Did you uninstall it before the upgrade?

Could you try to install F# by following these steps:

• Go to http://research.microsoft.com/research/downloads/Details/7ac148a7-149b-4056-aa06-1e6754efd36f/Details.aspx?0sr=d
• Click on "Download"
• When asked if you want to "Run", "Save", or "Cancel", select "Save" (save it somewhere on your harddisk, e.g. the desktop)
• When the download is done, open a command prompt [make sure your account is in the administrators localgroup] and run:
• cd <wherever you saved the .msi file>
• msiexec.exe /i InstallFSharp-1.9.4.17.msi /log InstallFSharp-1.9.4.17.log
• proceed with setup as usual (at some point, you should see the same error message you reported)
• e/mail me the log file InstallFSharp-1.9.4.17.log at mailto:matteot@microsoft.com

Thanks,

-Matteo

Hi Bob and Matteo,
I'v got the same erro with InstallFSharp-1.9.4.17.msi at the end of the install,but the F# compile can work.So,when I uninstall it,reinstall with 1.9.4.15 version,all things ok.Why?My operation system is WinXP SP3.My office computer , home computer and notebook with the same erro.
Now,I try again with Matteo's way,I found a funny thing.In the commandline,when I try enter my InstallFSharp-1.9.4.17.msi directory,I found I can't.The commandline tell me that "System can't found the path",So I guess maybe my directory's name include "F#",maybe it's not a legal directory name in dos commandline.Then I copy InstallFSharp-1.9.4.17.msi to the root directory(<D:\>),double-click it ,it install correct.Now I'm so happy,so share with you.Bob,you can try and test.
Now ,I can't hold why InstallFSharp-1.9.4.15.msi can work with the bad directory but InstallFSharp-1.9.4.17.msi can't.
Thanks,

                                                                           -Leo.mlmyf
Sorry.I retry on my home computer,fail again.who can tell me why.

Hi guys,

As I said before, having the log files and a very detailed sequence of repro steps would help me try to reproduce the problem.

 

All my attempts so far, based on my interpretation of that you guys wrote led to nothing...

 

Don't be afraid to be verbose and say something like:

- On XP Professional SP3 English

- CD C:\MyFolderForF#AndOtherStuff

- Run MSIEXE.EXE /I …. /L… etc…

 

Thanks,

-Matteo

 

Hi, Everyone.

 

Matteo, thanks for your answer to my post on HubFS.  I Googled (sorry) error 2908 and came up with the link below.

 

www.add-in-express.com/creating-addins-blog/2007/11/12/windows-installer-error-2908/

 

The registry entries were where he said, but the numbers were a little different.  What was the same was the “C?” drive.  I deleted two such entries, and F# installed fine.  Apparently another installer did something untoward.  Maybe Roxio?

 

The machine is a little Toshiba libretto that I carry when I’m feeling lazy.  I live over in Montlake, so if you need more information, you can call me or even borrow the machine.

 

Sorry if this isn’t as detailed as you might need.  Just call or email if I can help.

 

Bob McCrory

206-323-7312

I too got a 2908 error today. This happened at the beginning of the "Updating component registration" phase of installing F# 1.9.6.16 on a 32-bit WinXP SP2 machine, after I had uninstalled Visual Studio 2008 Shell Edition SP1 & F# and then installed the full Visual Studio 2008 Pro edition. Simply removing and reinstalling everything again didn't help. However, I can confirm that deleting the registry key described on the add-in-express.com page (with slightly different numbers) indeed solved the problem.

Judging from the time stamps on the add-in-express.com page this bug already exists for years. Maybe someone could call the attention of the right people within Microsoft to that web-page...

Stephan:

Maybe someone could call the attention of the right people within Microsoft to that web-page...

Judging from

http://blogs.msdn.com/icumove/archive/2008/06/17/windows-installer-error-2908-with-sub-errors-1402-and-1450.aspx

it seems Microsoft understands the bug well.  (That is bugs, plural.  Seems like a WiX installer bug interacts with a bug in a registry API and the two collude on this issue.)

Thanks, I hadn't seen that page. Some of the people on the add-in-express.com page wrote that they spend several days searching for a solution until they found this page, so I didn't try to find more info on this bug...

It would still be nice if the installer engine (not the f# installer) could be patched, so that people wouldn't need to waste time on this long known issue.