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[Fixed] PA Updater shows on XP Home SP3 with no network connection

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RaggieSoft
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[Fixed] PA Updater shows on XP Home SP3 with no network connection

I have an older XP Home SP3 laptop that I keep around (only 256 mb of RAM) simply so I have something I can do my work on without being powerful enough to run games.

Anyhow, when I ran PA menu 2.0 PR-2, the Updater comes up saying I have zero apps with updates available.

Bear in mind this is an older laptop (it's an Intel P4) and currently has no network connection (wired only (which is unplugged at the moment), no wireless), so I knew it had to be a glitch to see the PA.com Updater come up. I knew one of the things being talked about was the updater was supposed to silently check on when you launch the platform (unlike Beta 5 where you had to manually check)

This reproduces every time I run F:\Start.exe

System:

XP Home SP3
256 mb of RAM (ugh, I know - but I can get my work done without being tempted by games)
Intel P4 Mobile 1.60 GHz (yes, this is a laptop running an old Pentium 4 Processor)

Reproducible? Yes, every time Start.exe runs on this machine. It does not happen on my Windows 7 Pro x64 laptop (which is what I'm using to type up this bug report) currently connected to the wireless. I'm suspecting the bug boils down to the XP laptop not having a network connection.

Version of platform being used: 2.0 Pre-release 2

Screen shot of what I'm seeing: http://files.raggiesoft.com/pa_com_error.png

(edit: fixed a spelling error)

Ken Herbert
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In the menu, click the

In the menu, click the Options button, go to the Advanced tab, and deselect Check for updates... On platform startup. This should fix your problem.

RaggieSoft
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Not exactly the fix

Not quite exactly the solution I'm looking for. This apparent bug doesn't show up on any computer that has a net connection (it just runs silently as expected). More often than not, the USB device will be plugged into a computer with a working net connection.

The expected behavior: on a computer without a working connection, the Updater running on startup should silently exit without any error messages.

John T. Haller
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WIll Try and Reproduce

I'm going to try and reproduce on my XP machine when I get back from OSCON. This may be related to another bug I know of, so I have a bit of a lead on what this could be. It's a bug and, one way or another, we'll get it fixed for ya Smile

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

RaggieSoft
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Thanks

Thanks for this. Additionally, I was able to test by shutting off the network connection on my Win 7 x64 laptop: sure enough, exact same results as I reported for my XP laptop: a "blank updater"

Apparently, to reproduce on *any* machine: shut off the network connection, and run Start.exe.

Gord Caswell
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Confirmed

I have confirmed this on win 7 x64 as well, will test under Ubuntu 11.04 soon, but i expect the same results.

SamRaven2
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Vista Confimed

I have confirmed this on a vista laptop with no connection. Without the connection, the updater comes up and stays, but when I connect and restart the platform, the updater closes silently as expected.

Avete condotto una vita meravigliosa. Benchè ora sia tempo di partire. Riposi nella pace il mio amico, resto nella pace.

richo
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My 2 cents...

Checking for a connection before trying to check for an update should fix this.

Use "Dialer::GetConnectedState".

Return values are:

online
offline

Example function follows: (Copied and modified from Dialer Plugin readme.txt)


; IsConnected (uses Dialer plugin)
; Written by Joost Verburg
; Modified by Benjamin Richardson
;
; This function check if a connection to the internet is available. If you
; are not sure that a system using the installer
; has an active internet connection, call this function before downloading
; files with NSISdl. (Or a plugin of your choice.)
;
; The function requires Internet Explorer 4.

Function IsConnected

Push $R0

ClearErrors
Dialer::GetConnectedState
IfErrors noie4

Pop $R0
StrCmp $R0 "online" connected
MessageBox MB_OK|MB_ICONSTOP "Cannot connect to the internet."
Quit ;Remove to make error not fatal

noie4:

; IE4 not installed
MessageBox MB_OK|MB_ICONINFORMATION "Please connect to the internet now."

connected:

Pop $R0

FunctionEnd

RaphaelRB
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Hi John, it seems like the

Hi John,

it seems like the bug reported in https://portableapps.com/node/28763

Is it what you were thinking when wrote "another bug I know of"?

RaphaelRB - Brazil

ionreflex
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Same thing maybe ? More info...

I think the issue I came upon is due to the same process and I did some troubleshooting I wanted to share. I am able to reproduce the issue on my work and personal deck, both Win7-64 Ultimate with network always available. I've always checked for updates once the platform loaded, and even if I activated the checkup option on latest pre-release, it was such an habit that I still tried to check manually for updates... reading this bug report I realize what I did, and how silly it is!

I've loaded the platform while monitoring using "Process Explorer" by Sysinternals...

So the platform loads, then I "Check For Updates"...

First window to pop is http://trunc.it/hu5xm, followed almost immediatly by http://trunc.it/hu85b. The first one is produced by the PAU (PortableApps.com Updater) I started manually, the second one by the silent/autostarted PAU.

Clicking "OK" on the first one will give me http://trunc.it/gwfxb (the same as RaggieSoft gets!) and then http://trunc.it/hu798.

Going then on the second one, clicking on "Next" will result on 4 similar errors, one for each supposedly available update - http://trunc.it/hshgt, http://trunc.it/hruan, http://trunc.it/hruq7 and http://trunc.it/hp4xs - to finally finish with http://trunc.it/hu7ps.

I would suggest :

  • preventing to manually start the PAU when the silent process is active (graying out the menu item;
  • removing the "Check For Updates" menu item when the option is selected;

  • ion][reflex
    [reflexion]

    d2_racing
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    Same thing maybe ? More info...

    Hi, I had to install portable apps on (2011-12-13) on my usb stick and I had the problem that you describe ionreflex.

    I can confirm that I have the same error when I try to launch manually an update.

    If anyone need more info, just let me know.

    John T. Haller
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    Multiple Runs

    If you run it while it's already running, you get these errors. It now runs on startup automatically. If you try to manually run it at the same time, you'll get an error and could get it 'stuck'. The next release will prevent multi-running. Either way, this is an entirely different issue from the one reported in the actual bug report. If you get this error on a fresh install without auto-run enabled when you try to run it yourself, please create a new bug report with more details.

    Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

    RaphaelRB
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    Try this fix

    Hi RaggieSoft

    It used to happen with my office's computer because of a proxy that requires authentication. Try to install the update available on https://portableapps.com/node/28763 and see if it fixes this bug.

    Just copy the "Updated Method: Download The Test Fix" to your PortableApps\PortableApps.com then rename "PortableAppsUpdater" to "PortableAppsUpdaterOriginal" (do not delete it because maybe you will have to go back changes in the future) and rename PortableAppsUpdaterFixTest to PortableAppsUpdater.

    See if it solves the problem.

    RaphaelRB - Brazil

    John T. Haller
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    Fixed in PR3

    This should be fixed in the current Pre-Release 3

    Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

    ionreflex
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    ... well, guess it wasn't the same then...

    Hi John,

    Just for you guys to know, the situation I reported 2 posts above is still present when you start the updater manually over the silent one! Only difference is the blank popup won't show, since it's fixed...

    ion][reflex
    [reflexion]

    John T. Haller
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    Different

    Whatever it is you posted about, it's different from the bug this post is about, which is why it was missed. Please create a new topic about it with all the details from your old post including the exact steps to duplicate as well as OS, install location (full path), NTFS vs FAT32, etc. As the only one reporting this issue, it's gonna involve some more investigation. Honestly, I have a little trouble following your other post in terms of what exactly caused it.

    Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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