Hadi Hariri

Applying Delphi 2007 Update pack or 'My hate towards InstallAware is justified'

As you might know by now, a new update has been released for Delphi 2007. As component vendors, we need to provide a new binary for our customers also. So, like any naive, trusting person, I download the update and double-click it. I make myself several cups of coffee, some crisps and sit back to enjoy myself for 15-20 minutes, and very happy that I uninstalled Vista and not have to wait 2 to 3 hours for it to install (according to Nick's blog). Well, was I stupid. After about 10 mins I get an error, something about code 2705. I click next, and the installer continues to "install" and then I'm presented with one of the most informative screens ever:

Now the good news is that I'm not the only person getting this error. There's at least 3 other people having problems. Two of them get the same error as I do. Out of respect I won't mention who either of them are. So, save yourself those precious 15-20 minutes, don't bother!

CodeGear, when will you get it? When will you just say "Ok, we messed up, we made the wrong choice with the installer and we'll switch to something reliable and serious". It doesn't matter how much you try and 'optimize' and 'fix' the installer issues, it won't get there.

Comments:

Ritsaert Hornstra 2007-12-18 04:13:32 Hear hear! Same with the last update, I will only try to install this one when I have time somewhere around Christmas.
Lars Fosdal 2007-12-18 04:15:24 From the deep of Windows Installer error codes, http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372835.aspx 2705 Invalid table: [2]; Could not be linked as tree. ... which apparantly can be caused by overlapping merge module contents.
Andreas Hausladen 2007-12-18 04:20:54 Have you installed my binary patch for the Contextmenu bug? If so, please uninstall it before installing the update.
Hadi Hariri 2007-12-18 04:21:16 @Lars, And what am I meant to do with that information? :) This just calls for InnoSetup. I mean simplicity at it's best.
Hadi Hariri 2007-12-18 04:22:23 @Andreas, I hadn't installed your patch. On the build machine we only install "official" patches because we need to provide the same binaries for our customers. It's a policy thing :).
Fernando Madruga 2007-12-18 04:22:49 1 step forward, 2 steps back... CG won't get very far this way! Maybe that's why I didn't see the update available for download in the registered users area: they must have since removed it!... But thanks for the update: I'll save myself some trouble and only try this one next year!
Li Yang 2007-12-18 05:04:06 Hadi, Inno Setup may not be a solution for RAD Studio. RAD Studio is too large.
Hadi Hariri 2007-12-18 05:07:04 @Li, I do hope that your comment was with a tone of irony. Otherwise please state why you think this is so.
K.A. 2007-12-18 05:34:45 Inno Setup is the best. I've never seen a developer or End User complain about it. Simple, Fast, Reliable! I don't see the urge to use Windows Installer for CodeGear.
Li Yang 2007-12-18 06:16:13 I do not mean to look down upon Inno Setup. It is better than InstallAware in certain aspects. But I found out that even for a small project like this one (http://code.google.com/p/lextudio), the script is long and hard to maintain. Let's consider Delphi which consists of thousands of files and four languages. I guess a final Inno Setup script for it may be very large. I have read a few InstallAware reviews and used a lot of InstallAware powered installers. They worked just fine because they were small. In this case, I guess even if Inno Setup is best for small and medium projects whether it is best for Delphi is not yet determined.
Hadi Hariri 2007-12-18 06:45:45 @Li, I've been working and maintaining InnoSetup scripts for many projects. Take IW for example. We install packages, make registry calls, DLL calls and a whole slew of other things fine with ONE install package which is structured and very easy to maintain. We install for Delphi 5, 6, 7, C++ Builder 5, 6, BDS 2005, BDS 2006 and Delphi 2007 in all the flavors. It detects IDE's, it installs in correct paths, etc. I can't imagine how RAD STudio can be any more complicated, but even if it is, there's nothing wrong with Inno and it works fine. Our current Inno script is 1000 lines and it's very easy to fix things and find them. In fact with tools like ISTool, it's even easier (although I just prefer the text version). So, sorry, but don't agree with you at all
VT Venkatesh 2007-12-18 07:17:19 Well I had no issues & the update installed very well.I am using XP Professional
N. Kemal KARASU 2007-12-18 07:57:17 I got the same error message(2705). I think that occurs if you install an update onto an other (RAD Studio + November Update + December Update = FAIL). I had uninstall all RAD Studio, clean the registry and delete all related files (at least as i know) and reinstall the studio after that i had installed the update (RAD Studio + December Update = Success) without any fails. I know that's not the rigth way and nonsense. But ?
M. Smithson 2007-12-18 08:12:42 I installed the update without problems but it could be my lucky day. Didn't you test codegear setup before the official release? Didn't experiment this problem before the official release? Did Codegear release the package without (as an important thirdy party components producer) your opinion?
Isi Robayna 2007-12-18 09:17:13 Same problem here. I believe this error has to do with the fact that you (we) install Rad Studio RTM + November Update (2 or 3) As some other poster mentioned, the solution is to completely de-install Rad Studio and then apply all the updates. Which in my case it will take me a couple of days ... which I don't have right now. BTW... Feliz Navidad y prospero año Nuevo!
Hadi Hariri 2007-12-18 09:34:43 @Isi That's not a solution. That's just plain inconsiderate towards the customer if he/she has to uninstall previous official packages and install this new one. Feliz año a tí también, gracias! :)
Olaf Monien 2007-12-18 10:23:59 Yes, I get this error as well now. And no I don't have Andreas' patch installed, and yes I'm at 2804. I sent them a full MSI log of this ... My guess its something with localization. Unfortunately my English VM broke the other day so I can't verify for now.
Hadi Hariri 2007-12-18 01:04:44 @Olaf I have an english XP SP2 and it doesn't work.
Chris Pattinson 2007-12-18 02:14:32 Hi Hadi, I know we sent you a pre-RTM build of Update 3 to test Intraweb with. This would cause an error 2705 since it was not exactly RTM. I sent you an email with more details, please follow the steps, make sure you have the RTM Update 3 installed then contact me if you still have problems. In general we only saw this error when folks were applying the patch against the incorrect version. I agree the error messages could be much more informative, we'll work on that. Note - you could be at 2804, but there were several versions of the final installer before going live, and it must match properly. So this might be the issue. Or might not, could be something specific on your system is causing an error. As a technical partner you have access to the field test- did you ever try in the past few months to apply the update? Any issues?
Olaf Monien 2007-12-19 02:17:42 @Chris I don't think I had Update 3 installed on my VM. I'm currently rebuilding a completely clean VM though. If that works, it wouldn't solve the problem though. We still need a way to figure out where/what to clean up so that the update would work on machines that have whatever "dirt" leftover ...
Esteban Pacheco 2007-12-19 01:30:20 We installed on 3 Windows XP SP2, 1 Windows 2003 Enterprise Server R2, and 1 Windows 2003 Basic Server all with no problems. I do think they test it, and If yours didnt work as a good developer, try again in different ways and flavors. I cant stand when someone cries about how valuable is their time, and if they loose couple of hours is the end of the world, I am aware IW needs TOOONS of work and you guys need every second possible, but, just get it straight be a good sport guy and make it work, just like Olaf is doing. About Inno Setup, I use it, is nice for small apps, very simple, straight forward, don't attempt anything too complex, unless you want to spend your hours programming an installer instead of programming your software, and THAT IS a waste of time.
Hadi Hariri 2007-12-19 03:23:22 @Esteban With all due respect, I think I have the right to comment and write what I want on my own site. Regarding InstallAware I posted also in case others run into the problem. Finally, your comments on Inno are completely unjustified.
Lars Fosdal 2007-12-20 01:23:08 Ref. my earlier comment - not much u can do with the info I posted. Like most MS info, it is accurate - but useless. For what it's worth... I got a different but equally fatal error number 2904 "Could not BindImage file [2]" (repeatedly - gave up after 75+ OK btn clicks) in the installer preparation phase and I guess I am looking at an uninstall/reinstall as well. English Vista Ultimate 32-bit, but running Norwegian locale.
Lars Fosdal 2007-12-20 01:55:59 Ref. my earlier comment - not much u can do with the info I posted. Like most MS info, it is accurate - but useless. For what it's worth... I got a different but equally fatal error number 2904 "Could not BindImage file [2]" (repeatedly - gave up after 75+ OK btn clicks) in the installer preparation phase and I guess I am looking at an uninstall/reinstall as well. English Vista Ultimate 32-bit, but running Norwegian locale.
Shawn Oster 2007-12-22 01:59:20 I've always thought that CodeGear should offer an 'installer' challage and give everyone the install requirements and let the community prove that we can create a much better installer. Personally I'd love to redo the entire install in NSIS, but InnoSetup would be nice as well. I'm pretty sure the community would have an install that would be faster and more user-friendly in less than a month and in definitly less time than they've struggled with InstallAware.
Isi Robayna 2007-12-23 08:47:54 Hadi, Can you send me an email to irobayna@yahoo.com I need to ask you a question in private and I don't have your email anymore? Regards, Isi

Ritsaert Hornstra 2007-12-18 04:13:32
Hear hear!

Same with the last update, I will only try to install this one when I have time somewhere around Christmas.

Lars Fosdal 2007-12-18 04:15:24
From the deep of Windows Installer error codes, http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372835.aspx
2705 Invalid table: [2]; Could not be linked as tree.
... which apparantly can be caused by overlapping merge module contents.

Andreas Hausladen 2007-12-18 04:20:54
Have you installed my binary patch for the Contextmenu bug? If so, please uninstall it before installing the update.

Hadi Hariri 2007-12-18 04:21:16
@Lars,

And what am I meant to do with that information? :) This just calls for InnoSetup. I mean simplicity at it's best.

Hadi Hariri 2007-12-18 04:22:23
@Andreas,

I hadn't installed your patch. On the build machine we only install "official" patches because we need to provide the same binaries for our customers. It's a policy thing :).

Fernando Madruga 2007-12-18 04:22:49
1 step forward, 2 steps back... CG won't get very far this way! Maybe that's why I didn't see the update available for download in the registered users area: they must have since removed it!...

But thanks for the update: I'll save myself some trouble and only try this one next year!

Li Yang 2007-12-18 05:04:06
Hadi, Inno Setup may not be a solution for RAD Studio. RAD Studio is too large.

Hadi Hariri 2007-12-18 05:07:04
@Li,

I do hope that your comment was with a tone of irony. Otherwise please state why you think this is so.

K.A. 2007-12-18 05:34:45
Inno Setup is the best.

I've never seen a developer or End User complain about it. Simple, Fast, Reliable!
I don't see the urge to use Windows Installer for CodeGear.

Li Yang 2007-12-18 06:16:13
I do not mean to look down upon Inno Setup. It is better than InstallAware in certain aspects. But I found out that even for a small project like this one (http://code.google.com/p/lextudio), the script is long and hard to maintain.

Let's consider Delphi which consists of thousands of files and four languages. I guess a final Inno Setup script for it may be very large.

I have read a few InstallAware reviews and used a lot of InstallAware powered installers. They worked just fine because they were small.

In this case, I guess even if Inno Setup is best for small and medium projects whether it is best for Delphi is not yet determined.

Hadi Hariri 2007-12-18 06:45:45
@Li,

I've been working and maintaining InnoSetup scripts for many projects. Take IW for example. We install packages, make registry calls, DLL calls and a whole slew of other things fine with ONE install package which is structured and very easy to maintain. We install for Delphi 5, 6, 7, C++ Builder 5, 6, BDS 2005, BDS 2006 and Delphi 2007 in all the flavors. It detects IDE's, it installs in correct paths, etc. I can't imagine how RAD STudio can be any more complicated, but even if it is, there's nothing wrong with Inno and it works fine. Our current Inno script is 1000 lines and it's very easy to fix things and find them. In fact with tools like ISTool, it's even easier (although I just prefer the text version).

So, sorry, but don't agree with you at all

VT Venkatesh 2007-12-18 07:17:19
Well I had no issues & the update installed very well.I am using XP Professional

N. Kemal KARASU 2007-12-18 07:57:17
I got the same error message(2705). I think that occurs if you install an update onto an other (RAD Studio + November Update + December Update = FAIL). I had uninstall all RAD Studio, clean the registry and delete all related files (at least as i know) and reinstall the studio after that i had installed the update (RAD Studio + December Update = Success) without any fails. I know that's not the rigth way and nonsense. But ?

M. Smithson 2007-12-18 08:12:42
I installed the update without problems but it could be my lucky day.
Didn't you test codegear setup before the official release?
Didn't experiment this problem before the official release?
Did Codegear release the package without (as an important thirdy party components producer) your opinion?

Isi Robayna 2007-12-18 09:17:13
Same problem here. I believe this error has to do with the fact that you (we) install Rad Studio RTM + November Update (2 or 3)
As some other poster mentioned, the solution is to completely de-install Rad Studio and then apply all the updates. Which in my case it will take me a couple of days ... which I don't have right now.

BTW... Feliz Navidad y prospero año Nuevo!

Hadi Hariri 2007-12-18 09:34:43
@Isi

That's not a solution. That's just plain inconsiderate towards the customer if he/she has to uninstall previous official packages and install this new one.

Feliz año a tí también, gracias! :)

Olaf Monien 2007-12-18 10:23:59
Yes, I get this error as well now. And no I don't have Andreas' patch installed, and yes I'm at 2804.
I sent them a full MSI log of this ...
My guess its something with localization. Unfortunately my English VM broke the other day so I can't verify for now.

Hadi Hariri 2007-12-18 01:04:44
@Olaf

I have an english XP SP2 and it doesn't work.

Chris Pattinson 2007-12-18 02:14:32
Hi Hadi,

I know we sent you a pre-RTM build of Update 3 to test Intraweb with. This would cause an error 2705 since it was not exactly RTM. I sent you an email with more details, please follow the steps, make sure you have the RTM Update 3 installed then contact me if you still have problems. In general we only saw this error when folks were applying the patch against the incorrect version. I agree the error messages could be much more informative, we'll work on that.

Note - you could be at 2804, but there were several versions of the final installer before going live, and it must match properly. So this might be the issue. Or might not, could be something specific on your system is causing an error.

As a technical partner you have access to the field test- did you ever try in the past few months to apply the update? Any issues?

Olaf Monien 2007-12-19 02:17:42
@Chris
I don't think I had Update 3 installed on my VM. I'm currently rebuilding a completely clean VM though. If that works, it wouldn't solve the problem though. We still need a way to figure out where/what to clean up so that the update would work on machines that have whatever "dirt" leftover ...

Esteban Pacheco 2007-12-19 01:30:20
We installed on 3 Windows XP SP2, 1 Windows 2003 Enterprise Server R2, and 1 Windows 2003 Basic Server all with no problems.

I do think they test it, and If yours didnt work as a good developer, try again in different ways and flavors.

I cant stand when someone cries about how valuable is their time, and if they loose couple of hours is the end of the world, I am aware IW needs TOOONS of work and you guys need every second possible, but, just get it straight be a good sport guy and make it work, just like Olaf is doing.

About Inno Setup, I use it, is nice for small apps, very simple, straight forward, don't attempt anything too complex, unless you want to spend your hours programming an installer instead of programming your software, and THAT IS a waste of time.

Hadi Hariri 2007-12-19 03:23:22
@Esteban

With all due respect, I think I have the right to comment and write what I want on my own site. Regarding InstallAware I posted also in case others run into the problem.

Finally, your comments on Inno are completely unjustified.

Lars Fosdal 2007-12-20 01:23:08
Ref. my earlier comment - not much u can do with the info I posted. Like most MS info, it is accurate - but useless.

For what it's worth... I got a different but equally fatal error number 2904 "Could not BindImage file [2]" (repeatedly - gave up after 75+ OK btn clicks) in the installer preparation phase and I guess I am looking at an uninstall/reinstall as well.

English Vista Ultimate 32-bit, but running Norwegian locale.

Lars Fosdal 2007-12-20 01:55:59
Ref. my earlier comment - not much u can do with the info I posted. Like most MS info, it is accurate - but useless.

For what it's worth... I got a different but equally fatal error number 2904 "Could not BindImage file [2]" (repeatedly - gave up after 75+ OK btn clicks) in the installer preparation phase and I guess I am looking at an uninstall/reinstall as well.

English Vista Ultimate 32-bit, but running Norwegian locale.

Shawn Oster 2007-12-22 01:59:20
I've always thought that CodeGear should offer an 'installer' challage and give everyone the install requirements and let the community prove that we can create a much better installer.

Personally I'd love to redo the entire install in NSIS, but InnoSetup would be nice as well. I'm pretty sure the community would have an install that would be faster and more user-friendly in less than a month and in definitly less time than they've struggled with InstallAware.

Isi Robayna 2007-12-23 08:47:54
Hadi,
Can you send me an email to irobayna@yahoo.com I need to ask you a question in private and I don't have your email anymore?
Regards,

Isi

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Applying Delphi 2007 Update pack or 'My hate towards InstallAware is justified'

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