Test: New installer for beta versions

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Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *ghisler(Author) »

The beta test for Total Commander 9.50 will start very soon. I have created a special online installer for beta versions only, because I have noticed that there are many people who still use outdated beta versions. They are still available on various sites.

The beta installer will only be used for beta versions. It gets a list of available beta versions from www.ghisler.com and then downloads the cab file with the actual installation data only when the installation starts. It also works with normal user rights, and only requests admin rights when needed. This feature will be added also to the normal installer.

A test version of the installer is available here:
https://www.totalcommander.ch/beta/totalcmdbetainst.exe

Currently it only links to Total Commander 9.22a and 9.22 in all 3 variations (32+64bit, 32bit, 64bit), for test purposes.

Please let me know if you have any problems with it!

For corporate users who cannot allow Internet access to the installer, there is also an offline mode.
It works like this:
1. Download the installer https://www.totalcommander.ch/beta/totalcmdbetainst.exe
2. Download the inf file: https://www.ghisler.com/install/tcbeta.inf
3. Download one of the cab files referenced in the inf file (the one needed for this installation)
4. Run totalcmdbetainst.exe tcbeta.inf
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *Usher »

Good testers keep more than one beta installer - it allows to faster find regressions. Will the new installer allow to choose specific beta version for download rather then automatically download the newest one?
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *petermad »

I prefer to unpack the files manually - will you still provide direct links to the installation pack (exe or cab)?
Last edited by petermad on 2019-10-11, 22:57 UTC, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *clifford_cooley »

petermad wrote: 2019-10-11, 20:50 UTCwill you still provide direct links to the installation pack (exe of cab)?
Would the instructions for corporate users work for you?
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *petermad »

2clifford_cooley
Would the instructions for corporate users work for you?
I can see that I can find the direct link to the .cab file inside the https://www.ghisler.com/install/tcbeta.inf - but I find it inconvenient to have to download that file first to get the link.
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *Usher »

I can see that installer lists both 9.22a and 9.22 versions, with the newest one on the top, selected as default - it's OK for me.

However, tcbeta.inf contains multiple strings with different ANSI encodings. Why not Unicode?
And why repeat many identical sections rather then use common block for them?
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *ghisler(Author) »

Good testers keep more than one beta installer - it allows to faster find regressions. Will the new installer allow to choose specific beta version for download rather then automatically download the newest one?
Yes, that's one of the advantages of the new installer - it allows you to install any previous beta version with the same installer. No need to search for old installers.
However, tcbeta.inf contains multiple strings with different ANSI encodings. Why not Unicode?
And why repeat many identical sections rather then use common block for them?
I wanted to re-use existing install.inf files with the least possible changes. It also makes it easier to extract the installation for just one version, and then use that in the standalone installer.
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *Usher »

2ghisler(Author)
Thanks for explanation.
I hope you will finally move all features to Unicode when you start working on TC X ;-)
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *DrShark »

Here on Vista 32-bit the 3rd beta of installer (signed on Nov 20, 2019), if launched for online install (without parameters), it doesn't show TC versions for install, instead:
* in "Install:" window, there is a text "<No files>";
* background blue window has a text "Version not available!"
* background blue window title is "Installation Version not available!"
This happens even if to launch it in some empty folder with no other files there, with installer file added to exceptions for Windows Firewall, and launching it As Administrator doesn't change above behavior too.

Behavior of 1st beta of new installer (signed on Oct 16, 2019): It shows 64+32-, 32- and 64-bit versions TC 9.50 beta 2 in install options.

Behavior of 2nd beta of new installer (signed on Oct 20, 2019): It shows 64+32-, 32- and 64-bit versions TC 9.50 beta 7, as well as list of previous betas from 6 to 1 in install options.
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *ghisler(Author) »

Since the download part is unchanged, it must be caused by your antivirus due to the new certificate.
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *DrShark »

ghisler(Author) wrote: 2019-12-02, 09:41 UTCSince the download part is unchanged, it must be caused by your antivirus due to the new certificate.
It seems to be related to installer name! If the installer file has a name in format totalcmdbetainst_<something>.exe, like totalcmdbetainst_beta3.exe, I get this "Version not available!" error, and the same happens with previous beta installers if to give them such name. It's strange this error doesn't happen if the name format is totalcmdbetainst_(<something>.exe.

When error happens, TCPView shows the connection of installer to host.ghisler.com is ESTABLISHED, then goes to CLOSE_WAIT state:

Code: Select all

totalcmdbetainst_beta3.exe	5192	TCP	<myPCname>	54080	host.ghisler.com	https	CLOSE_WAIT	3	429	5	5 522						
I checked this with antivirus fully disabled. Windows firewall here doesn't seem to have any deny/block inbound and outbound rules set for files with such name pattern...
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *Usher »

DrShark wrote: 2019-12-02, 14:27 UTCWindows firewall here doesn't seem to have any deny/block inbound and outbound rules set for files with such name pattern...
It's not firewall, it's UAC, see here: https://www.advancedinstaller.com/user-guide/vista-uac.html
AdvancedInstaller wrote:Windows Vista or above heuristically detects installation, updater, uninstallation programs and requests administrator credentials or administrator approval in order to run with access privileges. This heuristic detection checks such attributes like: filenames, keywords, versioning resources, etc. (e.g. keywords like: "install", "setup", "update", etc.). Note that this detection heuristic applies only if you do not add requested execution level information to the application's manifest. Beware, if you do not set an execution level information your application might be easily mistaken as an application that needs administrator privileges.
Your browser may have similar rules implemented. What browser do you use? Can you download the file with any download manager?
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *Flint »

2Usher
UAC has nothing to do with it. And browsers even less.
The detect happens only when you start the application, so it does not matter what tool it was downloaded with. And, even more, this detect only works for applications which don't have a proper manifest (that is, for legacy applications, which don't know about elevation), while totalcmdbetainst.exe does have such a manifest. Also, UAC does not block network connections, it's not a firewall, so it could not have prevented the installer from downloading the info. And on top of all that, DrShark said, he started both with and without elevation. If, despite all common sense, UAC still had anything to do with it, the problem would disappear in one of these modes.
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *DrShark »

2ghisler(Author)
I also sent to support email the capture made with Microsoft Network Monitor of traffic between my PC and 168.235.88.148 on the time while totalcmdbetainst_beta3.exe was running. Even though it seems to be https connection, I hope this capture will add some help to find out what is happening.

I'm not sure all the traffic of totalcmdbetainst_beta3.exe went to that capture, because I only could manage to set capture filter by IP 168.235.88.148 - it seems all famous network monitoring tools like netmon, wireshark, windump, are overcomplicated and just not designed to perform a simple task: watch till for some process name will appear in tasks list, once it's started - capture all its traffic...
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Re: Test: New installer for beta versions

Post by *ghisler(Author) »

It seems to be related to installer name! If the installer file has a name in format totalcmdbetainst_<something>.exe, like totalcmdbetainst_beta3.exe, I get this "Version not available!" error
That's actually a feature of the installer! If there is an underscore in the name, it will look for the inf file with that name after the underscore!
The correct name for beta 3 would be:
totalcmdbetainst_tcbeta3.exe
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