Software installation failing

[GoldenWonder]

Got an odd one here. I'm trying to install Revelation Sight and Sound using a group policy (as I do for countless other packages)

 

An MSI is provided so bunging that into a GPO and deploying was easy. All the PCs detect it and then start to install ('Installing managed software...')

 

However, thats where they stop - nothing happens from then on. I've even left one for 2 hours and it stayed at that point. The event viewer only shows that the assignment of the policy was successful - no more messages are logged after that.

 

Rebooting the PC is the only option at this point.

 

As I've got 500 PCs to put this on I would like the automatic deployment to work! Odd thing is if you manually run the MSI it works fine, installs the program and the program works OK.

 

Anyone any ideas what I can do to trace the problem?

[K.C.Leblanc]

Does the MSi install any patches, MS updates or any dot net stuff as well as the software.

 

I've found that the mechanism in MSIs that initiates another installation doesn't always work properly when they're being run silently. The solution is to install the patch first.

[GoldenWonder]

No theres no patches or transforms or anything else, just a simple MSI (of around 200mb)

[zippo]

Not all MSI's allow silent installs - which prevents them installing using GPO's.

 

Suggest that you try running the MSI under a command box - the /a and /qb switches should be tried (/a is admin install, while /qb is quiet basic install)

 

If at any point the full application installation dialogue boxes appear requestin input - then I'm afraid you can't install it using that msi file.

[GoldenWonder]

It doesn't have an administrative option, but when I run it with the /qb option manually it installs ok. It seems to be it will only install when run directly, which defeats the point of giving you an MSI in the first place.

 

Tech support for this is a little err, vague shall we say.

[zippo]

Well sort of - but there are a lot of applications out there disributed as MSI's that you can't use GPO software installation with - mainly because they don't exactly follow the rules. Next question - pretty obviosuly you installed whilst logged on as some soft of admin user. Could the problem be due to software installation permissions?

 

Perhaps you could try a different track - and use one of the free package building packages to re-create the MSI

[GoldenWonder]

Well I'm going to try and build my own msi and see what happens - I've evene edited this package with Orca and it seems OK, no errors etc

[GoldenWonder]

What a crock this software is! I've tried my own package, their package and god knows what in between. Result is that any PC that begins the install hangs - disgraceful for so called commercial software. Tech support are about as much help as a used teabag.

 

Anyone else using this miserable excuse for an application?

[pete]

Do you get anything useful when turning on verbose logging when installing using msiexec?

[GoldenWonder]

No, nothing - I think its not even getting to the point of begining the install. The event viewer only shows it was successfully 'assigned' - thats it until you reboot the machine (I think the gpo times out after 30 minutes). No errors are logged in the event viewer and with Debug/verbose logging enabled on the policy nothing it generated.

 

Its almost as if it hangs immediately the installation begins.

[GoldenWonder]

Well for the first time in my IT career I'm giving up.It doesn't work and there doesn't appear to be a resolution.

 

I don't like giving up but I've wasted far too much time on this half-baked rubbish! Its going back for a refund, not fit for purpose.

 

Problem is any old cruddy software gets the 'education' and 'network site licence' labels shoved on it, when the tech support have never even tried it on a network. Useless.