Difficulties installing NVDA 2024.3beta1

[CyrilleB79]

I do not know if these issues are specific to my system. I write them here in case other people experiment the same issues than I.

Steps to reproduce:

• Launch NVDA 2024.2rc2 (the last one)
• When NVDA offers to update to 2024.3beta1, accept it.

Actual behavior:

I get the following dialog:

File in Use
The installation is unable to remove or overwrite a file. Another copy of NVDA may be running on another logged-on user account. > Please make sure all installed copies of NVDA are shut down and try the installation again.

Notes:

• there is no indication in the log of the path/name of the file causing this issue unfortunately.
• during the install, I think that there were a virus scan in the background (Symantec Endpoint Protection); wonder if it was the culprit.

After having closed all other windows and interrupted the virus scan, I press "Retry" in this dialog, without success.

Then I have cancelled the install and tried to restart NVDA with control+alt+N.
Unfortunately, my NVDA 2024.2rc2 is in a broken state. I get the following error message:

C:\Program Files (x86)\NVDA\nvda_slave.exe
Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item.

If I restart or just disconnectclose/reopen user session, NVDA starts correctly automatically when the session open. But I cannot restart it with control+alt+N.

No more luck trying to upgrade after computer restart.

Then I have downloaded the installer from the web and launched it manually. I get the following message:

You are attempting to install an earlier version of NVDA than the version currently installed. If you really wish to revert to an earlier version, you should first cancel this installation and completely uninstall NVDA before installing the earlier version.

Note: looking at the code, I can see that the date of nvda_slave.exe is looked at to determine if the install is older or newer. In case of error unfortunately, there is no warning logged.

Finally, I have chosen to install 2024.3beta1 on 2024.2rc1, ignoring the wrong warning. The install seems successful.

Note: I have also had to validate the new certificate ("Run anyway") during this process, but I cannot remember when I did it.

Expected behavior:

NVDA should install normally.

NVDA logs, crash dumps and other attachments:

N/A

System configuration

NVDA installed/portable/running from source:

Installed (or almost)

NVDA version:

2024.2rc2 to 2024.3beta1 (install process)

Windows version:

Windows 10 22H2 (AMD64) build 19045.4529

Name and version of other software in use when reproducing the issue:

N/A

Other information about your system:

N/A

Other questions

Does the issue still occur after restarting your computer?

Yes (at least for part of the process)

Have you tried any other versions of NVDA? If so, please report their behaviors.

No

If NVDA add-ons are disabled, is your problem still occurring?

Yes (for part of the process at least)

Does the issue still occur after you run the COM Registration Fixing Tool in NVDA's tools menu?

N/A

[josephsl]

Hi, having encountered similar issues on alpha builds, I found that one way to “resolve” this is to wait until NVDA finishes announcing User Account Control screen content, say “yes”, and wait for the installation to complete. Thanks.

[CyrilleB79]

Thanks for your feedback @josephsl. Have you a link (GitHub or mailing list discussions) where your experience on alpha is described?

My experience is not really similar though.
In any case, I have had to have the UAC announced by NVDA and focused since on this computer, I am running NVDA on an account without admin rights and I have to explicitly enter a user name and a passsword for a speicific local administrator account to start the update installation.
But the root cause may be the same.

[LeonarddeR]

I have seen this with a recent alpha build as well. Thought it was just random. I was able to fix it by executing taskkill /f /im nvda.exe

[Adriani90]

Are you having any braille display connected?
I can imagine following PRs could have an impact:
#16710, #16738, #16771, or #16712.

[CyrilleB79]

No, no braille display was connected.

[michaelDCurran]

I am able to reproduce the issue, with the cause being that nvda_slave.exe is currently running suspended, when it should not be running at all.
The exact commandline line that started it was:

c:\program files (x86)\nvda\nvda_slave.exe launchNVDA -r

The only place this occurs is when starting NVDA from the desktop shortcut or with control+alt+n.
Though nvda_slave.exe should launch nvda.exe with shellExecute and exit straight away. It hsould not stay running nor become suspended. In deed, I'm not even sure how a process generally becomes suspended...

After killing nvda_slave.exe and trying many more installs and restarts of NVDA with control+alt+n, I am unable to reproduce the issue. So, I have no current idea what is causing nvda_slave.exe to sty around suspended.
A possibility may be that Windows is "restarting" it when rebooting for windows updates and auto logging in again... though I'm really not sure.

We may have to consider adding specific code to the installer to kill nvda_slave.exe, though this is pretty drastic.

As to why it is suddenly starting to happen now, and how... Perhaps it is a very recent change in Windows 11?

Also, NVDA seeming to be broken after failed installation I think is more that the Windows shell is confused about nvda_slave.exe being around suspended. I think we can rule out install corruption - installer code added earlier this year ensures that if any of the exe files cannot be replaced, then no changes are made to the existing install.

[CyrilleB79]

@michaelDCurran wonders:

As to why it is suddenly starting to happen now, and how... Perhaps it is a very recent change in Windows 11?

Not at all. As detailed in this issue's initial description, the issue has occurred on Windows 10 22H2 on my end.

[michaelDCurran]

@CyrilleB79 Ah sorry I misread your OS version. Most likely not a new Microsoft issue then.

[Adriani90]

I wonder whether this issue is for a longer time there in other circumstances but now it became more noticeable? Maybe #11553 and #11314 could be related?

[seanbudd]

We are going to try killing the nvda_slave.exe process using psutil if it fails to be deleted. We can also add logs for information on running processes

[CyrilleB79]

I have just had the issue again while installing 2024.3beta2 on the same computer. This time, there were no virus scan in the background.

When the "Retry" dialog appeared, Instead of interrupting the installation of NVDA, I have terminated the process "nvda.exe", as suggested by @LeonarddeR in #16784 (comment), through taskmanager rather than through command line though. Then I have pressed "Retry" and NVDA's installation has been able to complete successfully.