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MSI Error 1603 "A fatal error occurred during installation" (ISMsiServerStartup)

henderson1977
Grafter
Posts: 191
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

MSI Error 1603 "A fatal error occurred during installation" (ISMsiServerStartup)

Dear all
We are trying to install a 3rd party MSI but getting the dreaded 1603 MSI error.  We have tried allsorts inc. elevating NTFS/registry/DCOM permissions to no avail and we have checked we can install other MSIs fine with out current version of InstallShield (11.5).  I have attached the verbose MSI logfile (rename extension to .txt or .log) in the hope someone can read and understand it and shine some light on our predicament. I have copied an extract from the logfile below for quick reference to the seemingly problematic area:-
------------------
MSI (s) (68!70) [11:46:40:300]: Creating MSIHANDLE (236) of type 790531 for thread 2160
1: Failed to extract IGdi.dll, Ignore it.
MSI (s) (68!70) [11:46:40:300]: Closing MSIHANDLE (236) of type 790531 for thread 2160
MSI (s) (68!54) [11:46:40:300]: Creating MSIHANDLE (237) of type 790531 for thread 2644
1: ISMsiServerStartup Failure, Failed to Initialize script support, Error = 0x80070006
MSI (s) (68!54) [11:46:40:300]: Closing MSIHANDLE (237) of type 790531 for thread 2644
MSI (s) (68:3C) [11:46:40:300]: Closing MSIHANDLE (194) of type 790542 for thread 2392
1: MsiServerStartup failed. Abort installation.
Action ended 11:46:40: ISStartup. Return value 3.
MSI (s) (68:58) [11:46:40:316]: Doing action: ISCleanUpFatalExit
Action ended 11:46:40: ISMsiServerStartup. Return value 1603.

------------------
Thanks
Scott
8 REPLIES 8
samuria
Grafter
Posts: 1,581
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎13-04-2007

Re: MSI Error 1603 "A fatal error occurred during installation" (ISMsiServerStartup)

It seems the problems start when it fails to extract gdi.dll. This could be its corrupt or it cant extract it due to problems with the disk maybe even a file in use.
You may find this page useful
http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2005/08/01/446328.aspx 
have you tried on other pc's or tried clearing the temp dir first
henderson1977
Grafter
Posts: 191
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: MSI Error 1603 "A fatal error occurred during installation" (ISMsiServerStartup)

Thanks for your suggestions Samuria.
I have tried the suiggestions on the link you posted, cleared the TEMP locations and other PCs to no avail.
Any other suggestions welcome.
Cheers
Scott
minkey
Rising Star
Posts: 418
Thanks: 15
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎22-07-2007

Re: MSI Error 1603 "A fatal error occurred during installation" (ISMsiServerStartup)

Have you looked at this?
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/bb490936.aspx
Specifically the repair feature:
To repair the installation package, type:
msiexec /fpecms Example.msi
Jeff
henderson1977
Grafter
Posts: 191
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: MSI Error 1603 "A fatal error occurred during installation" (ISMsiServerStartup)

Thanks for the suggestion but the problem is that the MSI fails to install (not showing in Add/Remove Programs),  so when I tried to repair it using msiexec /fpecms QuickView.msi, I get "This action is only valid for products that are currently installed".
samuria
Grafter
Posts: 1,581
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎13-04-2007

Re: MSI Error 1603 "A fatal error occurred during installation" (ISMsiServerStartup)

Is the quickview file viewer we are talking about. If it is I didnt know it was still going.
Is it all xp pc you have tried it on? Can you try it on any old OS like win2k.
If its something you have bought I would get onto support you could be hitting your head against a brick wall.
If it is quickview file viewer download a trail copy and see if that works.
Unless you have wise studio or similar that can actually edit msi's there is little you can do if the dll is corrupt in the msi nothing is going to make it work.
You could try downloading the dll from
[url]http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?gdi[/url
and put that into the temp dir were the msi has been extracting it to and see if it work. It could be a quick catch if it fails to extract that file then I assume the script then aborts as it needs the file and cant work without it but if it over rights the file you put there then it still wont work so you would have to drop it in again fast.
It may work if you put the file in the path ie windows\system32 as it may then find it. It all depends if it fails because it cant extract it or because it cant runn the rest of the file without it. If it doesnt care about the failed extraction putting it in the path should work
I'm guessing that you are trying to install an older prog on Win2k or WinXP. To save on size, the program was probably built to use the graphics library included in the Windows OS of the time... the gdi.dll. But now gdi.dll is no more... it's been replaced by gdi32.dll.
henderson1977
Grafter
Posts: 191
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: MSI Error 1603 "A fatal error occurred during installation" (ISMsiServerStartup)

We only have XP SP2 machines and my home PC is Vista so we don't have any old OSs to hand to test.  I have emailed the details of the problem to our supplier and await their response.
I wasn't aware QuickView was/is a commercial product, I thought it was a proprietary app created by Interwoven (we use their DeskSite Document Management System).  Interwoven supplied us with the files required for the Office 2007 Compatibility Pack so that it is compatible with DeskSite, QuickView Updater 8.2 being one of those files.  A Google search led me to http://web17.webbpro.de/index.php?page=quickview but no indication of the version, even in Add/Remove Programs after I manually installed it.  Am I looking in the place?
I'm no MSI guru but I can use Orca to edit the MSI.  In fact, I tried changing "Interactive User" from Y to N, but even this modified MSI failed with the same logfile.  I can see gdi32.dll in C:\Windows\System32\.  I downloaded and copied GDI.DLL to C:\Windows\System32 and C:\Windows\Temp (MSI Temp location) but QuickView Updater 8.2 MSI still failed with the same logfile.  On closer inspection, the file that fails to extract is actually IGdi.dll (or igdi.dll in lowercase).  Well, I searched my machine and Google but no luck finding IGdi.dll.  So perhaps we're barking up the wrong tree with the failed to extract DLLs?
Other sources say to look for the first line that states "Return value 3", which in our case is Action ended 11:46:40: ISStartup. Return value 3.  So could it be that InstallShield is corrupt?  I was almost certain it was a permissions issue though...
Huh
samuria
Grafter
Posts: 1,581
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎13-04-2007

Re: MSI Error 1603 "A fatal error occurred during installation" (ISMsiServerStartup)

You can get igdi.dll from
http://www.dlldll.com/igdi.dll_download.html may be worth a try. there are lots of version of that file see
http://www.programchecker.com/file/23589.aspx
henderson1977
Grafter
Posts: 191
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: MSI Error 1603 "A fatal error occurred during installation" (ISMsiServerStartup)

We resolved this by opening the problematic MSI in Orca, deleting all Custom Actions and re-saving as a new MSI.  It deploys fine, logfile confirming "successfully installed".  Hallelujah!    Cheesy
Thanks all for your help, much appreciated!
Hope this helps others.
Scott