Our application requires HASP SRM device driver to be installed in order for ours to install and run.
At this time, only their 5.50 drivers work consistently on all tested platforms (both their 5.75 (official) and 5.86 (beta) drivers crash on about 1 in 3 computers tested).
Hence, their 5.50 drivers are good, anything else currently available is broken, and the 5.50 drivers refuse to load under Vista and Windows 7. However, if I set the exe's properties to "XP compatibility mode" then their 5.50 driver installs and runs successfully.
I dug around in the registry under Windows 7, and I've found that there is at least one entry made when I ask for compatibility mode:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers\
full-path REG_SZ WINXPSP3
I should be able to add that key from our installer, before attempting to launch the 5.50 driver installer.
Questions:
Where I can find a more complete discussion of compatibility modes?
Are the keys/settings different under Vista vs. Windows 7?
Are the keys/settings different under 32 bit vs. 64 bit?
Is there a way to directly ask for this when I call CreateProcess()?
You can set the __COMPAT_LAYER environment variable (By setting it in your process before calling CreateProcess, or build a new environment block for CreateProcess)
Related
I'm trying to debug a 32 bit program on 64 bit Windows 7.
So I use gflags to set the debugger for that app. I fill in the path of the application, and the one of the debugger. But when I start the application, WinDBG doesn't run.
The same configuration works on 32 bit Windows 7.
So, is it impossible to debug a 32 bit application on 64 bit environment?
For me this has always worked, even if I use the "wrong" architecture gflags.
However Windbg must be in the PATH, or you must include path when you specify the debugger to gflags.
UPDATE
This is an old question. Older versions of gflags used to store the settings in one of the locations:
HTML\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options
or
HTML\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options
Depending on which architecture you pick for gflags.exe, it will affect either 64 bit or 32 bit processes.
Apparently at some point (thanks, #Thomas Weller to point it out), Microsoft changed gflags behavior and now (November 2016) current version of gflags.exe writes to both 32-bit and 64-bit registry locations, irrespective of the architecture.
This is a bit of a problem, because I used to use to attach 32-bit debugger to 32-bit processes and 64-bit debugger to 64 bit processes with the same process name. Now I cannot use gflags for this. However the workaround is to directly modify registry keys under Image File Execution Options.
Old Answer
Processor architecture of gflags.exe actually matters. If you use 64-bit version of Windows Debugging tools and launch gflags.exe from there, it will affect behavior of 64-bit applications. Similarly, if you use 32-bit version of Windows Debugging Tools and launch gflags.exe, it will affect 32-bit applications.
32-bit and 64-bit versions could be installed side-by-side. Pay close attention on bitness of application you are debugging and use the same architecture of the debugger/tools.
I currently have a 32-bit PowerBuilder application that we are trying to port over to a Windows 7 64-bit environment. Realizing the obvious that PowerBuilder 10.5 was built previously before Window7 came out and the big also the obvious fact that this application was built within a Windows XP 32-bit environment.
The 32-bit PowerBuilder application spits out the following error message when deployed on a Windows 7 64-bit machine.
Application Terminated. Error: Invalid DataWindow row/column specified at line 44 in function ivvisiblecolumn of object objectwindow
The database profile setup points to an OLEDB and the backend database is MSSQL 2008. Currently the application does run on the Windows7 64-bit environment and seems to be working in an inquiry mode only. Meaning we can read some of the records on the datawindow, but as soon as you try to make a transaction it blows up.
My question is - Is it possible to get a 32-bit app working in a 64-bit environment?
So far the client is asking to come up with possible solutions without the idea of upgrading to PowerBuilder 12.5. Essentially they want to stay at 10.5 but yet get the app working from a 32-bit environment to a 64-bit...apples to oranges if you know what I mean. Further investigation is needed into whether the code will not function in 64bit or dll issues with powerbuilder client runtime in 64bit. They are really trying to stay away from any app rewrite since the application is older than when Christ was a carpenter. The app was originally built in PB 6.5 I think.
So far I have the following ideas but I am new to this:
- I understand that Windows 7 comes with a virtual machine IIRC. I think it's called WOW64. Is it possible to create a virtual on a server and have the users run a 32-bit application inside a 64-bit machine? Then create a shortcut of somekind for the user to simply click on?
We do have a virtual XP machine and a virtual Windows7 64 bit machine for testing. PowerBuilder 10.5 actually installed on Windows 7 and seems to be working fine. However running the application in run mode or debug causes many errors as you can imagine.
The application has been built in XP and run on Windows 7, but the results yeild the above error message.
I have not looked yet into the Run under Compatibility mode, but I am told by the team it will not work.
I have not looked at UAC or ALC User management yet. Could that be something affecting the 64-bit system?
I know this is app unrelated but...I have seen in some cases 32-bit applications work in a windows 64-bit environment by simply targeting certain DLL files. An example case is Microsoft Flight Simulator X where the 32-bit game would crash in windows 7 64-bit. The solution for that was to simply go get a Vista 64-bit DLL file called uiautomationcore.dll and copy that into the windows environment. The Games also have to be installed on the root of C: in order to work.
Does anyone have any recommendations on how I can approach this problem?
I apologize If I'm vague in my notes here.
UPDATE: Has anyone had any experience with PB 10.5 runtime files on a 64 bit machine? I am wondering if the powerbuilder client runtime is installing its dlls into the correct location of the application C:\XXX or can't find it? Wondering how to approach this.
Basically nothing should prevent a 10.5 PB app to run on Win7/64. I develop and run several products in PB11.5 (also a 32bit IDE) on a win7/64. And btw, some older PB like 9 still run on Win7, so is likely PB6.5. The problem must be elsewhere, relative to the app design.
WoW64 (and Wow6432Node in the registry) is not a true VM, it's a bunch of services and system API hooked with fallbacks for 32 bit applications (and legacy applications that do not conform to the novelties introduced since Vista)
Error: Invalid DataWindow row/column specified at line 44 in function ivvisiblecolumn of object objectwindow sounds typically like an incorrectly handled return value (where a computed row number is getting negative or null before trying to access a property or data at that given invalid row), or it could be relative to the way to get back an autoincrement value from the db after an insert
beware of the UAC management that could lead to unexpected behavior with legacy application, especially if the application is using a database: the UAC guidelines tells not to install data managed by the application in the Program Files folder that is now Read only (since Vista - that guideline is since XP). Instead you must put that into a ProgramData sub-directory if it is accessible by everyone and into a user local AppData if the data is just for the current user. Win7/Vista can silently conforms to the standard by duplicating the data locally to the user (in the Users\username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore) while still pretending to the application that it is currently accessing it from Program Files...
you could give a try with Dependency Walker to look for the incorrect dll problems
We moved many of our applications to Windows 7 64bit. The only issue we ran into was with the database connections. You are running a 32bit application so you need to connect to 32bit database. If you bring up "Data Sources (ODBC)" from the control panel, you will be looking at the 64 bit entries. You need to use the 32 bit ODBC found in "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe". The Registry entries you need are in the following locations...
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ODBC\ODBCINST.INI
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ODBC\ODBCINST.INI\ODBC Drivers
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ODBC\ODBC.INI
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ODBC\ODBC.INI\ODBC Data Sources
or
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ODBC\ODBCINST.INI
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ODBC\ODBCINST.INI\ODBC Drivers
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ODBC\ODBC.INI
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ODBC\ODBC.INI\ODBC Data Sources
I am developing a driver based on ddk sample "passthru" and I have trouble loading this driver in win7(x86 or x64). I have tested my driver in winxp (x86 and x64), and it works pretty well, but when I tried to load this driver into win7 (F8->Disable Driver Signature Enforcement), it seemed failed. Then, I tried the native passthru code, it also failed. I thought it failed because
I can not see any outputs using KdPrint fron windbg.
I can not see any useful information from system event.
I set a breakpoint on passthru!DriverEntry, it seems that DriverEntry has not been called.
My WDK is 7600.16385.1, and passthru is supposed to be compatible with win7. I compile passthru using command "build -cZ".
Could you help me understanding this problem, or any clue about why passthru not loaded in win7?
I have built this driver in win7 x86 checked build environment， and tested in win7 x86.
Solved: Actually, the driver has been loaded, but the output of KdPrint not shown in win7 by default, you should use KdPrintEx to specify message level, or modify registry to make debug message shown. Now I have no idea why bp failed either.
Normally you can't use a driver that was built for WinXP target on a Win7 machine. Rebuild for Win7 target.
Well your question is rather unspecific, but I see one particular problem here: Enabling test-signing and disabling kernel mode signing policy still requires you to sign the binary ... (after WHQL-tests MS would cross-sign the .cat file for the driver). Refer to this.
See:
For 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and later versions of Windows,
the kernel-mode code signing policy requires that all kernel-mode code
have a digital signature.
and:
The operating system loader and the kernel load drivers that are
signed by any certificate. The certificate validation is not required
to chain up to a trusted root certification authority. However, each
driver image file must have a digital signature.
These commands should allow to load a driver signed with anything
bcdedit.exe -set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
bcdedit.exe -set TESTSIGNING ON
You don't mention what target OS you chose when building. Icepack mentioned it. You need to actually build for Windows 7 to make it work with the new NDIS 6.0. Simply loading a driver built for XP (and older NDIS version) may not work at all.
My suggestion, use DDKBUILD.CMD and build one driver with (free build, W7):
ddkbuild.cmd -W7 fre . -cZ
and one with (free build, WXP)
ddkbuild.cmd -W7XP fre . -cZ
the above command line already takes into account the WDK you have. Note that if DDKBUILD.CMD fails to detect your installed WDK you'll have to set the environment variable W7BASE to point to the folder in which the WDK is installed (the one with install.htm, usually something like C:\WINDDK\7600.16385.1).
Is it possible to manually edit the driver to make it function on windows XP?
I guess there are many differences, but it must be possible for simple drivers, kind of porting the locations / buses they use?
Do you mean without re-compilation? If so its not recommended.
If you are willing to compile then use appropriate WDK and select appropriate build environment and try to build. You may have to change the code depending upon any APIs changed/availability.
Also note that drivers are compiled per OS i.e. there are different build environments for WinXP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7 etc.
It appears that specifying the KEY_WOW64_64KEY flag (reference) when accessing a registry key under 32-bit Windows XP has no effect - that is, no error is thrown, and the key is opened as if you hadn't had the flag set.
I know Windows 2000 throws an error when it encounters this flag.
I want to make sure my app is compatible with as many versions of windows (2k and later) as possible.
Is there a Microsoft reference that specifies each version of Windows' behaviour for this flag? In particular, I'd like something that validates my assumption that it has no effect at all on post-2k 32-bit Windows.
I can't speak to Windows 2000 or XP, but I know that on Vista and above, KEY_WOW64_64KEY opens the registry key in the 64bit registry if it's a 64bit OS and the 32bit registry if it's a 32bit OS.
According to this Windows page:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/sysinfo/registry-key-security-and-access-rights?redirectedfrom=MSDN
Both
KEY_WOW64_32KEY (0x0200)
KEY_WOW64_64KEY (0x0100)
will be ignored on 32-bit Windows.
And those flags are not supported on Windows 2000.
I have tested on Windows XP 32 bit, and it seems to work OK.
Also, you should usually be avoiding this key - WOW64 provides a pretty complete "illusion" to 32-bit apps; just write your app properly on 32-bit without this flag, and it will still work on WOW64. Don't try to use this flag (and other mechanisms) to be "64-bit compatible".