Windows Install problem

[Berczz]

Hi!

I'm trying to install the software agent on my Windows 10 Pro. Everytime I run the installer, it's stuck on "Starting services", then displays the following error:
Service 'Echo Networks Service' (OtmService) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privilieges to start system services.
What I see in the Windows event log (I'm Hungarian, some of this is just translated):

The service couldn't be started. System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
in the following place: SJRLibraryCode.Communication.NamedPipe.Close()
in the following place: SJRLibraryCode.Communication.NamedPipeServer.Listen()
in the following place: OtmService.OtmService.OnStart(String[] args)
in the following place: System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase.ServiceQueuedMainCallback(Object state)

I've tried the following:

run it as adminstrator
Update group policy, so I (and administrators) are added to the "log on as a service" permission
update my vc redist
update my .NET Framework 4.8
run sfc /scannow
(I've got in kind of a rabbit hole in what might be the problem, that's why I did these)

I suspect, that the problem might be on my end, but I have 0 idea on how to proceed.

Any idea would be greatly appreciated,
Berczz

[OutagesIO_Support]

Hi,

I'm sorry you've ended up going down this rabbit hole. I asked around here but the reply unfortunately is fairly unanimous. Many installed this version and it's not something we've seen before/so far.

Probably, your best place to get help would be Microsoft forums.

I'll keep checking for you but I would suggest posting in MS forums in the meantime so you have something working for you simultaneously.

[Berczz]

@OutagesIO_Support

Hi!
Thanks for the fast reply!

I forgot to add:
I also tried Windows update
running dism
disabling my firewall
adding the the installer to the firewall exceptions
when the installer said it couldn't start the service, trying to start it manually

When I let the installer run more, it displays the Error message 0x80070643, which I think I've seen in other posts in the forum, but the problem was solved there with a new version of the windows installer.
As far as I know it's also a pretty broad, basically msi installer failed message

I searched Windows forums, but to every nullreferenceException post I could find, the answer was to check the program they were running, so no luck there

I keep trying, if anything works, I'll let you know.

[OutagesIO_Support]

We have released many version updates so it's possible you may be looking at older posts if you're searching these forums.

Also, many of those errors are sometimes fairly generic and not specific enough to know what is actually wrong, just a hint or a lead.

That's why I suggested posting in MS forums where you'll have better luck since it doesn't seem to be a problem with the installer.

That's not to say there isn't a problem since most just leave instead of letting us know, making it hard to fix problems when they do show up. Just saying we've not seen this one for this version.

That said, you seem to be trying the right things so I've asked our Windows dev to take a look at your post and see if he notices anything. If he does, I'll be sure to share it asap.

In the meantime, is there any chance that you have another PC or Linux you could install on?

Have you tried removing the program, cleaning out the registry (extreme but sounds like you know how) then trying another install?

Do you have Windows protector or some other software that is maybe preventing the agent service from starting? I don't know MS very well but is there a program out there that might provide more information on why the agent cannot start and have you looked at the event logs for more info?

[Berczz]

@OutagesIO_Support

Hi!

Yes, I have another agent (129699) which is already installed on Linux. I wanted to compare the two results, since the Linux is plugged in to the router, and my Windows PC is through a Wifi adapter.
I checked the registry myself, but I also have a software to remove the changes after every failed installs (IObit Uninstaller).

I also have Malwarebytes as an antivirus application, but I tried installing while turning every last thing off I could think of, to no success.

Sincerely,
Berczz

[OutagesIO_Support]

Does not solve your problem but if you have a wifi adapter in your Linux box, you could always make your wifi the default route and you would then be monitoring your wifi.

[Berczz]

@OutagesIO_Support

No, sadly it doesn't, but great idea otherwise! I might just (try to) install it on my roommates pc and monitor that, we have the same wifi adapters.

The Event viewer displays 3 errors, Echo networks service has the one I copied in my post, .NET Runtime's error message says (keep in mind, still some of it is translated from Hungarian:
Application: OtmService.exe
Frameworks version: v4.0.30319
Description: The process stopped because of an unhandled exception.
Exception details: System.NullReferenceException
in the following location: SJRLibraryCode.Communication.NamedPipe.Close()
in the following location SJRLibraryCode.Communication.NamedPipeServer.Listen()
in the following location: OtmService.OtmService.OnStart(System.String[])
in the following location: System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase.ServiceQueuedMainCallback(System.Object)
in the following location: System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
in the following location: System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase.Run(System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase[])
in the following location: OtmService.Program.Main()

And an Application error states:
Faulting application name: OtmService.exe, version: 1.0.3.1603, time stamp: 0x63335467
Faulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 10.0.19041.2075, time stamp: 0x923a0837
Exception code: 0xe0434352
Fault offset: 0x0000000000034fd9
Faulting process ID: 0x1600
Faulting application start time: 0x01d8d82ad1711e0f
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Echo Networks Service\OtmService.exe
Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\System32\KERNELBASE.dll
Report ID: b2fcc7e3-2a24-4341-852a-25ac131a464b
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

[OutagesIO_Support]

Our Windows dev is on vacation so it'll be a while before he can reply but for these kinds of errors, I'd ask in MS forums to be honest.

In fact, if you find out it's something to do with the agent, we'd really appreciate knowing about that too so we could fix it.

[Berczz]

@OutagesIO_Support

I posted the question on MS forum, with the details I found and the steps I took, I'll keep you posted if I get any useful answer.
I don't know the ID number, and unfortunately I resetted it, BUT one agent was able to send ping signal to the site, while starting during installation. However, I wasn't able to replicate this occurence, which is quite frustrating.

[OutagesIO_Support]

Yes, that would be appreciated.

don't know the ID number, and unfortunately I reset it, >BUT one agent was able to send ping signal to the site, >while starting during installation. However, I wasn't able to >replicate this occurrence, which is quite frustrating.

I'm not following how you initiated a ping. Do you mean it sent one ping then no more and you're positive that the service was still running?

What do you mean when you say you reset it since you also said the service is never running.

-If the service runs at all, then the agent will communicate in some way.
-If you reset it, the ID remains which you can share so I can at least take a look, even if it only communicated once.

This is what our agent dev told us after looking at everything you've shared.

Strange, that MS library hasn't changed since 2016 and is in use in dozens of applications. I'll try to work out what could cause it to fail on this one machine, but that's hard to know to be honest.

If it's something on the agent, we're not seeing it in others. However, even rare cases, if it's something we can improve, we'll certainly do it.

[Berczz]

@OutagesIO_Support

So, the one time it happened, I was able to get to the dashboard of that agent, and I saw data there - on the Status and Pings windows - but the agent was already stopped by that point. So it did start on my PC, but for some reason, it got shut down.
129704 is the current ID, but I started the installation on the site from step 0, so I'm not sure if it's still the same. I can't get to the dashboard anymore, so I can't check on the site for more communication. I could try on my end though, but I don't know how it would help diagnostically.
Thank you, and your dev for trying and responding anyway. I'll post if I find anything :)

[OutagesIO_Support]

Thanks for sharing the ID.

I can see that it does communicate, it sends it's first payload but then it stops.
To me, something on the OS is stopping the service or conflicting with it which is either causing the service to stop or get blocked by something.

The reason you cannot get to the dashboard is because it's not fully running yet so there is no actual dashboard ready to view. I'm looking at the raw data as an admin which is why I can see it tries to communicate then stops.

What you'll see is '...Click to complete' probably, since it's not fully communicating yet so it cannot confirm to the site that it's ready to offer the dashboard.

[OutagesIO_Support]

So our Windows dev did some digging and this is what we were told.

I've found the reason for the crash this person experienced when installing. 

If the service fails to start because the Listen() call throws an exception then the exception handler calls Close() and Close() fails to check if the handle pointer is a null reference before using it. 
What I don't know is why we are not able to start a named pipe on that persons machine.
I'll add the missing check to the library code but that won't cure the actual problem they had, so I'll investigate further on what might prevent use opening a named pipe on Windows 10 Pro. 

I've never seen that fail before. So I don't think we have a general issue here, more likely a restriction configured on that machine or possibly the name we use for the pipe is already being used.