[Ifeffit] Unable to run Demeter on EPA computers

[Bruce Ravel]

Hi Matt,

I am without any further ideas for you.  No one else has reported a
similar situation, other than the recent reports of trouble with AV.
Demeter is used by hundreds of people on Windows, including many
government and government lab employees (like myself).  So I really am
inclined to think that the problem is local, not global.

While I am impressed that your IT person spent so much time and effort
investigating this and I am sympathetic that it was all for naught, I
do want to point out that I don't see anything in the long list of
diagnostics that actually addresses my one suggestion -- namely that
you are seeing some kind of conflict related to AV permissions.

All that said, I am always happy to incorporate changes to the
software and the packaging.  If you can suggest something substantive
that I can do to improve the packaging in a way that will help you
over your hurdle, I am all ears.

B



On 10/21/2015 09:32 AM, Matt Noerpel wrote:
> Hello Bruce,
>
> The IT guy just sent me the following report on his efforts to get
> Demeter to run.  He was only able to get it to run in Safe Mode and Safe
> Mode with Networking.  Here's his full message:
>
> I regret to inform you still no joyL
>
> Here’s a breakdown of what I have been working with:
>
> Symptoms:  When program attempts to execute, it launches the startup
> screen briefly, hangs, and then the application is terminated.
>
> Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions
>
> Both patches from the Demeter website
>
> Normal mode
>
> Last known good configuration
>
> Selective startup
>
> Disabled all non-critical local services
>
> Terminated all non-critical system and user processes
>
> Uninstalled Java
>
> Uninstalled .NET framework
>
> Reinstalled Java
>
> Reinstalled .NET framework
>
> Adjusted memory settings for best performance
>
> Verified use has full control of all of their profile data (including
> appdata) and installation directory
>
> Attempted as a normal user and administrative user
>
> Windows 95 compatibility mode
>
> Windows 98 compatibility mode
>
> Windows NT 4.0 compatibility mode
>
> Windows 2000 compatibility mode
>
> Windows XP (SP2) compatibility mode
>
> Windows XP (SP3) compatibility mode
>
> Windows Server 2003 (SP1) compatibility mode
>
> Windows Server 2008 (SP1) compatibility mode
>
> Windows Vista compatibility mode
>
> Windows Vista (SP1) compatibility mode
>
> Windows Vista (SP2) compatibility mode
>
> Windows 7
>
> Disabled visual themes
>
> Disabled desktop composition
>
> Disable display scaling on high DPI settings
>
> Install to default location
>
> Install to a specific location C:\demeter (not default)
>
> Workstation was removed from domain and joined to workgroup
>
> Various reboots throughout
>
> It only works in:
>
> Safe mode
>
> Safe mode with networking
>
> Removing the computer from domain into workgroup has no bearing, so we
> can rule out EPA group policy.
>
> Also, since it doesn’t even work in clean mode (selective startup mode
> with extremely limited drivers), there are no incompatibilities that
> exist in Windows.
>
> I was hoping for sure that once we removed from EPA domain that it would
> have solved the problem as we were leaning towards that at one point.
>
> I believe that the problem is not on our end.
>
> Unfortunately this problem is outside our scope of control as helpdesk
> support.  I’ve talked to a couple other technicians as well.
> Nonetheless, thank you for your patience.
>
> I’m certainly available behind the scenes to try anything else, or try
> to apply any hotfixes from developers as they are released.  (I did give
> you full control of the directory on your computer for future reference).
>
> Thanks,
>
>
> Does this make any sense to anyone?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Matt
>
> On Wed, Oct 14, 2015 at 5:30 PM, Bruce Ravel <bravel at bnl.gov
> <mailto:bravel at bnl.gov>> wrote:
>
>     On 10/14/2015 05:25 PM, Matt Noerpel wrote:
>
>         Thank you for your prompt reply.  The Ifeffit.dll file does exist in
>         that directory.  It was last modified on 3/16/2015 and is 753 kb.
>
>
>     Whew!
>
>         I will try a fresh install in the default directory next time an IT
>         person comes by our building.
>
>
>     OK.  And tomorrow I will try installing not in the default place on
>     some computer.  Perhaps there is a problem that I simply missed or
>     neglected....
>
>     B
>
>
>
>     --
>       Bruce Ravel  ------------------------------------ bravel at bnl.gov
>     <mailto:bravel at bnl.gov>
>
>       National Institute of Standards and Technology
>       Synchrotron Science Group at NSLS-II
>       Building 535A
>       Upton NY, 11973
>
>       Homepage: http://bruceravel.github.io/home/
>       Software: https://github.com/bruceravel
>       Demeter: http://bruceravel.github.io/demeter/
>     _______________________________________________
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>     Ifeffit at millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov
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>     http://millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov/mailman/listinfo/ifeffit
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Graduate Research Associate
> The Ohio State University
> Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering
> noerpel.1 at osu.edu <mailto:noerpel.1 at osu.edu>
> (617) 777-9340
>
>
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-- 
  Bruce Ravel  ------------------------------------ bravel at bnl.gov

  National Institute of Standards and Technology
  Synchrotron Science Group at NSLS-II
  Building 535A
  Upton NY, 11973

  Homepage:    http://bruceravel.github.io/home/
  Software:    https://github.com/bruceravel
  Demeter:     http://bruceravel.github.io/demeter/