MSI Error 2920: Source directory not specified for file [2] when patching via WiX/MSP

1
votes

Currently we have a scenario where there is a CD release (A), a middle patch (B) and a patch about to go out (C).

Installing (A) and patching directly to (C) works fine, but when the user patches up to (B) and then up to (C), they get error 2920 during the "Copying new files" action (first file in the sequence).

What's interesting is this issue doesn't occur on Windows 7, but occurs on Win2K3 and XP, which suggests to me that the different versions of Windows Installer are handling this scenario differently.

The current patch implementation creates admin installs, Prepares WiX source files for the MSP, creates the PCP file, then creates/signs the MSP file.

I've looked all over there hasn't been a determined cause/solution.

Thanks for your time.

2
wixwindows-installer

2 Answers

2
votes

I have never created a patch with using Wix, but I did with other authoring tools, and from what I know Windows Installer requires for a set of basic rules that must be followed in order for the path to be correctly created. One of them says this: "Do not change the order of files in a cabinet.". Have you checked that in your packages?

More details about the rules required for a patch can be found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa367850.aspx

0
votes

After getting off the phone with Microsoft tech, it turns out that the issue happens regardless if you go from the baseline or middle patch. The issue itself manifested itself in the form of a Windows Installer version incompatibility.

Basically back when we released the CD release, we used VS2008. We migrated to VS2010 since then and the latest patch was made with files done in VS2010. VS2010 (from what the tech told me) has a dependency on Windows Installer 4.5.

Earlier OS's (such as 2K3 and XP) come with earlier versions of the Windows Installer, and therefore gave the error.

I ended up just bootstrapping the Windows Installer 4.5 packages and tweaking the lua scripts to personalize the user experience a bit more.