Software Deployment

Hi Dan,
i assume you are talking about 'install_flash_player_active_x.msi' Ver 9.0.47 (the IE activeX component).
Because the 'install_flash_player_plugin.msi', which is for the mozilla browser family doesn't have this bug!

To correct it, load 'install_flash_player_active_x.msi' in ORCA. Then choose Transform -- New Transform.
Load the 'install_flash_player_active_x.msi' Ver 9.0.45 also in a second ORCA session. Go to the 'Property' table and
look for UpgradeCode and copy it.
Go back to the 9.0.47 session and go to the Upgrade table and set the cursor on it. Choose Tables -- Add Row...
Fill in the UpgradeCode from 9.0.45 and the other fields like this:
{42463807-970B-4257-BC95-5C348D61DF1C} 9.0.0 9.0.45 769 ISACTIONPROP2

Go to the Property table and add 'ISACTIONPROP2' to it. Use a ';' as delimiter.

That's it. Now 9.0.45 should be uninstalled by the new version.

Regards, Nick

I haven't worked with it but why not simply trigger an uninstall in your sequence before installing?

Hi Dan,
this can't work, because only the UpgradeCode from v9.0.28 is included in v9.0.47.
It looks that each new version has its own UpgradeCode. This is clearly not the intended way of doing things.
The packaging people at Adobe seem not really to know the MSI specification.
To correct this, include the missing UpgradeCode from v9.0.45 in the Upgrade table of v9.0.47.
You have to choose an action property and include it in the 'SecureCustomProperties' property.

There is another caveat: The plugin MSI installer does not use the registry entries to work around the "first install problem".
See: http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Plugins:_The_first_install_problem
The exe based installer is using them.

It's unbeliveable that billion dollar companies like Adobe, SUN and others still make such buggy things. :-(

Regards, Nick

I got it working by using the the uninstall_activeX.exe that was installed by version 9.0.45. Here is a look at the batch file I use to check what versions and install/remove older versions.
Just wanted to post it for people needing help with this product.


REM This command uninstalls Older version of Flash. It then installs Flash Player V9
REM changed by ME to look for flash8 and flash9 OCX files older than current
REM version which is flash9c.ocx version 9.0.45.0
REM modified 7-11-07 for Flash 9.0.47

REM As per appdeploy run msizap first
msizap.exe T {5E8A1B08-0FBD-4543-9646-F2C2D0D05750}

:CHECKFLASHLEGACY
REM This will uninstall a legacy Flash Player
if exist "C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Flash\flash.ocx" (goto DELETEFLASHLEGACY) ELSE (goto CHECKFLASH8a)

:DELETEFLASHLEGACY
uninstall_flash_player.exe /s

:CHECKFLASH8a
REM This will remove an advertised version of Flash 8
if exist "C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Flash\flash8a.ocx" (goto UNINSTALLFLASH8X) ELSE (goto CHECKFLASH9)

:UNINSTALLFLASH8X
uninstall_flash_player.exe /s

:CHECKFLASH9
REM This will look for the first version of Flash9
if exist "C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Flash\flash9.ocx" (goto UNINSTALLFLASH9) ELSE (goto CHECKFLASH9b)

:UNINSTALLFLASH9
uninstall_flash_player.exe /s

:CHECKFLASH9b
Rem This will look for the second version of Flash9
if exist "C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Flash\flash9b.ocx" (goto UNINSTALLFLASH9b) ELSE (goto HAS9045)

:UNINSTALLFLASH9b
uninstall_flash_player.exe /s


:HAS9045
REM This will check to see if the 9.0.45 OCX is installed
if exist "C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Flash\flash9c.ocx" (goto REMOVE9045) ELSE (goto HAS9047)


:REMOVE9045
REM this will remove the 9.045 ocx
uninstall_activeX.exe /s

:HAS9047
if exist "C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Flash\flash9d.ocx" (goto EOF) ELSE (goto INSTALLFLASH9)

:INSTALLFLASH9
REM this installs the latest version of Flash
install_flash_player_active_x.exe /s


:EOF

Thank you for the input guys. I just created an .exe wrapper for the .msi for now, removing the previous product then installing 9.0.47.0. Nick I would actually like to investigate a way into doing what you discussed, is that creating a custom action based on the SecureCustomProperties property? If you have the time can you discuss in further detail or point me to an article explaining how to do this? Thanks.

-Dan

Im able to now uninstall previous versions, but how do I setup the mst to allow flash to install onto non admin accounts?

I was able to do this with acrobat reader 8.1 as it had a line about admininstall, but i can not seem to find it in the msi at all?

Hi dan0,
how do you wish to deploy the MSI to the users?
IMHO, this would only work with AD-GPO per User install,
because this thing is installed into the Windows directory.
Regards, Nick

True, am pretty new at packaging so had not thought of that possibility. I guess it is possible that the windows dir is locked down as apposed to the program files dir etc.

Down load the latest uninstall_flash_player.exe version 4.0.0.3 from adobe's website and use the /s switch it will remove all version of flash on the box then reinstall the lastest greatest version of flash. One tip just make sure you kill Internet explorer or firefox before running it. Here is the script I used and it worked perfectly. I created a single EXE using Wise package studio version 6. It's hard to read in this format but you will get the picture.

item: Install File
Source=..\source\*.*
Destination=%temp%\flash9\
Flags=0000000110100010
end
item: Execute Program
Pathname=%temp%\flash9\msg_delay.vbs
Default Directory=%temp%\flash9\
Flags=00000010
end
item: Execute Program
Pathname=%temp%\flash9\pskill.exe
Command Line=/accepteula iexplore.exe
Default Directory=%temp%\flash9\
Flags=00000010
end
item: Custom Script Item
Filename=Pause.wse
Variable Name1=_PAUSE_TIME_
Variable Value1=10000
Variable Name2=HELPFILE
Variable Value2=C:\Program Files\Wise Package Studio\Help\WiseScriptEditor.chm
end
item: Execute Program
Pathname=%temp%\flash9\uninstall_flash_player.exe
Command Line=/s
Default Directory=%temp%\flash9\
Flags=00000010
end
item: Execute Program
Pathname=%temp%\flash9\install_flash_player_active_x.msi
Command Line=/qn
Default Directory=%temp%\flash9\
Flags=00000010
end
item: Execute Program
Pathname=%temp%\flash9\end.vbs
Default Directory=%temp%\flash9\
Flags=00000010
end
item: Delete File
Pathname=%temp%\flash9\*.*
Flags=00001100
end
item: Exit Installation
end

nheim, I am goign your route on this one. However, when I follow your steps here and save the transformed msi. I execute and get an error ERROR 2356. Could not locate cabinet in stream: Data1.cab

Do you have any ideas?

I completed the copying of the upgrade code into the Upgrade Table it is the Property table and the ISACTIONPROP2 I wonder about. You go to the Property table, SecureCustomProperties row and add ISACTIONPRP2 with a ; ????

Did I miss somthing else?

Thansk

Hi mad...
can't see what the upgrade table has to do with a cabinet.
Are you using ORCA?
The 'SecureCustomProperties' property can have a list of properties. They are delimited by a semicolon.
See: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/Aa371571.aspx

Regards, Nick

I've downloaded the current install_flash_player_active_x.msi file but it installs the old 9.0.45 version...?

With Orca I checked the version string which says 9.0.47.... but .... an old OCX file ends up on the computer; the version tab of the flash9c.ocx file says 9.0.45. Oh, and I did run the latest uninstaller before "upgrading". [;)]

So where can I download the correct 9.0.47 file?

The version that I'm using now has been downloaded after applying for an intranet license at the Adobe site. I've also tried: http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/licensing/win/install_flash_player_active_x.msi but that is the same version (4.215.296 bytes).


thanks!

Hi Peekstra,
don't know what you do here, but this is definitely not true!
You can check this by extracting the file directly out of the package from the link you provided.
Use "MsiDb -d install_flash_player_active_x.msi -x Data1.cab" to extract the CAB.
Then you can drag out the file with the explorer.
Its 9.0.47.
Regards, Nick

Hi Nick,


I've extracted the ocx file using a Totalcommander plugin and the MSI file contains (as expected) the correct flash9d.ocx file.

However, it's still totally unclear to me what is happening here.

This is what I've tried:

I've removed the current flash player with both the Adobe uninstall utility and the installer itself.

I've verified that the c:\windows\system\macromed\flash directory is empty

Then I run the installer... and the flash directory has a flash9c.ocx file [&:]

I whish I knew where that old version is coming from... A filesearch with Totalcommander (including archives) didn't turn up anything. And Procmon's output wasn't very helpfull either yet.

It seems as if there's an old install on that computer that somehow gets involved...


Regards

ORIGINAL: Peekstra
It seems as if there's an old install on that computer that somehow gets involved...It should be easy enough to see if there is. Search the usual registry locations (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall is a good start) and, once you find a Product Code, MSIZAP it. If you need some code to unmunge the munged GUIDs (the so-called Darwinian transform), I have some.

Hi VBscab,


I've searched the registry for the {8186E1B9-DDC6-45B6-B9EB-C28947CBC4CF} (flash 9.0.45) package and I can only find it under the uninstall key and with some referencing keys. Uninstalling the flashplayer makes this key unaccessible (removed I guess?). And reinstalling brings the same key back again.

I've also tried MSIZAP but it didn't help...

And installing the MSI package in a clean virtual pc image works fine.

thanks!

it wont be in the registry as Microsoft on their infinite wisdom messed up the guids which is apparently for speed.

each group of numbers {xxxxxxxxxxx--xxxxx- xxxxxxx-xxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx} <-- i never counted them as I am too lazy

is actually reversed from memory the entire first grouping of numbers (I will call them octets for want of a better word) are reversed as are the 2 and 3 octets. the last two each second character is reversed. As such hunting through the registry will not obtain a result unless of course you accidentally find something else which coincidentally matches the reversed original guid.

also another stupid thing adobe do is use a set directory CA which uses the user profile path in the CA. As such if you deploy using GPO or any tool which can deploy whilst users are logged out the installation will fail and silently rollback.

I cant remember the name of the CA off the top of my head by search for SetDirectory CA's should result in the answer.

ORIGINAL: jmcfadyen

it wont be in the registry as Microsoft on their infinite wisdom messed up the guids which is apparently for speed.

each group of numbers {xxxxxxxxxxx--xxxxx- xxxxxxx-xxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx} <-- i never counted them as I am too lazy

is actually reversed from memory the entire first grouping of numbers (I will call them octets for want of a better word) are reversed as are the 2 and 3 octets. the last two each second character is reversed. As such hunting through the registry will not obtain a result unless of course you accidentally find something else which coincidentally matches the reversed original guid.John, this is what's become known as the Darwinian transform, which I referred to and documented rather nicely here, at InstallSite. In any case, it shouldn't be necessary to worry about it if MSIZap is used because it takes care of the munged keys.

Thanks for all the info/help!

In the end it turned out that I used the wrong installer which explains everything.
That 9.0.45 is exactly the same size as 9.0.47 didn't help much either in this regard. [>:]

Also, it's good to know that installing without a user being logged in (as I'm doing now), doesn't always work.

Regards, Peekstra.