[Python-bugs-list] [Bug #129998] "Corrupt installation" when installed without admin privs

noreply@sourceforge.net noreply@sourceforge.net
Thu, 25 Jan 2001 14:27:25 -0800


Bug #129998, was updated on 2001-Jan-24 17:57
Here is a current snapshot of the bug.

Project: Python
Category: Windows
Status: Open
Resolution: None
Bug Group: Platform-specific
Priority: 1
Submitted by: tlau
Assigned to : mhammond
Summary: "Corrupt installation" when installed without admin privs

Details: On Windows 2000, when logged in a user without administrator
privileges, attempting to run the Python 2.0 installer results in a single
dialog box saying "Corrupt installation detected" and then the installer
exits.

This should be a more informative error message.  I downloaded the 5MB
installer three times before suspecting the correct cause of the problem. 
When the same binary is run as a user with the correct privileges, it
correctly begins the installation process.

Follow-Ups:

Date: 2001-Jan-25 14:27
By: gvanrossum

Comment:
Then this is most likely a bug we can't fix.  The"Corrupt installation"
check is made AFAIK by the WISE installer code before it runs any of the
script.  One of the system checks it does must be using something that's
disallowed by Win2K in Restricted User mode.

We have control over the script -- it tests for Administrator privileges
and offers to proceed; but we have no control over the system check before
it runs.  I haven't seen this complaint before, so I presume it's unlikely
to happen (Restricted Users typically won't want to install software :-).

I'll leave it up to Tim, but personally, I'd just close the report as
"Won't Fix" and "3rd party".
-------------------------------------------------------

Date: 2001-Jan-25 13:22
By: tlau

Comment:
I did some more investigating.  Python prints the correct md5 checksum for
the installer; but that's a red herring.

In the "Users and Passwords" control panel, my account is set up as a
"Restricted user" (Users Group) account.  When I change this setting to
"Standard user" (Power Users Group), then launching the installer prompts
me to proceed with a weaker installation (as expected).  Changing the
setting back to "Restricted user" and re-running the installer produces the
"corrupt installation detected" message yet again.
-------------------------------------------------------

Date: 2001-Jan-25 04:52
By: gvanrossum

Comment:
I recall explicitly testing whether that installer worked on Win2000
without admin privileges.  So I suspect it's something to do with tlau's
set-up, and I don't think we will be able to get much further with this. 
(It doesn't help that we don't have the source code for the WISE installer
generator, of course. :-( )

-------------------------------------------------------

Date: 2001-Jan-25 02:10
By: tim_one

Comment:
Curious!  That's the right MD5 checksum.  Yours is the only report of this
we've ever gotten, though, while you're certainly not the only 2.0 Win2K
user.  It's possible that you're the only one who wasn't logged on to an
admin account, though.

Since you have Python running on Windows now, we can use it to compute the
MD5 digest:

>>> # change to path of your installer; "rb" is crucial
>>> f = open("/updates/beopen-python-2.0.exe", "rb")
>>> import md5
>>> print md5.md5(f.read()).hexdigest()
05f93fc81247dfb993f2e946016264c0
>>>

If you still get the right checksum, we can rule out the file transfer, but
then I'm stumped.  Guess we'll have to report it as a bug to Wise, then
(we're not generating the error msg you're seeing -- that's all an
automatic function of the Wise installer).

-------------------------------------------------------

Date: 2001-Jan-24 20:46
By: tlau

Comment:
I downloaded it using this link:
http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.0/BeOpen-Python-2.0.exe
The first two times I used IE to click on the link.  I didn't save those
copies; I know the file size was around 5.8MB, but I don't know exactly.

For the third try, I used ncftp on a Linux machine to get this file:
ftp://ftp.python.org/pub/python/2.0/BeOpen-Python-2.0.exe
I then used Samba to copy the file from my Linux home directory to the
Win2k machine.

I got the same error message (corrupt installation) for all three attempts.
 I then logged in as a user with admin privs, ran the third copy, and
installation proceeded correctly.

I don't know how to compute the checksum on Windows, but this is what I get
from the copy I saved on my Linux system:
% md5sum BeOpen-Python-2.0.exe
05f93fc81247dfb993f2e946016264c0  BeOpen-Python-2.0.exe

-------------------------------------------------------

Date: 2001-Jan-24 20:07
By: tim_one

Comment:
I need someone else to confirm this (don't have W2K myself).  Mark?  If
not, assign back to me.  tlau, from where did you obtain the installer? 
Exactly how large is it?  (If it's not exactly 5811039 bytes, it's
definitely corrupt -- if it is that size, say so and we'll try an MD5
checksum next.)

The Wise installer produces the "Corrupt installation  detected" msg
itself, when it gets a CRC mismatch after checksumming its internal
components.  We have no control over that, and in every previous case of
this I know of it *did* mean the installer was corrupt.

If you're not logged in with admin privileges, what's supposed to happen is
that a box pops up telling you so, and asking whether you want to proceed
with a weaker installation, or abort the installation.  Testers reported
that the 2.0 installer did exactly that, on NT and W2K (it's not an issue
on 95, 98 or ME).

-------------------------------------------------------

For detailed info, follow this link:
http://sourceforge.net/bugs/?func=detailbug&bug_id=129998&group_id=5470