Help I Cant get the latest windows installer to install and load the IDE

[kwc]

Hello all I am a new user and very excited to begin using and becoming apart of the lazarus community. However, I am not having great experience right from the start. I downloaded the latest windows 32.64 bit installer and ran the install. All looks okay but when I click the icon on the desktop it tells me I need to downgrade even though I clear any old installations from users directory. I can not get the IDE to ever load. Please help me get this resolved guys I really believe in this project and would love to contribute but I'm not having a great start.

I have tried latest version and version 2.2.2 with very similar symptoms. The IDE will not load.

[Martin_fr]

You may have previous config....

The installer has an option to delete this.

Or you can go to
C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\lazarus
and delete it.

[kwc]

Yes I did try this already before I posted my problem but no luck. I think I mentioned that in my post. Thank you for your reply Matin_fr. Any one else have any idea how to proceed forward?

[Martin_fr]

Sorry, if I misread this...

An interesting bit is that you wrote

it tells me I need to downgrade

And that would mean you would at some time have added a newer config... => which, if you are really starting a 3.0.2 then that means you had at some time a 3.99 (current main branch from git).
Still, in order to recognize the need for a downgrade it would need to find old config.

And, normally (in my experience), you could just click "yes" to that downgrade request, and then it should start. But according to you:

I can not get the IDE to ever load.

So that currently leaves me a bit puzzled.


Lets go for another approach.

- First of all, I read your post as: The installer successfully finished. The errors only happen if you then start the IDE.
- You are installing to default C:\lazarus or somewhere else?
- Just to be sure, the name of your installer is lazarus-3.2-fpc-3.2.2-win64.exe or lazarus-3.2-fpc-3.2.2-win32.exe

In any case,
- Install
- Run "cmd.exe" and change to that directory (you can type cmd.exe in the directory edit field of your windows explorer)
- In cmd.exe (while in C:\lazarus or where ever you installed) type (you can change the location of the logfile)
   lazarus.exe --debug-log=C:\lazarus\log.txt

Then after the error, post the content of that logfile.

[kwc]

Okay your last post is much more helpful with some detailed troubleshooting steps. Thank you for that. So I read your post and minimized my browser window to start the log output trouble shooting step that you suggested and low and behold, sitting behind my browser window was Lazarus from the grave up and running. So I finally just left Lazarus sitting at it the starting splash screen FOREVER and eventually just locked my computer screen and went home for the day. I guess sometime in the night she FINALLY loaded up. So I closed it and opened it up again and she loaded nice and snappy. Not sure what is going on but just want to spread the word that this may be a problem other users are having and could turn the new users away from the project. That first impression is so important. Ill try to replicate and corner the issue again.

[kwc]

A quick updated on this thread. I have been able to replicate the issue on every new install of lazarus 3.2 64/32 being installed to fresh in stall of windows 10 or 11. I clear the
 c:\user\appdata\local\lazurus dir and it loads better. Once it finally loads once, it is very snappy on following loads.

[Martin_fr]

So basically, the problem is extreme slow start up?

I do (for testing) install (one after the other) each version of Lazarus. 32 and 64 bit versions. Unfortunately it does not happen on my PC. So I can't check the causes myself...

I can think of a few vaguely possible things, that might take some time during startup. But those are just guesses. And they shouldn't normally add a big slowdown.... But otherwise I don't have any idea, sorry.


Potential GUESSES are:

First of all, when an app is started for the very first time, Windows defender (and maybe other AV too) may send checksums to a microsoft server. But usually that adds a few seconds at the very worst.  (This could also affect the search for the fpc below, as that also needs to execute the found compiler)

Second, When you start the IDE for the first time (when the config dir is empty), it searches for FPC. It does this because some people don't use the installer, and their fpc may be in a different location. But unless - really unlikely - you have many many files or folders witch fpc in the name, then that again should be a few seconds only.

Then there is
C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp\0_LazarusMain01
a lockfile.  (I forgot about that in my previous post)
That is used to make sure only one IDE is running. => E.g. double clicking an lpi file opens in the already running IDE, rather than opening a 2nd IDE.
If that file exists, and a dead/crashed/hanging (or maybe - not tested - no longer running at all) IDE created it, then I don't know how long an IDE will wait for it....

Also, IIRC by default you may be starting "startlazarus.exe" which then will find and run "lazarus.exe". I don't quite see how that would consume much time (other than disk and/or AV). But as far as guessing goes...

Some versions of Lazarus also searched for fppkg, not sure if 3.n still does...

There could be other issues, that I am not aware off.


If you can spent the time to further investigate....

Check you don't have C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp\0_LazarusMain01

For you first start, (if you have an empty config, and the load will take longer: You can skip startlazarus.exe. Open the folder in which lazarus was installed, and start lazarus.exe directly from that folder. I doubt that will help, but anyway....

You can create a new file in the folder to which you installed. The same folder in which lazarus.exe is. (not the shortcut, but the real file). New file to be created: lazarus.cfg
This file will exist, if you create a "2ndary install". => the file is a textfile.
You can add a line

Code: Text  [Select][+][-]

1. --skip-checks=all

into the file. (or give that to lazarus.exe on the command line.
This will skip the 0_LazarusMain01 lockfile, and a few other file searches..
So if that helps, it will afterwards have to be narrowed down.


If the IDE still takes long to start, you can open the taskmanager and on the "Details" tab check what is running.
- Anything with high CPU
- Any app from the following: startlazarus (if you used that), fpc, ppcx64, ppci386, fppkg.

[kwc]

Thank you for your responses. I have checked the temp directory and did not find that file. Also yes I am installing to the c:\lazarus directory pretty much using all default install options but I do check delete previous installs filed though just in case. If I do another fresh install of windows ill test the latest installer again but I am happy it loads fine now. Ready to start coding and move on to better things but if anyone else notices the same issue please post a response here for the rest of us.

[KodeZwerg]

If it will fail in future again, I do use FPUP(deluxe) as my installer, it works great here, never had any problems with it.
(because it uses just one basepath and set up the configs automagical for you)