msiexec.exe intermittently fails to uninstall

Question

msiexec.exe fails to uninstall intermittently. This behaviour is seen only when msiexec.exe silent uninstall is triggered.

I see the below errors in uninstall log during the failed uninstall. But the error logs are not helpful.

=== Verbose logging started: 9/24/2014  10:45:39  Build type: SHIP UNICODE 5.00.9600.00  Calling process: C:\windows\SysWOW64\msiexec.exe ===
MSI (c) (2C:50) [10:45:39:478]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (c) (2C:50) [10:45:39:478]: Machine policy value 'Debug' is 0
MSI (c) (2C:50) [10:45:39:478]: ******* RunEngine:
           ******* Product: <absolute-path-to-msi-file>
           ******* Action: 
           ******* CommandLine: **********
MSI (c) (2C:50) [10:45:39:479]: Client-side and UI is none or basic: Running entire install on the server.
MSI (c) (2C:50) [10:45:39:479]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (c) (2C:50) [10:45:39:486]: Cloaking enabled.
MSI (c) (2C:50) [10:45:39:486]: Attempting to enable all disabled privileges before calling Install on Server
MSI (c) (2C:50) [10:45:39:489]: Incrementing counter to disable shutdown. Counter after increment: 0
MSI (s) (B0:E4) [10:45:39:494]: Running installation inside multi-package transaction <absolute-path-to-msi-file>
MSI (s) (B0:E4) [10:45:39:494]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (s) (B0:54) [10:45:39:495]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (s) (B0:54) [10:45:39:495]: Machine policy value 'Debug' is 0
MSI (s) (B0:54) [10:45:39:495]: ******* RunEngine:
           ******* Product: <absolute-path-to-msi-file>
           ******* Action: 
           ******* CommandLine: **********
MSI (s) (B0:54) [10:45:39:495]: Note: 1: 2203 2: <absolute-path-to-msi-file> 3: -2147287038 
MSI (s) (B0:54) [10:45:39:495]: MainEngineThread is returning 2
MSI (s) (B0:E4) [10:45:39:496]: User policy value 'DisableRollback' is 0
MSI (s) (B0:E4) [10:45:39:496]: Machine policy value 'DisableRollback' is 0
MSI (s) (B0:E4) [10:45:39:496]: Incrementing counter to disable shutdown. Counter after increment: 0
MSI (s) (B0:E4) [10:45:39:497]: Note: 1: 1402 2: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\Rollback\Scripts 3: 2 
MSI (s) (B0:E4) [10:45:39:497]: Note: 1: 1402 2: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\Rollback\Scripts 3: 2 
MSI (s) (B0:E4) [10:45:39:497]: Decrementing counter to disable shutdown. If counter >= 0, shutdown will be denied.  Counter after decrement: -1
MSI (c) (2C:50) [10:45:39:498]: Decrementing counter to disable shutdown. If counter >= 0, shutdown will be denied.  Counter after decrement: -1
MSI (c) (2C:50) [10:45:39:499]: MainEngineThread is returning 2
=== Verbose logging stopped: 9/24/2014  10:45:39 ===

Any help in understanding the possible reasons for this failure ?

Thanks in advance!

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 24 '14 at 21:10

Normally the last part of the logfile is not enough because it shows not very much more than the return code.

Here it is a bit different. "MainEngineThread is returning 2 " has mostly something to do with the path, in other words MSI is not finding or cannot read the MSI from where you specified. Maybe the path is not cleanly given.

You know, for an uninstall you don't need the path of an MSI file at all? Moreover calling
msiexec /x {YourProductCode} ... is far more reliable than using a filename for uninstalls! Try this. If the uninstall is part of a complex unpacking like sometime for similar install errors, there is going something wrong. If this does not help: Can you give us the whole commandline you are calling?

I have copied the complete log in the original question. Please have a look. The whole command line during uninstall is like this: "msiexec.exe /x /quiet /lv* " — venki, Sep 25 '14 at 05:31

msiexec.exe intermittently fails to uninstall

1 Answers1