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How does anyone manage to deploy Crystal Reports 13 32-bit on 64-bit OS?

Former Member
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I've tried everything to try and get Crystal Reports 13 successfully installed with our installer.

There is the well known dependency on VS 2005 problem with the MSMs, and in nearly every thread about this and the wiki page, it is recommended to use the MSI instead.

So the solution appears to be either include the VS 2005 SP1 runtime and use the MSMs, or just use the MSI. However, the VS 2005 SP1 x86 runtime will not install on 64-bit machines, either through the vcredist_x86.exe or through the MSM (due to conditions in the MSM) - as described in this thread.

So this leaves using the the MSI. However, even this won't work on 64-bit machines if the MSI is chained, as described in this InstallShield forum thread.

Now I am at a loss of what to do. The only options seem to be to either:

  • Create your own VS 2005 SP1 MSM or modify the existing one (if that is even legal) and either use the CR13 MSM or chain the MSI
  • Require users to install the Crystal 13 MSI manually or launch it through a Custom Action

Both of these are not desirable at all and are more hacks than a solution. Why is it nearly impossible to get Crystal 13 32-bit deployed on 64-bit Windows?

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Accepted Solutions (1)

former_member183750
Active Contributor
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Hello Ahmed

Re.; Why is it nearly impossible to get Crystal 13 32-bit deployed on 64-bit Windows?

I believe most developers visiting this SCN Space, appear to be successful deploying the runtime.

So, I am not sure what resources you've been using, but the Developer help files would be a good start:

SAP Crystal Reports .NET SDK Developer Guide

Just search for runtime in the above.

Also, using the search box at the top right corner will be good. Two of many resources from that:

http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/x/ZwdeDw

http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/x/IgleDw

- Ludek

Senior Support Engineer AGS Product Support, Global Support Center Canada

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Former Member
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Thank you for the reply Ludek. I've been using these forums, and the links I added point to threads I found discussing this problem. I already looked at the wiki page you pointed to, and even included a link to it in my post.

The problem is that the solutions given do not work for 64-bit operating systems because:

  • The MSM or chained MSI for Crystal 13 for VS will not install without the Visual Studio 2005 SP1 runtime
  • However, the VS 2005 SP1 x86 runtime, both vcredist_x86.exe and the MSMs, will not install on 64-bit operating systems because they were not meant for 64-bit operating systems (there are specific checks in the MSMs)

Most of the time SAP staff reply saying that the Visual Studio 2005 SP1 runtime is required, and if it gets passed there, then to use the MSI instead.

I guess most poeple must either be including the VS2005 .dlls directly instead of via the merge module (or they modify the merge module), or they are executing the MSI using a boostrapper or through a CustomAction. Since we're using InstallShield, the best option would probably be to just set up a pre-requisite and get the bootstrapper to install the CR runtime.

What is frustrating though is how common deploying Crystal 13 32-bit to 64-bit machines must be, yet there is a huge lack of support and testing from SAP for doing this.

former_member183750
Active Contributor
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OK, let's back up a bit.

At this time, all I know is that you are deploying 32 bit runtime to a 64 bit OS and that you have some sort of issues with this. Perhaps it will help if you specify the actual issue; errors, behavior, symptoms?

Also, is your app compiled as 32 bit, 64 bit or "Any CPU"?

- Ludek

Former Member
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Sorry about the confusion, I'll try to clearly explain the problem. The app is compiled as 32-bit, but we aren't getting past the install fro Crystal.

We use an MSI, built by InstallShield, to deploy our app. We'd like to deploy the Crystal 13 runtime with our installer.

Our first thought was to use the MSM. This failed because of this error (taken from the wiki), which has been reported numerous times on these forums:

http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/download/attachments/257820519/1904+error.jpg?

Searching revealed these multiple threads, and the wiki page, about the issue. In all of these, the answer is that the Visual Studio 2005 SP1 redistributable has to be installed or included.

This works great on 32-bit machines, but does not work on 64-bit machines. As is mentioned in this thread, the reason is that the VS 2005 SP1 32-bit redistributable will not install on 64-bit windows. Neither the downloadable vcredist_x86.exe nor the merge modules which come with VS 2005 SP1 will install. The merge module has conditions which prevent it from being installed on a 64-bit OS, and I assume that the MSI extracted by the exe does as well.

However, as is frequently mentioned in the threads, the MSI provides this VS2005 runtime on its own. So then I tried to chain the Crystal 13 MSI with our installer. This also fails with the same error as above, apparently because the VS2005 runtime assemblies have not been finalized (as described here). The only way to chain the MSI then is to first install the VS2005 redistributables as a separate package. Now I'm back at square one.

This leaves two options. I don't see any others:

  • "Hack" the VS2010 SP1 MSM as described in the linked thread above. Bad.
  • Run msiexec separately to install Crystal 13. Not ideal.
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Hi Ahmed,

Quick question, are you using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010/2012? If so, have you tried building the package with it rather than Install Shield?

This may be the work around....

Don

former_member183750
Active Contributor
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OK, so here is the crux of the problem; your original query was re. how to install the runtime and was missing any information as to what if any issue you were actually seeing (other than generic VC++ dependencies "stuff").

Providing the actual error was probably the smartest thing to do. I believe that you have been concentrating on the wrong resolution. E.g.; there are at least two general issues that will cause the error;

1) The VS++ Runtime (this was particularly the case with CR 2008, but not so much with CRVS, unless you are trying to use the msm files). See KBA - 1531409 - How to deploy the CRVS2010 runtime when using merge modules?

2) Incorrect cryprocme2.dll (this is pretty well specific to CRVS)

In your case as you are getting the issue with the msi file I believe (2) above applies, rather than (1). E.g.; the proverbial barking up the wrong tree...

To resolve the issue see the following:

KBA - 1534393 - "Error 1904. Module C:\Program Files\SAP BusinessObjects\..\dtsagent.dll failed to registe...

You may also be interested in seeing this KBA:

KBA - 1611044 - How to enable Windows Installer Logging on Crystal Reports MSI files?

Note that if my suspicion is correct, Don's suggestion of using VS 2010 / 2012 to create the project will not do any good.

- Ludek

Former Member
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Thank you for the help

I was  unclear again. The problem with the MSI only occurs when it is chained. Not when it is installed on its own. Also, I took the screnshot from the wiki assuming it was the same thing. The file the error is first shown for is "crtslv.dll" (exact same error as the one shown here).

Why this occurs is detailed in the below InstallShield post. Note that this has nothing to do with InstallShield but the Windows Installer chaining feature.

http://community.flexerasoftware.com/showthread.php?202527-strange-issue-associated-with-chained-MSI...

Since the MSI is unchainable, there is no way to normally deploy Crystal Reports 13 x86 on 64-bit machines using your own MSI.

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