2.4.X Desktop app will not uninstall in Windows 10

[AlyxMS]

Describe the bug.

After Twine 2.4.0 or 2.4.1 is installed. The installer/uninstaller will always think Twine is running even when Twine is not and refuses to update to a new version or uninstall.

While this problem is happening, there will not be any Twine related processes in Task Manager as Twine is not actually running. This problem prevents the user from unintalling Twine or upgrading to a new version with a new installer.

Tested on 2 separate PCs on Windows 10. I assume this isn't a problem for 2.3.16 as I have upgraded from 2.3.16 to 2.4.0 by running the 2.4.0 installer without uninstalling 2.3.16 first without any issues.

Steps to reproduce:

Scenario 1: Install Twine 2.4.0 onto a Windows 10 computer. Then run the installer for 2.4.1. The installer will detect Twine is running. The installer will attempt to close Twine and always fail.

Scenario 2: Install Twine 2.4.0 or 2.4.1 on a Windows 10 computer. Then attempt to uninstall either from settings or running "Uninstall Twine.exe". The installer will prompt "Twine is running, Click OK to close it." and always fail to close Twine.

Expected behavior:

If Twine is not running, the installer should not prompt "Twine is running" and stop the installation/uninstall or attempt to close the nonexistent Twine process.

Additional context on this problem.

This problem can be solved by manually removing "Twine.exe" from the installation directory. The installer will stop prompting and complete the upgrade/uninstall process without any issues.

Note: On both PCs tested. 2.3.16 has been installed and 2.4.0 is then installed through running the 2.4.0 installer without uninstalling 2.3.16 first. Not sure if related to this problem. But if the issue can't be reproduced, perhaps it is.

Twine version number

2.4.1

Does this problem occur with the web version of Twine or the desktop app?

Desktop app

What operating system does this problem occur on?

Windows

If this problem is occurring with the web version of Twine, what browser does it occur on?

No response

Presubmission checklist

• [ ] I am interested in working on code that would fix this bug. (This is not required to submit a bug report.)
• [X] I have done a search and believe that an issue does not already exist for this bug in the GitHub repository.
• [X] I have read and agree to abide by this project's Code of Conduct.

[klembot]

It looks like this is a bug with electron-builder.

[Prikalel]

-1 Just tested scenario 2 with Twine 2.4.0. The problem did not occur (for uninstalling I used "uninstall or change the program" window).

[AlyxMS]

-1 Just tested scenario 2 with Twine 2.4.0. The problem did not occur (for uninstalling I used "uninstall or change the program" window).

Strange. From klembot's link, perhaps only Windows machines with MKS Toolkit installed are affected. But I do not have MKS Toolkit installed and I cannot uninstall 2.4.0 or 2.4.1. Could it be a locale issue? My system locale is Chinese.

Update: No I don't think it's related to locale or 2.3.16 being installed prior. 2.3.16 uninstalls just fine. Only 2.4.0 and 2.4.1 have this problem. Hope this problem goes away when installers for newer verisions of Twine is made with of Electron-builder 23.1+ where this bug is apparently fixed.

Update2: Saw another user on Twine Games discord reporting the same bug. Definitely not an isolated case.

Update3: I just did an uninstall by accident(expecting it to not work) and it uninstalled without any issue. Weird.

Update4: I've figured out. For the uninstall I did earlier, I moved the uninstaller to another directory before running. So this issue occurs only if Uninstall Twine.exe and Twine.exe is in the same folder.

[AlyxMS]

Update: Today I uninstalled Twine 2.4.1 on the same PC that would give this bug consistently. And the uninstall process completed without any issues. Also tried 2.5.1. No problem with uninstalling at all. There has been no system updates or anything. I have no idea what's going on any more.

If no one else can replicate this, I'm okay with closing the issue

[klembot]

🎉 I'll close for now. Forgot to put this in the release notes, but I upgraded electron-builder for 2.5.1, so I think that did the trick.