My computer doesn’t have a dxsdkver.h file. That should be in the DirectX SDK. Except that no longer exists, and is now part of the Windows SDK (latest version: 7.1). That should have been installed with Visual Studio, but somehow my computer is very special, once again.
So today I tried installing the Windows SDK, and I get this feeling of deja vu:
A problem occurred while installing selected Windows SDK components.
Setup could not find the file WinSDKhelpWinSDKHelp_x86.msi at any of the specified source locations http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/6/A/A6AC035D-DA3F-4F0C-ADA4-37C8E5D34E3D/setup
I cannot install the Windows SDK, and I have been here before! In fact, my Firefox history still remembers half the links that a cursory Google search lists as visited. I hope it doesn’t mean I have to reinstall Visual Studio.
Update 1: I downloaded the Windows SDK 7.1 ISO, ran the setup from that, and now I get this message:
Installation of the “Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7” product has reported the following error: Please refer to SamplesSetupHTMLConfigDetails.htm document for further information.
What the Hell? That tells me nothing. Google points me to this page of regedit fuckery, which seems like something I tried last time I was here, but will be the next thing I try.
Update 2: Well, that didn’t work either. The next advice I followed was from this forum post, which suggested to uncheck the compilers (since I believe I have the SP1 compiler installed), but again, no dice. Time to try installing one component at a time, and fine-combing the log file each time one fails.
Update 3: Never mind what I just wrote. It turns out even when I deselect every single option in the installer, the installation still fails.
=== Logging started: 2/19/2012 18:05:16 ===
Action start 18:05:16: INSTALL.
Action start 18:05:16: DDSE_CA_Uninstall_InstallExecuteSequenceStarts_x86.
02/19/12 18:05:16 DDSet_Status: LANGID: 1033
02/19/12 18:05:16 DDSet_Entry: ImmediateDispatch: DDSE_CA_Uninstall_InstallExecuteSequenceStarts entry
02/19/12 18:05:16 DDSet_Error: Patch Hooks: Missing required property ‘ProductFamily’: Setup cannot continue.
02/19/12 18:05:16 DDSet_Warning: Setup failed while calling ‘getDLLName’. System error: Cannot create a file when that file already exists.
Every log file has entries like this, which seems to indicate that something that’s already installed is causing an issue with this installer. WTF.
Update 4: Progress!
Further on, the log file said that
vcredist_x86.exe installation failed with return code 5100
On a whim, I uninstalled the Visual C++ 2010 x86 Redistributable from the control panel, then tried the “empty” installation again, and Heureka! It worked.
Maybe now I can install the full product?
Installation of the “Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 Compilers for x86” product has reported the following error: Fatal error during installation.
Let me just uninstall “Microsoft Visual C++ Compilers 2010 SP1 Standard – x86. I’m pretty sure I can install them again later. and oh wonder, the installation finishes!
Still doesn’t include dxsdkver.h, though. I think my initial research must have been faulty.