MiKTeX setup fails with API error 126

[TobiBS]

During installation miktexsetup.exe fails with:

Windows API error 126: The specified module could not be found.
Data: dllName="C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex/bin/x64\MiKTeX209-core.dll"

I found nothing on the web, what could solve this issue or where its from, only others having the question, no solution:

• https://sourceforge.net/p/miktex/mailman/message/12310714/
• http://miktex.10937.n7.nabble.com/Update-and-Install-Problem-API-Error-126-td1380.html

[edocevoli]

Unfortunately I cannot reproduce the issue with the given information.

[TobiBS]

What information do you need? The problem happens during installation as described at https://miktex.org/howto/deploy-miktex

The implementation is in a company specific PowerShell script and ran successfull on around 800 machines, yet.

I can gather specific information on Tuesday, but I need to know in advance what to look for.

[edocevoli]

I don't know what information I need. If you cannot help me to reproduce the bug, I cannot fix it.

You might want to take a look here:
https://www.google.de/search?q=How+to+Write+a+Bug+Report

[edocevoli]

Please note that there are two variants of miktexsetup.exe:

1. the integrated version installed with MiKTeX
2. the stand-alone version available here: http://mirrors.ctan.org/systems/win32/miktex/setup/windows-x64/miktexsetup.zip

You have to use the stand-alone variant.

[TobiBS]

OK, I tried to grab all information that I thought is useful:

MiKTeXsetup version used is: MiKTeX Setup Utility (MiKTeX 2.9.6300 64-bit)
It is used in conjunction with repository version 6457 via a script written in PowerShell. Windows version used is Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.15063.0

The command used for installation is "$directory\Miktex\miktexsetup.exe" --quiet --shared --modify-path --local-package-repository="$directory\Miktex\Packages" --package-set=complete install

MiKTeXsetup copies all files as expected, but before %PATH% is populated and before taskbar icons are created. Manually adding MiKTeX to path allows complete usage of LaTeX via command line or TeXstudio.

The installation script used worked on 800 Windows 7 and Windows 10 computers already without any issue, therefore I have no idea where this issue originates from. I also can not reproduce this issue on another computer. On the given machine deleting MikTeX folder content and restarting the script always results in the error message initially mentioned.

Does that help to investigate, or shall we provide more specific information?

[aaronr8684]

@edocevoli I ran into this same issue with the latest version of MiKTeX (22.3) and came across this issue via a Google search of the error message.

Full Error:
Title - MiKTeX Setup Wizard
Msg -

The operation could not be completed for the following reason:

Windows API error 126: The specified module could not be found.

Details: dllname="C:\Program Files\MiKTeX\miktex/bin/x64\MiKTeX220300-core.dll"

Details:
OS: Win 10 Enterprise 64-bit (10.0, Build 19042)
Installer: Basic MiKTeX Installer (22.3, 8110, 64-bit)
Installation Options: basic-miktex-22.3-x64.exe --auto-install=yes --paper-size=Letter --shared --unattended install

The path DOES contain that file. My guess is that the installer is mixing / and \ after the 'miktex' text and failing to find the file because of that invalid path. The attended manual install completes just fine.