Support x86 platform

[Urs1956]

Hello,
if i try to install the Power Toys from the msi-package, i got this message.
Plattform is Win 10 pro, Build 1903

crutkas: #413 is a prereq for this to be supported

[retrorich75]

Hi Ur

Hello,
if i try to install the Power Toys from the msi-package, i got this message.
Plattform is Win 10 pro, Build 1903

Kind regards
Urs1956

Hi Urs1956,

Can you check in the Event Viewer (right click Start Menu to open)

Under Windows Log, Application Do you see any Warning or Errors ?

If any errors any code(s) ? Any code from this page https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/msi/windows-installer-error-messages ?

Richard

PS installed okay on my Win10 Home build 19013.vb_release.191025-1609

[retrorich75]

Hi Urs1956,

Any feedback? Be great to know.

Richard

[Urs1956]

Hi Richard, I'll test it today 😉 Greetings Gert Am 3. November 2019 17:56:17 schrieb Richard Parslow <notifications@github.com>:

…

Hi Urs1956, Any feedback? Be great to know. Richard — You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.

[Urs1956]

Hi,
Sorry, the same issues as ver 0.12 also in ver 0.13.

Greetings

[enricogior]

Hi @Urs1956
are you installing using PowerToysSetup.msi?
Please, open a Command Prompt, navigate to the folder where PowerToysSetup.msi is and run the following command:

msiexec /i PowerToysSetup.msi /l*v "install.log"

install.log should contain useful information to determine the problem.
You can upload the file here (drag and drop the file, instead of copying the content).
Thank you.

[enricogior]

@Urs1956
your hardware is AMD or Intel 64 bit?
32 bit and ARM are not currently supported.

[Urs1956]

AMD FX-8350 and Win 10 Pro 32bit.

That´s it ;-)

[enricogior]

We currently don't have plans to support 32 bit. We might in the future but it's not a guarantee.
Sorry for the inconvenience.

[retrorich75]

We currently don't have plans to support 32 bit. We might in the future but it's not a guarantee.
Sorry for the inconvenience.

So @enricogior maybe worth to update readme to mention no 32bit support?

Sorry about that Gert @Urs1956

[retrorich75]

Gert @Urs1956 why not change to 64bit ? Unless you need specifically 32bit guide available on the net for example https://www.windowscentral.com/how-upgrade-32-bit-64-bit-version-windows-10

[enricogior]

@retrorich75

maybe worth to update readme to mention no 32bit support?

I thought it was there, sorry about it, I'll make sure we add it.
Thanks.

[enricogior]

@indierawk2k2 we should mention in the Readme that x86 is not supported.

[crutkas]

@Urs1956 i'm wondering why you are on a 32bit OS with a rather new processor?

[crutkas]

@enricogior this should be revisited with the ARM support discussion, there are people that run 32vs64bit.

[enricogior]

@crutkas in the meantime can you update the readme?

[crutkas]

@enricogior did a PR for adjustment on readme

[enricogior]

#413 is a prerequisite for this issue.

[lukebarone]

@enricogior did a PR for adjustment on readme

The text for saying what issue this is reads #620 as opposed to #602

[crutkas]

@lukebarone, good catch, the link was good but text was wrong. fixed.

[sudo-nautilus]

@sudo-nautilus I don't think so. You would compile using Visual Studio (pretty sure), but there are dependencies and other stuff that doesn't support x86, so you cannot compile for x86 yet

Thanks anyway

[sudo-nautilus]

@kethan1 Is there any other way to compile ?

[kethan1]

@sudo-nautilus if you want to compile for x64, the only way I know of is Visual Studio. Currently, compiling for x86 is impossible, without investing a significant amount of time by making the dependencies and code compatible with x86.

[crutkas]

This is going to be easier to do once we support ARM.

Right now i believe a lot (if not all) our projects only target x64.

[sudo-nautilus]

@crutkas @kethan1
Thanks, I will wait for the future releases or I will buy a new pc.

[sudo-nautilus]

@sudo-nautilus I don't think so. You would compile using Visual Studio (pretty sure), but there are dependencies and other stuff that doesn't support x86, so you cannot compile for x86 yet

Oof

[dxgldotorg]

@kethan1 I believe this change at this point is only a policy of no longer offering OEM licenses for 32-bit. Even Windows Insider Preview is still offered in 32-bit format.

[lukemcdo]

Hi,

Worth noting that 32-bit Windows is still an important platform in part due to its enhanced backwards-compatibility with older drivers and older proprietary software that won't be updated. While it is true that for the most part, 32-bit x86 hardware is being phased out, that does not mean that the use cases for 32-bit Windows are being phased out at all.

[sudo-nautilus]

Bruh

[dxgldotorg]

Hi,

Worth noting that 32-bit Windows is still an important platform in part due to its enhanced backwards-compatibility with older drivers and older proprietary software that won't be updated. While it is true that for the most part, 32-bit x86 hardware is being phased out, that does not mean that the use cases for 32-bit Windows are being phased out at all.

While drivers remain an issue, there is now an unofficial means of running 16-bit software under Windows 64-bit called OTVDM - https://github.com/otya128/winevdm
Note this program is currently under development, and that you'll probably want the unstable version linked to from the readme (get the build from the "THIS_BUILD_IS_RECOMMENDED__VCXPROJ_BUILD=1" environment) for maximum compatibility.
This program contains a CPU emulator to run 16-bit x86 though it can support virtualization depending on the environment; the Win16 implementation is done via code from the Wine project.

DOS programs can be run using DOSBox on both 32- and 64-bit platforms, and unlike NTVDM can run with full graphics and sound.

[sudo-nautilus]

woah that's amazing

[sudo-nautilus]

Hi,
Worth noting that 32-bit Windows is still an important platform in part due to its enhanced backwards-compatibility with older drivers and older proprietary software that won't be updated. While it is true that for the most part, 32-bit x86 hardware is being phased out, that does not mean that the use cases for 32-bit Windows are being phased out at all.

While drivers remain an issue, there is now an unofficial means of running 16-bit software under Windows 64-bit called OTVDM - https://github.com/otya128/winevdm
Note this program is currently under development, and that you'll probably want the unstable version linked to from the readme (get the build from the "THIS_BUILD_IS_RECOMMENDED__VCXPROJ_BUILD=1" environment) for maximum compatibility.
This program contains a CPU emulator to run 16-bit x86 though it can support virtualization depending on the environment; the Win16 implementation is done via code from the Wine project.

DOS programs can be run using DOSBox on both 32- and 64-bit platforms, and unlike NTVDM can run with full graphics and sound.

could you please explain how is that connected with 64 bit executables or this issue ?

[lukemcdo]

The prior poster wanted to explain away a reason for choosing 32-bit Windows 10 that I offered for the sake of discussion.

[crutkas]

Some users want it, we totally understand that. This is a large sum of work to support due to building and how the projects are structured. Most of this will become pretty crisp and clear work wise with ARM64 being being added.

Based on user requests however and scope of work vs the ARM64 work, we are prioritizing that first.

[just1a-person]

With Windows 11, is x86 support a really high priority issue anymore?

[dxgldotorg]

With Windows 11, is x86 support a really high priority issue anymore?

I was about to ask the same thing. It's not like it does anything that requires low level manipulation of 32-bit processes and if it did then there would be the necessary 32-bit components included for said processes.

[lukemcdo]

There will still be x86 builds of Windows for certain enterprise workloads from what I saw, but yes, the Windows 11 announcement does make the need dramatically lower since consumers will not have official access to 32 bit builds.

[crutkas]

@lukemcdo, can you explain these workloads?

[lukemcdo]

I mean, it's the standard "old hardware" sort of workloads. Old label printers with no direct replacement model available, things like that. Archivists also use 32-bit Windows. It's niche, I'm not going to pretend it's vital or important.

I have a VM using 32-bit Windows for testing builds that I wouldn't mind having PowerToys on, but honestly I only ended up on this issue because I was curious why it didn't exist, not because I have an essential need for it on my VM.

[NeoTechni]

I have a Windows 10 tablet that the manufacturer only made the drivers for 32 bit windows to save power despite it being a 64 bit CPU

[crutkas]

@NeoTechni that seems interesting, any chance you can share OEM and model?

[NeoTechni]

The Linx Vision 8 (it also only has 32GB of EMMC flash, and Win10 takes ALLLLL of it, to the point where Windows can't even update anymore. The irony given they said it was made for tablets, and yet it won't let you install apps to the SD card)

I got it cause it has a controller dock/grip. Though with only 2 GB of RAM and 32 bit Windows it's quite limited. Especially since some games won't even run if they aren't installed on C:\

[crutkas]

We are not planning to support x86 now that Windows 11 is x64 and ARM only. For the large sums of work to test each build and considering the core base for PowerToys are power users, this is hard to justify the continual work to validate.

[dxgldotorg]

Would you accept or reject PRs that enabled x86 builds?

[crutkas]

The issue is more the long term support / testing. We are a small team and this adds a bit bit of extra testing. There could be so many gotcha's like ARM64 support had.

I could see accepting a PR to help enable this (as this work would also help ARM64 support) but I don't think we'd ever officially support it.

[neakmenter]

so, pretty much any tablet or stick pc with atom z3xxx cpus are given a 32bit uefi - this means that only 32 bit windows can be installed (there are workarounds for 64 bit Linux though). there are many "Bay trail" tablets with this config - even from major vendors such as dell, Lenovo, Asus etc... it was related to win8 connected standby and Intel not having a 64bit uefi ready at release or something?