I get an "start PMXT server" when trying to run the python version

[ivanpapazov1]

This is the error
"Exception: Failed to start PMXT server: Failed to start server: [WinError 193] %1 is not a valid Win32 application

Please ensure 'pmxtjs' is installed: npm install -g pmxtjs
Or start the server manually: pmxt-server"

[realfishsam]

You need to

1. Have node installed on your device
2. Redownload the latest version of pmxt for python.

[ivanpapazov1]

I have the newest version of both node and also of pmxt.

[ivanpapazov1]

and it works on linux but not on widnows

[BullyWiiPlaza]

I also can't use pmxt-server on Windows due to the same error message. It would be great if this bug was addressed or if it was documented better how to run it specifically for Windows. Typically, running processes programmatically can be a bit tricky to get right cross-platform so a working Linux code may not work for Windows for sure or vice versa.

Thank you!

[realfishsam]

ally, running processes programmatically can be a bit tricky to get right cross-platform so a working Linux code may not work for Windows for sure or vice versa.

I reopened the issue. I'm not on windows and did not know about this! Think you can create some sort of reproducibility guide, and I'll try to get a windows computer to fix the issue on?

[BullyWiiPlaza]

ally, running processes programmatically can be a bit tricky to get right cross-platform so a working Linux code may not work for Windows for sure or vice versa.

I reopened the issue. I'm not on windows and did not know about this! Think you can create some sort of reproducibility guide, and I'll try to get a windows computer to fix the issue on?

I actually fixed the issue myself after some investigation time. I knew you didn't test it on Windows, hence it was broken. The fix is:

def _start_server_via_launcher(self) -> None:
	"""
	Start the server using the pmxt-ensure-server launcher.
	"""
	# 1. Check for bundled server (PRODUCTION - installed via pip)
	launcher_filename = 'pmxt-ensure-server'
	if os.name == "nt":
		launcher_filename += ".js"

	bundled_launcher = Path(__file__).parent / '_server' / 'bin' / launcher_filename
	
	# 2. Check for monorepo structure (DEVELOPMENT)
	current_file = Path(__file__).resolve()
	local_launcher = current_file.parent.parent.parent.parent / 'core' / 'bin' / launcher_filename
	
	# 3. Check PATH (GLOBAL INSTALL)
	path_launcher = shutil.which(launcher_filename)
	
	# Priority order: bundled > local dev > PATH
	if bundled_launcher.exists():
		launcher = str(bundled_launcher)
	elif local_launcher.exists():
		launcher = str(local_launcher)
	elif path_launcher:
		launcher = path_launcher
	else:
		raise Exception(
			"pmxt-ensure-server not found.\n"
			"This should have been bundled with the package.\n"
			"Please reinstall: pip install --force-reinstall pmxt\n"
			"Or install the server manually: npm install -g pmxt-core"
		)
	
	# Call the launcher
	try:
		# If it's a JS file and we are calling it directly, might need node
		cmd = [launcher]
		if launcher.endswith('.js') or not os.access(launcher, os.X_OK):
			cmd = ['node', launcher]

		result = subprocess.run(
			cmd,
			capture_output=True,
			text=True,
			timeout=self.HEALTH_CHECK_TIMEOUT
		)
		
		if result.returncode != 0:
			raise Exception(
				f"Failed to start server: {result.stderr or result.stdout}"
			)
	except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
		raise Exception("Server startup timeout")
	except Exception as e:
		raise Exception(f"Failed to start server: {e}")

Somehow the file pmxt-ensure-server has no extension on a Linux installation but on Windows it's pmxt-ensure-server.js hence the current Python code fails to find the file when running the command (since it never handled the .js extension). After all, it's quite a simple fix, I experimented with editing the .js file too and making it run the launch command as a shell script etc. like

// Spawn server as detached process
const serverProcess = spawn(serverCmd, args, {
	detached: true,
	stdio: 'ignore',
	env: process.env,
	shell: true
});

which opened a flashing command line, so the Python sided fix was the cleanest which also only uses the bundled server and not npm. This part was confusing as well, I deleted my npm installation of pmxtjs since it wasn't even needed to work 😅

[realfishsam]

ally, running processes programmatically can be a bit tricky to get right cross-platform so a working Linux code may not work for Windows for sure or vice versa.

I reopened the issue. I'm not on windows and did not know about this! Think you can create some sort of reproducibility guide, and I'll try to get a windows computer to fix the issue on?

I actually fixed the issue myself after some investigation time. I knew you didn't test it on Windows, hence it was broken. The fix is:

def _start_server_via_launcher(self) -> None:
	"""
	Start the server using the pmxt-ensure-server launcher.
	"""
	# 1. Check for bundled server (PRODUCTION - installed via pip)
	launcher_filename = 'pmxt-ensure-server'
	if os.name == "nt":
		launcher_filename += ".js"

	bundled_launcher = Path(__file__).parent / '_server' / 'bin' / launcher_filename
	
	# 2. Check for monorepo structure (DEVELOPMENT)
	current_file = Path(__file__).resolve()
	local_launcher = current_file.parent.parent.parent.parent / 'core' / 'bin' / launcher_filename
	
	# 3. Check PATH (GLOBAL INSTALL)
	path_launcher = shutil.which(launcher_filename)
	
	# Priority order: bundled > local dev > PATH
	if bundled_launcher.exists():
		launcher = str(bundled_launcher)
	elif local_launcher.exists():
		launcher = str(local_launcher)
	elif path_launcher:
		launcher = path_launcher
	else:
		raise Exception(
			"pmxt-ensure-server not found.\n"
			"This should have been bundled with the package.\n"
			"Please reinstall: pip install --force-reinstall pmxt\n"
			"Or install the server manually: npm install -g pmxt-core"
		)
	
	# Call the launcher
	try:
		# If it's a JS file and we are calling it directly, might need node
		cmd = [launcher]
		if launcher.endswith('.js') or not os.access(launcher, os.X_OK):
			cmd = ['node', launcher]

		result = subprocess.run(
			cmd,
			capture_output=True,
			text=True,
			timeout=self.HEALTH_CHECK_TIMEOUT
		)
		
		if result.returncode != 0:
			raise Exception(
				f"Failed to start server: {result.stderr or result.stdout}"
			)
	except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
		raise Exception("Server startup timeout")
	except Exception as e:
		raise Exception(f"Failed to start server: {e}")

Somehow the file pmxt-ensure-server has no extension on a Linux installation but on Windows it's pmxt-ensure-server.js hence the current Python code fails to find the file when running the command (since it never handled the .js extension). After all, it's quite a simple fix, I experimented with editing the .js file too and making it run the launch command as a shell script etc. like

// Spawn server as detached process
const serverProcess = spawn(serverCmd, args, {
	detached: true,
	stdio: 'ignore',
	env: process.env,
	shell: true
});

which opened a flashing command line, so the Python sided fix was the cleanest which also only uses the bundled server and not npm. This part was confusing as well, I deleted my npm installation of pmxtjs since it wasn't even needed to work 😅

Wow. I would LOVE it if you submitted a pr updating the docs, and implementing the fix. That would honestly be awesome. Thanks for posting the solution! We just had our first contributor, and another one would be awesome.

[BullyWiiPlaza]

Wow. I would LOVE it if you submitted a pr updating the docs, and implementing the fix. That would honestly be awesome. Thanks for posting the solution! We just had our first contributor, and another one would be awesome.

Sure, expect it tomorrow 🌟😀