When the username has non-ASCII characters, "Reading symbols" crashes explorer

[Longhorn004]

When downloading the symbols for 17763.4645, while reading symbols, it crashes

[Symbols] Started "Download symbols" thread.
[Symbols] Attempting to download symbols for unknown OS version 10.0.17763.4645.
[Symbols] Downloading to "C:\Users\사용자\AppData\Roaming\ExplorerPatcher".
[Symbols] Downloading symbols for "C:\Windows\system32\twinui.pcshell.dll" ("bee1d8b417cf701206dad9d2250b8c9e")...
[Symbols] Reading symbols
After that, it crash loops. Disabling download symbols works but not recommended.

Uninstalling, deleting the explorerpatcher registry did nothing.

[Amrsatrio]

I need these information in order to assist you further.

[Longhorn004]

There was no application error logged, it just says that "The shell stopped unexpectedly and Explorer.exe restarted."

[pyrates999]

Looks like you got some kind of classic theme enabled. Disable it or uninstall it and then see if this still occurs.

[Amrsatrio]

Sure you're on the latest EP? These two lines should not appear on builds lower than Win11 22H2 (22621). There was a bug that the code related to those lines, specific to 22H2 and up, gets executed if the last part of your windows version is >= 2134. Nevermind. I think I'll have to test this on that particular build first, which I dont have installed.

[Longhorn004]

Looks like you got some kind of classic theme enabled. Disable it or uninstall it and then see if this still occurs.

Tried, still no luck.

[Longhorn004]

Sure you're on the latest EP? These two lines should not appear on builds lower than Win11 22H2 (22621). There was a bug that the code related to those lines, specific to 22H2 and up, gets executed if the last part of your windows version is >= 2134. Nevermind. I think I'll have to test this on that particular build first, which I dont have installed.

I´ve tried all the ExplorerPatcher versions, the 2022 one that i have on my Downloads folder and latest one still gives the same restart loop. It didn´t happen before a few months ago but it started recently.

[pyrates999]

Please copy and paste the entirety of what the console output from EP showed you. It goes too quick in the video you posted and it can't be paused to view it.

You also are running an update from July: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/july-11-2023-kb5028168-os-build-17763-4645-eff2d1e1-5f91-4d9a-aef1-ae26bdf51321

Please install the september update.

[Longhorn004]

Please copy and paste the entirety of what the console output from EP showed you. It goes too quick in the video you posted and it can't be paused to view it.

You also are running an update from July: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/july-11-2023-kb5028168-os-build-17763-4645-eff2d1e1-5f91-4d9a-aef1-ae26bdf51321

Please install the september update.

Logs:
funchook create 1
Running on Windows 10, OS Build 10.0.17763.4851.
Attempting to download symbol data; for now, the program may have limited functionality.
Setup ntdll functions done
Setup user32 functions done
Setup explorer functions done
Setup uxtheme functions done
Failed to hook CLauncherTipContextMenu_ShowLauncherTipContextMenu(). rv = -1
Failed to hook twinui_pcshell_IsUndockedAssetAvailable(). rv = -1
Setup twinui.pcshell functions done
Setup twinui functions done
Setup stobject functions done
Setup bthprops functions done
Setup pnidui functions done
Setup sndvolsso functions done
Setup shell32 functions done
Setup explorerframe functions done
Setup windows.storage functions done
Setup peopleband functions done
Installed hooks.
Open Start on monitor thread
EP Service Window thread
Initialized taskbar centering module.
0 0
[Updates] Starting daemon.
[Updates] Configured update policy on this system: "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them".
[Updates] Path to module: C:\Windows\dxgi.dll
[Updates] Checking against hash "22622.2361.58.1.6308ade2473120e6"
[Updates] Update URL: https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher/releases/latest/download/ep_setup.exe
[Symbols] Started "Download symbols" thread.
[Symbols] Attempting to download symbols for unknown OS version 10.0.17763.4851.
[Symbols] Downloading to "C:\Users\사용자\AppData\Roaming\ExplorerPatcher".
[Symbols] Downloading symbols for "C:\Windows\system32\twinui.pcshell.dll" ("1a6da8fdb051b01f8aa24354aab53a49")...
[Updates] Hash of remote file is "22622.2361.58.1.6308ade2473120e6" (valid).
[Updates] Local version obtained from hash is 22622.2361.58.1.
[Updates] No updates are available.
[Symbols] Reading symbols...

Even with the september update, it still doesn't want to hook it.

[Amrsatrio]

Is it possible for you to upload your Win10 VM so that I can test it myself? I just installed a fresh 17763 build and EP works as it should, with context menu positioning fixups, taskbar centering, and Weather. That hook failed message appears as well but it's nothing to worry about since they're only used (and required) in Windows 11.

[Longhorn004]

Is it possible for you to upload your Win10 VM so that I can test it myself? I just installed a fresh 17763 build and EP works as it should, with context menu positioning fixups, taskbar centering, and Weather. That hook failed message appears as well but it's nothing to worry about since they're only used (and required) in Windows 11.

Which 17763 update are you running? Because i've haven't tested the English build. I only tested the Korean one.

[pyrates999]

Is it possible for you to upload your Win10 VM so that I can test it myself? I just installed a fresh 17763 build and EP works as it should, with context menu positioning fixups, taskbar centering, and Weather. That hook failed message appears as well but it's nothing to worry about since they're only used (and required) in Windows 11.

Which 17763 update are you running? Because i've haven't tested the English build. I only tested the Korean one.

It appears to be this one: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/september-12-2023-kb5030214-os-build-17763-4851-e6ae7551-49f4-428e-b2d4-caa73078fb06

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC v2019

Which is 4 years old. Might be too old to support.

[Longhorn004]

Is it possible for you to upload your Win10 VM so that I can test it myself? I just installed a fresh 17763 build and EP works as it should, with context menu positioning fixups, taskbar centering, and Weather. That hook failed message appears as well but it's nothing to worry about since they're only used (and required) in Windows 11.

Weather works, but some of them such as non immersive taskbar context menu doesn't show correctly.

[pyrates999]

Is there a reason why you're on the Enterprise version of windows 10 from 2019?

[Longhorn004]

Is there a reason why you're on the Enterprise version of windows 10 from 2019?

It has LTSC support until 2029. And it's fast for me.

[Longhorn004]

Is it possible for you to upload your Win10 VM so that I can test it myself? I just installed a fresh 17763 build and EP works as it should, with context menu positioning fixups, taskbar centering, and Weather. That hook failed message appears as well but it's nothing to worry about since they're only used (and required) in Windows 11.

Found the problem, it seems that the username I typed in Korean doesn't want to hook and read the symbols, leading to an explorer crash. Reinstalling it and typing it in English solves the problem.

[pyrates999]

Hi @Amrsatrio,

If EP only supports usernames in english, could we add that check during install and when EP tries to hook itself into explorer.exe?

[pyrates999]

Is there a reason why you're on the Enterprise version of windows 10 from 2019?

It has LTSC support until 2029. And it's fast for me.

Just be aware no one here tests EP against old releases of windows 10 and 11.

[Amrsatrio]

Okay so the problem lies in Valinet's PDB downloader which supports ASCII chars only in file paths. And sorry @pyrates999 I don't want to touch the setup code or such for now. Other than the user changing the username, the solutions would be:

1. Adding a check during setup to notify that EP can only be installed in systems with only ASCII usernames
2. Fixing the PDB downloader in libvalinet by changing const char* to wchar_t*

[pyrates999]

Okay so the problem lies in Valinet's PDB downloader which supports ASCII chars only in file paths. And sorry @pyrates999 I don't want to touch the setup code or such for now. Other than the user changing the username, the solutions would be:

1. Adding a check during setup to notify that EP can only be installed in systems with only ASCII usernames
2. Fixing the PDB downloader in libvalinet by changing const char* to wchar_t*

Sounds good. I would add that this check for non-ascii characters that is checked during setup, also be checked when updating EP through it's update feature.