Winget-cli: Unable to install *anything* - "The parameter is incorrect."

[stvhwrd]

Brief description of your issue

Every time I try to install a package, any package at all, I get an error dialog with "The parameter is incorrect." I have previously installed ~dozen packages without incident.

Steps to reproduce

In PowerShell window (Admin or normal, makes no difference) install any valid package:
winget install Microsoft.VisualStudioCode

(using VSCode as arbitrary example)

Expected behavior

I expect the package to be installed successfully.

Actual behavior

The PowerShell window hangs and an error dialog pops up with the error "The parameter is incorrect", with title bar of this dialog showing the installer of the package I'm trying to install. After clicking "OK" in dialog, it disappears and the PS windows shows "Installer failed with exit code: 1223"

Environment

Windows Package Manager v0.2.2521 Preview
Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.19041.508
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.11.2521.0

Tried this in PowerShell v7.0.3, Windows Terminal Version: 1.2.2381.0

[denelon]

Would you be willing to share your logs for the package manager?

[stvhwrd]

Sure, no problem! What's the process?

[denelon]

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\DiagOutputDir

The path above should get you to the log files so we can see what's being reported.

[stvhwrd]

And I should send to [email protected] with a reference to this issue?

[denelon]

No, you can e-mail the logs to [email protected]

[denelon]

The "[email protected]" alias is for more sensitive log issues related to security concerns. These logs don't contain any sensitive information in them.

[stvhwrd]

Got it, thanks. Sent the logs.

[denelon]

We have received them, and will take a look. Thank you very much for sharing!

[KevinLaMS]

@stvhwrd out of curiosity, if you remove powershell from the equation do you still see the error? in other words from a command prompt if you just type "winget install microsoft.visualstudiocode" do you get the same error? Thanks

[stvhwrd]

Using vanilla cmd.exe, it's the exact same result.

[KevinLaMS]

Thanks for the quick response.

[JohnMcPMS]

Is this behavior new since the OS update? Or have you successfully installed since getting Windows.Desktop v10.0.19041.508, which appears to have been released Sept. 8?

[stvhwrd]

I hadn't taken note of exact date this first started occurring but no, it's been at least a month... realistically it's probably closer to 3 months.

[JohnMcPMS]

Sorry, it has been happening for 3 months or it has been 3 months since you last tried?

[stvhwrd]

This first started happening approximately 2-3 months ago.

[JohnMcPMS]

I have a suspicion; do you have any shell verbs registered for exes? If you right click on an exe, which action is in bold?

[stvhwrd]

Negative.

[JohnMcPMS]

It could potentially still be this, but I suspect it less now. We aren't setting the verb on the ShellExecute call, and so the default action should occur. We should set it to open in case someone changes the default verb to something else.

At this point, I'm not sure how else to investigate. ShellExecute is a complex API that does a LOT even just to launch an executable. We are using it because it handles many security checks for us, but it definitely is a bit opaque.

The only thing I can think of at this point is attaching a debugger to see if the error comes out in debug output. If you are ok with helping that way, I can detail how to do that.

[stvhwrd]

Yeah for sure, happy to help however I can! I love this project/intention.

Feel free to ping me on Teams - alias is stehowa

[luispb]

I'm experiencing the same issue. This is the error for example when I try to install Audacity.

Just sent the log to [email protected]

Thank you

[denelon]

As an FYI, if you use Windows Feedback [Windows]+[f] and select "Apps" and "Windows Package Manager" for the category it will automatically attach logs.

[luispb]

As an FYI, if you use Windows Feedback [Windows]+[f] and select "Apps" and "Windows Package Manager" for the category it will automatically attach logs.

Good to know!

[denelon]

@stvhwrd has this issue been resolved?

[msftbot[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has been marked as requiring author feedback but has not had any activity for 4 days. It will be closed if no further activity occurs within 3 days of this comment.

[stvhwrd]

Not resolved, @JohnMcPMS has done some debugging on my machine on corpnet. Issue persists.

[luispb]

@denelon, not resolved on my side either. Issue persists.

[denelon]

Thanks for letting us know. I've removed the "Needs-Attention".

[dantho]

BTW, I'm getting this same, bizarre error message in PowerShell 7.1.0 Core (installed today) when I run a trivial .bat script from _certain_ directories. (Older version of PowerShell desktop works fine on the same .bat script.)

PS C: > echo 'echo Hello' > hello.bat
PS C: > .\hello.bat
Hello

PS M: > echo 'echo Hello' > hello.bat
PS M: > .\hello.bat
OperationStopped: The parameter is incorrect.

The M-Drive is an IBM MultiVersion File System MVFS drive, so it is "special". Prior versions of PS Core work fine, and PowerShell Desktop still works on this drive.

Submitted separate issue: Issue#14209

[JohnMcPMS]

I've figured out the issue, and fortunately it is already resolved in the next client release.

I was able to repro on a machine thanks to @stvhwrd , and found that the problem comes from placing the MotW on the downloaded file. When it is Zone 3, affected machines will generate the invalid parameter error from within the kernel process creation, while also strangely removing the Zone.Identifier alternate stream. I can only assume that this is some particular AV driver or specific enterprise security enforcement, because it does not affect many people.

When I manually set the Zone.Identifier to Zone 2, like we are now doing for trusted sources, the process creation does not fail, and the Zone.Identifier alternate stream is not removed.

I believe that we are very close to releasing the next version that includes the Zone change, and will work with @denelon to get it to you as soon as we can.