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LP7 Upgrade: Could not obtain startup pointer

saluqisaluqi

I upgraded my LinqPad to 7.5.14 (x64) today, but I'm having a lot of issues with it. After some experimenting, I have these reproducable steps:

  1. Run LINQPad7Setup.exe to install 7.5.14 (x64).
  2. After finishing the install, allow it to launch LinqPad.
  3. Run a script that uses a library that references System.Data.SqlClient. This script ran yesterday just fine, but today it does not. It gives the error: "Could not load file or assembly 'System.Data.SqlClient, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'. The system cannot find the...".
  4. Exit LinqPad.
  5. Click the LinqPad icon in the system tray. LinqPad doesn't launch, and instead gives you a dialog that says: "Could not obtain startup pointer (-21470248941).".

In order to run LinqPad again, I have to install it again.

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Comments

  • JoeAlbahariJoeAlbahari

    Are you still able to reproduce this error? And are you certain that it occurs only after running a particular script?

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  • kneepadsgeldingkneepadsgelding

    Exactly around that time I started getting that problem too. It appears anytime you close the linqpad and reopen it will throw that startup pointer error. I also upgraded to the latest version

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  • JoeAlbahariJoeAlbahari

    Are you able to check the permissions on the LINQPad.GUI.dll and LINQPad.Runtime.dll files, and also verify that they are not in use? If the condition is reproducible, could you take a copy of the folder and send it to me so I can investigate.

    You might also like to try 7.5.16 which has just been released:
    https://www.linqpad.net/linqpad7.aspx#beta

    It includes a bunch of built-in diagnostics in the launchers (on the unmanaged side) to detect and report various error conditions, including

    • Missing LINQPad.GUI.dll or LINQPad.Runtime.dll
    • Lack of read permission on either of these files
    • Lack of execute permission on LINQPad.GUI.dll
    • Sharing violation due to a write-lock on either file
    • Corruption in either of these files preventing CLR startup

    It also writes more information to the log file. If this occurs with 7.5.16, please post the data that's written to %localappdata%\LINQPad\Logs.LINQPad7\startup.txt

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  • saluqisaluqi

    It is like kneepadsgelding said, every time I close LinqPad7 and reopen it, it throws the startup pointer error.

    I see these errors in the startup.txt log file in Logs.LINQPad7:

    2022-11-21 09:18:57 Error: Could not obtain startup pointer (-2147024891)
    Target DLL: C:\Program Files\LINQPad7\LINQPad.GUI.dll
    dotnet root detected via registry: C:\Program Files\dotnet\
    Probing C:\Program Files\dotnet\host\fxr
    Probing C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.app
    Probing C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App
    Using dotnet root: C:\Program Files\dotnet\
    AllowPrerelease=true
    Searching C:\Program Files\dotnet\host\fxr...
    - found 7.0.0
    - found 6.0.11
    Searching C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.app...
    - found 7.0.0
    - found 3.1.31
    - found 5.0.17
    - found 6.0.11
    Searching C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App...
    - found 7.0.0
    - found 3.1.31
    - found 5.0.17
    - found 6.0.11
    Fxr path: C:\Program Files\dotnet\host\fxr
    Best desktop version: 6.0.11

    2022-11-21 09:21:09 0,-2146885629,0

    2022-11-21 09:24:20 Error: File 'C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\LINQPad\Updates7.AnyCPU\7.5.16\LINQPad.GUI.dll' does not exist
    Target DLL: C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\LINQPad\Updates7.AnyCPU\7.5.16\LINQPad.GUI.dll
    dotnet root detected via registry: C:\Program Files\dotnet\
    Probing C:\Program Files\dotnet\host\fxr
    Probing C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.app
    Probing C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App
    Using dotnet root: C:\Program Files\dotnet\
    AllowPrerelease=true
    Searching C:\Program Files\dotnet\host\fxr...
    - found 7.0.0
    - found 6.0.11
    Searching C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.app...
    - found 7.0.0
    - found 3.1.31
    - found 5.0.17
    - found 6.0.11
    Searching C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App...
    - found 7.0.0
    - found 3.1.31
    - found 5.0.17
    - found 6.0.11
    Fxr path: C:\Program Files\dotnet\host\fxr
    Best desktop version: 6.0.11
    File 'C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\LINQPad\Updates7.AnyCPU\7.5.16\LINQPad.Runtime.dll' is present and readable

    2022-11-21 09:25:14 0,-2146885629,0

    2022-11-21 09:32:42 Error: Could not obtain startup pointer (-2147024891)
    Target DLL: C:\Program Files\LINQPad7\LINQPad.GUI.dll
    dotnet root detected via registry: C:\Program Files\dotnet\
    Probing C:\Program Files\dotnet\host\fxr
    Probing C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.app
    Probing C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App
    Using dotnet root: C:\Program Files\dotnet\
    AllowPrerelease=true
    Searching C:\Program Files\dotnet\host\fxr...
    - found 7.0.0
    - found 6.0.11
    Searching C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.app...
    - found 7.0.0
    - found 3.1.31
    - found 5.0.17
    - found 6.0.11
    Searching C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App...
    - found 7.0.0
    - found 3.1.31
    - found 5.0.17
    - found 6.0.11
    Fxr path: C:\Program Files\dotnet\host\fxr
    Best desktop version: 6.0.11

    2022-11-21 09:33:33 Error: File 'C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\LINQPad\Updates7.AnyCPU\7.5.16\LINQPad.GUI.dll' does not exist
    Target DLL: C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\LINQPad\Updates7.AnyCPU\7.5.16\LINQPad.GUI.dll
    dotnet root detected via registry: C:\Program Files\dotnet\
    Probing C:\Program Files\dotnet\host\fxr
    Probing C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.app
    Probing C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App
    Using dotnet root: C:\Program Files\dotnet\
    AllowPrerelease=true
    Searching C:\Program Files\dotnet\host\fxr...
    - found 7.0.0
    - found 6.0.11
    Searching C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.app...
    - found 7.0.0
    - found 3.1.31
    - found 5.0.17
    - found 6.0.11
    Searching C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App...
    - found 7.0.0
    - found 3.1.31
    - found 5.0.17
    - found 6.0.11
    Fxr path: C:\Program Files\dotnet\host\fxr
    Best desktop version: 6.0.11
    File 'C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\LINQPad\Updates7.AnyCPU\7.5.16\LINQPad.Runtime.dll' is present and readable

    2022-11-21 09:34:25 0,-2146885629,0

    2022-11-21 09:50:46 0,-2146885629,0

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  • saluqisaluqi

    I've been working on this some more. I downloaded the 7.5.16 beta, and the problem persists.

    1. I run LINQPad, and it runs fine and I can run my scripts.
    2. I close LINQPad. When the app closes, I lose read permissions on the file LINQPad.GUI.dll.
    3. When I try to open LINQPad again, it gives me an error that it can’t find LINQPad.GUI.dll.
    4. I replace the LINQPad.GUI.dll from the zip that I downloaded. First I get the security dialog that asks for admin permission to put a file in the Program Files path. I click Continue, and then it asks if I want to over-write the file. I click Replace, and it copies the file. I can then run LINQPad again, but when I close it, I can’t access LINQPad.GUI.dll anymore.

    I kept the LINQPad folder open on my second monitor when I ran LINQPad. Just after I closed the program, the LINQPad.GUI.dll file in the LINQPad folder turned gray. I viewed the properties of this file and it showed that this file had Deny to Everyone for Traverse folder/execute.

    My network admin told me this morning that he received a Cylance security alert about LinqPad, but I'm still waiting to hear back from him to find out what that was about.

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  • saluqisaluqi

    My network admin finally got back to me. Our antivirus thinks that LINQPad.GUI.dll is suspicious so it keeps quarantining it.

    Adding it to the safe list should resolve this issue.

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  • JoeAlbahariJoeAlbahari

    Thanks for the update. I'll tweak the launchers to offer hints about antivirus software when this condition is detected.

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