Flame has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hello all,

I have a bit of a problem. I'm stuck on a Win32 (Win98 SE) system and I just upgraded to ActivePerl v5.6.1 Build 633. Unfortunately, now that I've upgraded, I'm finding it impossible to install any modules with PPM or CPAN (I had the CPAN problem earlier... but... now I'm unable to install ANY modules, or even look at the one's that came by default.

I have traced the problem down to line 127 of PPM::Installer, but beyond that, I don't know what to do (no idea what that sub it's in is doing.)


This is the exact error it dies with:
ppm:ActivePerl > query *
Querying target 1 (ActivePerl 5.6.1.633)
Error: connect: Unknown error

[download]

As can be seen in that, query crashes it, and so does search, and since both of those are necessary to install a module, I can't do anything... As for CPAN, it keeps freezing. I'll post below what exactley CPAN does but I can't actualy run it at the moment (It's convinced it's still running for some reason...)




My code doesn't have bugs, it just develops random features.

Flame ~ Lead Programmer: GMS | GMS

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: PPM Unknown Error?
by DigitalKitty (Parson) on Oct 20, 2002 at 02:10 UTC
    Hi Flame.

    Could you use the command: 
    ppm3

    [download]
    instead? It's a newer utility than ppm so it might solve the problem. If not, can you change your current repository? Try changing it to: 
    http://ppm.ActiveState.com/cgibin/PPM/ppmserver.pl?urn:/PPMServer

    [download]

    If this still doesn't help, could you re-install?
    Hope this helps,
    -Katie.
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      Unfortunately PPM3 was removed with this version of ActivePerl, replaced with the Programmers Package Manager.
      C:\WINDOWS>ppm3-bin
PPM - Programmer's Package Manager version 3.0.1.
Copyright (c) 2001 ActiveState SRL. All Rights Reserved.

Entering interactive shell. Using Term::ReadLine::Stub as readline lib
+rary.

Profile tracking is not enabled. If you save and restore profiles manu
+ally,
your profile may be out of sync with your computer. See 'help profile'
+ for
more information.

Type 'help' to get started.

ppm:ActivePerl >

      [download]


      I have re-installed 4 times since this version came out (every 2 months I try twice.) The thing is, it doesn't seem able to connect to my local computer (hence, the problem with query), and search doesn't work either... I am currently set to that repository by default:
      ppm:ActivePerl > rep desc 1
Describing Active Repository 1:
    Name: ActiveState PPM2 Repository
Location: http://ppm.ActiveState.com/cgibin/PPM/ppmserver.pl?urn:/PPMS
+erver
    Type: PPMServer 2.0

      [download]


      I'm afraid it didn't help, but thanks for trying. I have posted this as a bug to activestate BTW.


      My code doesn't have bugs, it just develops random features.

      Flame ~ Lead Programmer: GMS | GMS

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Re: PPM Unknown Error?
by Enlil (Parson) on Oct 20, 2002 at 04:44 UTC
    I have installed this version of Activestate Perl on windows XP, and suffered a similar problem. About two weeks later after much fustration I completely uninstalled perl (everything but the scripts I had written), rebooted, and started from scratch (redownloaded the MSI from activestate,and reinstalled). This seemed to have fixed my problem.

    I know that I have installed this version of perl on Win95, Win98, and Win98SE as well on different machines at work and have not suffered any problems other than the one XP thing, though at the moment I cannot say if I have tested the ppm thing on all of them or not (can't remember). Have you installed the latest Microsoft Installer? Not that I think it will install without it.

    Best of Luck, I know how fustrating Windows Application Installations can be sometimes.

    -Enlil

[reply]
      Thanks, I've tried re-installs before though, with no luck... I guess I'll just have to pray I get my 'test' linux system working again (Had to steal parts for a friends comp... /me smacks himself for messed up priorities)


      My code doesn't have bugs, it just develops random features.

      Flame ~ Lead Programmer: GMS | GMS

[reply]
Re: PPM Unknown Error?
by crazyinsomniac (Prior) on Oct 20, 2002 at 07:36 UTC
    ppm3 works just fine for me most of the time, but when it don't, well, it ain't no secret you don't need the ppm3 shell to install modules, as you can read at http://crazyinsomniac.perlmonk.org/perl/ppm (among other places).

    I have experienced the problem you describe, and the cure was simple, reinstall.

    Anyway, you don't need PPM to list locally installed modules, all you need is the lastest ExtUtils-MakeMaker, which comes with ExtUtils::Installed, which will list them for you.

    It comes with the utility `instmodsh', which isn't bug free (the tar option is broken cause it relies on the tar utility with an -I option, which ain't in cygwin), but still cool none-the-less 

    C:\>instmodsh
Available commands are:
   l            - List all installed modules
   m <module>   - Select a module
   q            - Quit the program
cmd? m CGI
Available commands are:
   f [all|prog|doc]   - List installed files of a given type
   d [all|prog|doc]   - List the directories used by a module
   v                  - Validate the .packlist - check for missing fil
+es
   t <tarfile>        - Create a tar archive of the module
   q                  - Quit the module
CGI cmd? f all
all files in CGI are:
   C:\Perl\lib\CGI\Util.pm
   C:\Perl\lib\CGI\Cookie.pm
   C:\Perl\lib\CGI.pm
   C:\Perl\lib\CGI\Push.pm
   C:\Perl\lib\CGI\Pretty.pm
   C:\Perl\lib\CGI\Fast.pm
   C:\Perl\lib\CGI\Carp.pm
   C:\Perl\lib\CGI\Switch.pm
   C:\Perl\lib\CGI\Apache.pm
CGI cmd? q
cmd? q

C:\>

    [download]
    Since the perl core is given the name 'Perl' in the modules listed by ExtUtils::Installed, here is a nice oneliner to list them 
    perl -MExtUtils::Installed -le "for(ExtUtils::Installed->new()->files(
+'Perl')){print if /\.pm$/}"

or

perl -MExtUtils::Installed -le "for(ExtUtils::Installed->new()->files(
+'Perl')){if(/lib\/(.*?)\.pm$/){$_=$1;s(/)(::);print}}"

    [download]
    Man-oh-man I can't wait for CPANPLUS to add PPM support

     
    ______crazyinsomniac_____________________________
    Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
    perl -e "$q=$_;map({chr unpack qq;H*;,$_}split(q;;,q*H*));print;$q/$q;"

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Re: PPM Unknown Error?
by Flame (Deacon) on Oct 20, 2002 at 03:35 UTC
    The CPAN output (note, a little was cut off all at once, but...)
    XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/16gethandlers.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/07declhdriver.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/05dtdhdriver.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/11sax1multiclass.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/03chdriver.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/10dochdriver.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/01simpledriver.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/06lexhdriver.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/02simplefilter.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/01exception.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/14downstreamswitch.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/13handlerswitch.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/events.pl
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/08errorhdriver.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/15parentswitch.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/12sax2multiclass.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/04chfilter.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/09resoldriver.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/t/00basic.t
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/Changes
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/lib/
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/lib/XML/
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/lib/XML/SAX/
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/lib/XML/SAX/placeholder.pl
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/README
XML-SAX-0.11/XML-SAX-Base/Makefile.PL
XML-SAX-0.11/t/
XML-SAX-0.11/t/16large.t
XML-SAX-0.11/t/14encoding.t
XML-SAX-0.11/t/99cleanup.t
XML-SAX-0.11/t/20factory.t
XML-SAX-0.11/t/12miscstart.t
XML-SAX-0.11/t/15element.t
XML-SAX-0.11/t/01known.t
XML-SAX-0.11/t/11xmldecl2.t
XML-SAX-0.11/t/00basic.t
XML-SAX-0.11/t/13int_ent.t
XML-SAX-0.11/t/10xmldecl1.t
XML-SAX-0.11/LICENSE
XML-SAX-0.11/SAX.pm
XML-SAX-0.11/Makefile.PL
XML-SAX-0.11/MANIFEST
XML-SAX-0.11/Changes
XML-SAX-0.11/README
Removing previously used \.cpan\build\XML-SAX-0.11\.

  CPAN.pm: Going to build M/MS/MSERGEANT/XML-SAX-0.11.tar.gz

Checking if your kit is complete...
Looks good
Warning: prerequisite XML::NamespaceSupport failed to load: Can't loca
+te XML/Nam
espaceSupport.pm in @INC (@INC contains: E:/Perl/lib E:/Perl/site/lib 
+.) at (eva
l 5) line 3.

Writing Makefile for XML::SAX::Base
Do you want XML::SAX to alter ParserDetails.ini? [Y] y
Writing Makefile for XML::SAX
---- Unsatisfied dependencies detected during [M/MS/MSERGEANT/XML-SAX-
+0.11.tar.g
z] -----
    XML::NamespaceSupport
Shall I follow them and prepend them to the queue
of modules we are processing right now? [yes] yes
Running make test
  Delayed until after prerequisites
Running make install
  Delayed until after prerequisites
Running install for module XML::NamespaceSupport
Running make for R/RB/RBERJON/XML-NamespaceSupport-1.08.tar.gz
Checksum for \.cpan\sources\authors\id\R\RB\RBERJON\XML-NamespaceSuppo
+rt-1.08.ta
r.gz ok
XML-NamespaceSupport-1.08/
XML-NamespaceSupport-1.08/MANIFEST
XML-NamespaceSupport-1.08/t/
XML-NamespaceSupport-1.08/t/00base.t
XML-NamespaceSupport-1.08/Changes
XML-NamespaceSupport-1.08/NamespaceSupport.pm
XML-NamespaceSupport-1.08/README
XML-NamespaceSupport-1.08/Makefile.PL
Removing previously used \.cpan\build\XML-NamespaceSupport-1.08\.

  CPAN.pm: Going to build R/RB/RBERJON/XML-NamespaceSupport-1.08.tar.g
+z

Checking if your kit is complete...
Looks good
Writing Makefile for XML::NamespaceSupport

Microsoft (R) Program Maintenance Utility   Version 6.00.8168.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp 1988-1998. All rights reserved.

cp NamespaceSupport.pm blib\lib\XML\NamespaceSupport.pm
  C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\VC98\BIN\nmake.exe  -- OK
Running make test

Microsoft (R) Program Maintenance Utility   Version 6.00.8168.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp 1988-1998. All rights reserved.

        E:\Perl\bin\perl.exe -Mblib -IE:\Perl\lib -IE:\Perl\lib -e "us
+e Test::Ha
rness qw(&runtests $verbose); $verbose=0; runtests @ARGV;" t\00base.t
Using C:/.cpan/build/XML-NamespaceSupport-1.08/blib
t\00base............Use of uninitialized value in string eq at C:/.cpa
+n/build/XM
L-NamespaceSupport-1.08/blib/lib/XML/NamespaceSupport.pm line 96.
t\00base............ok
All tests successful.
Files=1, Tests=46,  8 wallclock secs ( 0.00 cusr +  0.00 csys =  0.00 
+CPU)
  C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\VC98\BIN\nmake.exe test -- OK
Running make install

Microsoft (R) Program Maintenance Utility   Version 6.00.8168.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp 1988-1998. All rights reserved.

Installing E:\Perl\site\lib\XML\NamespaceSupport.pm
Writing E:\Perl\site\lib\auto\XML\NamespaceSup

    [download]

    And it freezes at this point in all of them, writing something, in Devel::ptkdb it was at writing packlist, and here... (Part of it was cut off because I kept pausing it to copy/paste... any way to capture dos output into a text file?)


    My code doesn't have bugs, it just develops random features.

    Flame ~ Lead Programmer: GMS | GMS

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Re: PPM Unknown Error?
by demerphq (Chancellor) on Oct 20, 2002 at 12:25 UTC
    It's convinced it's still running for some reason...

    So you get a message similar to the below? 

    D:\Perl>perl -MCPAN -e shell;

There seems to be running another CPAN process (1972). Contacting...
Other job is running.
You may want to kill it and delete the lockfile, maybe. On UNIX try:
    kill 1972
    rm D:\Home\.cpan\.lock
D:\Perl>

    [download]
    Try finding the cpan lockfile and deleting it. (your message may not have shown the actual address. Hunt it down and kill it!)

    You didn't really say if you had uninstalled the old perl or not. I believe that in some situations this can be important. A bit more information might lead me to make more useful suggestions. :-) Like did you have to reconfigure cpan after install? did you install over an old one? are you trying to reuse the site/lib?

    As a seperate thought what happens when you download a distribution from search.cpan.org and install it from the command line via the "nmake, nmake test, nmake install" mantra instead of using CPAN or ppm?

    As a last thought install CPANPlus and see how it fares. From my experience it has better diagnostic messages and direct support than CPAN or PPM.

    --- demerphq
    my friends call me, usually because I'm late....

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[d/l]
      I fixed the 'cpan still running' problem with a reboot, I had uninstalled my old version of Perl, I forget which build it was, but that version had a binary version of PPM3 you could run just by entering ppm3, instead of ppm3-bin. I tried CPANPlus, and it's definately better than CPAN, but I still have problems with a few modules (Eg: DBD::mysql) which I could get under PPM3, but won't pass the make requirements (and won't tell me what I'm missing), under CPAN++.

      As to manual installs, I have only once gotten that to work... and that was CPAN++ I was installing :)


      My code doesn't have bugs, it just develops random features.

      Flame ~ Lead Programmer: GMS | GMS

[reply]

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