[R] Error with 1.9.0 - Invalid HOMEDRIVE

[Brett Melbourne]

Some more diagnostic information on this problem related to Windows
critical updates.

I am running R 1.8.1 and 1.9.0 under Windows XP Pro, on a laptop, which is
networked at work but frequently used off the network. R starts properly
sometimes, when attached to the network, but never when disconnected and
logged on to the same (networked) user profile. R does however, always start
properly on a non-network profile local to my machine.

I have all the critical Windows XP updates installed, so later updates did
not fix the problem.

On failing to start 1.8.1, entering debug gives the message "Unhandled
exception in Rgui.exe (MSVCRT.DLL):0xC0000005:Access Violation"

The following observations apply to both 1.8.1 and 1.9.0:

Setting HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH does not fix the problem (see SET dump
appended to end of message).
Rebooting in safe mode (with networking) does not fix the problem.
Rebooting in safe mode (without networking) does fix the problem but in that
case I am running on a non-network profile local to the machine, which
always works anyway. So the problem appears to be related to networking.

I can confirm that the offending update is KB835732. Incidentally, this
uninstalls with the message "Setup detected programs on your computer: R for
Windows 1.8.1. If KB835732 is removed, these programs might not run
properly". So, the update appears to be aware of an interaction with R
1.8.1.

Both R 1.9.0 and R 1.8.1 run properly after uninstalling the offending
update.

I will install r-patched tomorrow at work and let you know what happens.

cheers
Brett

Brett Melbourne, Postdoctoral Fellow
Center for Population Biology
University of California Davis CA 95616


SET dump: environment when R fails: HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH set explicitly.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>SET
ALLUSERSPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\All Users
APPDATA=C:\Documents and Settings\melbourne\Application Data
CommonProgramFiles=C:\Program Files\Common Files
COMPUTERNAME=CAVIAR
ComSpec=C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
HOMEDRIVE=C:
HOMEPATH = C:
HOMESHARE=\\desnet\melbourne
include=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\atl\include;C:\Program
Fil
es\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\mfc\include;C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Visual St
udio\VC98\include
lib=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\mfc\lib;C:\Program
Files\Micro
soft Visual Studio\VC98\lib
LOGONSERVER=\\CAYENNE
MSDevDir=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\Common\MSDev98
NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS=1
OS=Windows_NT
Path=C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\PROGRAM
FILES\TH
INKPAD\UTILITIES;C:\Program
Files\Hummingbird\Connectivity\7.10\Accessories\;C:\
Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel;C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Visu
al Studio\Common\Tools\WinNT;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual
Studio\Common\MSD
ev98\Bin;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\Common\Tools;C:\Program
Files\
Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\bin;C:\PROGRA~1\INSIGH~1\splus61\cmd
PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH
PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE=x86
PROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER=x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 4, GenuineIntel
PROCESSOR_LEVEL=15
PROCESSOR_REVISION=0204
ProgramFiles=C:\Program Files
PROMPT=$P$G
SESSIONNAME=Console
SystemDrive=C:
SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS
TEMP=C:\DOCUME~1\MELBOU~1\LOCALS~1\Temp
TMP=C:\DOCUME~1\MELBOU~1\LOCALS~1\Temp
USERDNSDOMAIN=DES.UCDAVIS.EDU
USERDOMAIN=DES
USERNAME=melbourne
USERPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\melbourne
windir=C:\WINDOWS