Failing Kiwix if started from Windows Network Drive (was: Kiwix does not start on Windows: "QT5Core.dll was not found")

[agentp2-2]

I noticed that Kiwix (version: kiwix-desktop_windows_x64_2.3.0) can't start properly from mapped network shares.
I got "The code execution cannot proceed because QT5Core.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem."
On regular drive everything works fine.

[kelson42]

So where is the missing dll in your case? Please give the full path if possible.

[agentp2-2]

.Dll is inside the Kiwix folder but when I'm trying to start Kiwix from network share I got the mentioned error.

For example:
Regular drive (works fine):
E:\kiwix-desktop_windows_x64_2.3.0\Qt5Core.dll

Mapped network share (got the error):
Q:\kiwix-desktop_windows_x64_2.3.0\Qt5Core.dll

C:\Windows\system32>net use
Nowe połączenia zostaną zapamiętane.
Stan Lokalny Zdalny Sieć
OK F: \Openmediavault\backups Microsoft Windows Network
OK Q: \Openmediavault!share Microsoft Windows Network
OK R: \10.248.248.20\public2 Microsoft Windows Network
OK S: \Openmediavault\public Microsoft Windows Network
OK \10.248.248.20\IPC$ Microsoft Windows Network
Polecenie zostało wykonane pomyślnie.

[kelson42]

@mgautierfr Any idea, sounds similar to #429 to me.

[kelson42]

@agentp2-2 I can not reproduce the problem with latest dev version (nightly https://download.kiwix.org/nightly/2024-05-18/kiwix-desktop_windows_x64_2024-05-18.zip). Would you be able to check yourself?

But, even if Kiwix launched, we have another big problem:

• Error on command line "can not launch qtwebengineprocess from network path if sandbox is enabled"
• Kiwix launched properly otherwise, but not article can be displayed (white screen in the HTML zone instead).

It seems we are impacted now by https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTBUG-84632

[kelson42]

@sgourdas Could you please have a look to that one please?

[sgourdas]

@kelson42 I have been able to reproduce both issues, namely:

• When running kiwix-desktop.exe I get the Can not launch QtWebEngineProcess from network path if sandbox is enabled: Z:/kiwix-desktop_windows_x64_2024-06-06/QtWebEngineProcess.exe. in the terminal. Despite that, the application still starts up.
• After application startup, when trying to open an article, I get the The code execution cannot proceed because QT5Core.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.

Also, from what it seems based on the bugreports thread, Chrome is not supporting running from a network drive, based on the last comment from 2016:

This is working as intended. We do not support running Chrome from a network share because doing so would prevent enabling the sandbox.

Trying simulate it with the current Chrome portable, the application just auto exits.

How do we want to proceed with this?

[kelson42]

@sgourdas We should test with Qt6

[sgourdas]

@kelson42 should I build kiwix-desktop.exe with QtCreator?

[kelson42]

@kelson42 should I build kiwix-desktop.exe with QtCreator?

I don't understand how this question is related to the issue. Can you please explain?

[sgourdas]

I don't understand how this question is related to the issue. Can you please explain?

I am confused on the way I should go about testing with Qt6 to be honest... Can you provide me some guidance?

[kelson42]

@sgourdas Everything should be in the README

[sgourdas]

@kelson42 if i am not mistaken, the README contains information on compiling for Linux only

[kelson42]

@sgourdas Yes, I guess you will have ro reproduce the scenario on Linux.

[sgourdas]

@kelson42 in this case the issue is Windows specific, because of a stricter security around processes running from network locations. Linux cannot reproduce the issue regardless of Qt version AFAIK.

[kelson42]

@sgourdas The problem seems to be the Chromium sandboxing which indeeds forbids to run from a network drive or as root. Have you tried to deactivate it? See https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/qtwebengine-platform-notes.html#sandboxing-support or https://codereview.qt-project.org/c/yocto/meta-boot2qt/+/232118

[sgourdas]

Yes, sandbox is the reason for these issues and disabling it would fix them.

Is that something that we want to do though? I am not sure of the implications.

[kelson42]

@sgourdas We have security implications but I'm not sure exactly which one. Would that be possible to add an option on the command line to disable it? So people really wanting to start from network drive still can?

[sgourdas]

Definitely, will try to put it tonight.

[kelson42]

@sgourdas I reopen the issue as we need to verify with the nightly that it works like expected. Please let us know the result of your check.

[sgourdas]

@kelson42 ok, thank you. It just seems that Windows kiwix-desktop nightly is broken since the 19th of July.

Other than that, current last commit of the PR is a POC so we will need another in any case (to add the prompt)

[kelson42]

@mgautierfr Like explained last Monday, we really need the nightly for Windows to work.

Edit: maybe we will have a nightly this night because of this fix #1172

[sgourdas]

@kelson42 @mgautierfr nightly for today is not present still.

[mgautierfr]

This is because #1178 doesn't compile on Windows.
See error log at https://ci.appveyor.com/project/Kiwix/kiwix-build/builds/50423338

src\main.cpp(29): error C2664: 'int MessageBoxA(HWND,LPCSTR,LPCSTR,UINT)': cannot convert argument 2 from 'QString' to 'LPCSTR'

Why not using QMessageBox instead of windows low level api MessageBoxA ?

[sgourdas]

This is because #1178 doesn't compile on Windows.

Wow, it is very weird that I did not see that

Why not using QMessageBox instead of windows low level api MessageBoxA ?

Reason is that we need to do the check before the QApplication is initialized. QMessageBox demands the qapp to be started before being used and its neither a good practice to use something like a dummy qapp.

[sgourdas]

@mgautierfr we are getting this on the build:

main.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol __imp_MessageBoxExW

Could we maybe link against User32.lib?

[mgautierfr]

Done with #1183

[sgourdas]

@mgautierfr sorry for the bother with this, but I am not able to understand why kiwix-desktop for Windows is not being built on nightly currently.

Edit: It is now available, thank you. I am going to test again.

[sgourdas]

@kelson42 we should reopen this as it is not working as intended, which is very strange because in my independent testing with the below code it seems to work.

#include <windows.h>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    std::string pather = "Z:\\path\\executable.exe";
    std::string driveLetter = pather.substr(0, 3);
    UINT driveType = GetDriveTypeA(driveLetter.c_str());
    if(driveType == DRIVE_REMOTE) {
        const wchar_t* message = L"Do you want to disable the sandbox?";
        const wchar_t* title = L"Kiwix Desktop";
        int msgboxID = MessageBoxExW(NULL, message, title, MB_YESNO | MB_ICONQUESTION, 0);
        if (msgboxID == IDYES) std::cout << "yes" << std::endl;
        else std::cout << "no" << std::endl;
    }
}

I have to look into this again to resolve once and for all.

Testing with the nightly, the behavior is very inconsistent (different when double clicking .exe and when running from cmd). In both cases the popup does not show for some reason.

[sgourdas]

When starting kiwix-desktop.exe from a network share the application does not show up at all. The task can be seen starting and failing -- seg fault based on exit code -1073741819 from powershell -- which ofc does not say much.

Reproducing the logic in an independent cpp app with the same code, behaves as expected.

I am blocked by kiwix/kiwix-build#758 so I cannot test further for now.

[sgourdas]

@kelson42 so obviously the issue was with using gt for the messages of the popup. The translations are initialized after the KiwixApp init, so they were invalid.

What I propose is to start the application with no sandbox and then notify the user that the application has been started with no sandbox. The user can then choose what to do with that information.

Do you agree with such an approach? This way we can avoid using User32.lib and not doing any workarounds with the KiwixApp initialization.

Adding @veloman-yunkan for visibility and his opinion.

[sgourdas]

I will make a proposal PR closer to the initially discussed logic. It will be disabling the sandbox and after launching the app asking the user if he wants to continue or quit. I think it is the best option.