Running a pre-install prerequisite that halts installation

[epu]

Hi authors and developers!

I am working on an installer for an x64 product.
It correctly throws the msiexec 'wrong processor type' dialog when run on x86 operating systems.

Our users report that specific error dialog is confusing, so we'd like to throw our own error dialog before that one shows up.
There are 2 ways I could think of to author this.
* Use a mixed mode x86/x64 installer, and write a specific launch condition.
* Use a pre-install prerequisite x86 msi installer that halts the installation with its own launch conditions, then run the x64 .msi installer.

I've tried both of these with mixed results.
* Conversion to mixed mode installer shuffles merge module components around, and some other behaviors seem subtly different - the resulting exe/msi is potentially more risky.
* Using pre-install x86 does not actually halt the installation of the main x64 msi (even with the checkbox for 'Continue with main installation' unchecked).
+ Using the return value property or a registry key is the main x64 install is not possible, because on x64 the installation halts with the original 'wrong processor type' dialog.
+ You get both the new dialog from the pre-install msi, and then also the dialog we are trying to replace in the first place.

Is there another option to throw dialogs from the bootstrap exe, or a different way to chain things that might work better?
Is the not-halting the installation a known bug/feature of advinst 10.6?

Kind regards,

-e

[epu]

Oh. There's a checkbox in the global bootstrapper settings, which checks defined launch conditions before pre-install requirements, but only if there is a requirement. This is almost exactly what I need, I think. More testing required.

[epu]

I deleted and re-added my prerequisite, and it seems to be working this time without calling the x64 application.

[Daniel]

Hello,

I apologize for my delayed reply.

In order to achieve what yo want you can enable the "Enhanced User Interface" feature and then use the workaround exposed in our "Customized error while checking for the processor type" thread.

Let us know if this helped.

All the best,
Daniel