Maniphest T68279

Blender MSI installers refuse to install older versions when newer exists
Closed, ResolvedDESIGN
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Assigned To
Ray Molenkamp (LazyDodo)
Authored By
Nathan Letwory (jesterking)
Aug 6 2019, 12:03 AM
Tags
  • BF Blender
Subscribers
gbayliss (gbayliss)
Harley Acheson (harley)
Nathan Letwory (jesterking)

Description

System Information
Operating system: Windows

Blender Version
Broken: 2.79, 2.80

Short description of error
Installing 2.79 from installer after installing 2.80 from installer is not possible

Exact steps for others to reproduce the error

  • install 2.80 from installer
  • try installing 2.79 from installer

Related Objects

Event Timeline

Nathan Letwory (jesterking) assigned this task to Ray Molenkamp (LazyDodo).Aug 6 2019, 12:03 AM
Nathan Letwory (jesterking) created this task.
Ray Molenkamp (LazyDodo) added a comment.Aug 6 2019, 12:07 AM

That's how it always has worked, I'm not saying i agree with it, but that how it has worked for all the installers we have done for the 2.7x series.

If we want to change that behavior, fine with me, but that's more of a design or todo item than a bug though.

Ray Molenkamp (LazyDodo) edited a custom field.Aug 6 2019, 12:10 AM
Ray Molenkamp (LazyDodo) added a comment.Aug 6 2019, 12:16 AM

Couple of things, i can't go back in time, there is no re-issuing the installers for 2.7x or 2.80.

for the future:

I'd like 2.80 and 2.81 to install side by side, but 2.81a/b/c should upgrade older 2.81 in place

Harley Acheson (harley) added a subscriber: Harley Acheson (harley).Aug 6 2019, 12:18 AM

I think the installer should use a target folder with the following pattern:

C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender [ver]\

Where [ver] represents the current full version number without "RC", "a", "b", etc

So we can have multiple versions at once installed but release candidates and other smaller changes are overwritten:

C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 2.79\
C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 2.81\

Brecht Van Lommel (brecht) mentioned this in T68278: Blender MSI installer removes settings folder from older versions.Aug 6 2019, 2:55 PM
gbayliss (gbayliss) added a subscriber: gbayliss (gbayliss).Aug 15 2019, 5:43 PM

This is a valid case for switching to semver numbering instead of blender's uniquely (and I have to say confusing to the vast majority) version numbers

That way you can set the upgrade GUID on the installer to only upgrade bug fixes while retaining major or minor versions side-by-side.

Campbell Barton (campbellbarton) changed the task status from Needs Triage to Confirmed.Feb 12 2020, 7:46 AM
Ray Molenkamp (LazyDodo) closed this task as Resolved.Feb 12 2020, 1:38 PM

Resolved since 2.81