User is unable to launch SongShow Plus 8 after installation - error message - " A Problem occurred ..."

6/3/2021

Applicable SongShow Plus Versions: 
This article applies to Version 8.0 to 9.0 of SongShow Plus.

Status:
This issue was resolved in version 9.1.  Install the latest build before proceeding.

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Symptom:
After the initial installation of SongShow Plus Version 8.x, the user is presented with an error message:
 
"A problem occurred attempting to start SongShow Plus.  The installation has possibly been corrupted. Reinstalling the application may fix the problem."

A user reinstallation does not fix the problem.

Possible Cause:
It is possible for this to be caused by a failure in the Machine Key generation that is required to uniquely identify each licensed system.  This process will use WMI to query several bits of information about the system to generate a Machine Key.  If this fails, then SongShow Plus will not launch.

Additional Background:
WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) is an operating system tool that is used for gathering information about the system. Many programs and the Windows operating system itself use this extensively for a variety of tasks.
If this process has been corrupted or altered by a software tool, installation or other corruption of the operating system, it will alter the behavior of WMI or prevent it from working at all.

Possible Solution:
Correct issues with WMI on your system.  This is purposely vague since we do not yet have a list of offending software/configuration that are known to cause this.

NOTE: Unfortunately, the support team will not be able to assist you with resolving any specific WMI issues with your system.  That said, they may be able to assist in working around this issue to allow SongShow Plus to operate as expected.


TROUBLESHOOTING:

Verify that WMI is working properly and correct it if it is not.
There are several possible causes of WMI not working, including, but not limited to: 

  • The WMI service being disabled
  • The WMI repository being corrupt
  • 3rd party software hijacking or corrupting the WMI function 
There are a couple of basic things that users can check to begin with regarding WMI:
  1. Verify that the WMI service is running.  Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services and verify that the service "Windows Management Instrumentation" running.  If it is not, set it to automatic and start it.  If you do change this, Try launching SSP again.
  2. One way to check for the operation of WMI is to launch the System Information tool.  This can be done by typing "System Information" in the search bar.  Launch this and see if there are any errors and if anything displays. You should be able to select a category and have info displayed on the right.  If you get an error message or indication that it is unable to display information, there is most likely an issue with WMI on your system. 
     NOTE: It is possible for this to work and SongShow Plus to still fail if WMI is only partially affected.

If these do not reveal the root cause of the error then contact the support team for additional information.

(TS254)

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