Over the last days I desperately tried to install Python 2.3.4 and the
Win32 extensions on a Win 95 box (actually more than 1, but my futile
trying was done on just one).
Since the 201 version didn't work on Win XP, I initially started with
version 163. When the installer tries to compile the library files, up
comes a dialogue with a traceback telling me that 'import win32api'
failed since a DLL load failed due to a non-functioning peripheral
device (those windows error messages are simply ridiculous!). Anyway,
the "Installation problems" section ought to take care of this. Ok,
looks easy enough: I install the DCOM update. Result: No change
whatsoever. Next try. Download dependencywalker to find that
pywintypes23.dll imports a advapi32.dll which is apparently missing 2
symbols: GetExplicitEntriesFromAclA and SetEntriesInAclA. Fair enough.
So I install IE 5.5 to get the newest version (4.71.118.0). You
guessed it: Those symbols aren't there, either.
On another machine, the new 201 version was initially tried.
Immediatly after starting up, the installer crashed.
After uninstalling 163, I tried 201 here. Lo and behold, the installer
ran, installed and compiled all the files. Then came a dialogue box,
titled "Error" with the message "freopen stderr" and nothing more
(this is also what I always got on Windows XP). Needless to say,
win32api still cannot be imported, the dependency walker still gives
the same 2 symbols as missing. And it cannot be uninstalled since the
installer didn't write an installation log file.
To me, it looks like there's no way to install Python 2.3 with the
Win32 extensions under Windows 95. Which is a sad state of affairs.
Being quite sure that Python would allow me to run my tool from
Windows 95 to XP to Linux, I convinced my superiors to allow me to
dismiss C. They were happy to see it finished rather quick and running
very reliably here in the development department (Win 98, NT, XP,
Linux). Now we tried it in the production dep, (which for various
reasons still needs to run Win 95 boxes) with disastrous results.
Has anyone any recommendations as what I might try further?
Alas, upgrading to a newer windows is not an option.
Maybe downgrading Python (and win32all) is, but that would need some
back-porting of the program (I happen to love some of the new Python
features and make heavy use of them).
Thanks,
Hans-Joachim Widmaier
