there has no FreeMaster plug-in module

[Tony_0726]

I installed freemaster version 3.2.7, and tried many methods, but there's nothing under the plug-in module。I'm in a hurry. This is a necessary tool for my work. Can someone help me? Thank you very much.

1.install FreeMASTER "as administrator" or run the "c:\NXP\FreeMASTER 3.2\FreeMASTER\register.bat----no effect！！！

2.

[MichalH]

Hello,

as far as I know, the latest Windows update does not change the way the COM+ and ActiveX objects work. This shall not be related. The issue you are facing is strange indeed. 

Let's pick up one plug-in (CAN communication) and see its registration details.

Run the "command prompt" as administrator again, then cd to "c:\NXP\FreeMASTER 3.2\FreeMASTER" and use the regsvr32 command without the /s (silent) option:

regsvr32 plugins/can/focpgi.dll

The confirmation shall appear:

Then in the same Command Prompt console, start the Registry Editor by command:

regedit

It will take some time (can be few minutes) then the editor will appear. Navigate to 

Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\WOW6432Node\CLSID\{C10A92C3-7D47-4FDC-94B6-64B8E5C85E01}

This entry represents the FreeMASTER-over-CAN plugin (focpgi.dll). It shall be present in the registry.

You can check the InprocServer32 entry points to the correct focpgi.dll file. 

The "Implemented Categories" ID is the one FreeMASTER uses to locate all plug ins using Windows COM Category API. Just to be sure the plug-in category exist, please check the Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Component Categories\{48A185C0-FFDB-11D3-80E3-00C04F176153} key in the Registry editor, you shall see the "MCB Communication Plugins" text value:

Another experiment would be to remove the /s switch from register.bat script and run it. You shall see a registration confirmation box for each DLL. 

Please share the respective screenshots or errors. Thank you for your cooperation.

Regards,
Michal

[Tony_0726]

Hello, I've tested again. Currently, that module is still not available. I've removed all the lines containing "/s" in the register.bat file. Are there any other solutions available now?

[MichalH]

Hello,

to summarize - all plugin registrations finish successfully, but the plugin list in FreeMASTER Options dialog is still empty. 

Is there any chance you could test on a different computer? 

Also, there are two other utilities which access the plugin list. Please try to run the Remote Server tool ("c:\NXP\FreeMASTER 3.2\FreeMASTER\mcbsvr.exe"). Then press the "Add" button and see if the plug-in list will also be empty:

A similar can be tried in "Named Connection" manager (c:\NXP\FreeMASTER 3.2\FreeMASTER\pgimgr.exe", then press the "New" button:

Let me know if any of the two tools would display the plugin list not empty.

Thank you,
Michal

[Tony_0726]

I've tried, but it still doesn't work. I have a lot of data on my computer and I don't want to reinstall the system. This is really troublesome.I was functioning normally before, but one day it suddenly stopped being able to connect.

[MichalH]

Hello, 

I have prepared a small test utility which shall help us detect what is wrong on your machine. Please see "plugin_test.exe" attached below. 

Run it on cmd Command Prompt console (no need to run as administrator).

Usage: plugin_test <test#> [ProgID|CLSID]

test# 0 - create and release the component
test# 1 - create and call Configure()
test# 2 - enumerate all registered McbCommPlugin components
(ProgID|CLSID argument is optional for test 2)

The test of selected plugin instantiation could pass. Try this:

plugin_test.exe 0 MCBPGI.TCPSERIAL.1
Component : MCBPGI.TCPSERIAL.1
CLSID : {ED244618-9103-41BE-B382-E92036BD04FC}
Test : 0

[test 0] CoCreateInstance ...
[test 0] OK - component created successfully.
[test 0] Releasing ...
[test 0] Released.

Result: PASS

The tool can even try to display the plugin configuration dialog:

plugin_test.exe 1 MCBPGI.TCPSERIAL.1

And it shall appear:

Finally, the test 2 does plug-in enumeration similarly to FreeMASTER. It will most likely fail at your side:

plugin_test.exe 2
Test : 2

[test 2] Creating StdComponentCategoriesMgr ...
[test 2] OK - ICatInformation obtained.
[test 2] Enumerating McbCommPlugin classes:
[1] {1BB3C904-F1F4-4652-92EE-368716FE1D10} (BDMPGI.DAPCOM.1)
[2] {2080BBA8-0641-4306-A956-6BEBB7C75249} (JTAGPGI.CCSCOM.1)
[3] {225E034C-1AA6-4EC5-9A6C-A9FA9E890373} (BDMPGI.HCSCOM.1)
[4] {30AB7AA1-493A-4DD7-9509-C9C91EFFF0FD} (BDMPGI.PDBDMCOM.1)
[5] {5A129680-897E-4014-916D-9B1FE13DE156} (BDMPGI.EONCECOM.1)
[6] {6D13CD9D-9F2D-4066-B655-45B54CA7494B} (MCBPGI.NETCOM.1)
[7] {7AC03FB7-4792-4F26-8152-92E466276068} (DEMOPGI.DummyCom.1)
[8] {80F17965-EDBD-41F1-9182-3C44E04E5794} (BDMPGI.ISYSCOM.1)
[9] {8C575DB3-9769-4B66-AB60-C83CEA683E01} (BDMPGI.JLINKCOM.1)
[10] {C10A92C3-7D47-4FDC-94B6-64B8E5C85E01} (FOCPGI.FocCom.1)
[11] {C10A92C4-7D47-4FDC-94B6-64B8E5C85E01} (FOLPGI.FolCom.1)
[12] {ED244616-9103-41BE-B382-E92036BD04FC} (MCBPGI.STDCOM.1)
[13] {ED244617-9103-41BE-B382-E92036BD04FC} (MCBPGI.HTTPCOM.1)
[14] {ED244618-9103-41BE-B382-E92036BD04FC} (MCBPGI.TCPSERIAL.1)
[test 2] Total: 14 plug-in(s) found.

Result: PASS

Thank you for your cooperation,

Michal

[Tony_0726]

I tested it, but it didn't work.

[MichalH]

Thanks for making the experiment.

Did any dialog appear in the "test 1" started like this: 

plugin_test.exe 1 MCBPGI.TCPSERIAL.1

Also, can you please run the test 2 in a command prompt which was started "As administrator" ?

plugin_test.exe 2

Thank you,
Michal

[Tony_0726]

1. The plugin_test.exe 1 MCBPGI.TCPSERIAL.1 has a dialog box.

2. The plugin_test.exe 2 has been run with administrator privileges.

[MichalH]

Hello thanks for keeping trying.

Let me summarize the facts - translated a bit to Windows programming API as used in FreeMASTER:

• The API EnumClassesOfCategories() returns empty list even if components are registered properly with all registry entries and even if executed with administrator rights.
• The EnumClassesOfCategories() return S_OK but the Next() called on the returned iterator does not enumerate anything.
• Both the component DLLs and the app which enumerates them are compiled as 32bit code.
• This issue is only observed on a single computer, many other computers work fine.
• The CoCreateInstance on the target CLSID work well even on this problematic computer.

I have to admit I do not know what could be the reason. Some internet sources recommend to try un-registering and then registering the Windows component manager. So please try this in cmd under administrator and then restart the system:

regsvr32 /u comcat.dll
regsvr32 comcat.dll
regsvr32 /u c:\Windows\SysWOW64\comcat.dll
regsvr32 c:\Windows\SysWOW64\comcat.dll

You should get a confirmation box for each command.

If this does not help, I will continue investigation.

Thanks,
Michal

[Tony_0726]

Thank you very much for your assistance during this period, but it didn't work this time either.

[Tony_0726]

If someone can help me solve this problem, I will treat him to coffee.

[MichalH]

Hello, 

both the installer and the register.bat use the "regsvr32.exe" system utility, which shall be installed by default in any Windows operating system. 

First, make sure the regsvr32 utility exists on your system. Just press Win+R and Run the command "regsvr32".

You should see the a help box like this one:

If this utility does not work, your computer might have a system restriction applied by your administrator. You will need to get it fixed.

If the regsvr32 works normally, let's see what errors the register.bat prints:

1. Open the start menu.
2. Locate the "Command Prompt" application
3. Right-click and select "Run as administrator" (see picture below)
4. In the console, type cd "c:\NXP\FreeMASTER 3.2\FreeMASTER"
5. Run register.bat
6. You should see no errors (like in the picture at the end).
7. If no errors, the plug-ins shall appear in FreeMASTER. If there are any errors, please share it here.

Regards,
Michal

[Tony_0726]

I have tried installing your method, but the module still hasn't appeared.

Is this related to my Windows system being updated to the latest version?