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Trying to MSIX package LOB application that needs TWAIN access
So I think this isn't possible but I just wanted to ask. I've a LOB application that needs to access TWAIN scanning devices. How this works in a normal environment is that the TWAINDSM.dll (TWAIN Data source manager) is loaded from c:\windows\system32 This then scans the C:\Windows\twain_32 or C:\Windows\twain_64 depending on if the app is x86 or x64 The scanning manufacturers will have their TWAIN drivers installed to c:\windows\twain_32 (or 64) as subfolders and the TWAIN Data source manager scans these subfolders for available TWAIN devices that can be connected to. All this breaks down in an MSIX environment because the container doesn't have access to C:\windows\twain_32\ManfactureDriverN folder It can see the folders and when the TWAINDSM tries to initialize the driver it fails, most likely due to sandbox limitations. Does anyone know of a solution to this, or apps like this will always need to stick to MSI packaging because of this limiation. Thanks.
Microsoft MSIX Packaging Tool Fails to create package due to AppXManifest (Typelib/Version/LibFlag)
The MMPT will fail to save the package after capturing an installation of Altova XmlSpy Enterprise. This is due to the MMPT reading a reading a registry string value for a Com Version and adding it into the AppXManifest in an incorrect form that violates the COM schema extension validation ST_VersionCom. The error from the MMPT log: [11/10/2025 11:17:46 AM] [Debug] MakeAppx : error: Failure at packageWriter2->Close( manifestStream, contentGroupMapStream.Get()) - 0x80080204 - The specified package format is not valid: The package manifest is not valid. [11/10/2025 11:17:46 AM] [Debug] MakeAppx : error: Error info: /*[local-name()="Package" and namespace-uri()="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/foundation/windows10"]/*[local-name()="Extensions" and namespace-uri()="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/foundation/windows10"][1]/*[local-name()="Extension" and namespace-uri()="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/com/windows10"][1]/*[local-name()="ComInterface" and namespace-uri()="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/com/windows10"][1]/*[local-name()="TypeLib" and namespace-uri()="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/com/windows10"][2]/*[local-name()="Version" and namespace-uri()="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/com/windows10"][1]/@LibraryFlag [11/10/2025 11:17:46 AM] [Debug] '#0' violates pattern constraint of '[0-9a-fA-F]'. [11/10/2025 11:17:46 AM] [Debug] The attribute 'LibraryFlag' with value '#0' failed to parse. [11/10/2025 11:17:46 AM] [Debug] Cleaning up output file "\\?\%UserProfile%\Desktop\Altova-XmlSpy_28.0.0.0_x64__xwfzvwzp69w2e.msix". [11/10/2025 11:17:46 AM] [Debug] MakeAppx : error: Failure at (CreatePackage( overwrite, hashAlgorithm, fileList, outputPath, manifestStream.Get(), forceCompressionNone, performanceOptions, encryptPackage, encryptionOptions, cgmPath, mainPackagePathForResourceExemption, makepriExeFullPath)) - 0x80080204 - The specified package format is not valid: The package manifest is not valid. [11/10/2025 11:17:46 AM] [Debug] MakeAppx : error: Package creation failed. [11/10/2025 11:17:46 AM] [Debug] MakeAppx : error: 0x80080204 - The specified package format is not valid: The package manifest is not valid. [11/10/2025 11:17:46 AM] [Error] MakeAppx.exe failed, exit code = 1 [11/10/2025 11:17:46 AM] [Error] Error Finalizing Package: Process MakeAppx.exe failed with exit code 1. The values in the registry placed by the application that were captured: And the produced AppXManifest file contained: <com:TypeLib Id="744838d2-7537-47e2-affa-6e0d5fbb61c9"> <com:Version VersionNumber="1.0" LocaleId="0" LibraryFlag="#0"> <com:Win32Path Path="VFS\ProgramFilesX64\Altova\SharedBetweenVersions\AltovaScc32to64Bridge.exe" /> </com:Version> </com:TypeLib> As a workaround, it is possible to manually remove the '#' character from the LibraryFlag field in the AppXManifest allows the package to save. The MMPT should properly read this value as if it were a REG_DWORD of value 0 and generate a valid AppXmanifest. This is a common registry interpretation to make. Alternatively, as the value of 0 is meaningless, the parameter could be dropped, but if the vendor had requested "#1" this should also be handled.
Shortcut icons disappear
Hello! I wanted to add shortcuts of some applications to my desktop, then I found out it's impossible for a normal user. You have to either attach it to the task bar or the Start menu, and pray Microsoft won't mess up with your Start menu layout in the next update (happened twice already). I found out this discussion and followed the instructions (going to explorer.exe shell:AppsFolder and creating shortcuts from there), but it only worked for a few minutes. In less than 10 minutes, two of the six shortcuts I've created using this method had their icons replaced by white paper icons. After restarting the computer, only one remained with its original icon (Figma Desktop). And after updating Figma, it completely disappeared (not leaving just a white paper, the shortcut completely vanished from the desktop). When I go to the same folder, they are iconless there as well. So, how can I make desktop shortcuts that keep their nice icons even after restarting or updating the software? Thanks in advance!
Signtool cannot sign msix file produced by dotnet publish
Used dotnet publish to generate a msix package (from Blazor MAUI project). During the process, dotnet has signed the msix file using our EV certificate, but it did not time-stamp it. So we’ve decided to re-sign it using signtool from Win SDK latest version 10.0.22621.0. However, the signtool reports an error: SignTool Error: This file format cannot be signed because it is not recognized. Using the same options to sign a regular msi file (from another project) produces no error. Here is the complete command line used to sign both msix and msi (with the /sha1 thumbprint truncated for privacy): “C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.22621.0\x64\signtool.exe” sign /a /sha1 e392… /tr http://timestamp.digicert.com/ /fd sha256 /td sha256 /d “test” /du http://www.winability.com/ “Q:\test-x64.msix”
