Not installing on Windows 10 with VS2017

[MayaLekova]

When trying to install the module (as an optional dependency from another one) on a machine with Windows 10 and Visual Studio 2017 installed, I'm getting the following build error:
MSBUILD : error MSB4025: The project file could not be loaded. Root element is missing.

Here's the full output from npm:

> sse4_crc32@5.1.1 install <path to project>\node_modules\sse4_crc32
> node-gyp rebuild


<path to project>\node_modules\sse4_crc32>if not defined npm_config_node_gyp (node "D:\nvm\v6.11.5\node_modules\npm\bin\node-gyp-bin\\..\..\node_modules\node-gyp\bin\node-gyp.js" rebuild )  else (node "" rebuild )
Building the projects in this solution one at a time. To enable parallel build, please add the "/m" switch.
MSBUILD : error MSB4025: The project file could not be loaded. Root element is missing.
gyp ERR! build error
gyp ERR! stack Error: `msbuild` failed with exit code: 1
gyp ERR! stack     at ChildProcess.onExit (D:\nvm\v6.11.5\node_modules\npm\node_modules\node-gyp\lib\build.js:276:23)
gyp ERR! stack     at emitTwo (events.js:106:13)
gyp ERR! stack     at ChildProcess.emit (events.js:191:7)
gyp ERR! stack     at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (internal/child_process.js:219:12)
gyp ERR! System Windows_NT 10.0.16299
gyp ERR! command "C:\\Program Files\\nodejs\\node.exe" "D:\\nvm\\v6.11.5\\node_modules\\npm\\node_modules\\node-gyp\\bin\\node-gyp.js" "rebuild"
gyp ERR! cwd <path to project>\node_modules\sse4_crc32
gyp ERR! node -v v6.11.5
gyp ERR! node-gyp -v v3.4.0
gyp ERR! not ok
npm WARN optional SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: sse4_crc32@5.1.1 (node_modules\sse4_crc32):
npm WARN optional SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: sse4_crc32@5.1.1 install: `node-gyp rebuild`
npm WARN optional SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: Exit status 1

As far as I read the other Windows-related issues this problem is not mentioned, so I'm assuming it's a new one. Shall I try to manually upgrade the project file by opening it with VS2017 or something else?

Note 1: I'm trying to build using "x86_x64 Cross Tools Command Prompt for VS 2017" (which supposedly should have the proper environment setup).
Note 2: My Node.js is installed via nvm-windows.

Thank you in advance!

[anandsuresh]

Hi @MayaLekova, I haven't had tested this module much on the Windows platform, partly because I don't develop on that platform. Can you please re-run the installation with debug flags enabled to get more detailed logs for this issue and post them here?

[MayaLekova]

Hello @anandsuresh , sorry for the late reply! I've ran npm install --verbose and I'm attaching the output:
sse_debug.log

Hope that helps! If you need me to try with any patch, will be more than happy to assist you.

[anandsuresh]

@MayaLekova can you please try again with the latest build and see if that helps? @zbjornson has fixed this issue.

[MayaLekova]

Hello again,

I tried installing the module with "npm install" and I get the same error (for version 5.2.0). However I also tried downloading the latest version of the source and building it manually. "npm install" in the root directory still fails, but it creates a solution file for an older version of Visual Studio. When I open it, VS upgrades the project files to its new format and I'm able to successfully build the project (manually from VS).

I'm guessing there's some configuration issue with node-gyp and maybe my system having too new version of VS, Windows SDK or something like this. Anyway, thanks for the help!

[zbjornson]

@MayaLekova can you attach the debug log again please? Also, can you try node-gyp rebuild --msvs_version=2017?

[zbjornson]

(If you aren't setup with node-gyp globally, you can also pass that option to npm, npm install --msvs_version=2017.)

[MayaLekova]

Dear @zbjornson ,

Thank you for the tips!

After trying the --msvs_version=2017 flag I ended up having the error reported here. Which led me to the conclusion that my globally installed node-gyp version was too old (3.4) and doesn't support VS2017. After installing node-gyp v3.6.2 globally, the installation now is successful! :)

[zbjornson]

Awesome 🎉!