mlapaglia

An antiquated version of Cisco VPN used by a new client was being stubborn and failing to install on my machine. I was getting error 27850, stating something in my system was “corrupted”.

I had a hunch that the installer was conflicting with Cisco AnyConnect, a more modern version of Cisco’s VPN implementation, a program I had uninstalled after finishing up at a previous client.

I dumped the MSI installer log file and sifted through to find a more detailed error.

msiexec.exe /i "vpnclient_setup.msi" /L*V "C:\log.log"

And the result was a 1MB text file. The concerning portion was:

MSI (s) (C8:BC) [14:39:31:368]: Invoking remote custom action. DLL: C:\WINDOWS\Installer\MSI19B4.tmp, Entrypoint: InstallDNE
1: DNECA: RunDNEInstall dneinst command line ‘”C:\Program Files\Common Files\Deterministic Networks\Common Files\dneinst.exe” -Install -InstallPath “C:\Program Files\Common Files\Deterministic Networks\DNE”‘
Action 14:39:31: Managing Network Components. Installing Network Components. This may take several minutes.
Managing Network Components: Working (1)
MSI (c) (80:10) [14:39:32:720]: Note: 1: 2262 2: Billboard 3: -2147287038
1: DNECA: -2147467262 (0x80004002)
Internal Error 2835. ErrorIcon, ErrorDialog
not found on dialog ErrorDialog
Error 27850. Unable to manage networking component. Operating system corruption may be preventing installation.
MSI (s) (C8!74) [14:39:33:955]: Product: Cisco Systems VPN Client 5.0.07.0290 — Error 27850. Unable to manage networking component. Operating system corruption may be preventing installation.

1: DNECA: —–>> InstallDNE Exit exception handler returning g_iExitCode=0x643

CustomAction Dne64InstallExecFn.BEE04CD6_610D_4F5B_AC11_6AD2E290CC1D returned actual error code 1603 (note this may not be 100% accurate if translation happened inside sandbox)

It looked like the DNE portion of the VPN was failing to install. After some more searching I found a separate installer for DNE on Citrix’s website. I downloaded and installed the DNE installer. When trying to install it threw an error about a registry key. It was unable to modify HKLM/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/DNE. I deleted this registry key and re-ran the installer. It went through successfully! After that I ran the original VPN installer, which also worked!

$Hello, old friend :-\$

Of course that wasn’t the end of it. After importing the client’s VPN connection information, I got error “Reason 442: Failed to enable Virtual Adapter”

The mighty Google lead me to an IT That Should Just Work post solving this issue via a simple registry edit. After modifying the name of the adapter the VPN was then able to connect!

Open regedit
Browse to the registry key HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CVirtA
Select the display name to modify:
x86 – “@oem8.ifn,%CVirtA_Desc%;Cisco Systems VPN Adapter” to “Cisco Systems VPN Adapter”
x64 – “@oem8.ifn,%CVirtA_Desc%;Cisco Systems VPN Adapter for 64-bit Windows” to “Cisco Systems VPN Adapter for 64-bit Windows”

Spring time is just around the corner and I wanted to get ahead of the curve this year. Instead of buying flowers, vegetables, and other living things from local nurseries I will be growing everything from seed. After some quick online searching, kits for sale range from $600 to $1000!! So, in a recurring theme, I will be taking the (much) DIY approach!

A simple power strip timer controls the lights and heat mats. The controller I picked up has four outlets that are operated by the timer and four that are powered by the power switch. This worked out well because the heat mats needs to always be on, while the lights need to by cycled.

The hardware store had some handy greenhouse kits to get the plants growing. I found some cheap condensed seedling soil (just add water, woo woo woo!). I found it’s mainly made out of coconut fiber, the same fiber I mix with sand for my crabitat (and a lot cheaper!). I needed two bricks to cover the four flats.

The shelving I chose ended up being a little too short. Each of the flats sticks out a few inches off of the shelf. I will need to come up with a solution for keeping the heating mats pressed against the flats.

The heating mats seem to be pretty standard across various brands. They all have green writing and similar diagrams on them. My local hardware store had them for a few dollars cheaper than online.

Each of the lamps are held on via nuts and bolts attached to the shelving. The chains can be adjusted to change the height of the lamps. After the plants emerge from the ground the lamps can be lowered to a few inches off of the bed and then raised up as the plants get larger. There is an additional shelf that can still be attached, but I do not need it right now. Each lamp has both a cool white and soft white bulbs to help cover the light spectrum. The online community doesn’t see this solution as efficient as purpose-made grow lights, but my local hardware store was out of stock. I’ve read mixed findings on what the best bulbs to use are anyway, so I stuck with the cheapest available and got two different temperatures, even though it might not have any tangible results.

I’ve started with some flowers, tomatoes, and green beans. With 4 flats, I can start 288 seedlings at the same time. LOTS of flowers!

In the future the current shelving can accommodate the ability to double the number of flats. I don’t think my apartment’s small backyard could handle that much organic material in such a small place. Maybe when I move into a house :).

Matt LaPaglia, MCSD

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To Infinity, Recursively!