Doesn't work on Windows 32-bit

I'm aware that Windows7 is end of life and probably not supported anymore, but I have no saying in this, I have it at work.

I installed a normal version for one user, which didn't require admin access, great. Launching joplin doesn't do anything visible, but it spawns 4 joplin.exe processes in the background. Launching it again opens an empty window, with basic, but also empty menu (File-Exit, and so on, nothing actionable). This window is not possible to close (titlebar button UI doesn't react), it has to be force closed with task manager.

I tried portable version. Launching exe causes 4 joplin.exe process to show up plus joplinportable.exe and again, no window. Launching it again, shows second joplinportable.exe and empty window as shown above, that again is not possible to close by usual means.

There is no error messages or anything suggesting what to do. Computer was restarted after joplin installation.

Linux version works like a charm, but Windows counterpart failed a big time :(. Without full multi-system support, the whole app usage is in question. There is no browser access to my notes so basically I have no notes at work.

I think it should work on Windows 7. What's the error in the console? https://joplinapp.org/debugging

Unless it's 32bit. I think there were issues with 32bit systems before.

Isn't Linux 32bit that's not supported? According to Electron's website, Windows 32bit should be supported: https://www.electronjs.org/docs/tutorial/support#windows

Yeah, I forgot, it's 32bit system. Maybe a different installer is needed? As far I remember, the regular Gimp installer wasn't working, and I had to find 32bit version. Maybe it's the same here?

Since it's windows, I assume different syntax is needed. Actually, does joplin cli in windows even work?
I don't think I have Help > Open Profile Directory. Like I said before, menus are generic and empty, as if it was a blank UI window to design but without any content yet.

I'll check tomorrow and let you know.

I don't think I have Help > Open Profile Directory. Like I said before, menus are generic and empty, as if it was a blank UI window to design but without any content yet.

With portable version your profile directory will be right next to the .exe file.

@michaldybczak

Funny enough I am now facing a similar issue. Also have an empty screen with only the default menu items.
However, I do have an option to open dev tools: View - Toggle Developer Tools. @michaldybczak can you check if you have that too?

Now, I am running a version that I have built from the latest dev on Linux for Windows so in my case I'm not too surprised something went wrong.

The error I have in console is:

Uncaught Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '\\?\C:\Users\MRR\AppData\Local\Temp\1paQ6RKm9qD94uTRRU7FxLoIFOA\resources\app.asar.unpacked\node_modules\@joplin\lib\node_modules\node-notifier\package.json'
    at Object.openSync (fs.js:462)
    at Object.func [as openSync] (electron/js2c/asar.js:140)
    at Object.readFileSync (fs.js:364)
    at Object.fs.readFileSync (electron/js2c/asar.js:542)
    at Object.internalBinding.internalModuleReadJSON (electron/js2c/asar.js:664)
    at readPackage (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:256)
    at readPackageExports (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:308)
    at applyExports (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:450)
    at resolveExports (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:513)
    at Function.Module._findPath (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:637)

@michaldybczak

With portable version your profile directory will be right next to the .exe file.

Unfortunately, I don't have it. So probably it doesn't even come to the stage when this folder is created. It looks like it stops on the very beginning.

, I do have an option to open dev tools: View - Toggle Developer Tools. @michaldybczak can you check if you have that too?

I do have it. Here is the output of the console:

https://pastebin.com/DTWQFLkE

I have looked a bit more and after a few attempts to start it and getting blank window Joplin no longer starts at all. Or rather it starts, the process is there, but there's no window at all.

I have removed the temp dir it creates, moved the portable .exe file to another dir (even another disk!), but nothing helps, I can't even get that empty window any more.

I'll keep investigating.

I'm experiencing the same symptoms. The first launch spawns processes but no window. The second launch gives us this empty window that cannot be closed, it has to be killed in task manager.

OK, in my case I can confirm that the .exe file was built incorrectly. To be clear, I have built it myself, so it probably does not explain your issue.

Can you share the executable that you're using? I'm thinking maybe it somehow got corrupted.

This is over 156MB exe file that I downloaded from Joplin site https://joplinapp.org/

I uninstalled the program and try to download it again. It clearly says it's both 32 and 64bit, so either description is wrong or install file is incorrect.

I'm installing for one user, because I don't have administration rights on the company computer.

OK, I uninstalled and installed it again from newly downloaded Joplin-Setup-1.7.11.exe file. During installation, in the last step I chose "Run Joplin" and nothing happened. As before, joplin processes are visible in task manager, no window shows up. Second launch triggers the empty window. So nothing has changed.

I have the same errors in console:

Uncaught Error: Cannot find module 'C:\Users\michal\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\node_modules@joplin\lib\node_modules\sqlite3\lib\binding\napi-v3-win32-ia32\node_sqlite3.node'

and more similar ones. I checked the path and it seems to be OK. The major problem is that somehow, it cannot read C:\Users\michal\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar although the file app.asar that weights 261,8MB is there. Or maybe this file is incomplete? I cannot check this because I have no access to the inside of this file. 7zip can't unpack it.

There is however a folder app.asar.unpacked. Hmmm... Let's look on the structure.

This is OK: C:\Users\michal\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\node_modules@joplin\lib\node_modules\

However, there is no \sqlite3\lib\binding\napi-v3-win32-ia32\node_sqlite3.node

Inside app.asar\node_modules@joplin\lib\node_modules\ there is only \node-notifier\ instead \sqlite3\

So if the folder app.asar.unpacked is a faithful representation of the app.asar file, the paths of file structure is wrong. So it looks like the install file for 32 systems is broken.

I came to the same conclusion - win32 build is broken. I thought I even wrote it here but can't find the comment.

Ah, here it is: #4361 (comment)
Another issue but same root cause, I believe

You mentioned that it's fixed somewhere. I assume, this is not yet released? I checked here but there is no release page so I can't test older versions (that maid have worked). I have no skills or proper acess on this computer to create win 32bit git build myself.
Is there any estimate when this version with the fix be released?

Awesome. Thank you again. Sounds like that will make things a whole lot easier for me ;) I will try that first thing Monday morning. And sorry again for the trouble....

Hello SillyCar10,
please try this manuel
This is my way on a 32BitPC:

If joblin is installed then: close all instances of joplin with the taskmanager and uninstall joplin
windows restart
install 7zip (with Asar.32.dll in Folder 'Formats', like michaldybczak, possiblew not necessary in new 7zipVersion)
install Joplin 2.8.8 - don't start Joplin at the end of setup
Start 7Zzip.exe (manager gui) from startmenu as administrator
with 7Zip open with doubleclick: C:\Program Files\Joplin\resources\app.asar
goto: node_modules@joplin\lib\node_modules\sqlite3\lib\binding\napi-v{napi_build_version}-win32-ia32
rename napi-v{napi_build_version}-win32-ia32 to napi-v3-win32-ia32
save the app.asar with
closed 7z
Start joplin
Greetings

@RCleanerman

@RCleanerman and @tomasz1986 , thank you so much for all the help. I can't wait to get back to work on Monday to try this! Wow, did I just say I can't wait to get back to work.... oops, maybe that wasn't right to say ;) But I am excited to get Joplin working on my Windows laptop. I am absolutely loving it so far on my iMac Pro and my Samsung Galaxy A32 phone. It is taking me a little while to get used to it after using Evernote for the past few years (and fixing the formatting after importing all my notes), but so far I really like it and once I'm certain that it will work for all of my note taking needs, I'm going to be ditching Evernote completely and donating at least something to the Joplin dev team so that apps like this can still exist. I can not stand the subscription model that everyone wants to go to, but I do understand why they do it. I'm just glad that programs like Joplin also exist! There are more than a few other great apps/plugins like this that I'm happy to donate to as well and grateful that they exist (Cyberduck, gotmls and mp3tag are all great ones for example). Anyway, thanks again and have a great weekend!

Hello SillyCar10, please try this manuel This is my way on a 32BitPC:

1. If joblin is installed then: close all instances of joplin with the taskmanager and uninstall joplin

2. windows restart

3. install 7zip (with Asar.32.dll in Folder 'Formats', like michaldybczak, possiblew not necessary in new 7zipVersion)

4. install Joplin 2.8.8 - don't start Joplin at the end of setup

5. Start 7Zzip.exe (manager gui) from startmenu as administrator

6. with 7Zip open with doubleclick: C:\Program Files\Joplin\resources\app.asar

7. goto: node_modules@joplin\lib\node_modules\sqlite3\lib\binding\napi-v{napi_build_version}-win32-ia32

8. rename napi-v{napi_build_version}-win32-ia32 to napi-v3-win32-ia32

9. save the app.asar with

10. closed 7z

11. Start joplin
    Greetings

Just wanted to post back and let you know that this worked great for me.
One additional note in case it helps anyone else: I had trouble getting Joplin to complete the main install because I had a blank Joplin folder in C:\Program Files that somehow didn't delete when I uninstalled Joplin - not sure if I did something else to cause that folder to be there - but once I deleted that folder, I was able to get Joplin to install correctly and finish the process in 7zip.
Thanks for the detailed help everyone! Have a great day!

Thank you all for the detailed help!
One more note on the latest version of Joplin 2.10.12.
It also did not work under win 10x32
Editing directory names helped, but in 2 places:

"C:\Program Files\Joplin\resources\app.asar\node_modules@joplin\lib\node_modules\sqlite3\lib\binding"
"C:\Program Files\Joplin\resources\app.asar\node_modules\sqlite3\lib\binding"

In 2 places, the "napi-v{napi_build_version}-win32-unknown-ia32" directory is fixed to "napi-v6-win32-unknown-ia32".
The latest version is v6 and not v3!
Have a nice day to everyone!

The last working version for windows 32 is 2.12.15. The latest versions, including 2.13 - no longer work under windows 32 bit.
Developers - fix the problem !!!

The last working version for windows 32 is 2.12.15. The latest versions, including 2.13 - no longer work under windows 32 bit.
Developers - fix the problem !!!

Which Windows specifically? If it's Windows 8 or older, then those are no longer supported and Joplin won't run there, be it 32 or 64 bit. The application should still be able to run under Windows 10 32-bit though.

The current version of Joplin (which is v2.13.5 at the moment) only contains one folder inside app.asar\node_modules@joplin\lib\node_modules\sqlite3\lib\binding which is napi-v6-win32-unknown-x64. In other words, there is no napi-v{napi_build_version}-win32-unknown-ia32 folder anymore. Does this mean that there is no way to make Joplin run under Windows x86? The Joplin.exe executable itself is still 32-bit compatible, however without the napi-v{napi_build_version}-win32-unknown-ia32 folder rename tweak, it only launches in background without showing anything graphical on the screen.

Just an update (more of reminder tbh): Joplin 3.0.15 still not working.
(Windows 10 22H2 (build 19045.4780))

Very annoying that whole platform doesn't work for 3 years because of small bug, to be straight. That tells about something. Certainly no support from me for this. Also probably switching to another app taking my money with me. Sorry not sorry. 3 years.

I think the issue can be closed. Joplin v3.3.2 works in 32-bit Windows again.

I also confirm that it already works. And thank you for the fix, the bug was very frustrating for me.

Hello, we will now have to pay about $4 every time we build the win32 version due to the way code signing is working now. As example, we built it about 50 times last year.

Because of this we are considering removing support for the win32 version, with the assumption that probably nobody is still using it? Or if you are please let us know, as we need to evaluate if it makes sense to maintain support

Honestly, I doubt that many people still use Windows x86 at home. The only environment that I can think of, which actually has at least some active Windows x86 installations and also may possibly use Joplin at the same time, are schools (where using computer equipment till it dies is very common).

I assume you guys have statistics on how many updates are downloaded for Win 32-bit? What do the numbers tell you?

(BTW, I personally use this version of the system because this one computer with the OEM version still works. But if Joplin stopped syncing with my Android version on it due to the lack of new updates, I could probably try switching to 64-bit Linux on it. Hardly anyone would be upset if you abandoned such an old platform today...)

@laurent22

Currently, I am not using any 32 bit systems and the likelihood of using one again is slim, so for me this is fine.

However, I'm sure that some will have a problem with that, but the world goes on, and it's reasonable that you cannot uphold it forever.

The only real issue have persons who don't have choice on OS, because company they're working in is having old systems or hardware (32 bit systems are easier on RAM, so when you have cheap, refurbished old laptops, 32bit is a good choice). Originally, this was my problem as well. I didn't choose the system, so I had to find a way to install joplin on it, but that's in the past for me.

@laurent22 , if you decide to close 32bit support, feel free to close this topic. If you can't, let me know.

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Doesn't work on Windows 32-bit #4649

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Doesn't work on Windows 32-bit #4649

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laurent22 commented on Mar 10, 2021

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