Thanks for the info. This is really strange. The output shows that the correct new JHTAddIn.dll is indeed being used. It shows also, that the hanging does not occur at the same location where I had it occurring (when I started porting the add-in), but it happens at a later stage: The ID of the process which runs the ehshell seems to be determined correctly, but when the keyboard hook (for the remote control keys) is to be hooked to that ehshell process, the add-in process obviously doesn't return, so MCE stops it with the error message you are seeing.
Right now, I have not many further ideas of what may be the reason for this (and I have no other users complaining about this either, although I must admit I don't have much feedback for the Vista add-in anyway, so I guess that either not many are using it or they have no problems).
One last thing I can think of: The keyboard hook part is actually located in the second DLL, the JHTAddInUtil.dll. Could you check that this DLL is also the new Vista version (in your ehome folder)? The Vista version of that DLL should have
20480 bytes.
Also, maybe there is some new fangled DLL caching in Vista which is creating problems here? (But I'm only speculating here...) You could for example try to search through your whole system if you can find any cached copies of the two DLLs anywhere else than in the ehome and the add-in install folders? (Preferrably using an admin account...)
Also you could try running MCE as an administrator, to see if that makes any difference (i.e. log in as an admin or right-click the MCE icon, then "Start as administrator...").
Finally, check that there are no restricted file access rights or anything on the DLLs (in the ehome folder). To be exact, when I installed the add-in on my computer I did so here:
- I was logged in as a normal user (not administrator).
- I copied the two DLLs to the ehome folder using the same normal user account.
- Still under the normal user account, I ran the reg*.cmd scripts by right-clicking them, then "Run as administrator...".
I know you've probably already did this many times, but if all else fails, the only thing I can recommend is to try to clean up the system from any previous traces of my add-in and then try the above procedure again:
- Run the unreg*.cmd scripts (as an admin).
- Check that the add-in has indeed been unregistered correctly,i.e. go into MCE, go to "Settings" and one of the sub-sub entries there shows you a list of all currently registered add-ins. (Sorry I can't give you the specific "path" to this page, but I'm not sitting at a Vista machine right now. It's somewhere under "Settings", then I think one further menu item, and then a further button or something). The JHT Background Add-In should not appear in this list anymore.
- Delete the DLLs from the ehome folder. To double check: With your normal user account, go to the ehome folder and delete the DLLs. Then switch to an admin account and check that the DLLs there are also gone (if not, delete them there too). Just being paranoid here: Vista has this new "File System Virtualization" feature, so could it be that under different accounts there are different versions of the DLLs (from your different installation attempts) visible in the ehome folder? Therefore my suggestion to check the ehome folder with each account you may have used (i.e. any normal accounts plus any admin accounts) during any of your installation attempts, and make sure that under neither of these accounts any of my DLLs shows up in the ehome folder...
- Check that MCE starts normally, without the error message.
- Then try the re-registration as I described above.
Other than that, I fear I am running out of options. This is really hard to diagnose/solve, since I myself don't have the same problem. And since I can't reproduce it, it's also hard to determine what's the reason or even fix it...
As to your other questions:
Which kind of keyboard you have should not make a difference.
And the .NET 1.1 framework (some version of it) is installed together with Vista, that's where you got it. I've got it too - I even updated it to .NET 1.1 SP1 (required for My Movies) and that didn't create any problems for my add-in. The different versions of .NET should be able to co-exist without problems.
Doc