Why Windows 7 + ?

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Mr B
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2018 2:59 pm

Why Windows 7 + ?

Post by Mr B »

Perhaps an odd question i know, but i'm sort of looking for an update to my HP DataVault X300, which is a Windows Home Server v1, with a Atom D510, and 2gB RAM. It's a headless server that can't really run anything else then WHS v1, which is based of Windows Server 2003. The age of this OS pretty much disqualifies it from any kind of "serious" use, but for torrents and home use behind a dedicated firewall, it's more then safe enough on it's own. It wont install Transmission 2.93, and i'm sort of curious as to why. The install relies on "Windows Installer Service", and require a newer version then available for the OS in question. I'm not sure if there is a way to hack in a newer "Windows Installer Service" on a WHS v1, or, if there is, if that would actually make Transmission work after installing it.

I mean, small lightweight, transmission seems pretty much made to run on low wattage, older hardware like this. Is there an actual reason it's not possible, or is it something with how the install packages are made, that limits how far back the installer service can be supported, and transmission it self would actually function properly? I mean, it wouldn't come as a shock if some Microsoft tool used to produce the .msi has an arbitrary "we wont support OS older then X" just so Microsoft can push people towards newer stuff. A shame Transmission gets stuck in Microsoft's business tactics at that point, but the blame for something like that would straight up be with Microsoft. Also, if newer transmission version does things that older Windows versions simply wont allow, or support, then that is a legitimate reason as well, for sure. But i mean, i have Transmission 2.82, and it works just fine. The only reason to update is trackers "suggesting" it due to exploit concerns on older clients. Suggestions like that tend to turn in to rules sooner or later.
mike.dld
Transmission Developer
Posts: 306
Joined: Wed Dec 25, 2013 10:56 pm

Re: Why Windows 7 + ?

Post by mike.dld »

Windows XP and Windows 2003 support was dropped by us since those systems aren't officially supported by Microsoft anymore. This means they don't get any security updates, which is something you most probably need to worry about these days.

Another reason is that newer Windows versions provide new APIs for functionality we need which is hard / impractical / impossible to implement when targeting older systems.

The above is actually applicable not only to Windows, but to all the other systems we support. We also have restrictions on the verions of web browsers we support with the web UI...

That being said, it might be possible to patch Transmission to support Windows XP but you'll have to maintain that patch yourself, it will never be accepted. There is a difference between older hardware and older software I'm afraid. If you really want to use this machine of yours to run Transmission, consider using another operating system that's either cheaper or free so that you don't need to worry about using newer versions of it.
Mr B
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2018 2:59 pm

Re: Why Windows 7 + ?

Post by Mr B »

mike.dld wrote:If you really want to use this machine of yours to run Transmission, consider using another operating system that's either cheaper or free so that you don't need to worry about using newer versions of it.
Again, this is simply not possible, since this isn't a "PC" or "A Server", this is a headless unit, that runs nothing but WHS v1, unless you tear it apart, add a graphics adapter, figure out how to force it to boot of USB rather then it's PXE boot, if it cant detect a installed OS, not to mention that unless you figure out how to add a PS2 port, the system wont detect keystrokes, and you wont be entering the BIOS, to try and force that USB boot in the first place.

Anyway, I'm sure not going to make Transmission work on this system. I'll run 2.82, until trackers say it must go, and then i'll switch to Deluge, but this is a much less efficient route to go, which was why i asked if there were actual reasons, or if it was simply an artificial limitation, by the install service, or otherways.

At this point i'm still not sure really. So, i guess i'll go find out how to register DLL's on WHS, install Transmission 2.93 on a Windows 10 system, copy the registry keys, along with the transmission folder, to the WHS, and see what it does. Odds are that it just runs, but what do i know.
mike.dld
Transmission Developer
Posts: 306
Joined: Wed Dec 25, 2013 10:56 pm

Re: Why Windows 7 + ?

Post by mike.dld »

Sorry if that wasn't clear, but I meant to tell you that we're using Windows API functions that are not available on Windows XP. It won't work out of the box, you'll have to make changes to the source code and build your own binaries. If you need an example, one of those new functions we use is GetFinalPathNameByHandle which is only provided by Windows Vista and above.

Thinking about it, I've heard about this project just recently which you may try: https://github.com/MyTDT-Mysoft/DllCompat. Not sure how well it will play with Universal CRT DLLs (another thing that's not available on Windows XP), but you could try.
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