Debbuger Installation Failure

[Gerdes_Gerhard_J]

I used the parallel_studio_xe_2016_composer_edition_for_fortran_setup.exe installer. During installation the message "The Intel(R) Debugger Extension for Intel(R) MIC Architecture cannot be installed. (Installation can continue; however, Intel(R) Debugger Extension for Intel(R) MIC Architecture will not be installed because it requires that Microsoft Visual Studio* 2012, 2013 or 2015 be installed. Refer to the Release Notes for more details.)" occured, see also attachment.

The installation is  on a Visual Studio 2013 shell, see attachment 2.

Except fur the debugger Visual Studio is installed and is running properly.  If "Start debug" is chosen (and in the compiler command line "debug:full " is set) the programme is compiled, linked and run and starts in debug mode, but it does not stop at any breakpoint. It runs as if not have been asked for debugging. In rare cases also a failure message occurs ("...to load an expression evaluator dll..."), see attachment 3.

Thanks in advance.

Gerd

[Kevin_D_Intel]

I’m sorry to hear about the debugging problems. The install warnings are (hopefully) clarifying that debugging for the Xeon Phi™ is not available with Visual Studio 2013 Shell environment; however, that’s not relevant to your situation from how I’m reading your details.

I do not know what might be the cause of the behavior you described. I gathered up your details and forwarded them to the Debugger team for some assistance.

(Internal tracking id: DPD200377310)

(Resolution Update on 11/18/2015): This defect is fixed in the Intel® Parallel Studio XE 2016 Update 1 Release (2016.1.146 - Windows)

[Kevin_D_Intel]

I just learned the root cause of this debugging issue relates to missing Microsoft Visual C++ redistributables that affect the debugger under the Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 Shell. (Another reported instance here)

Can you please first verify whether you have the Visual C++ 2012 Redist package present on your system (via: Open Start Menu \ Control Panel \ Programs & Features \ search for "C++ 2012 Redist")

If you do not, the version needed can be downloaded from Microsoft here, https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30679. Download/install the vcredist_x86.exe. (Note: the x64 version will not resolve the issue.) After installing, please retry the debugging.

In our upcoming PSXE 2016 Update 1, the installation has been enhanced to the check for the presence of these C++ redistributables along with the existing additional check for the Microsoft Windows SDK 8.1 for Windows necessary for using the Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 Shell.

[Gerdes_Gerhard_J]

Hi Kevin,

thanks for your replies. I did like you proposed, see attached file, and restarted the computer. But the behaviour of VS was the same. So I deinstalled Intel Fortran as well as VS and reinstalled everytging again. Again it did not work, so I just deinstalled and installed only Fortran again. But it is still the same, during installation the error message saying that the debugger extension for MIC Architecture (from which I don't know it I need it) cannot be installed.

Still the debugger does not stop at any breakpoint. Maybe, I have to wait for the Update you announced.

Gerd

PS: I recognized, that I have a lot VS versions installed. May I deinstall the older versions as soon as version 2016 is running properly, without risking that some components are missing?

[Kevin_D_Intel · Accepted solution]

Bummer. In a related post here, https://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/intel-visual-fortran-compiler-for-windows/topic/595294, installing the redistributables cleared up this bad debugger behavior.

The Xeon Phi debugging messages are just informational warnings and not errors so those are ok.

Our upcoming PSXE 2016 Update 1 won’t contain any new bits to resolve this issue, just updated checks/messaging regarding the need for this Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable package when using the VS 2013 Shell.

I noted in your attached image, you have the x64 instance of the Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x64) - 11.0.61030. From details I have, they indicate the vcredist_x64 does not solve the issue and that vcredist_x86 solves the issue for both 32 and 64-bit hosts.

Can you please try uninstalling the Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x64) and use the vcredist_x86 instead.

[Kevin_D_Intel]

I just walked through the installation of the VS2013 Shell with PSXE 2016 myself, reproduced the debugger issue, and confirmed the vcredist_x86.exe installation does resolve the debugger failure.

[Gerdes_Gerhard_J]

Sorry Kevin, I didn't read your initial answer with enough care. You are right, the vcredist_x64 did not solve the problem but the vcredist_x86.exe did it! It's often the small things you have to care about.  I installed the 64 version and immediately, even without a restart,  the debugger started working properly.

Thanks a lot for your efforts.

Gerd

[Kevin_D_Intel]

That's great! We apologize for the inconvenience and the confusion with some of the messaging. I will follow-up with the Debugger and Installation teams on the Xeon Phi messaging that we discussed can be confusing.