TortoiseSVN driving me crazy

[Victor Williams Stafusa da Silva]

Hello guys.

I am in a project that uses SVN hosted in openSVN (https://opensvn.csie.org), and was using TortoiseSVN 1.5.6.14908 and Netbeans 6.5. Using Windows XP.

So I switched to Netbeans 6.8 and used its SVN features as well. When i got to update it using TortoiseSVN, I got the message "this client is too old, please upgrade". Oh hell, here we came to my first thought of the day about SVN/TortoiseSVN: "The silently upgrade misfeature really sucks and is really very annoying".

Well, I downloaded the TortoiseSVN 1.6.7.18415 MSI file, and went to install it, and solve this.

But... Surprise: I got the infamous "The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed" message.

I searched TortoiseSVN's FAQ and saw an entry pointing to an article in the microsoft knowledge base. That article said to ensure that System has the needed permissions and that the installation is done with an administrator account. Was ok, the System has the needed permissions and I am the admin. Tried to unregister and register the installation service. Done that but no success. Finally, try to reinstall Windows Installer.

So, I downloaded a fresh Windows Installer from microsoft and installed it. Windows Installer's Installation was succesfully. However when trying to install Tortoise SVN, I still got "The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed". I noticed that other software could be installed and uninstalled normally, just TortoiseSVN messes up. I can't uninstall the old TortoiseSVN either.

In the TortoiseSVN FAQ, it is made very clear that no other way of installation would be provided and that it MUST be installed with the MSI installer. So, my second thought of the day about SVN/TortoiseSVN: "Do not rely just on microsoft installer for the installation your software".

So I decided to use something different. Tried RapidSVN (which was perfectly installed without any problems). Differently from what the name suggests, it is very slow, has lots of bugs and is very incomplete, only barely usable. So my third thought: "Tigris should really spent some more effort in RapidSVN."

Well, so my best solution was stick to Netbeans SVN, and go on with the development. However, to just increase my bad luck, openSVN crashed and went offline for some days. Now they are online again, but...

https://opensvn.csie.org wrote:We have experienced a severe data loss. We have pulled backups, but your repositories may be out of sync.

Since I am really very lucky with SVN, I could confirm that my repository gone out-of-sync and my last commit, 432, was lost. The repository was on 431. Without knowing this, a co-worker commited a thing in the repository over 431, which was versioned 432.

Tried to merge my old 432 with his 432 and boom: "A checksum mismatch occurred".

I realized that I should use the clean command but, unfortunately Netbeans SVN does not have this. RapidSVN does not have either. So, my fourth thought: "IDE integrated SCM tools should be very complete and cover every functionality that is provided in the SCM."

So, I was desesperate. I ripped the files of the TortoiseSVN MSI installer and tried to copy the files manually and fix the registry accordingly (I made a backup). However, it did not worked. My frankstein TortoiseSVN fails at startup.

Finally, I decided to complain and search for some help at TortoiseSVN official forum. Naturally, I need to register. In the register page, my last surprise: The captcha. The captcha is very hard to read, but it looks like "mb7ay" or "mb7dy". Whatever I type there, the captcha fails. Trying to refresh the page is useless, I always see the exact same captcha. So my fifth thought: "Captchas should be unreadable for machines, not for humans."

So I decided up to share my sad history here, to see your opinions. Of course, if someone has some idea of what more I could do, it would be nice.

[David Newton]

I've never had those kinds of issues with TortoiseSVN, but I only rarely use it, preferring the command-line interface or IDE integration in almost every situation.

[Paul Sturrock]

this client is too old, please upgrade". Oh hell, here we came to my first thought of the day about SVN/TortoiseSVN: "The silently upgrade misfeature really sucks and is really very annoying

TortoiseSVN does not silently upgrade. Are you sure there is not a conflict between the SVN client you use in NetBeans and Tortoise?

Since I am really very lucky with SVN, I could confirm that my repository gone out-of-sync and my last commit, 432, was lost. The repository was on 431. Without knowing this, a co-worker commited a thing in the repository over 431, which was versioned 432

No real surprise here if your repository has been corrupted. openSVN is a free site I understand. My gut feeling is you get what you pay for; have you considered hiring some server space with an ISP to avoid relying on it?

So, I was desesperate. I ripped the files of the TortoiseSVN MSI installer and tried to copy the files manually and fix the registry accordingly (I made a backup). However, it did not worked. My frankstein TortoiseSVN fails at startup

TortoiseSVN is as shell extension - copying files will not work, you'll need to amend the registry accordingly too. The MSI worked for me - what sort of state is your Windows install in?

We've been happily using TortoiseSVN for a good few years. Once you've got used to it its fine. Hang in there!

[Deepak Bala]

have you considered hiring some server space with an ISP to avoid relying on it?

++

[Victor Williams Stafusa da Silva]

Hi. I am a bit late, but lets go.

We already have other projects hosted in another server, just that one was in opensvn. We definitely migrated to there.

I resigned in trying to make TortoiseSVN work in my computer. I am using the svn client integrated with netbeans and rapid svn. I fixed the corrupted working copy by checking-out a new one using rapidsvn and pasting manually each changed file from the corrupted working copy to the new one. I used a comparation tool called CSDiff to compare the to directories and find out the different files. After that, i commited it using the svn client in netbeans and deleted the corrupted working copy.

If someone has a idea of how to install TortoiseSVN manually, I would be glad. What sort of registry entries should I change?

My computer is an old notebook. Slow, few memory, 97% disk space full. It already felt in the ground several times. It gives bluescreens occasionally. When it runs checkdisc, it always finds at least one corrupted file. It used to had wi-fi, but the hardware was damaged and this does not works anymore. The battery does not works anymore and the computer only runs when plugged. Some random hardware errors occurs sometimes. I really really deseperately need a new computer, but I don't have money for now.