Knowledge Base

PRB: An Unknown Error Occurred While Building the Cabinet File

Article ID: 196583

Article Last Modified on 5/13/2003

APPLIES TO

This article was previously published under Q196583

SYMPTOMS

When you save a setup package to a floppy disk using the Package option of the Package and Deployment Wizard (PDW), the following error message appears:
An unknown error occurred while building the cabinet file
'<Project Name>.CAB'. Please verify that you have proper access to the
destination and that there is sufficient space there to create the file.

CAUSE

There is insufficient disk space to create the Package. There are 3 circumstances in which this can happen:
  • You attempted to create the package directly onto a floppy drive.
  • You attempted to create the package on a hard drive partition (or other mass storage media) that has insufficient free space.
  • You attempted to create the package on a hard drive partition (or other mass storage media) that has sufficient free space, but the hard drive partition where the Temporary folder resides has insufficient free space for the temporary files that are being created.
The Package option of the Package and Deployment Wizard was designed to create the setup package on the hard drive (or other mass storage media) first. The Package and Deployment Wizard creates a Package folder that contains the setup program files and .cab files. In addition, the Package folder contains a Support subfolder that includes all the uncompressed versions of the files to be distributed.

When you specify a disk drive for the destination of the Package folder, you quickly run out of disk space because the Package and Deployment Wizard copies the contents of the Support folder in addition to the setup files.

RESOLUTION

After you create the setup package on a hard drive (or other mass storage media) with sufficient free space, use the Deploy option of the Package and Deployment Wizard to copy the setup files to the disks.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

The following steps demonstrate the problem.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

  1. Start the Package and Deployment Wizard.
  2. In the Select Project text box, type the name of your project or use the Browse option to find your project.
  3. Click Package, and then click Next.
  4. In the "Package and Deployment Wizard - Package Type" dialog box, select Standard Setup Package and then click Next.
  5. In the "Package and Deployment Wizard - Package Folder" dialog box, select the A: drive (assuming A: is a 1.44 floppy disk drive). Place a blank diskette in the A: drive, and click Next.

    If the diskette in your A: drive contains files, you will receive a warning message notifying you that the files will be overwritten. If you do not want the files on this diskette overwritten, replace the diskette with a blank diskette and then click Yes.
  6. In the "Package and Deployment Wizard - Included Files" dialog box, click Next.
  7. In the "Package and Deployment Wizard - Cab Options" dialog box, click Multiple Cabs. In the Cab Size list, click 1.44 MB and then click Next.
  8. Click Next in all the following dialog boxes and click Finish in the final dialog box.
RESULT: The Package and Deployment Wizard begins copying files. When it runs out of disk space, you receive the error message described in the SYMPTOMS section of this article.

REFERENCES

MSDN Library Visual Studio 6.0: Visual Basic Documentation; Using Visual Basic; Programmer's Guide (All Editions); Part2: What Can You Do With Visual Basic?; Distributing Your Applications; Application Packaging with the Wizard

Keywords: kbappsetup kbprb kbwizard KB196583


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