New Installation - PowerDVD 22 Won't Start (Kanten.x missing)

KMC326

Newbie Joined: Nov 07, 2022 15:45 Messages: 3 Offline

Solved by

Nov 10, 2022 20:24

Posting here because maybe someone has a miracle fix for this.

I'm receiving the notorious error: Activation context generation failed for "C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD22\PowerDVD.exe.Manifest". Dependent Assembly Kanten.X,type="win32",version="1.0.0.0" could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis.

I have literally every C++ redistributatble installed on my machine, both x86 and x64 from Microsoft's site, and still receive this error. Does anyone know what the correct version of C++ redist is for this version? I've opened a support case but received a boilerplate response and haven't gotten any closer to a fix for this. I've run the tracer application and captured the log from it, the end of the log detailing the issue is below. I've been searching for a solution to this and attempting every fix I've found on forums for at least a dozen hours now, I've copied the Kanten manifest from the MediaEspresso folder to the root PowerDVD22 folder, and copied the CESdlls folder to the root as well, but after fixing those two issues the program still won't launch, and no errors come up in Event Viewer anymore, which leaves me even more helpless.

INFO: Parsing Manifest File C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD22\PowerDVD.exe.Manifest.
INFO: Manifest Definition Identity is PowerDVD,processorArchitecture="X86",type="win32",version="22.0.63133.1913".
INFO: Reference: Kanten.X,type="win32",version="1.0.0.0"
INFO: Resolving reference Kanten.X,type="win32",version="1.0.0.0".
INFO: Resolving reference for ProcessorArchitecture Kanten.X,type="win32",version="1.0.0.0".
INFO: Resolving reference for culture Neutral.
INFO: Applying Binding Policy.
INFO: No binding policy redirect found.
INFO: Begin assembly probing.
INFO: Did not find the assembly in WinSxS.
INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD22\Kanten.X.DLL.
INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD22\Kanten.X.MANIFEST.
INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD22\Kanten.X\Kanten.X.DLL.
INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD22\Kanten.X\Kanten.X.MANIFEST.
INFO: Did not find manifest for culture Neutral.
INFO: End assembly probing.
ERROR: Cannot resolve reference Kanten.X,type="win32",version="1.0.0.0".
ERROR: Activation Context generation failed.
End Activation Context Generation.

Forum Moderator

Contributor Joined: Feb 27, 2018 01:01 Messages: 578 Offline

Nov 10, 2022 21:04

Hello,

What you are experiencing is usually a cause of antivirus or security software interference during the program installation, which can cause problems. I would suggest you to completely uninstall PowerDVD and then try installing again with your antivirus/security software turned off temporarily.

You should also provide CyberLink Technical Support with the information they requested. They need the DXDiag.txt file at minimum to get a clear picture of what could be happening on your PC. Screenshots of the error messages are also helpful.

Cheers
PowerDVD Moderator Please direct any sales or technical issues to CyberLink's customer support team:

Sales or installation related issues:
https://membership.cyberlink.com/support/customer-services.do

Software technical issues:
https://membership.cyberlink.com/sup

KMC326

Newbie Joined: Nov 07, 2022 15:45 Messages: 3 Offline

Nov 10, 2022 23:15

I've already disabled my antivirus (Windows Defender) while installing with the same result. I've attached my DxDiag.txt file here, because I'm still waiting on my most recent support case for this. Everyone says the same thing for this, which is that the C++ Redist needs to be installed, but I've literally installed every x86 and x64 package from 2005 to 2022, and I still have the same results. What exact C++ redist is used for PowerDVD22? Because I can uninstall the other distros and install just that one to see if there is some sort of overlap issue with this.

Filename	DxDiag.txt	Download
Description	DxDiag.txt
Filesize	121 Kbytes
Downloaded:	158 time(s)

QC2.0

Senior Contributor Joined: Apr 27, 2016 04:02 Messages: 610 Offline

Nov 11, 2022 01:02

Quote I've already disabled my antivirus (Windows Defender) while installing with the same result. I've attached my DxDiag.txt file here, because I'm still waiting on my most recent support case for this. Everyone says the same thing for this, which is that the C++ Redist needs to be installed, but I've literally installed every x86 and x64 package from 2005 to 2022, and I still have the same results. What exact C++ redist is used for PowerDVD22? Because I can uninstall the other distros and install just that one to see if there is some sort of overlap issue with this.

AFAIK, the most common one is 2012 but I'm not sure if powerdvd also uses others. FYI.

KMC326

Newbie Joined: Nov 07, 2022 15:45 Messages: 3 Offline

Nov 11, 2022 01:34

Thank you, I was able to record a reinstall of it to find that it uses 2012 and 2017, which is does install if the packages are not present. But still I have the same issue. The program still doesn't launch, and returns the missing Kanten.X error. I just don't know anymore, I feel like I will need to refund this purchase, because this software just plain isn't working...

Billy 64

Newbie Joined: Oct 06, 2023 18:37 Messages: 1 Offline

Oct 06, 2023 18:45

I am having the same problem. Was working fine, went to upgrade, to latest version, and won't launch. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling, but it still won't work.