Software Bisque Knowledge Base Article - 1217

CANNOT ATTACH CCDSOFT FOCUSER OR CANNOT REGISTER SBFOCUSER.DLL ERROR

ISSUE

With CCDSoft version 5.00.177 or later, when attempting to select a focuser from CCDSoft (by clicking Camera | Setup, and then selecting any supported focuser), the following error message appears:

"Unable to attach to focuser"

Or, during installation of the update, the following error message appears:

Self Registration Error
The following files did not self-register or unregister C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\SBFocuser.dll
The operating system cannot run.
To continue, click OK; Otherwise, click Cancel.

Or, after installing CCDSoft, attempting to re-register the file SBFocuser.dll using regsrvr32.exe, the following message is displayed:

The following files did not self-register or unregister:

1. C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\SBFocuser.dll The operating system cannot run .

To continue, click OK; otherwise, click Cancel.

RESOLUTION

An older version of the file LIBFLI.DLL causes this message error message. CCDSoft version 5.00.177 and later distributes the latest version of the Finger Lakes Instruments Device Drivers in the file named LIBFLI.DLL, and places this file into the C:\Program Files\System folder. Other software vendors distribute this file, and place it in various locations on your computer.

If an **older** copy of LIBFLI.DLL is located anywhere in the computer's PATH, then Windows will load the older version of this DLL, and CCDSoft will therefore not be able to attach to any supported focuser.

Issues related to the Windows operating system loading incorrect shared files is known as "DLL Hell".

Background

Windows searches your "PATH" environment variable to locate shared files (called Dynamic Link Libraries or DLLs) associated with a particular application or executable. If there is an older copy of a shared library anywhere in the PATH, then Windows loads this library into memory first.
When an older library is loaded, then any application that relies on the latest (newer) version to be loaded will most likely experience problems.

Procedure for Resolving LIBFLI.DLL Version Conflict

CCDSoft always copies LIBFLI.DLL into the folder C:\Program Files\Common Files\System. The current Date Modified of this file is 9/25/2006.
 

1. Click Start | Search.

2. Click All Files or Folders.

3. Enter LIBFLI.DLL in the All or part of the file name text box.

4. Select Local Hard Drives in the Look In list.

5. Click Search.

6. When finished, for each located DLL, right-click the file name and then click Open Containing Folder.

7. Look at the date when the DLL was last modified (right-click on the file name and then click Properties, same as Get Info on the Mac. The “latest version” of LIBFLI.DLL (as of this writing) has a Date Modified date of 9/25/2006.

8. If an older copy of this file resides anywhere on your computer, then backup the older LIBFLI.DLL in that folder, and then copy the newer LIBFLI.DLL file into that folder.

Best "DLL Hell" Practices in General

• Never summarily delete or remove files from your computer. This can cause serious problems and conflicts.

• Use Windows Search to locate every occurrence of the particular DLL on your computer (in this case, it's named LIBFLI.DLL). Don’t forget to configure Windows Explorer to view system files.The latest version of a shared file is the file that should be used on the computer.

• Backup all the earlier version files (by renaming the file from DLLNAME.DLL to OLDDLLNAME.DLL, and then manually copy the newer DLL into the folder where the older, backed up file resides.

APPLIES TO

CCDSoft version 5.00.177 and later

KEYWORDS

SBKB, focusers, Optec, RoboFocus, Finger Lakes Instruments DF2,

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