MSYS2_shell.cmd file not launching

[goyalyashpal]

Update: 2023-01-24 This issue is resolved. So, i will be self hiding all the non-essential comments of mine.
Go to #3102 (comment) for some more details.

• .cmd scripts have to run with cmd shell
• .cmd scripts run with the shell defined in ComSpec in environment variable,
• i.e. there's no shebang or file association stuff used there
  (wow, unix was truly wayyyy ahead of MS at that time, i wonder why it didn't get that popular?? 🤔)

So, for .cmd scripts to work on double clicking, it has to have this value: COMSPEC=C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe

• check in environment variables or run env | grep COMSPEC

---

Describe the issue

MSYS2 MSYS or any other launchers (i.e. those 4 shortcuts to C:\msys64\msys2_shell.cmd with different arguments) thereof doesnt launch.

Old description (modified)

Redundant verbosity

Steps to Reproduce the Problem

0. Press win & type MSYS
1. Click on any of "MSYS2 MSYS" or "MSYS2 MINGW"

Now: (from some months) Some window seems to flash and disappear, nothing visible and persistent seems to happen.
Earlier: It used to launch the terminal window.

Update: it had nothing to do with updates

Additional Context:

• my msys2 has pro'lly never been fully upgraded since 2021-December, so, it is pending upgrades of 162 packages (241 MiB download size)
• but I thought to file this before updating in case some useful info can be dug up via this
• is there any particular package which requires updating for this to be fixed?

Duplicate search: msys not launching

Screenshots etc not needed any more

Screenshots:

Msys.Not.Launching.Vwcpxmnzgu-1.mp4

Environment

• OS: Windows 10 Home Single Language version 20H2 64bit
• '...'

[goyalyashpal]

This problem persists even after doing core and full system upgrade of msys2
ref: #3093 (comment)

[sskras]

It would be nice, there are only 3 open issues here at the moment:

[Biswa96]

Try a clean install with latest installer. Need more info to understand the issue. Make sure things are not deleted or modified by antivirus software. Check if the launchers are working e.g. mingw64.exe etc.

[goyalyashpal]

Check if the launchers are working: [C:\msys64]
mingw64.exe
msys2.exe
ucrt64.exe
clang64

yes, they're working:

[Biswa96]

What command did you run with that msys2_shell.cmd and in which shell?

[goyalyashpal]

What command did you run with that msys2_shell.cmd and in which shell?

i manually launched the launchers' exe-s from C:/msys64

[goyalyashpal]

Found a maybe related pull: msys2/msys2-installer#50

[goyalyashpal]

so, i tried running the script from an already running cmd shell, and surprisingly, it ran successfully as well 😵

$ cd /c/msys64
$ cmd
C:\msys64>

And all of the following commands worked i.e. launched the mintty with $MSYSTEM defined

Ref:

• environments#overview - the prefix column in table;
• I should know that these both are not same
• ... as also mentioned in MSYS2 environments + naming #2289 (🔍: git)

msys2_shell.cmd script with various arguments

msys2_shell.cmd
msys2_shell.cmd -msys
msys2_shell.cmd -ucrt64
msys2_shell.cmd -clang64
msys2_shell.cmd -clangarm64
msys2_shell.cmd -clang32
msys2_shell.cmd -mingw64
msys2_shell.cmd -ming32

So, the error seems to be in running the script file from explorer i guess?

[goyalyashpal]

What command did you run with that msys2_shell.cmd and in which shell?

now it seems to make sense 😅

i am guessing that

• those script files when opened from explorer
  (in any way: right click context menu, or double click, or shortcut - which includes shortcut from start menu as well)
• ... it is not opening with required stuff, i.e. it is not getting cmd there
• but i don't see how I can change which program it opens with, like i don't see any "open with" menu item on right clicking on it, i don't see any such thing in the properties panel either....

[goyalyashpal]

i don't see how I can change which program it opens with

yeah.... i found it. So,

• it turns out that the running shell used for .cmd scripts too depend on the ComSpec system variable,
• which i had redefined with value bash.exe for my windows user account
• from there, rest is pretty self explanatory: the script runs with bash, which returns an error, the terminal disappears.

ComSpec=C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe

so, this was caused by same reason as: wez/wezterm#2909

[goyalyashpal]

Found a maybe related pull: msys2/msys2-installer#50
- #3102 (comment)

oh and yeah, this above related pull from '22-09-04 release tag of msys2-installer, was really related to this issue. brilliant.

having .exe installers elevates from this dependence on the ComSpec environment variable, so that the user can freely use the bash as default at system level if per so wishes to.

nice.