Cannot create build - Icon could not be written

[noahsiano]

Hello,

I have an older LabVIEW project that's been converted from LabVIEW 2012 to LabVIEW 2017. When I run the code, it compiles and runs just fine, but whenever I try to build an .exe, I get the following error:

The icon at C:\Test\src\SplashIcon.ico could not be written to the application. Verify the icon is at the expected location. If using the default icon, please contact National Instruments technical support with this information.

C:\Test\src\SplashIcon.ico

Click the link below to visit the Application Builder support page. Use the following information as a reference:

Error 1 occurred at AB_Engine_EXE_Call_Write_Icons.vi -> AB_EXE.lvclass:Build.vi

Possible reason(s):

LabVIEW: An input parameter is invalid. For example if the input is a path, the path might contain a character not allowed by the OS such as ? or @.

This happens if I use the default icon as well. The SplashIcon.ico works perfectly fine in another, much smaller LV2017 project. I have tried:

• Creating a new project and copying in the files
• Closing the file explorer completely
• Using a build path with no spaces in the path
• Creating the Build Specification from scratch
• Changing settings in the Build Specification
• Running Mass Compile
• Restarting my computer
• Using a different computer completely to build
• Running LabVIEW as Administrator
• Building other projects (they work)

But all of these do not change the outcome. I still get the icon error.

On top of this, I have a slightly older version of the same code that I used to be able to build (I have an exe), but now when I try to build it, I get this icon error. Initially, I thought this meant I had a problem with my Application Builder, but I am able to build other projects, and my teammate is also unable to build this project.

Any suggestions?

[noahsiano]

I'm still having this issue, and I don't think there is a way to just reinstall Application Builder, so I'm going to try reinstalling LabVIEW completely.

[crossrulz]

Start with this article: The Icon "lvapp.ico" Could Not Be Written to the Application 

[noahsiano]

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@crossrulz wrote:

Start with this article: The Icon "lvapp.ico" Could Not Be Written to the Application 

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From that article:

There are several potential causes of this error, all relating to the location of your application build folders.

• Make sure the location of your build or build folder is not open in a Windows Explorer window.
• Make sure the the same build folder for multiple versions of the same application is not reused. If you need to update and re-build a project, use a new folder name.
  • This can be done using Version Tags to automatically append a version number to the folder name.
• If you aren't using version tags, un-check Auto Increment Version Number in the Version Information tab of the Application Builder.
• Changing the build destination folder to above the Windows User level.
• Perform a Mass Compile of the project.
• Try building just a blank application to see if the problem persists regardless of project.
• Some characters in file names are known to cause weird errors, such as \ / : * ? " < > | . Make sure these characters do not appear in the names of VIs or files that are in the project.
• Replace lvapp.ico with a copy from a working version of Application Builder.
• Try force reinstalling LabVIEW Application Builder.
• Re-install LabVIEW.

I have tried everything on the list except the two re-installation options. It recommends force re-installing Application Builder, but looking at my LabVIEW DVDs, there is not a LabVIEW Application Builder setup.exe anywhere. I am going to try re-installing LabVIEW completely next.

[noahsiano]

Upon starting the installation process, I was reminded that I installed LabVIEW NXG 4.0, and it required me to install quite a few 2019 versions of NI software. My coworker who is also experiencing this problem also has the same setup. The last time I successfully built this project was before I installed NXG, so I think something in that installation messed up something.

That said, I am uninstalling all NI software, LabVIEW 2017 and LabVIEW NXG 4.0, and I will perform a clean install of LabVIEW 2017. This will likely take a day or two, but I will report back if this works or doesn't.

[noahsiano]

Update:

Reinstalling LabVIEW 2017, with NXG removed, did not fix the issue.

Any ideas?? The only thing I think I can do is take everything and copy it all into new VIs in a new project, but that will take very long and I would like to avoid it.

[billko]

Did you read the link for "force reinstalling"?  It discusses using NIPM to reinstall, not running a setup file.

[noahsiano]

It says to use NIPM if you installed with NIPM, but I used the product DVDs to install LabVIEW 2017.

Regardless, I did a complete uninstall and then a clean install, following these steps https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/How-To-Safely-Completely-Remove-LabVIEW-2018/td-p/3811269?profile.l...

[billko]

I wasn't aware that LV 2017 was available on a DVD.  I thought that it was around that time when they made the switch to USB stick and everyone was grumpy because of that.

[billko]

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@noahsiano wrote:

It says to use NIPM if you installed with NIPM, but I used the product DVDs to install LabVIEW 2017.

Regardless, I did a complete uninstall and then a clean install, following these steps https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/How-To-Safely-Completely-Remove-LabVIEW-2018/td-p/3811269?profile.l...

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Thanks for that link - I'm going to make use of it right now because I'm going to uninstall all my pre-LV 2020 stuff and install the Community Edition.  You just saved me time searching for this exact link.

Thanks so much!