AppX deployment for _____ failed. Please check your developer license. DEP0700, 0x80073D05, 0x80073CF6

tl;dr version:

I get the error mentioned in the headline, developing for Windows 8 in VS.NET 2012, even when my license is fine. It seems to have more to do with file deployment conflicts. Restarting fixes it.

Full version:

So here’s a head scratcher that I have encountered, doing Windows 8 development.  I have some MSTest integration tests set up to interact with Sqlite. They are contained in a standard Unit Test Library for Windows 8 store apps.  Every time a test fails, (which was often, since it is a standard part of my workflow), one of two things will happen:

• The screen goes blank and does nothing until I navigate somewhere
• When I restart the tests (or app), any test data in the Sqlite file will be blown out; a new database file will be written
• Or, trying to run tests again throws the following error:
  

In looking for a fix, I paid attention to what the text of the error was telling me; that there was a problem with the developer license. That wasn’t the case; I rely on Visual Studio to manage my developer license, and it seemed to think everything was just fine.

Notice from the error’s graphic, I was given three error codes to chase down:

• DEP0700
• 0x80073D05
• 0x80073CF6

#1 and #3 are Windows 8 specific – reading the documentation on them didn’t lead to any breakthroughs.

0x80073D05 seems to the richer source of information. This looks like a native code error, dealing with an inability to delete files.  In fact, I’ve had sporadic luck when I go into the folder C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Packages and delete files associated with my unit test project (the folder is generally named with a guid).

But the problem does get fixed 100% of the time when I restart the machine.  Kind of a pain; I find myself writing tests that don’t initially fail. The main message I’m trying to convey – don’t necessarily believe the information about the developer license when you get this error.

Rocky Mountain Trifecta Presentation – Microsoft Technologies in a Google World

March 3, 2010

I had a fantastic time presenting at the second edition of the Rocky Mountain Tech Trifecta.  The topic I tackled was "Microsoft Technologies in a Google World."  The session had a good turnout -- somewhere around 50 folks, and the audience was energized.  There was some amount of feigned outrage that I was giving a Microsoft presentation on a MacBook Pro (all the code demos were on a Win 7 virtual machine). That provided a good ice breaker, though, as folks offered me stickers to cover up the glowing Apple on the back of my machine.  I declined. However,  I told the crowd that if projector failed me (it was having overheating problems), the first person who shouted "I hate Macs" would get one of my giveaways.

The gist of the presentation was that there are literally hundreds of Google products, with more appearing all the time.  Some of them have developer APIs, and some of the APIs are very powerful. 

It's easy to believe that in order to play in Google's sandbox, you have to write Python or Java or JavaScript.  I set out to show that was not the case.  There has been a lot of work done by the community -- and even Google itself -- to write .NET-oriented components and APIs.  In addition, Microsoft offers technologies like the REST Starter Kit and LINQ to XML that make it a joy to develop on the open standards that Google generally favors.

The slides from the presentation can be viewed here:  http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=ddp5xc2n_198dxwphpdz

Some of the other links from the presentation include:

Section about Google Maps (Demonstrating an API that is straightforward to use with .NET):

• General Google Maps API landing page:  http://code.google.com/apis/maps/
• Google Maps .NET component:  http://en.googlemaps.subgurim.net/

Section about Google Wave Robot (Demonstrating an API that is difficult to use with .NET)

• API landing page for Google Wave Robots: http://code.google.com/apis/wave/extensions/robots/index.html
• API landing page for Google App Engine: http://code.google.com/appengine/
• Jon Skeet Facts: http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/9134/jon-skeet-facts
• API landing page for Wave Robot .NET Client: http://code.google.com/p/wave-robot-net-client/wiki/GettingStarted

Section about the Google Data API (Demonstrating an open-standards API that you can build upon)

• Google Data API page: http://code.google.com/apis/gdata/
• Google Data 3.0 Atom Protocol: http://code.google.com/apis/documents/docs/3.0/developers_guide_protocol.html
• WCF REST Starter Kit: http://www.asp.net/downloads/starter-kits/wcf-rest/

Opening Salvo

March 1, 2010

So this is my new technical blog.  My intent is to use it to write about things I come across in my work as a developer and architect.  All that other stuff I said before was just fine, but I figured I would start fresh, with a renewed focus, to see what comes of it.