Node process sometimes hangs on Windows for a given path

[asfernandes]

Version: 8.9.3, 8.9.4, 9.4.0
Platform: Windows 10 64-bit

It may be a simple node --version or an interactive node session, sometimes the node.exe process starts hanging while exiting.

If I rename a part of the path, it works. If I copy the node.exe file to another place, it works.

If I run it in the same path that hanged first, it hangs again. Then the only way is to restart Windows.

Maybe you use some global Windows's object name based on the file path?

[bzoz]

What is the path?

[asfernandes]

First, note that the path not always fail. It starts to fail sometimes.

It was C:\Projeto\trunk\SisWebApp\node\node\node.exe.

When I renamed to C:\Projeto\trunk\SisWebApp\x\node\node.exe or C:\Projeto\trunk\SisWebApp\node\y\node.exe it worked.

Renaming back hangs again.

I think the actual path does not matter, but something that happens when killing a previous process.

[bzoz]

That is weird. What do you mean by "it hangs"?

BTW, did you compiled Node yourself or did you download it? Are you using cmd or some other app, like ConEmu?

[asfernandes]

"Hangs", it doesn't quit. node --version does not end and cannot be interrupted by CTRL+C.

In interactive mode CTRL+C works to tell node to quit, or process.exit(), but then it hangs and CTRL+C again does not kill it. The only way to kill it is by the task manager.

Same thing happens in cmd.exe, calling inside a Java program in Eclipse or from a VSCode task.

Node was downloaded with the frontend-maven-plugin.

[bzoz]

Could you try official Node binary - https://nodejs.org/dist/v9.4.0/win-x64/node.exe - and see if this still reproduces?

[asfernandes]

frontend-maven-plugin downloads node.exe from that place, and in fact, I downloaded it and did a binary compare and the files are identical.

[bzoz]

Ok, so, with that binary:

• Running node --version from cmd in C:\Projeto\trunk\SisWebApp\node\node sometimes hangs - Node process will not exit after displaying version
• The same binary run from C:\Projeto\trunk\SisWebApp\x\node\ works as intended.

Is that correct?

[asfernandes]

Yes, and when it hangs it hangs in every try until restart machine.

So I see only two possible problems:

• Node process creates and does not delete some global named Windows object (event, for example) based on the file path
• Some infra problem, like antivirus (Bitdefender), but it was not notifying anything. BTW it's now disabled for the given path.

The problem happened already two days in my machine and a day in a cowork's machine.

[bzoz]

It does not reproduce on that different path, so that would mean C:\Projeto\trunk\SisWebApp\node\node is special in some kind. I have no idea what this could be, I never saw anything like this.

/cc @nodejs/platform-windows

[asfernandes]

It's not true that it does not reproduce on different paths. That happens because I always starts in that path when the problem appear.

[seishun]

Does this reproduce if you completely disable the antivirus?

[tniessen]

Can't reproduce by simply installing node into this path, so it is most likely related to your local setup.

[asfernandes]

Since last time the problem happened I didn't want to restart, I moved it to C:\Projeto\trunk\SisWebApp\node2\node and still am using from there. Let's see if the problem happens again.

@seishun I cannot disable the antivirus here, but it was configured to not look in C:\Projeto\trunk\... now.

[seishun]

Can you try on a different machine, or in a VM, then? We can't really help if we can't reproduce the issue locally.

[asfernandes]

@tniessen the problem is not with that path. The problem sometimes happens and from then, the path with was using becomes problematic until restart.