GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 778995
Errors running GIMP 2 on Windows x64 with third-party "Gimp_Extensions_v.2.8_latest" package
Last modified: 2017-03-01 08:13:21 UTC
There are errors when trying to run GIMP 2.8.20 (and previous versions FWIW) on Windows x64 (e.g. Windows 8.1 and Windows 10) wherein when "GIMP 2.8.20" and "Gimp_Extensions_v.2.8_latest" are both installed, there are startup errors in loading the proper plug-ins successfully. The problems (and a workaround that alleviates these problems during startup) are summarized in the following list: (Please note that these locations are for an x64 installation in Windows...) Move these items to a "Disabled" sub-folder in the directory (due to inability to load): C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\bin\libjavascriptcoregtk-1.0-0.dll C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\bin\libwebkitgtk-1.0-0.dll C:\Program Files\Gimp 2\bin\libpoppler_glib_8.dll C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\bin\libpoppler-56.dll C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins\gap_decode_mplayer.exe Also move these executables (due to inability to load): C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins\web-page.exe C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins\help-browser.exe C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins\file-pdf-load.exe When these files are deleted or moved to "Disabled" sub-directories, GIMP 2 starts normally, without errors (but extended functionality of the application may be reduced). I don't know if this is an error of the core GIMP program installation or of the GIMP Extensions installation, but it is a detriment to end-users evaluating the program. There may be a better solution to solving this problem...
Please report this to the people who provide that plug-in collection. They should either not ship their own DLL files or make sure those don't end up in GIMP'S bin folder.
I apologize. These errors are absolutely caused by the third-party plugin collection and the associated installer. In reviewing the associated Sourceforge project for the plugin collection, there have been many reports of similar problems during GIMP startup. After uninstalling the offending plugin package, GIMP once again starts up and operates flawlessly. We can consider this report closed, and perhaps also as a caution when installing third-party extensions and plugins. Thanks for your help. It is much appreciated.
Well, this *can* be solved (or at least be made much, much less likely to happen) by the maintainers of third-party plug-ins and plug-in packs - they have to do the following: - make sure their installer does not place any plug-ins or DLL files into the standard plug-ins or bin directory of GIMP * or alternatively, that their instructions for manual install do tell users not to do this - instead, create a new directory where both the plug-ins and any DLL files these might need will be put - add this directory to GIMP's plug-in folders (this would mean to modify the gimprc file) This makes it easier to tell that there are third-party plug-ins (and where they are), and due to the way Windows looks up DLL files, this approach would prevent errors like the ones you have encountered.
*** Bug 778477 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 779130 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***