All attempts to install DirectX end in failure

Question

All attempts to install DirectX end in failure

Anonymous

I have been unable to play any games on Steam because as part of the installation process, they all install DirectX 9. I have done multiple clean installs of Win11, run all Steam install attempts as admin, have tried to manually install DirectX using the DXSETUP executable that comes with Steam's _commondistr package, I have tried using the webupdate utility and have downloaded and tried to install using the standalone version. All result in some variation of the same set of errors listed in the DXerror log:

[07/07/24 11:41:49] module: dxupdate(Mar 30 2011), file: dxupdate.cpp, line: 1094, function: CabCallback

SPFILENOTIFY\_FILEEXTRACTED: error = 13.

[07/07/24 11:41:49] module: dxupdate(Mar 30 2011), file: dxupdate.cpp, line: 5689, function: DirectXUpdateInstallPlugIn

Failed API:		SetupIterateCabinet() 

Error:		(13) - The data is invalid. 

Unable to iterate through E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Zenimax Online\\_CommonRedist\DirectX\Jun2010\Apr2007\_d3dx9\_33\_x64.cab. The file may be damaged.

[07/07/24 11:41:49] module: dsetup32(Mar 30 2011), file: dxupdate.cpp, line: 280, function: CSetup::InstallPlugIn

DirectXUpdateInstallPlugIn() failed.

Note that leading up to this failure, ALL cabs in the download are listed as "trusted", but that the actual attempt to install them errors out on the very first one it tries to install. I've read a very large number of forum posts (both here and on various help forums) and all seem to loop in a circle for me: Download the install package and install it manually. This, obviously, doesn't work and I'm at a loss as to why this is occuring. I'll reiterate that this happens when nothing else has been installed on a new Win11 install, outside of OS, .NET and hardware driver updates. I've taken the GPU out of the machine just to see if that might be a cause, and I've attached the monitor using the motherboard's imbedded video card.

In case this helps, here are my specs:

Windows 11 (Build 22631.3810)

Intel i9-13900K

64Gb RAM

Asus ROG Maximus Hero Z790 mobo (flashed to most updated version several reinstalls ago)

Please, can someone help me because I'm kinda at my wit's end here.

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Accepted answer

9 additional answers

Answer 1

Final post: I got my replacement (though upgraded to the i9-14900kf), and am reinstalling the OS after doing some testing on the previous install. All of my install and crashing issues have gone away.

Final suggestion: For all on this thread, if you continue to have these problems, open a support ticket with Intel, and once they acknowledge your issue, during the RMA process when they give you the option to either replace the CPU or get a refund, take the refund. You'll save weeks of your life by taking the refund and just buying a new CPU since they will continually say they are "out of stock". Be well.

Answer 2

Hi, Scott Cragle!

Welcome to the Microsoft Community!

I will help you solve the problem together.

Based on your description, I understand that any way you try to install DirectX has failed.

Have you tried to download the DirectX Runtime installation package from Microsoft's official website to install it?

If you haven't tried it yet, I think it's worth a try. Here is the download link:

Download DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010) from Official Microsoft Download Center

I hope these information can help you. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know. Tell us the results and we will get back to you as soon as possible. We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your understanding and support!

Best Regards,

Yang.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 3

Yang, thanks for the reply. However, as I note above, I have already tried:

Downloading the package you note in your reply, which when run results in exactly the same set of errors as running the identical package that comes with the Steam commonredistr package.
Downloading the "web" installation package, which once downloaded and run, result in the same error.
Running DXDIAG, which shows no errors
Running the netrepairtool, which makes some changes but still results in the DirectX errors when I run the DXsetup manually.

Since this is consistent across multiple clean reinstalls of the OS, I have to think that there's possibly a setting or profile, or something that is resulting in the error. Note that I've seen posts where people say that they fixed it with a new CPU or motherboard, but I've run all of the utils to diagnose CPU, memory and drive issues.

Answer 4

So, almost a week after my reply, NO ONE from this forum, or from Microsoft has even an inkling what may be going on? I've seen other posts where it seemed to be a CPU or motherboard problem, but how that could be the case when it is specifically, and ONLY a Microsoft application that's having issues, I can't figure out. Please, if anyone has had this problem specifically and was able to figure it out, I'd appreciate some direction.

Answer 5

So I had the same issue trying to get PUBG to run. It was complaining about missing X3DAudio files and running the dxwebsetup.exe always failed by badly explained error codes.

Anyway, the solution was to run the dxwebsetup.exe in compatibility settings. It still fails at the end of the install but atleast it seems to copy the needed files to get PUBG running.

Rightclick the dxwebsetup, choose Properties
Click the compatibility tab
Choose to run in compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service pack 3).
Click OK
Run the dxwebsetup.exe again.

To add for reference, I seem to have the same motherboard and CPU as you have. Maybe an ASUS compatibility issue somewhere.

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All attempts to install DirectX end in failure

9 additional answers