Windows 10 Build 15019 - Yet Another Update Nightmare
On Friday Jan 27, Microsoft released Windows 10 build 15019 to Fast Ring Insiders. This was a PC only build.
Build 15019 was yet another large update. One of the big focuses of this build was the new xBox gaming features Game Mode along with Beam streaming support and an updated Game Bar.
The build also includes updates to Edge, Hyper-V and the Out of Box Experience (OOBE) along with nearly 40 fixes.
While all of that is good, once again the update process was a nightmare.
Shortly after the announcement, I launched the update from my PC and tablet.
On the PC, it recognized the update and then showed a new icon called Initializing Updates than utilizes the new UUP delivery Optimization process. That initialization ran over 2 hours, before the update began to download. It then took another hour+ to download, prepare, configure and apply. All in all a 3.5 hour process to install 15019.
On the tablet it was another story. The tablet would also see the update, but did not show the Initializing Updates icon - instead going directly to download, but then hanging after about 30 second stating "We are preparing an update, but it is not ready yet, we will continue to try or you can" and then show a retry button. Multiple attempts at retry failed - so now starts the troubleshooting and repair work.
First - I tried the well known clearing of the SoftwareDistribution folder, first via Windows Troubleshooter - which failed - and then manually via Command Prompt. So while that provided the "Initializing Updates" icon and started the process, it failed after 50 minutes with a 0x8007002 error.
Second - I then tried a full PC reset. I was running build 15014. The process took a little over an hour. After initial login and allowing apps to update and my Insider status to update I tried again. No luck - I returned to the "We are preparing" error. So after nearly 7 hours I stopped for the night.
Third - Starting fresh the next morning @ 6A, I tried to launch Windows update yet again. This time, the Initializing Updates displayed and ran for about 40 minutes, then the download eventually started. It progressed quickly to 99%, then hung there for about 20 minutes before reaching 100% and moving to the preparation phase. But then the preparation phase froze at 50% which resulted in the the download restarting.
Fourth - The 2nd download started and then stalled at 99% for another 10 minutes or so, then preparation started. This time preparation made it past the 50% mark all the way to 100% and I was waiting for the restart prompt. But instead, the whole process started again...We are now 2 hrs into the "update" process..
Fifth - So yet another download - again stalling at 99% - and another preparation start. This time, preparation completed, even though the Windows update screen did not reflect that, instead I all of a sudden Restart Notice pop-out - even though the preparation phase progress bar showed 45%. This approaching the 2 hour 45 min mark.
The configuring updates phase during restart and the working phase worked okay taking about 35 min for both.
And so finally after nearly 10 hours - I got 15019 installed. But remember, I had to perform a PC reset to get to this point. So now, it was time to reinstall all my apps, configure settings, etc. Figure another hour...plus...
Bottom line is the UUP process is a hot mess. Monitoring the process using Task Manager you can see very high CPU and Memory utilization from the Delivery Optimization components with little to no disk or network I/O. So you have to ask yourself - what the hell are these processes doing that takes 40 - 50 minutes of sustained 40% CPU - with bursts to 100% and no I/O.
The Feedback hub was full of very negative comments and a lot of pissed off Insiders - and to be honest I don't blame them - because I'm one of them. The result of these last few updates has been excessive amounts of time scrambling to just try and get the update to apply instead of actually testing the components of the new build.
Update: On Saturday afternoon, MS posted an acknowledgement that they had experienced a "publishing issue" with 15019 and provided a couple of work arounds. Those work arounds focused on restarting the Windows Update service and potentially the Delivery Optimization service. Some comments to the post noted users rebooting upwards of 9 times to get the update to apply.
But what is so puzzling is why my PC, while slow, handled the issue much cleaner than my tablet.
So while it is possible that if I had just waited a day that my tablet may have updated okay, it shows that there are some error handling and self correction issues in the new UUP process that need to be addressed.
But it actually gets to the point where you don't care about the build features anymore because you just spent 4 - 8 hrs or more just trying to get it to download and install.
There is absolutely no reason for this. The UUP process was designed to streamline the update process and it is failing miserably. If MS cannot get the fixed properly by the release date of the "Creators Update", then all the features and capabilities added during the Redstone 2 branch will be a waste since many of us Insiders will call it for what it is.
Okay so I'm done bitching about the update process now
So once past the pain of updating, 15019 is actually not half bad. It was relatively crisp even on my older Atom based tablet and apps ran well. Music, Videos, Maps, etc all worked well.
One of my biggest complaints is around the on-screen keyboard from both an association with clicking on an entry field and positioning. You often have to launch the keyboard manually, then close, select the next field, re-open to enter content. It's painful on a small screen device like my Dell Venue 8 Pro. In addition the keyboard is missing important keys - like the Windows Key or Alt, Control and Delete or Pg Up/Down, etc. Now sure you can get to those types of functions another way - but it will still be nice.
MS also misses the mark by not making some "phone" apps available to tablet users. For example the long awaited Starbucks app or banking apps. They just don't show up in the store, and even searching, then won't display. Poor.
MS seems to feel that you have to just use Edge for those apps. Well their wrong. Once you get used to using those apps, you want to use them anywhere and so they need to make then available. Tablets specifically are really just big phones and so why wouldn't you have access to those apps.
Bottom line is build 15019 is out. It can be an absolute pain in the ass to get properly installed. Once you do get it installed it's not a bad build, so we'll see how MS progresses as we approach the end of the Redstone 2 branch and see if we can get a clean/fast update in the coming deployments.
Build 15019 was yet another large update. One of the big focuses of this build was the new xBox gaming features Game Mode along with Beam streaming support and an updated Game Bar.
The build also includes updates to Edge, Hyper-V and the Out of Box Experience (OOBE) along with nearly 40 fixes.
While all of that is good, once again the update process was a nightmare.
Shortly after the announcement, I launched the update from my PC and tablet.
On the PC, it recognized the update and then showed a new icon called Initializing Updates than utilizes the new UUP delivery Optimization process. That initialization ran over 2 hours, before the update began to download. It then took another hour+ to download, prepare, configure and apply. All in all a 3.5 hour process to install 15019.
On the tablet it was another story. The tablet would also see the update, but did not show the Initializing Updates icon - instead going directly to download, but then hanging after about 30 second stating "We are preparing an update, but it is not ready yet, we will continue to try or you can" and then show a retry button. Multiple attempts at retry failed - so now starts the troubleshooting and repair work.
First - I tried the well known clearing of the SoftwareDistribution folder, first via Windows Troubleshooter - which failed - and then manually via Command Prompt. So while that provided the "Initializing Updates" icon and started the process, it failed after 50 minutes with a 0x8007002 error.
Second - I then tried a full PC reset. I was running build 15014. The process took a little over an hour. After initial login and allowing apps to update and my Insider status to update I tried again. No luck - I returned to the "We are preparing" error. So after nearly 7 hours I stopped for the night.
Third - Starting fresh the next morning @ 6A, I tried to launch Windows update yet again. This time, the Initializing Updates displayed and ran for about 40 minutes, then the download eventually started. It progressed quickly to 99%, then hung there for about 20 minutes before reaching 100% and moving to the preparation phase. But then the preparation phase froze at 50% which resulted in the the download restarting.
Fourth - The 2nd download started and then stalled at 99% for another 10 minutes or so, then preparation started. This time preparation made it past the 50% mark all the way to 100% and I was waiting for the restart prompt. But instead, the whole process started again...We are now 2 hrs into the "update" process..
Fifth - So yet another download - again stalling at 99% - and another preparation start. This time, preparation completed, even though the Windows update screen did not reflect that, instead I all of a sudden Restart Notice pop-out - even though the preparation phase progress bar showed 45%. This approaching the 2 hour 45 min mark.
The configuring updates phase during restart and the working phase worked okay taking about 35 min for both.
And so finally after nearly 10 hours - I got 15019 installed. But remember, I had to perform a PC reset to get to this point. So now, it was time to reinstall all my apps, configure settings, etc. Figure another hour...plus...
Bottom line is the UUP process is a hot mess. Monitoring the process using Task Manager you can see very high CPU and Memory utilization from the Delivery Optimization components with little to no disk or network I/O. So you have to ask yourself - what the hell are these processes doing that takes 40 - 50 minutes of sustained 40% CPU - with bursts to 100% and no I/O.
The Feedback hub was full of very negative comments and a lot of pissed off Insiders - and to be honest I don't blame them - because I'm one of them. The result of these last few updates has been excessive amounts of time scrambling to just try and get the update to apply instead of actually testing the components of the new build.
Update: On Saturday afternoon, MS posted an acknowledgement that they had experienced a "publishing issue" with 15019 and provided a couple of work arounds. Those work arounds focused on restarting the Windows Update service and potentially the Delivery Optimization service. Some comments to the post noted users rebooting upwards of 9 times to get the update to apply.
But what is so puzzling is why my PC, while slow, handled the issue much cleaner than my tablet.
So while it is possible that if I had just waited a day that my tablet may have updated okay, it shows that there are some error handling and self correction issues in the new UUP process that need to be addressed.
But it actually gets to the point where you don't care about the build features anymore because you just spent 4 - 8 hrs or more just trying to get it to download and install.
There is absolutely no reason for this. The UUP process was designed to streamline the update process and it is failing miserably. If MS cannot get the fixed properly by the release date of the "Creators Update", then all the features and capabilities added during the Redstone 2 branch will be a waste since many of us Insiders will call it for what it is.
Okay so I'm done bitching about the update process now
So once past the pain of updating, 15019 is actually not half bad. It was relatively crisp even on my older Atom based tablet and apps ran well. Music, Videos, Maps, etc all worked well.
One of my biggest complaints is around the on-screen keyboard from both an association with clicking on an entry field and positioning. You often have to launch the keyboard manually, then close, select the next field, re-open to enter content. It's painful on a small screen device like my Dell Venue 8 Pro. In addition the keyboard is missing important keys - like the Windows Key or Alt, Control and Delete or Pg Up/Down, etc. Now sure you can get to those types of functions another way - but it will still be nice.
MS also misses the mark by not making some "phone" apps available to tablet users. For example the long awaited Starbucks app or banking apps. They just don't show up in the store, and even searching, then won't display. Poor.
MS seems to feel that you have to just use Edge for those apps. Well their wrong. Once you get used to using those apps, you want to use them anywhere and so they need to make then available. Tablets specifically are really just big phones and so why wouldn't you have access to those apps.
Bottom line is build 15019 is out. It can be an absolute pain in the ass to get properly installed. Once you do get it installed it's not a bad build, so we'll see how MS progresses as we approach the end of the Redstone 2 branch and see if we can get a clean/fast update in the coming deployments.
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