setup changes and juggling multiple instances

[Dick Repasky <rrepasky at lack dot ucs dot indiana dot edu>]

Cygwin setup seems to have changed in a way that thwarts my efforts at
maintaining several instances of Cygwin on one machine. I have been
juggling several cygwin instances on the same machine.  Briefly, I keep
copies of the Cygwin registry keys for each install, and to switch
instances I make sure that no cygwin process is running and then double
click the appropriate .reg file.  To install yet another instance of
Cygwin, I nuke the Cygnus Solutions keys in the registry
(LOCAL_MACHINE->Software, but also LOCAL_USER->Software just to be safe),
run setup - pointing it to someplace new, and then export the registry
keys for the new install. This worked fine until today and Setup version
2.427 (the one with the nice, resizable window).

Here is what happens. I delete the Cygnus Solutions registry keys. I
launch setup. It suggests as the cygwin root F:\cygwin. (For some reason
XP decided to make the first disk drive F: on my machine.)  I don't want
F:\cygwin because it's already a cygwin instance, and so I change it to
F:\XORGcygwin (by typing into the text box or by creating XORGcygwin
beforehand and selecting with the browse button). When I hit next, it
Suggests a download directory of C:\Documents and Settings\me\Desktop
(which is incorrect because my box has no C drive), and I change it to
F:\Documents and Settings\me\Desktop. When the package selection menu
appears, it lists packages as if I'm upgrading the instance in F:\cygwin.  
Packages that are installed in that instances and up-to-date are listed as
"keep", and packages from the existing instance that are now out of date
are listed with the old versions and the new versions as if they are to be
upgraded. 

Has the installer been changed?  I've been maintaining 4 different cygwin 
instances on the machine in question since February, and this has never 
happened before.  I consider the new behavior to be a bug, or at least
undesirable new behavior.  If you agree, please restore the old behavior 
to setup.  If not, how can I install and maintain several instances of 
Cygwin on one machine?

Thanks,

Dick

-----------------

Dick Repasky
Bioinformatics Support
UITS Cubicle 101.08
Indiana University
USA

rrepasky@indiana.edu

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