|
| 1 | +# Building the Electron Desktop App on Windows ARM64 |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +## 🐛 Current Issue |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +You're running on Windows ARM64, which has compatibility issues with electron-builder. The ARM64 version of app-builder can't properly extract x64 Electron binaries, causing the build to fail with: |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +``` |
| 8 | +ENOENT: no such file or directory, rename 'electron.exe' -> 'Transcript Parser.exe' |
| 9 | +``` |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +## ✅ Working Solutions |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +### Option 1: Build on x64 Windows Machine (Recommended) |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +The easiest solution is to build on a native x64 Windows machine: |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +1. **On an x64 Windows computer**, clone the repo: |
| 18 | + ```bash |
| 19 | + git clone https://github.com/KevenWMarkham/transcript-parser |
| 20 | + cd transcript-parser |
| 21 | + npm install |
| 22 | + npm run electron:build:win |
| 23 | + ``` |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +2. The `.exe` files will be in the `release/` folder |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +3. Copy them back to your ARM64 machine or upload to GitHub Releases |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +### Option 2: Use GitHub Actions (Free, Automated) |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +Set up GitHub Actions to build automatically on every push: |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +1. I can create a `.github/workflows/build-electron.yml` file that builds on GitHub's x64 servers |
| 34 | +2. Every time you push code, it automatically builds Windows, macOS, and Linux versions |
| 35 | +3. Download the built `.exe` from GitHub Actions artifacts |
| 36 | +4. Completely free for public repositories |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +**Would you like me to set this up for you?** |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +### Option 3: Use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2) |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +If you have WSL2 installed: |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +```bash |
| 45 | +# In WSL2 Ubuntu |
| 46 | +sudo apt update |
| 47 | +sudo apt install wine wine64 |
| 48 | +npm run electron:build:win |
| 49 | +``` |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +This uses Wine to emulate x64 Windows inside Linux. |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +### Option 4: Manual Packaging (Advanced) |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +You can manually package the app using the already-built files: |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +1. The web app is built (`dist/` folder) ✅ |
| 58 | +2. Electron files are ready (`electron/` folder) ✅ |
| 59 | +3. Just need to package them together |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | +I can create a script that does this without electron-builder. |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +## 🧪 Testing Without Building |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +Good news! You can still test the Electron app in development mode: |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +```bash |
| 68 | +npm run electron:dev |
| 69 | +``` |
| 70 | + |
| 71 | +This works perfectly on ARM64 Windows and lets you test all desktop features. |
| 72 | + |
| 73 | +## 🚀 Recommended Approach |
| 74 | + |
| 75 | +**For you right now**: Use GitHub Actions (Option 2) |
| 76 | + |
| 77 | +Benefits: |
| 78 | +- ✅ Builds on x64 servers (no ARM issues) |
| 79 | +- ✅ Completely automated |
| 80 | +- ✅ Builds for Windows, macOS, AND Linux |
| 81 | +- ✅ Free for public repos |
| 82 | +- ✅ Creates GitHub Releases automatically |
| 83 | +- ✅ No need for another computer |
| 84 | + |
| 85 | +I can set this up in about 5 minutes if you'd like! |
| 86 | + |
| 87 | +## 📝 Technical Details |
| 88 | + |
| 89 | +**Why this happens:** |
| 90 | +- You're on Windows ARM64 |
| 91 | +- electron-builder uses `app-builder.exe` (ARM64 version on your machine) |
| 92 | +- app-builder ARM64 has bugs extracting x64 Electron binaries |
| 93 | +- The extraction fails silently, leaving `electron.exe` missing |
| 94 | +- Build fails when trying to rename non-existent file |
| 95 | + |
| 96 | +**Your options:** |
| 97 | +1. Build on x64 machine |
| 98 | +2. Use GitHub Actions (x64 cloud servers) |
| 99 | +3. Use WSL2 + Wine |
| 100 | +4. Wait for electron-builder to fix ARM64 support |
| 101 | + |
| 102 | +Let me know which option you'd like to pursue! |
0 commit comments