ASUS Smart Gesture problem with Windows Installer

Many users are having issues with the ASUS Smart Gesture installer. In a previous post I described how to make the touchpad work after upgrading to Windows 10. However, in some cases the installer throws this error and then makes a rollback:

I will include here solutions which worked for other users, some ideas and the ASUS Support suggestions. In addition, I made an analysis of the root cause.

• Execute the installer with the Run as administrator option.
• Enter to the BIOS setup (help) and select “Load Optimized Preferences“, then save and exit. Mentioned in this comment, worked for ZenBook UX305FA, UX305UA, UX303LN, UX360CA, A455LN/X455LN and F556UA.
• Update the BIOS to the latest version. Mentioned in this comment, worked for ZenBook UX305FA, UX305, E200HA, N56JR, X454LA, X540AL and ASUSPRO B9940. Be careful with this option, here it is explained how to do it.
• Update the Intel Chipset driver: Intel INF Update Driver. Worked for F205TA and N552VW.
• Delete ASUS Smart Gesture with Revo Uninstaller Pro in Advanced mode. Mentioned in this comment and here.
• Repair install of Windows 10 with an in-place upgrade. Download Microsoft Media Creation Tool and choose Upgrade this PC now. Check that Keep personal files and apps is selected.

If Smart Gesture installer still throws the error message, there is a workaround.

• Use the driver corresponding to your touchpad vendor:

These touchpad installers are from vendors which now ASUS unified on Smart Gesture. This solution worked for several users, as it was mentioned here.

In addition, if you have an ASUS Smart Gesture option with a blank icon in the Control Panel, you can remove it by deleting any Windows registry entry related to “AsTPCenter”.

This might be the final solution for the installer problem, but I need some feedback:

1. Download the latest ASUS Smart Gesture driver here.
2. Extract the installer content opening a command line window in the installer folder and running: msiexec /a "SetupTPDriver.msi" /qb TARGETDIR="C:\ASUS-unpacked"When the extraction finishes it will ask you to restart, choose No.
3. Open C:\ASUS-unpacked\win10\AsusTPDrv\x64\AsusSupportList.ini (or the one in the x86 folder if you have a 32-bit system).
4. Add your Hardware Id in the corresponding section. To find the Id go to Device Manager > Touchpad > Properties > Details tab > Hardware Ids. For example, paste the Id “ETD0001” below the “[VENDOR_ELAN_PS2]” section.
5. Run the installer at C:\ASUS-unpacked\SetupTPDriver.msi

By doing that, you are telling the installer that it “supports” your device. Nevertheless, two users were able to bypass the installer problem but the touchpad did not work. So, it is possible that if you are getting the error message is because your device is not supported by ASUS Smart Gesture.

These are the hardware ids supported by the latest ASUS Smart Gesture driver:

• Elantech: ETD0105, ETD0107, ETD0108, ETD0109, ETD010A, ETD010B, ETD010D, ETD010E, ETD0110, ETD0111, ETD1000, ETD0116, ELAN0, ELAN1, ELAN2. Also: ELAN1000, ELAN1005, ELAN0100, ELAN0101, ELAN2000.
• Synaptics: SYN0A2D, SYN0A18. Also: SYN0A19.
• Focaltech: FTE1, FTE2, FLT. Also: FTE1000, FTE1001, FTE1002, FTE2000, FLT0101, FLT0102, FLT0103.
• Wireless Dock: VID 0B05 & PID 1823, 17E0, 17EE, 1807, 8502. Also: PID 81C9.

If your hardware id is not on that list, then your only option is to use one of the drivers included in the solutions section. In addition, I found the ASUS Precision Touchpad driver (ASUS PTP) which supports other hardware ids:

• Elantech: ELAN1200, ELAN1201, ELAN1202
• Focaltech: FTE1200, FTE1201, FTE1202
• Docking: VID 0B05 & PID 182F

If your hardware id is on the list, here are other things to try:

• Open the Windows Registry and remove all registry entries containing these words: “SetupTPDriver”, “AsTPCenter” or “SmartGesture”. Also, use CCleaner to clean the registry.
  I couldn’t remove some entries that contain “SetupTPDriver”, so I had to modify the key: right-click > Permissions > Advanced > Owner, select Administrators, and apply. Then, I granted Full Control to my user.
• If exists, go to C:\ProgramData\SetupTPDriver, execute setup and select remove. Remove this folder.
• Run Microsoft .NET Framework Repair Tool (help). Smart Gesture or the installer uses .NET Framework, according to a message in the ASUS Remote Link installer saying “Please use Windows Update to check for any critical updates to the .NET Framework“.
• Run Microsoft Fix it tool “Program Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter”.

I contacted ASUS Support and I give them a very detailed description of the problem with all the tests already made. They couldn’t give me a final solution, but these were their suggestions:

• Uninstall the Touchpad driver and ATK Package, restart and reinstall ATK Package and Smart Gesture. Download latest versions here.
• Reset the system to factory settings as follow (ASUS help). Please backup all the data you need firstly. (I don’t recommend this option unless you have nothing to lose. If you follow ASUS advice make sure to backup your personal files.)
  1. Restart your notebook PC then press F9 during bootup.
  2. Wait for Windows to load the Choose an option screen then tap Troubleshoot.
  3. Tap Reset your PC.
  4. In the Reset your PC screen, read the bullet points to learn more about using this option then tap Next.
  5. Tap your preferred reset option: Fully clean the drive.
  6. Tap Reset.
• Unregister Windows Installer, and then reregister it:
  1. Press the Windows key + R
  2. In the Search box, type “msiexec /unreg”, then press Enter
  3. Press the Windows key + R again
  4. In the Search box, type “msiexec /regserver”, then press Enter
• Perform a SFC Scan on your unit:
  1. Press the Windows key + X
  2. Select the Command Prompt (Admin)
  3. Type the command “sfc/scannow” and press Enter
  4. After the scan, restart

When they run out of options, they suggested to call them or to apply an RMA (USA or Canada customers only).

We need to know the root cause in order to find a final solution for this issue.

A user with this installer problem contacted me and he tried many of the previous solutions and ideas. Thanks Mark for the feedback and the screenshots! By the way, the workaround of using ELAN drivers worked in his case.

We enabled Windows Installer logging with this Microsoft tool: Enable | Disable. Then, a log file is created on the Windows temp folder %temp% when you run the installer. The file name is like “MSI___.LOG“. There it can be analyzed what is causing the error.

The ASUS Smart Gesture installer log contains this error:

This is the complete action with the error, until it starts the rollback:

MSI (s) (E8:3C) [22:11:20:759]: Executing op: ActionStart(Name=_7BC62223_8712_481D_BAE1_B05E6CF21272,,)
Action 22:11:20: _7BC62223_8712_481D_BAE1_B05E6CF21272.
MSI (s) (E8:3C) [22:11:20:760]: Executing op: CustomActionSchedule(Action=_7BC62223_8712_481D_BAE1_B05E6CF21272,ActionType=3090,Source=C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\ASUS Smart Gesture\install\x86\BatchCaller.exe,Target=/Install "C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\ASUS Smart Gesture\\",)
CustomAction _7BC62223_8712_481D_BAE1_B05E6CF21272 returned actual error code -1 (note this may not be 100% accurate if translation happened inside sandbox)
MSI (s) (E8:3C) [22:11:23:009]: Note: 1: 1722 2: _7BC62223_8712_481D_BAE1_B05E6CF21272 3: C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\ASUS Smart Gesture\install\x86\BatchCaller.exe 4: /Install "C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\ASUS Smart Gesture\\"
MSI (s) (E8:3C) [22:11:23:009]: Note: 1: 2262 2: Error 3: -2147287038
MSI (c) (F4:A0) [22:11:23:013]: Note: 1: 2262 2: Error 3: -2147287038
DEBUG: Error 2835: The control ErrorIcon was not found on dialog ErrorDialog
The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2835. The arguments are: ErrorIcon, ErrorDialog,
Error 1722. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor. Action _7BC62223_8712_481D_BAE1_B05E6CF21272, location: C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\ASUS Smart Gesture\install\x86\BatchCaller.exe, command: /Install "C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\ASUS Smart Gesture\\"
MSI (s) (E8:3C) [22:11:25:502]: Note: 1: 2262 2: Error 3: -2147287038
MSI (s) (E8:3C) [22:11:25:502]: Product: ASUS Smart Gesture -- Error 1722. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor. Action _7BC62223_8712_481D_BAE1_B05E6CF21272, location: C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\ASUS Smart Gesture\install\x86\BatchCaller.exe, command: /Install "C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\ASUS Smart Gesture\\"Action ended 22:11:25: InstallExecute. Return value 3.
MSI (s) (E8:3C) [22:11:25:517]: Note: 1: 2265 2: 3: -2147287035
MSI (s) (E8:3C) [22:11:25:518]: User policy value 'DisableRollback' is 0
MSI (s) (E8:3C) [22:11:25:518]: Machine policy value 'DisableRollback' is 0
MSI (s) (E8:3C) [22:11:25:527]: Executing op: Header(Signature=1397708873, Version=500, Timestamp=1215738216, LangId=1033, Platform=0, ScriptType=2, ScriptMajorVersion=21, ScriptMinorVersion=4, ScriptAttributes=1)
MSI (s) (E8:3C) [22:11:25:527]: Executing op: DialogInfo(Type=0,Argument=1033)
MSI (s) (E8:3C) [22:11:25:527]: Executing op: DialogInfo(Type=1,Argument=ASUS Smart Gesture)
MSI (s) (E8:3C) [22:11:25:527]: Executing op: RollbackInfo(,RollbackAction=Rollback,RollbackDescription=Rolling back action:,RollbackTemplate=[1],CleanupAction=RollbackCleanup,CleanupDescription=Removing backup files,CleanupTemplate=File: [1])
Action 22:11:25: Rollback. Rolling back action:
Rollback: _7BC62223_8712_481D_BAE1_B05E6CF21272

Also, I found that another log is created on C:\Windows\Logs\ASUSSmartGesture.log but it didn’t have information related to the error.

Finally, if you were able to fix this problem, please share your findings. Also, if any of the solutions presented worked for you, leave a comment with your ASUS model and the solution.