Attempting to uninstall package complains about invalid manifest.xml

[Ryder-99]

Brief description of your issue

Media Player (previously Groove Music, Zune Music) recently stopped working on my machine. Updates via Microsoft Store are failing, and Repair/Reset didn't help.

Trying to uninstall the problematic package via winget complains about an invalid manifest, with no apparent way to force uninstall.

Steps to reproduce

Somehow get a UWP package to break, here Media Player.

Execute in terminal:

winget uninstall Microsoft.ZuneMusic_8wekyb3d8bbwe

Expected behavior

Package should get uninstalled.

Actual behavior

This error is thrown, and I am left with no way to remove the problematic package:

An unexpected error occurred while executing the command:
Operation failed: error 0xC00CEE04: App manifest validation error: The app manifest XML must be valid: Line 1, Column 4, Reason: Unrecognized input signature.

0x80080204 : The Appx package's manifest is invalid.

Environment

Windows Package Manager (Preview) v1.2.3411-preview
Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.22523.1000
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.17.3411.0

[ItzLevvie]

What happens when you run: Get-AppxPackage -Name Microsoft.ZuneMusic_8wekyb3d8bbwe | Remove-AppxPackage in PowerShell?

If you're getting the same error, it's highly unlikely you'll be able to uninstall it through WinGet because WinGet runs the Remove-AppxPackage command whenever you want to uninstall an Appx or MSIX package on your device.

Have you also tried downloading Microsoft.ZuneMusic_8wekyb3d8bbwe from https://store.rg-adguard.net to rebuild the application and then uninstall?

1. Choose PackageFamilyName in the drop-down menu
2. Write Microsoft.ZuneMusic_8wekyb3d8bbwe in the textbox
3. Select Fast as your Ring.
4. Click on the checkmark to generate temporary links from the Microsoft Store API.

[Ryder-99]

The command leaves no output in the terminal.

I have indeed tried to reinstall with the msixbundle, and have gone so far as to try deleting the actual folder for ZuneMusic in the Packages folder. Trying to install the msixbundle with App Installer results in the same error code.

My goal here is to get a working Media Player installation again.

[ItzLevvie]

The command leaves no output in the terminal.

Oops.

I meant Get-AppxPackage -Name Microsoft.ZuneMusic | Remove-AppxPackage without the _8wekyb3d8bbwe part.

I have indeed tried to reinstall with the msixbundle, and have gone so far as to try deleting the actual folder for ZuneMusic in the Packages folder. Trying to install the msixbundle with App Installer results in the same error code.

I'm not entirely sure how you're in this state, but have you tried to reinstall Windows 11 build 22523 from an ISO image on top of your current Windows 11 build 22523 which will try to fix anything that's corrupted on your end with fresh .dll files, etc?

If that doesn't work, I'm afraid you'll have to clean install Windows.

[Ryder-99]

without the _8wekyb3d8bbwe part.

Remove-AppxPackage: Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80080204, The Appx package's manifest is invalid. error 0xC00CEE04: App manifest validation error: The app manifest XML must be valid: Line 1, Column 4, Reason: Unrecognized input signature.

---

I did boot the ISO, but couldn't find the option to reinstall while preserving data. Choosing the "Repair" option just dropped me into Windows Recovery, and choosing to use a device for recovery and selecting the USB simply rebooted my laptop. Can't I manually delete/modify any file(s) to force Microsoft Store / winget to (re)install Media Player?

[ItzLevvie]

I did boot the ISO, but couldn't find the option to reinstall while preserving data.

You have to mount the ISO in File Explorer and run setup.exe.

There should be an option to reinstall and keep everything.

Can't I manually delete/modify any file(s) to force Microsoft Store / winget to (re)install Media Player?

I don't know if that would work as I have never tinkered around with the WindowsApps folder and System Restore Points are usually deleted with every Insider build upgrade, though, you could probably check if there's one that's backed up which doesn't have this issue (but it might be highly unlikely).

If you've tried to remove it manually from C:\Program Files\WindowsApps and it's not working, then launching setup.exe and letting it do its job would probably fix it?

[geiszla]

I have the same problem with the Windows Subsystem for Android package. It broke after a Windows update and now when I try to reinstall or remove it, it always throws this error.

App installation failed with error message: error 0xC00CEE04: App manifest validation error: The app manifest XML must be valid: Line 1, Column 4, Reason: Unrecognized input signature. (0x80080204)

Tried to do an in-place upgrade, tried sfc /scannow, DISM, etc., but nothing helped so far. Where could I have more information about this error? It's mentioning a manifest file, but why is a manifest file required for uninstalling the package? Is there a way to force-remove it by just deleting all the files? I tried to delete the folder in Program Files/WindowsApps, but it sill shows as installed, so it must be registered somewhere else as well. Any help would be very much appreciated.

[Masamune3210]

Messing with the WindowsApps folder is not advised. That error isn't coming from winget, its coming from the App Package Installer. For some reason, it doesn't like part of the manifest XML for the app. I do not remember off hand where it is stored, but you might have complicated things for yourself by deleting the apps folder.

[geiszla]

Sorry for the delay, didn't have much time recently to look into it.

I found the manifest file in C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\MicrosoftCorporationII.WindowsSubsystemForAndroid_2210.40000.7.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\AppxManifest.xml. Do you know where I can get more information on what is wrong in this file? What is the signature that's invalid? How can I uninstall this package without checking the signature (why is signature check needed anyway for just deleting an app from my system, wouldn't it make sense to allow uninstalling apps that have the bad/expired signature instead of forcing me to keep it)?

Any further information on why this issue can happen would be very helpful.

[denelon]

Hey all, we've added a new "repair" command to WinGet. It's designed to repair packages that are behaving badly. If someone is in this state, could they try it out and let me know if that addresses the problem?

[microsoft-github-policy-service[bot]]

Hello @Ryder-99,

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has been marked as requiring author feedback but has not had any activity for 7 days. It will be closed if no further activity occurs within 7 days of this comment.

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