Polar new update flowsync - bipolar hook doesnt work anymore

[Raudie1]

Polar installed a new update of the flowsync app 4.0.11 on 12th dez 2022. Now the bipolar hook doesnt work anymore. If you installed bipolar flowsync will not opened. I tried also the manuell installation of the hook but the same result. Have anybody a chance to redesign bipolar that it will work again. It will be a great pleasure because i use it since the beginning and i hope it will work again.

[pcolby]

Thanks @Raudie1, it looks like FlowSync 4.0.11 now uses Qt 5.15 (5.15.1 on MacOS and 5.15.2 on Windows). I can't say for sure when FlowSync switched (it was using Qt 5.5.x in FlowSync 3.0), but probably around 4.0?

Side note: I try to keep track of the versions here, but have not done so the past couple of years... if anyone happens to have copies of older versions of FlowSync, I'd like to extract them just to trace the version changes.

Anyway, I'll go ahead and update the Hook for Qt 5.15, which should to do the trick 🤞🏻

[Raudie1]

Dear pccolby,

it seems that you added some changes in the codes.
But iam only a sportsman and not a pc specialist. Is it possible for you to create the new Qt5xxx.dll and posted here. The manual installation of the dll is not the problem for me.

Many thanks in advance

[pcolby]

Hi @Raudie1, unfortunately the CI environment I used to use to build the original hooks (AppVeyor) has been significantly upgraded since (it's been many years now), and so I'm having a lot of trouble getting Qt 5.15 to build there, as well as on GitHub Actions. I've already updated the patched to work with Qt 5.15, its just the build environment that's proving to be tricky 😖 I will keep trying, but its very slow going unfortunately. Cheers.

[Raudie1]

Many thanks for your quick response and your efforts. I hope that you will solve the tricky problems.

[pcolby]

I've finally managed to get the hook built for Qt 5.15, ie for Flow Sync 4.0.

Note, I no longer have access to a Flow Sync account (nor a compatible device), so we won't know if it works until someone with an account tries it.

PS I haven't added the binaries to the release yet, because they're still being built on GitHub Actions. I'll add them in half an hour so.

[pcolby]

I haven't added the binaries to the release yet ... I'll add them in half an hour so.

They're added now. If you want to try them out you will need to install them manually. See the wiki for instructions, but basically its just a matter of copying the library over the one that shipped with FlowSync (backing up the original one first).

On Windows, I would start with the 2019 DLL (the 2020 version might work too, but the FlowSync 4.0 binaries were built with MSVC 2019).

For macOS, I would try the v12 library first, but I have no idea if the toolchain version matters to ABI compatibility there 🤷🏻‍♂️

If you try any of them out, let us know the results 🙏🏻 Thanks!

[pcolby]

The fix for this is now out in the v0.6.0 release candiate, but needs testing (because I no longer have access to Polar devices).

The Windows hook itself been (and reported working) by a third party (thanks JC), but no-one has tried out the Wizard GUI, nor the the macOS hook yet. So if you do try it, please let us know.

Cheers.

[Raudie1]

Dear pcolby,
i installed the new bipolar under w11 and it works perfect. great work, well done and many thanks to you.

Thanks raudie1

[roesassi]

I also tried it on Windows 11 and worked perfectly. The runtimes failed to install, but I ignored as usual (I think it depends on the fact they are already installed) and the hook then installed smoothly. Thanks a lot!

[roesassi]

Unfortunately, I have to get back to this issue for a recent feedback.
I reinstalled FloSync downloading it from the official website. The version numer is identical (4.0.11.0), however the QT library that comes with it is now dated December 7th, 2022. QT5Network.DLL version is now 5.15.12 instead of 5.15.2. I wasn't worried at first but now when the hook is installed (manually or automatically) FlowSync does not start.
It is possible that to prepare for a new version of FlowSync, Polar repackaged the installer, simply replacing the QT5 library but not updating FlowSync.
I managed to solve copying a working installation of the same version of FlowSync from a different PC.
I am unhappy at the idea that soon a new version might make thinks not working again...

[pcolby]

Thanks @roesassi. The macOS .pkg has not changed (the installer still has the same SHA256 checksum), but the Windows .exe has changed in the following ways:

• Qt upgraded from 5.15.2 to 5.15.12
• OpenSSL upgraded from 1.1.1j to 1.1.1q (Bipolar uses the latest 1.1.1 release anyway)
• MSVC2019 upgraded from 14.26 to 14.29

Interestingly, public Qt 5.15.12 builds are not provided by The Qt Company - the source is available, but the binaries are only supplied to commercial licensees. This implies that Polar is either building from source (unlikely), or has a commercial Qt license (unsurprising, just interesting).

I'll update the hook build process to use Qt 5.15.12 for Windows, and see how it goes 🤞🏻

[pcolby]

Unfortunate, the Qt 5.15.12 source is not available (without a commercial license). The best I can do is Qt 5.15.10. I've run a quick 5.15.10 test build, you get can the artifacts from here: https://github.com/pcolby/bipolar/actions/runs/5757754858

Feel free to give it a go, and report back. If it doesn't work, there's probably not much I can do (until Polar moves to Qt6).

[roesassi]

Thanks a lot for the check and the speed in providing a possible solution.
Unfortunately, I tried the 2019 version (the 2022 is still building I think) but it does not work. As with the 5.15.2 dll, FlowSync does not start.
What a pity!

[Raudie1]

I had the same problem and found that end of June a new polarflow installer was runnend. I installed Polaflow again with the old installer from Dezember 2022 and then the hook. It works again. If you need the old installer I can send you.

[roesassi]

Dear Ruaidie1

If you need the old installer I can send you.
thanks a lot for the offer which I happily accept. It would be useful if you send me the old installer.
Thanks
Best

[Raudie1]

Dear roesassi,

i can not upload files to this repository. The installer is 84,7mb. Give me a email an i will send you a link to download the old installer.