FileNotFound attempting to load v14.0.0.0 of "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.PageInspector.Runtime"

Question

I have an MVC project thats been working perfectly until I updated my machine a week ago. I now receive a Binding Error when trying to run the project

Managed Debugging Assistant 'BindingFailure' has detected a problem in 'C:\Program Files (x86)\IIS Express\iisexpress.exe'.

Additional information: The assembly with display name 'Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.PageInspector.Runtime' failed to load in the 'LoadFrom' binding context of the AppDomain with ID 2. The cause of the failure was: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.PageInspector.Runtime, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

If I continue past the error the project loads correctly. However when I run the project as a web role in a cloud service, it will not run as it keeps popping up with the role is taking longer than expected.... message

I'm assuming this has to do with the binding problem when running as a stand alone project

Has anyone come across this before?

---

EDIT I searched for the assembly reference in the config files, nothing came up. Eventually I just reinstalled the new azure SDK. The binding error message with the pageinspector still pops up on load but if I continue the project, it works fine. At the moment I will have to live with this annoying message until I find a solution

Answer 1

i've observed this happening on a machine with Visual Studio 2013 installed.

it began happening, as best I can tell, after the VS2013 update 4.

(it may have occurred previously, but this is new for my environment)

I located this assembly in the GAC (two versions, one for VS2012, the other for VS2013) but these versions are strong named (obviously) with a version of "12.3.0.0" (take note the above resolution error is for a version "14" assembly.)

Here is the call stack for the first instance of this particular exception:

mscorlib.dll!System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.nLoad(System.Reflection.AssemblyName fileName, string codeBase, System.Security.Policy.Evidence assemblySecurity, System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly locationHint, ref System.Threading.StackCrawlMark stackMark, System.IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, bool throwOnFileNotFound, bool forIntrospection, bool suppressSecurityChecks) + 0x23 bytes    mscorlib.dll!System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoadAssemblyName(System.Reflection.AssemblyName assemblyRef, System.Security.Policy.Evidence assemblySecurity, System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly reqAssembly, ref System.Threading.StackCrawlMark stackMark, System.IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, bool throwOnFileNotFound, bool forIntrospection, bool suppressSecurityChecks) + 0x99 bytes    mscorlib.dll!System.Reflection.Assembly.Load(System.Reflection.AssemblyName assemblyRef) + 0x25 bytes    Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.PageInspector.Loader.dll!Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.PageInspector.Runtime.Loader.RuntimeLoader.GetRuntimeAssembly(out System.Reflection.Assembly runtime) + 0xdb bytes    Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.PageInspector.Loader.dll!Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.PageInspector.Runtime.Loader.RuntimeLoader.LoadRuntime() + 0x2a bytes     Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.PageInspector.Loader.dll!Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.PageInspector.Runtime.Loader.RuntimeLoader.PreApplicationStart() + 0x27 bytes     [Native to Managed Transition]   System.Web.dll!System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.InvokePreStartInitMethodsCore(System.Collections.Generic.ICollection<System.Reflection.MethodInfo> methods, System.Func<System.IDisposable> setHostingEnvironmentCultures) + 0x142 bytes  System.Web.dll!System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.InvokePreStartInitMethods(System.Collections.Generic.ICollection<System.Reflection.MethodInfo> methods) + 0x5a bytes  System.Web.dll!System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.CallPreStartInitMethods(string preStartInitListPath, out bool isRefAssemblyLoaded) + 0x67 bytes   System.Web.dll!System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.ExecutePreAppStart() + 0x9a bytes     System.Web.dll!System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.Initialize(System.Web.Hosting.ApplicationManager appManager, System.Web.Hosting.IApplicationHost appHost, System.Web.Configuration.IConfigMapPathFactory configMapPathFactory, System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironmentParameters hostingParameters, System.Security.Policy.PolicyLevel policyLevel, System.Exception appDomainCreationException) + 0x20a bytes    System.Web.dll!System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.Initialize(System.Web.Hosting.ApplicationManager appManager, System.Web.Hosting.IApplicationHost appHost, System.Web.Configuration.IConfigMapPathFactory configMapPathFactory, System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironmentParameters hostingParameters, System.Security.Policy.PolicyLevel policyLevel) + 0x16 bytes  [Appdomain Transition]   System.Web.dll!System.Web.Hosting.ApplicationManager.CreateAppDomainWithHostingEnvironment(string appId, System.Web.Hosting.IApplicationHost appHost, System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironmentParameters hostingParameters) + 0x12f3 bytes  System.Web.dll!System.Web.Hosting.ApplicationManager.CreateAppDomainWithHostingEnvironmentAndReportErrors(string appId, System.Web.Hosting.IApplicationHost appHost, System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironmentParameters hostingParameters) + 0x25 bytes     System.Web.dll!System.Web.Hosting.ApplicationManager.GetAppDomainWithHostingEnvironment(string appId, System.Web.Hosting.IApplicationHost appHost, System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironmentParameters hostingParameters) + 0x6c bytes   System.Web.dll!System.Web.Hosting.ApplicationManager.CreateObjectInternal(string appId, System.Type type, System.Web.Hosting.IApplicationHost appHost, bool failIfExists, System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironmentParameters hostingParameters) + 0x4d bytes    System.Web.dll!System.Web.Hosting.ProcessHost.StartApplication(string appId, string appPath, out object runtimeInterface) + 0x18f bytes  [Native to Managed Transition]   

This suggests the problem is Microsoft's (and not something I've done in, say, an assembly, application nor machine config.)

I spot-checked all of my configs (literally, all, my project's web.config as well as all .NET runtime machine configs, all versions/platforms) and I could not find a reference to this assembly anywhere.

To work around this mistake (which Microsoft needs to address) I've added an assembly binding redirect, as follows, to my web.config (NOT my machine configs):

  <dependentAssembly>     <assemblyIdentity name="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.PageInspector.Runtime" publicKeyToken="b03f5f7f11d50a3a" />     <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-14.0.0.0" newVersion="12.3.0.0" />   </dependentAssembly> 

This suggests Microsoft released a build of Visual Studio, or similar, which is binding against a future, unreleased version of these assemblies.

Hope this helps someone else out there!

Answer 2

If you uncheck Thrown Exceptions in the exception options it should stop prompting you. I'm guessing it is part of its normal operation. I've noticed the same thing.