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[Bug] Desktop installer fails / breaks when changing installation directory to a custom path (e.g., D: drive) #519

Description

@Novicracker

Before you start

  • I have read the FAQ and my problem is not answered there.
  • I have read the Roadmap and this is not already planned there.
  • I have searched existing issues and found no duplicate.
  • I have restarted the Desktop app to pick up the latest update and the problem still happens.

What happened

When running the FreeToken Windows desktop installer and attempting to change the target installation directory from the default system path to a custom path on a secondary drive (e.g., D:\CustomFolder\FreeToken), the installation fails or the resulting application build breaks/fails to resolve paths correctly upon launch.

To Reproduce:

Download the latest FreeToken Windows desktop installer.

Launch the installer.

At the destination directory prompt, click Browse and select a custom subfolder on a secondary drive (e.g., D:...).

Complete the installation process.

Attempt to launch the application.

Expected Behavior:

resolving the latest engine wheels …
powershell.exe -File "C:\Users\Novicracker\AppData\Local\FreeToken Desktop\eng
ine\install.ps1"
[warn] console mode unavailable (spawn: CreateProcessW "powershell.exe -Executi onPolicy Bypass -NoProfile -NonInteractive -File \"C:\\Users\\Novicracker\\AppDa ta\\Local\\FreeToken Desktop\\engine\\install.ps1\"\0" in cwd Some("C:\\Users\ \Novicracker\0") failed: The system cannot find the file specified. (os error 2
)); showing plain output
Could not start Windows PowerShell to run the installer: program not found

Environment:

OS: Windows 11 Pro (UEFI)

Installation Target Attempted: D: Drive subfolder

Desktop app version

v0.2.0-beta.20

OS

Windows 11

OS details

Installation Target Attempted: D: Drive subfolder

GPU and driver

NO NVIDIA CARD INSTALLED

CPU and system RAM

i7-7700K, DDR4 32GB RAM

Checkpoint

qwen2.5-1.5b-instruct-q4_k_m.gguf

Model settings

I have no spec or LLM I just through that one in there to fill the gaps. We never made it to the LLM stage.

Engine log

> resolving the latest engine wheels …
> powershell.exe -File "C:\Users\Novicracker\AppData\Local\FreeToken Desktop\eng
ine\install.ps1"
[warn] console mode unavailable (spawn: CreateProcessW `"powershell.exe -Executi
onPolicy Bypass -NoProfile -NonInteractive -File \"C:\\Users\\Novicracker\\AppDa
ta\\Local\\FreeToken Desktop\\engine\\install.ps1\"\0"` in cwd `Some("C:\\Users\
\Novicracker\0")` failed: The system cannot find the file specified. (os error 2
)); showing plain output
Could not start Windows PowerShell to run the installer: program not found

Anything else

Well... yeah. Not having a translation layer for CUDA-to-ROCm or CUDA-to-Vulkan is severely limiting this project's reach and user adoption. Sure, targeting the existing industry standard is easy, but the people pushing the envelope to keep local AI accessible and affordable for everyone rely on an even hardware playing field.

CUDA is only the dominant standard because NVIDIA got to the table first with a mature software lock-in, not because hardware alternatives are incapable. If we want to prevent a permanent hardware monopoly where local AI is locked behind expensive green cards, the software layer has to support cross-vendor ecosystems natively. Think about it: true engineering progress happens when we break down artificial vendor boundaries, not when we build around them.

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