October PowerBI Desktop (RS Version) fails to start

[markc]

I tried to upgrade my instance of PowerBI Desktop when we upgraded to the October RS GA release. Unfortunately, the application fails to start. I was able to run the June and August releases without issue but for some reason the October one fails.

When I try to start PowerBI the yellow and black loading screen pops up followed by a command window. The command window briefly flashes with an exception code. (See screenshot below)

Following the error, I get a message saying it can't connect to the model.

This is running on a 32bit Win 7 machine. Initially, I just tried to upgrade my August version to the October version. Then I uninstalled everything, rebooted and tried a fresh install. Both wound up at the same spot.

My co-workers that are running a 64bit Win7 system had no problem upgrading and starting the desktop app.

Any help/tips/ideas would be appreciated. 

Thanks.

[dbguru66]

11/10/17: I'm getting a similar error after installing the Oct-2017 RS desktop. I am running Win7 with 64 bit.

  "We weren't able to connect to the model".

[v-qiuyu-msft]

Hi @markc,

This issue has been reported by another community: http://community.powerbi.com/t5/Issues/32-bit-version-of-new-October-2017-Unable-to-start-Power-BI/i...

It should be a known issue with 32bit Power BI desktop optimized for report server. @riccardomuti Is there any plan to fix this issue? 

Best Regards,
Qiuyun Yu

[riccardomuti]

Yes, we've received a few reports of this error with the 32-bit build and we're investigating the cause.