Error 20 Occurs When Installing AutoCAD-based 2022 software

Issue:

When attempting to install any AutoCAD-based software you get the following error:

Error 20 at 1 -2% when installing AutoCAD based 2022 software.

Causes:

This is usually caused by a DirectX component failing to install or Update.

To confirm this is the issue, inspect the Install.log (from here: %localappdata%\Autodesk\ODIS) you see this in the log:

Line xxx: 2021-12-06T11:06:40.643 [Install Manager: 6760, single] [InstallManager INFO] [ InstallManager::HandleInstallFailure ]   Failed to install Package (upi2:  {C9D7C6BF-A352-3EE7-AF06-BFE6D5507BED} name: Microsoft DirectX for Windows )  Error Code:  -20  Exit Status: 2

Solution:

First, manually installed DirectX from the Microsoft Website:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35

Then In this folder (you must have the full download package to do this step):

C:\Autodesk\Autodesk_<product name>_2022_English_Win_64bit_dlm\x64\acad

There is a pkg.acad.xml

Make a copy of that file, and rename it to pkg.acad Copy.xml.old

Then open pkg.acad.xml using Notepad and remove this line entirely (should be near the bottom):

<Package installAs="core" name="Microsoft DirectX for Windows" external="true" path="3rdParty/DirectX/pkg.dxsetup.xml" upi2="{C9D7C6BF-A352-3EE7-AF06-BFE6D5507BED}" upgradeCode="{E4625438-EBA5-36E6-A3EE-AF5DEB6E7AC0}"/>

Then save and close the pkg.acad.xml, and re-run the setup to install the software

About the Author

Sr. Technical Support Specialist<br><br>An AutoCAD Certified Professional, Ryan is responsible for taking client cases and assisting with issues with the software - everything from regular glitches to software deployments and whatever else goes wrong. He's proficient in AutoCAD (including customization), VBA, LISP, and Civil 3D.

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