MATLAB R2012b installer cannot read the mwinstall.dll file

I am trying to install MATLAB R2012b on a 64-bit Linux based (Ubuntu 16.04) machine and it constantly gives me the following error:

Error: The installer cannot read the mwinstall.dll file.  
This is probably due to a DVD reader which can only read files with an eight.three naming convention.  
Please see the technical support page at www.mathworks.com for assistance.

I've looked up for this error and based on the given answers (e.g. this one ) it seems like the source of the error is typically associated with the existence of a space or a period in the installation path, none of which exists in my case. The output log of the installation is:

(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) # Today's Date: 
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) Wed Feb 14 11:09:26 CST 2018
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) 
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) System Info
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) OS: Linux 4.4.0-112-generic
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) Arch: amd64
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) Data Model: 64
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) Language: en
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) Java Vendor: Sun Microsystems Inc.
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) Java Home: /tmp/mathworks_5113/sys/java/jre/glnxa64/jre
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) Java Version: 1.6.0_17
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) Java VM Name: Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) Java Class Path: .
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) User Name: petlab
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) Current Directory: /home/petlab/Desktop/matlab
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) Input arguments: 
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) root /home/petlab/Desktop/matlab
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) tmpdir /tmp/mathworks_5113
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) outputfile test_output.log
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:26) standalone true
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:27) Error: The installer cannot read the mwinstall.dll file.  This is probably due to a DVD reader which can only read files with an eight.three naming convention.  Please see the technical support page at www.mathworks.com for assistance.
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:30) Exiting with status -1
(Feb 14, 2018 11:09:30) End - Unsuccessful

Does anyone know how to fix this?

P.S. I remember I had the same issue a few years ago on my machine and I figured out the solution at the time but now just can't remember what I did back then!

Answer 1

[Reza Teimoori]

In fact I learned that MATLAB R2012b is only supported on Ubuntu 10.04, 11.04 and 11.10 and (Debian 6.x in your case) as shown here . So, I gave up on MATLAB R2012b and got a newer version which is supported on Ubuntu 16.04. Alternatively, I could have downgraded my Ubuntu to 11.x if I did not have access to a newer MTALAB version. That of course comes at a cost of reinstalling everything else.

I cannot comment on whether if your answer would have solved the issue as I didn't try it, but thanks for sharing Matthias.

Answer 2

[Matthias Pfefferle]

Recently I had the almost the same problem as you on a Debian Stretch. Based on Ferenc Pal entry, I did following:

 chmod +x YOUR_MATLAB_INSTALL_DIRECTORY/sys/java/jre/glnx86/jre/bin/java

And then this:

    cd bin/glnxa64
    rm libstdc++.so.6
    ln -s libstdc++.so.6.0.13 libstdc++.so.6

regards Matthias