Wix installer: installed service unable to read HKLM registry entries on start - wix

Question

I'm using wix tool 3.11 to create a msi which install a service. The installer runs a Custom Action and returns vars to wix to write to registry (HKLM). The service starts and try to read the registry but it can't be done and it fails. If I wrote the registry manually the installer works perfectly.
Error message from msi logs:
Product: Installer-- Error 1920. Service 'XPTO Server' (xpto_server) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services.
My Wix XML:
<Package InstallerVersion="200" Compressed="yes" InstallScope="perMachine" InstallPrivileges="elevated" />
...
<ComponentGroup Id="ProductComponents" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
<Component Id="CMP_RegistryEntries" Guid="xxxxxxxxx" >
<RegistryKey Root="HKLM" Key="SOFTWARE\XPTOInc\XPTO\XPTOServer\BetaVersion">
<RegistryValue Name="token" Action="write" Value="[TOKEN]" Type="string" KeyPath="yes" />
<RegistryValue Name="[IDENTIFIER_TYPE]" Action="write" Value="[INSTALLEDID]" Type="string" />
<RegistryValue Name="installDir" Action="write" Value="[INSTALLFOLDER]" Type="string" />
</RegistryKey>
</Component>
<Component Id="CMP_XPTOServerEXE" Guid="xxxxxx">
<File Id="FILE_XPTOServerEXE" Name="xpto-server.exe" Source="Work\xpto-server.exe" KeyPath="yes" />
<ServiceInstall Id="InstallExporterService" Name="xpto_server" DisplayName="XPTO Server" Description="Read data from Registry and do simple stuff" ErrorControl="normal" Start="auto" Type="ownProcess" />
<ServiceControl Id="ServiceStateControl" Name="xpto_server" Remove="uninstall" Start="install" Stop="both" />
</Component>
</ComponentGroup>
EDIT: When I manually wrote the vars to Registry, the service installs with msi pkg or running with sc.exe
EDIT 2: Here follows the log where sets the registry and then star service
MSI (s) (70:74) [15:40:37:560]: Created Custom Action Server with PID 16808 (0x41A8).
MSI (s) (70:E4) [15:40:37:613]: Running as a service.
MSI (s) (70:E4) [15:40:37:615]: Hello, I'm your 32bit Elevated Non-remapped custom action server.
MSI (s) (70:38) [15:40:37:973]: Executing op: ActionStart(Name=WriteRegistryValues,Description=Writing system registry values,Template=Key: [1], Name: [2], Value: [3])
Action 15:40:37: WriteRegistryValues. Writing system registry values
MSI (s) (70:38) [15:40:37:974]: Executing op: ProgressTotal(Total=3,Type=1,ByteEquivalent=13200)
MSI (s) (70:38) [15:40:37:975]: Executing op: RegOpenKey(Root=-2147483646,Key=SOFTWARE\XPTOInc\XPTO\XPTOServer\BetaVersion,,BinaryType=0,,)
MSI (s) (70:38) [15:40:37:975]: Executing op: RegAddValue(Name=token,Value=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,)
WriteRegistryValues: Key: \SOFTWARE\XPTOInc\XPTO\XPTOServer\BetaVersion, Name: token, Value: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MSI (s) (70:38) [15:40:37:976]: Executing op: RegAddValue(Name=envId,Value=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,)
WriteRegistryValues: Key: \SOFTWARE\XPTOInc\XPTO\XPTOServer\BetaVersion, Name: envId, Value: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MSI (s) (70:38) [15:40:37:976]: Executing op: RegAddValue(Name=installDir,Value=C:\Program Files (x86)\XPTOInc\XPTO\XPTO Server Beta\,)
WriteRegistryValues: Key: \SOFTWARE\XPTOInc\XPTO\XPTOServer\BetaVersion, Name: installDir, Value: C:\Program Files (x86)\XPTOInc\XPTO\XPTO Server Beta\
MSI (s) (70:38) [15:40:37:977]: Executing op: ActionStart(Name=InstallServices,Description=Installing new services,Template=Service: [2])
Action 15:40:37: InstallServices. Installing new services
MSI (s) (70:38) [15:40:37:977]: Executing op: ProgressTotal(Total=1,Type=1,ByteEquivalent=1300000)
MSI (s) (70:38) [15:40:37:978]: Executing op: ServiceInstall(Name=xpto_server,DisplayName=XPTOServer,ImagePath="C:\Program Files (x86)\XPTOInc\XPTO\XPTO Server Beta\xpto-server.exe",ServiceType=16,StartType=2,ErrorControl=1,,Dependencies=[~],,,Password=**********,Description=Read data from Registry and do simple stuff,,)
InstallServices: Service:
MSI (s) (70:38) [15:40:37:980]: Executing op: ActionStart(Name=StartServices,Description=Starting services,Template=Service: [1])
Action 15:40:37: StartServices. Starting services
MSI (s) (70:38) [15:40:37:981]: Executing op: ProgressTotal(Total=1,Type=1,ByteEquivalent=1300000)
MSI (s) (70:38) [15:40:37:981]: Executing op: ServiceControl(,Name=xpto_server,Action=1,,)
StartServices: Service: XPTO Server
Error 1920. Service 'XPTO Server' (xpto_server) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services.

Answer 1

Solution: The problem in this case was that the registry keys were not found in the expected location in the registry due to 32-bit / 64-bit issues.
64-bit section: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Company\App - MyValue
32 bit section: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Company\App - MyValue
End of answer. Leaving debugging efforts in place below though:
Round 1:
Maybe try to read these two recent answers and check if anything rings a bell:
Wix Service Installer sometimes fails to install or start
Wix - ServiceControl start takes four minutes to fail, should be 30 sec
What does it say in the event viewer? (Windows + R eventvwr and OK)
Round 2:
Bitness: Are you sure you are reading from the right location in the registry? Are you installing a 32-bit MSI or a 64-bit MSI? (looks like 32-bit)
64-bit section: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Company\App
32 bit section: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Company\App
Permissions: Did you check the permissions for the registry keys and values your setup writes using regedit.exe to inspect? Right click => Permissions (have to ask).
Privileges: What account do you use to run the service? It sort of looks like standard LocalSystem? The account needs the SeServiceLogonRight privilege. See second line on section above for details.
Logging: Do you use log4net or some other logging feature in your service? Did you try the verbose, debug MSI logging found in the first link in the top section?