Patch to make Node 8.9.x run silently without popping up the console window and without triggering the spinning feedback cursor. See https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/556

node-windows-silent.patch

commit 1d685613e455017043d4371b3124eca997357eaa
Author: Birunthan Mohanathas <birunthan@mohanathas.com>
Date:   Fri Feb 2 10:46:54 2018 +0530

    node: generate a Windows application instead of a console application
    
    This makes Node run silently without popping up a console window and
    without triggering the spinning feedback cursor.

diff --git a/deps/uv/src/win/handle-inl.h b/deps/uv/src/win/handle-inl.h
index 8d0334cc52..2f06c51a94 100644
--- a/deps/uv/src/win/handle-inl.h
+++ b/deps/uv/src/win/handle-inl.h
@@ -168,11 +168,27 @@ INLINE static HANDLE uv__get_osfhandle(int fd)
   /* But  it also correctly checks the FD and returns INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE */
   /* for invalid FDs in release builds (or if you let the assert continue).  */
   /* So this wrapper function disables asserts when calling _get_osfhandle. */
+  /* For the stdin/stdout/stderr handles, we use the Win32 API directly */
+  /* because _get_osfhandle does not work as expected when a console is */
+  /* attached or detached during runtime (with AllocConsole/FreeConsole). */
 
   HANDLE handle;
-  UV_BEGIN_DISABLE_CRT_ASSERT();
-  handle = (HANDLE) _get_osfhandle(fd);
-  UV_END_DISABLE_CRT_ASSERT();
+  switch (fd) {
+  case 0:
+    handle = GetStdHandle(STD_INPUT_HANDLE);
+    break;
+  case 1:
+    handle = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
+    break;
+  case 2:
+    handle = GetStdHandle(STD_ERROR_HANDLE);
+    break;
+  default:
+    UV_BEGIN_DISABLE_CRT_ASSERT();
+    handle = (HANDLE) _get_osfhandle(fd);
+    UV_END_DISABLE_CRT_ASSERT();
+    break;
+  }
   return handle;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/internal/bootstrap_node.js b/lib/internal/bootstrap_node.js
index 48a4588543..f5f3ffa175 100644
--- a/lib/internal/bootstrap_node.js
+++ b/lib/internal/bootstrap_node.js
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 
     EventEmitter.call(process);
 
+    process.NativeModule = NativeModule;
+
     setupProcessObject();
 
     // do this good and early, since it handles errors.
diff --git a/lib/internal/process/stdio.js b/lib/internal/process/stdio.js
index 45568ae631..0a597f7d9e 100644
--- a/lib/internal/process/stdio.js
+++ b/lib/internal/process/stdio.js
@@ -86,8 +86,15 @@ function setupStdio() {
         break;
 
       default:
-        // Probably an error on in uv_guess_handle()
-        throw new errors.Error('ERR_UNKNOWN_STDIN_TYPE');
+        if (process.platform === 'win32') {
+          // TODO: We should throw here if we're a console application.
+          stdin = new process.NativeModule.require('stream').Readable();
+          stdin.push(null);
+        } else {
+          // Probably an error on in uv_guess_handle()
+          throw new errors.Error('ERR_UNKNOWN_STDIN_TYPE');
+        }
+        break;
     }
 
     // For supporting legacy API we put the FD here.
@@ -170,8 +177,18 @@ function createWritableStdioStream(fd) {
       break;
 
     default:
-      // Probably an error on in uv_guess_handle()
-      throw new errors.Error('ERR_UNKNOWN_STREAM_TYPE');
+      if (process.platform === 'win32') {
+        // TODO: We should throw here if we're a console application.
+        stream = new process.NativeModule.require('stream').Writable();
+        stream.isTTY = false;
+        stream._write = function(chunk, encoding, callback) {
+          process.nextTick(callback);
+        };
+      } else {
+        // Probably an error on in uv_guess_handle()
+        throw new errors.Error('ERR_UNKNOWN_STREAM_TYPE');
+      }
+      break;
   }
 
   // For supporting legacy API we put the FD here.
diff --git a/node.gypi b/node.gypi
index 9b37b10a4a..f0adbb5f34 100644
--- a/node.gypi
+++ b/node.gypi
@@ -5,7 +5,25 @@
         'VCManifestTool': {
           'EmbedManifest': 'true',
           'AdditionalManifestFiles': 'src/res/node.exe.extra.manifest'
-        }
+        },
+        'VCLinkerTool': {
+          'conditions': [
+            ['target_arch=="ia32"', {
+              'target_conditions': [
+                [ '_type=="executable"', {
+                  'AdditionalOptions': [ '/SubSystem:Windows,"5.01"' ],
+                }],
+              ],
+            }],
+            ['target_arch=="x64"', {
+              'target_conditions': [
+                [ '_type=="executable"', {
+                  'AdditionalOptions': [ '/SubSystem:Windows,"5.02"' ],
+                }],
+              ],
+            }],
+          ],
+        },
       },
     }, {
       'defines': [
diff --git a/src/node.cc b/src/node.cc
index d16372937d..38f6a62fad 100644
--- a/src/node.cc
+++ b/src/node.cc
@@ -4517,6 +4517,10 @@ void ProcessArgv(int* argc,
   const char** v8_argv;
   ParseArgs(argc, argv, exec_argc, exec_argv, &v8_argc, &v8_argv, is_env);
 
+  if (force_repl) {
+    AllocConsole();
+  }
+
   // TODO(bnoordhuis) Intercept --prof arguments and start the CPU profiler
   // manually?  That would give us a little more control over its runtime
   // behavior but it could also interfere with the user's intentions in ways
diff --git a/src/node_main.cc b/src/node_main.cc
index 2a511b9299..455108f91f 100644
--- a/src/node_main.cc
+++ b/src/node_main.cc
@@ -71,6 +71,19 @@ int wmain(int argc, wchar_t *wargv[]) {
   // Now that conversion is done, we can finally start.
   return node::Start(argc, argv);
 }
+
+int APIENTRY wWinMain(HINSTANCE, HINSTANCE, LPWSTR, int) {
+  // Windows helpfully displays the spinning feedback cursor for a few seconds
+  // until the first call to GetMessage(). Let's suppress the cursor by
+  // posting a dummy WM_USER message and immediately retrieving it.
+  PostMessage(nullptr, WM_USER, 0, 0);
+  MSG msg;
+  if (GetMessage(&msg, nullptr, WM_USER, WM_USER) <= 0) {
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  return wmain(__argc, __wargv);
+}
 #else
 // UNIX
 #ifdef __linux__