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markb10337711
Inspiring
March 16, 2020
Answered

Acrobat Standard DC "Unable to locate the Paper Capture recognition serves."

  • March 16, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 17777 views

I recently updated my version of Acrobat Standard DC to continuous release version (which currently shows version 2020.006.20034 is installed).  While it updated without incident, I am no longer able to run text recognition on any document, getting the error "Acrobat could not access the recognition service because: Unable to locate the Paper Capture recognition service.  Your installation may be corrupt."

I have tried the workaround located here (https://helpx.adobe.com/in/acrobat/kb/acrobat-could-access-recognition-service.html).  I have tried a repair installation.  I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling, and I have tried uninstalling, running the Acrobat cleaner tool (every version, starting with the DC version and working backwards) and then reinstalling.  I have tried all of these steps several times, using every variation that I have found in this forum or online, but nothing fixes the problem.

Under Help>About Adobe Plug-ins, it shows that PaperCapture version 20.6.20034.366983 is loaded and certified.

I am out of ideas.  Does anyone else know how to fix this?  I only have it for it's OCR abilities, this is killing me.

Thanks.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer markb10337711

This is bit complex but since you don't have access to a other profiles, try installing a VM and run the application inside it. See if you get the same error. 

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-set-up-a-virtual-machine-for-free-1828969527


I finally got the problem solved.  While I was waiting for feedback on how our software licenses worked with VMs, I decided to try on more route. I'm sure this wasn't the most efficient route to the solution and a lot of the step probably were not even necessary, but I wanted to post it in case it could benefit someone else searching for the same solution.

First, I started out by searching my hard drive for some of the files that were in the PaperCapture folder (under plugins). It found almost all of them in C:\Windows\Installer\$PatchCache$\Managed\68AB67CA3301FFFF7706C0F070E41400.  I deleted the folder and searched the registry for "68AB67CA3301FFFF7706C0F070E41400" and deleted every item that it found. The above search also found outdated copies of idrskrn15.dll, idrsocr15.dll and idrsprepro15.dll in the Windows SysWOW64 and System32 directories.  I overwrote these with the current versions found in the Adobe folder under Program Files.

My intent was to try a repair installation at this point, but I apparently wiped out the files it used, so it failed.  The standard uninstall also failed, so I turned again to RevoUninstaller Portable (free) once again in advanced mode.  After that was done, I reinstalled Acrobat DC once again (to save time, I skipped reinstalling Creative Cloud this time).  It finished, but OCR was still failing, so I tried using MS Process Monitor to watch Adobe.exe while I was trying to run OCR and noticed a "NAME NOT FOUND" error for C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\idrskrn.dll.  I copied the 9 "idrs" dll files from the Paper Capture plugin folder to that folder (just like I'd done a couple dozen times before), tried again, and it FINALLY ran text recognition correctly.

Like I said, I'm not sure what combination of the above made copying the dll files over finally work, but hopefully someone smarter than I can figure it out. Now I just have to cross my fingers that Adobe's next update doesn't break it again.

Props and thanks to ProlificUser whose advice got me on the right path.

4 replies

G
gmcc911
Participant
September 17, 2020

Thanks to all here for, albeit temporary, solutions to this problem.  You all saved my hieny today. I appreciate you all but have to say pretty sick of having to spend an inordinate amount of time to fix a recurring problem that Adobe can't or won't fix.  Even using Adobe's help/fix requires me to uninstall, reinstall, and move files around (that are re-entered in the wrong place again as soon as there's an update) and repair their damage.  Searching for a new PDF editor that doesn't charge me to continually fix their problems. 

T
thomasl9773547
Participant
May 12, 2020

Hi all,

after experiencing the same error on a fresh install of Acrobat Pro 2017 and reading all the explanations and "Trial and Error" solutions, I digged a little deeper...

 

My results:

Acrobat is searching the files (idrsasian215.dll, idrskrn15.dll, idrslex15, idrsocr15.dll, idrsprepro15.dll) in the wrong location (C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\< Adobe product e.g. 'Acrobat 2017'>\Acrobat\plug_ins) and this is presumably a software bug!

It then continues to search for the files like everywhere, one of it, it found in my HP printer directories, but finally Acrobat fails.

There are registry entries for some of the needed&searched for files, pointing to the correct location of the dll files, but they seem to be ignored (Acrobat never looks there).

You can check for yourself using a tool like Process Monitor provided by Microsoft for free. You should set the filter to

"Path begins with C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\< Adobe product e.g. 'Acrobat 2017'>\Acrobat\plug_ins"

and monitor the "File Access" only (the icon with the magnifying glass), otherwise you really get a lot of log entries.

You will find something like this (second entry, first is just for comparison):

11:43:10,0464469	Acrobat.exe	8376	CloseFile	C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 2017\Acrobat\plug_ins\PaperCapture\OCRLibraryInf.dll	SUCCESS	
11:43:10,0467578	Acrobat.exe	8376	CreateFile	C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 2017\Acrobat\idrskrn15.dll	NAME NOT FOUND	Desired Access: Read Attributes, Disposition: Open, Options: Open Reparse Point, Attributes: n/a, ShareMode: Read, Write, Delete, AllocationSize: n/a

After copying all the "not found dll files" from their correct loaction to the "wrong", but used location, your Acrobat will work (at least in my case ;-).
Be aware that the problem is, that Acrobat (if there will ever be an update for the not cloud Acrobat version - they are not so in favor these days), will most likely update the files in the wrong place :-D.
Maybe you can get around by making hardlinks to the files in the original place (yes, Windows can also do this), but most likely this will break the Adobe update process (this "update process", which drove me crazy with my previous Acrobat XI version).

 

Kind regards

 Tom

    M
    markb10337711Author
    Inspiring
    May 26, 2020

    Tom's recommendation for setting the path filter in Process Monitor is a great tip, and helps to narrow things down a lot faster.

    Unfortunately, he is also correct to beware of updates.  After my previous solution, everything ran great for about two months, then the OCR stopped working and the error reappeared.  Since I hadn't updated or installed any other softwere since the previous fix, I immediately suspected Abobe DC updates.  Sure enough,  the 9 "idrs" dll files from the Paper Capture plugin folder were newer than those I had copied before to the Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat folder.  After copying these once again, OCR began functioning.

     

    Prior to this, I did check for updates and ran a "Repair Installation" in Acrobat with no luck.  While researching the issue, I found that it seems to have existed for at least the past few versions.  Over all these years, I am amazed that Adobe hasn't fixed the core issue -- they have just posted an overly simple "work around" that was insuffient in my case.  I expect better.

      MichaelLowery
      MichaelLowery
      Participant
      August 25, 2020

      Same problem after clean install of most recent Acrobat Pro DC  v2020.012.20043 on Windows 10-Pro.  I copied all the irds*.dll files from C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\plug_ins\PaperCapture\iDRS15  into C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\ 

       

      And it just worked.  Thank you SO much.   Adobe should fix this.

      P
      ProlificUser
      Participating Frequently
      March 18, 2020

      Like Amal mentioned above, it maybe an User Profile issue. Try creating a test user profile with full administrator rights and then try in that user account. 

        Amal.
        Community Manager
        Amal.Community Manager
        Community Manager
        March 17, 2020

        Hi Mcbrock,

         

        We are sorry for the trouble. As you have tried all the troubleshooting steps and still the issue remains unresolved. 

         

        A new version of the Acrobat / Reader DC got released today version 20.006.20042. Please update the application to the new version available. Go to Help > Check for Updates. Also, check for any missing updates for printer/scanner drivers and firmware and see if that helps.

         

        If it still doesn't work, please create a new test user profile with full admin rights or enable the root account in Mac (https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT204012) and try using the application there and check.

         

        Let us know how it goes.

         

        Regards

        Amal

        M
        markb10337711Author
        Inspiring
        March 23, 2020

        Thanks. Acrobat Standard DC seems to have updated to version 20.006.20042 automatically, but the same error persists.  The PaperCapture plugin still shows version 20.6.20034.36698 however -- just an observation -- I assume the plugin version was supposed to stay the same.  It does not find any more updates when I manually tell it to search for them.  I tried having it do a repair installation again as well, which completes successfully, but the same OCR error remains.

         

        I did find a couple of old printers still installed and had Windows remove them and their underlying files, but that made no difference.  There don't appear to be any driver errors with the other printers, and nothing has changed since Acrobot OCR last worked correctly.

         

        My current account has Admin rights to my machine, but that took a lot of effort to get and it is unlikely that I'd ever be able to get a second "test account" with the same.  Most of my IT department is in self-quarantine due to one of them testing positive for Coronavirus, so it is likely that I won't have any of their assistance for a couple of weeks at least.

         

        Do you know if it save log files somewhere -- either for the installation or for the OCR process?  That would be helpful.

         

        Thanks.

        P
        ProlificUser
        Participating Frequently
        March 23, 2020

        Do these steps:

         

        1. Close all Adobe and Creative Cloud processes in Task Manager

         

        2. Uninstall Adobe Acrobat and Creative cloud.

         

        3. Go to C:\Program Files and delete Adobe Folder if its still there.

         

        4. Go to C:\Program Files\Common Files and delete Adobe Folder if its still there.

         

        5. Go to C:\Program Files (x86) and delete Adobe Folder if its still there.

         

        6. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files and delete Adobe Folder if its still there.

         

        7. Enable hidden files https://support.microsoft.com/en-in/help/4028316/windows-view-hidden-files-and-folders-in-windows-10

         

        8. Go to C:\ProgramData and delete Adobe Folder if its still there.

         

        9. Go to C:\Users\Username\AppData and delete all Adobe folders in Local, LocalLow and Roaming

         

        10. Empty Recycle Bin

         

        11. Reinstall Acrobat and try again. 

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