Acrobat DC Installation Fails MacBook Pro Running Catalina

[armstrong360]

Acrobat DC Installation Fails on a brand new MacBook Pro 16” running Catalina, OS 10.15.2. The error message is: “The Installation Failed. The installer encountered and error that caused the installation to fail. Contact the software manufacture for assistance."

I migrated to the new MBP from on older one running Sierra. That included an older version of Acrobat X Pro that I’d been using. It is not compatible with the new Mac. I downloaded Acrobat DC with a license from my university. Not sure what version is it but it was “created” October 2, 2018.
The installation runs through the last step then generates the error message. It seems to quit after the “validation” process. I’m not sure if there’s a conflict wth having Acrobat X Pro on the machine. I don’t know how to uninstall AXP since it won’t launch.
Any ideas how to solve this?
Thanks.

[ls_rbls]

Yes you need to uninstall the old version first.

Also, to identify the version that you have follow these steps:

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/identify-product-version.html 

Use the Adobe Acrobat and Reader Cleanup and Repair tool to remove old traces of your prior software.

To try and reinstall   with a fresh start you also may have to uninstall the Student and Teacher version that is giving you problems.

Before reinstalling make sure that you have the right licensing info.

https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/using/student-teacher-serial-product-code.html 

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/volume-licensing-site.html 

See the following additional guidance:

The Installation Failed. The installer encountered and error that caused the installation to fail. C... 

To reinstall your Acrobat version from scratch  follow these steps:

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/how-to/download-acrobat-pro-dc.html?playlist=/services/playlist.help... 

https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/acrobat-downloads.html 

And check for a list of updates here:

https://supportdownloads.adobe.com/product.jsp?product=1&platform=Macintosh&&red=a 

System Requirements here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/system-requirements.html 

[armstrong360]

Thank you.

I checked my old computer to find the version of Acrobat X Pro that migrated to the new machine.  It's 10.1.16.  

Where do I get the Adobe Acrobat and Reader Cleanup and Repair tool? I can't open the old version of AXP on the new computer and version (Acrobat DC) won't install. Is there a standalone version of the tool?

Regarding licensing, I don't have a redemption code or serial number. I downloaded the installer directly from the university's IT site.  I don't see a serial number or license in the installer info.  Is there some way to tell if it's the right version?

Thank you again. I appreciate the help.

[ls_rbls]

Hi,

So to completely remove old traces of Acrobat in your mac use the Cleaner Tool from here:

https://labs.adobe.com/downloads/acrobatcleaner.html 

If you had Creative Cloud from your old installation and having other related installation issues you csn also try this tool in addition to the Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/elements-installation-error-CC-cleaner-tool.html 

If for some reason the Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool fails to remove everything use this method as alternate:

https://www.nickromero.com/completely-remove-adobe-from-your-mac-in-2-steps/ 

To download the offline installer version of Adobe Reader DC:

https://get.adobe.com/reader/enterprise/ 

or here:

https://get.adobe.com/reader/otherversions/ 

To install a subscription installer you need to follow this guidance:

https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/download-install-acrobat-subscription.html 

Find out from your school what is the appropriate AdobeID associated with the Student/Teacher version.

To run an offline installer of Acrobat Pro DC try this link:

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/acrobat-dc-downloads.html 

Once this offline version is successfully installed you will need to also log in with the appropriate AdobeID associated with the Student/Teacher sunscription from your school to activate it in your mac.

[armstrong360]

Thank you, Is_rbls

I afraid I don't see a Mac Version of the Adobe Reader and Acrobat Cleaner Tool here: 

https://labs.adobe.com/downloads/acrobatcleaner.html 

There's a Mac version of the Adobe Reader DC and Acrobat DC Cleaner Tool, but not Mac. Or am I missing something?

The other link you site you reference (https://www.nickromero.com/completely-remove-adobe-from-your-mac-in-2-steps/) only seems to be for Creative Cloud.  The Creative Cloud I have (CS6) doesn't inlcude Acrobat X Pro.  CS6 seems to be ok on the new Mac. (Or at least it isn't grayed out.)  It's Acrobat X Pro and Adobe Flash that are old.  

I'm willing to get rid of all of them (including CS6) and start again but need to uninstall Acrobat X Pro and Flash at a minimum.  

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you again.

PS--The link you provided earlier to the following guidance is incomplete, The Installation Failed. The installer encountered and error that caused the installation to fail. C... 

Do you have the full url?

Thank you.

[ls_rbls]

I apologize for those errors.

You're right, there is no uninstaller for your version.

Use this guidance instead: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/installing-uninstalling-acrobat-x-mac.html

Since you are willling to uninstall everything,  go ahead and follow the step by step guide by Nick Romero but starting here first: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html  (scroll down in that page to where it says " Remove all products (macOS); then follow up with Nick Romero's method for the command line steps (if necessary).

As for the broken link see here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/get-started/mac-install-fail-the-installer-encountered-an-error-that-...

[armstrong360]

Thank you again. I have the AXP uninstaller but I can't open on the new Mac, running Catalina. It's greyed out, along with the application, the installer and Flash. See attached screenshot.  I need something that will run on Catalina and uninstall AXP.  

Thank you again for your help.Grayed out Acrobat X Pro files

[ls_rbls]

You need to perform this task as root or Administrator to unlock the current security settings.

If this doesn't work you can search for third-party uninstaller for Apple devices. 

You still will need to run those apps as administrator, so you can invoke the uninstallers fro the terminal using sudo and the appropriate password for the superuser account.

[armstrong360]

I'm sorry. I don't understand. Are you saying I can run the AXP uninstaller as root or an Administrator? If so, what does that mean and how do I do it? Administrator of what? The computer? How do I know if I am one? What is root? Are there instructions? Where would I find a third party uninstaller? What would I look for?

Sorry for all the questions. I appreciate your help. I'm really stuck without Acrobat and need to get this sorted out quickly. 

Thank you again.

[ls_rbls]

MODIFIED REPLY

Hi,

I apologize, if   I  was not clear.

The correct way to uninstall locked programs in macOS is beyond the scope of what I covered in support of Acrobat for this forum.

However, the correct way to uninstall locked programs in macOS is explained here:

https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mac-help/mh35840/10.15/mac/10.15#mchlb9e6b26d 

https://www.jeffgeerling.com/tutorial/2008-12-02/dealing-locked-files-mac 

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mchlp1093/mac 

https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mac-help/mh35835/mac 

 BUT, what I meant in my prior reply is, that  if none of the suggestions above work, THEN you will need to continue to try to uninstall the apps with Administrative rights under that user account.

The Administrative Account is what the user needs to unlock the Preference panel in a macOS system... some linux distributions  nowadays apply the same principle when using a GUI (graphical user interface).

The apps that are greyed out are not permanently locked.

That restriction is in place to avoid the regular user(s) deleting or misconfiguring settings and apps.

You need to elevate  the  current user rights for that account to Administrator level , or , use an actual administrator account user profile to perform real troubleshooting in macOS.

Sometimes the Administrator account  user profile won't be enough to  remove stubborn programs using the conventional graphical utilities provided by the operating system.

When that happens you need to access the guts of your system as the SuperUser (or root ).

In Unix-like systems, like macOS X, you have  to log in to the system as  root if, for example, you can't perform an administrative task normally when using "sudo" command  (which stands for substitute user, do as) from a terminal console utility app. 

See here:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/macpaw.com/amp/how-to/use-terminal-on-mac  

Using the Terminal utility app in your macOS, will allow you to perform more in-depth troubleshooting when using the sudo command with your Administrator account password doesn't work.

You accomplish this by logging  in as root using the Terminal console opened from the current user profile that you're using (or by rebooting in Safe Mode and logging in as root); to do that you use  the substitute user command "su " for root user like this:  su -root   and hit enter.

See a better brief explanation of the differences of this commands here:

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/233590/differences-between-su-and-su-to-root 

The next prompt will ask you for the password. Type in the password and hit enter.

The rest is up to you to learn how to use unix commands, switches, etc... and how to move up or down the root structure of  unix system directory paths and subdirectories.

Maybe I shouldn't go that far with recommending all of this in my prior reply. 

I thought that by the look of what you were posting you were going to need to apply that later in your journey.