Acrobat X won't connect to update server on MacOS Sierra

[prepress85977325]

Hello.

We have about 30 Macs, most of which run Acrobat X. Since we upgraded to MacOS 10.12 (and indeed 10.12.1) Sierra, none of them are able to connect to Adobe update servers. Upon checking for updates It always says:

"Cannot connect to Adobe update server. Please verify that you are connected to the Internet and check for updates again. Error 1042."

Reinstalling Acrobat doesn't make any difference.  Some of us have Acrobat XI or DC and those are fine.

Can anyone help?

Thanks in advance.

[sb116 · Accepted solution]

Hi Prepress85977325,

Sadly, Acrobat X is not compatible with this Mac version.

I would request you to update the application to the latest version.

Thanks,

Supriya

[JB0606]

Uhm... your suggestion on updating to the newest version?  HE IS TRYING TO DO THAT AND CAN'T. -_-

Your suggestion/"help" is useless.

[try67]

I think they meant you need to upgrade (as opposed to update) to the latest version for Acrobat to be compatible with your OS.

[Test Screen Name]

There has not been an update to Acrobat X for many years, it is long past end of life. So you might as well turn off updates if you are on the latest version. This is as said not compatible with Sierra, so downgrade the system or UPGRADE to Acrobat Pro DC. Subscription strongly recommended over the old frozen permanent license.

[decker1222]

What is the answer if you have Sierra but you absolutely despise the horrid excuse for an "upgrade" that is Acrobat DC?

Every one of my 20 Mac users have reverted back to Acrobat X after struggling with DC. It's garbage.

[biguzzis]

Is it so difficult, instead of the vague message "I cannot connect etc.." just have a notice that there is no plan for further upgrades for Acrobat 10.1.1?

I waisted my valuable time to find that out and I will still be in the dark in case, in the future, I may attempt to upgrade manually. Microsoft announces when it will no longer support a product (see Windows XP). You instead are trying in a sneaky way to get me  spending my money for a DC product. FORGET IT

[try67]

Adobe does it also: All Apps Help | Products and technical support periods

[lschwarcz]

Hi Supriya,

Is  Acrobat XI Pro compatible with Mac OS X Sierra or the soon to be released High Sierra? I too have Acrobat X Pro on both my Mac and Windows system and am getting that, "Error: 1042" issue.

It seems odd that this version of Acrobat works fine on my Windows 10 system but the Mac version gives this startling error message.

I can understand that eventually all companies will stop supporting a particular version of their programs but to give an error message like this is totally inexcusable.

Hopefully this will eventually be fixed either by issuing one additional version of Acrobat X Pro for the Mac to point to the correct update server or to put a server in place that at least gives an accurate error message.

Thank you!

Larry.

[Test Screen Name]

XI is OK on Sierra. Nothing can be said about High Sierra but as Actobat XI will be out of support when High Soerra is final, there won't be fixes.

Why surprised therecare problem on Mac not Windows? Microsoft work hard to keep compatibility and Apple don't care. Soon Apple will stop running 32 bit apps.

Acrobat X is, as promised, out of support. So no fixes, nothing. Why inexcusable? You can still update manually but that won't make it supported all of a sudden.

[lschwarcz]

Hi "Test Screen Name,"

As a former software development engineer I guess I may have a different view than the end users who don't know as much about a lot of the back end processes or about the life cycle of products and how a good company deals with it.

Ending support of a product not only is acceptable but totally expected! I would never expect for Adobe to support Acrobat X Pro forever.

In my experience, the goal is usually to try to give the end user as similar of an experience with a program regardless of the platform. But, they have to also balance this with also trying to have the product also work in ways that are familiar with the user-model for each platform. For example, Microsoft Word is very similar on both Windows and Mac but the UI is slightly different on both to better fit in with the use-model on each OS.

This is why I am so surprised that my Windows version just says that there are no new updates but the Mac version gives an error message that is incorrect. If the error message was accurate I would be fine with this. Instead it says that it can't communicate with the update server when it should either just say there are no updates or say that it's a no longer supported product. The error message is misleading.

So Adobe has chosen to have their last version with a bug that most users would be likely to hit and then leave them with the wrong information about updates. This is why I feel that it's inexcusable.

Larry.

[Test Screen Name]

Well, I have to disagree. Adobe didn't intend this to happen, some incompatibility in Sierra. I imagine (because I can't know) that some system change does make it impossible for your Acrobat to reach the update server, which it continues to do in older systems. Because it can't communicate it can't know whether there are any updates or not. It's arguably a pity that Apple break compatibility with such abandon, but my view is we ain't seen nothing yet. Adobe have themselves messed up updates for a number of apps, but I think we'd see the same result on Mac and Windows if they did that.

Should it state it is out of support? Well, it could know that, but the intention was that updates continue to be available after EOL, which seems the responsible thing.

[decker1222]

We just apply the latest update manually after installing a fresh Acrobat X on Sierra or High Sierra. The file name is AcrobatUpd10116.dmg and it's located on the Adobe FTP server. It's just an extra click to install the update after installing Acrobat X so it's not a huge deal.

That being said, Acrobat X still has display issues on Retina macs and it's not receiving any software updates anymore, so we do have to switch to something different sooner than later.

We won't be upgrading to Acobrat DC, we'll find a different PDF generator and viewer (probably Foxit). Acrobat DC is an expensive disaster of a product, as I mentioned above, I've tried to roll it out to users and every single one I've had to revert back to Acrobat X because they despised it. Adobe has absolutely destroyed the Acrobat line of products and the subscription service is shady.

Remember, if you don't cancel your subscription on the exact day it expires, you'll get auto enrolled in another entire year of non refundable monthly charges. Our company made this mistake last August when I was on vacation and didn't call in to cancel, and we were auto enrolled for another year worth of 10 licenses for various Adobe products when we only need 6 licenses. We're stuck paying for those unused 4 licenses for the entire year.

[Test Screen Name]

For what it's worth, and I wouldn't recommend it because subscription is the future, Acrobat Pro 2017 is the perpetual license version of the current product.