Export causes "Media Encoder update is available", though already updated

[joema3]

Summary: Export from within Premiere Pro CS5 ver 5.0.2 produces the dialog "Media Encoder update is available", even though the updater has already been run without error and reports "no updates available". Media Encoder version is 5.0.1. The export itself runs OK after dismissing the dialog.

Details: I updated Premiere Pro CS5 Production Premium from 5.0.1 to 5.0.2, using Adobe Updater. Running updater again (from either Premiere Pro or Media Encoder) produces a dialog:

Adobe Applications Manager: "Your applications are all up-to-date."

However each time I try to export a video (AVCHD 1080i/30 from Canon HF100), Premiere Pro gives this dialog:

Dialog: Adobe Premiere Pro

"An Adobe Media Encoder update is available for this version of Pemiere Pro. To download the latest update, please run the Adobe Updater from the Help menu or visit http://www.adobe.com/go/updates"

Media Encoder help/about says: Version 5.0.1.0 (64-bit)

Adobe Production Premium CS5, updated to 5.0.2

Windows Home Premium 64 bit

Motherboard: EVGA P55 FTW

CPU: quad-core Intel i7-860 @ 3.8Ghz, hyperthreading on, RAM: 8GB DDR3

CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D14

System disk: 300GB Velociraptor, 10k rpm SATA

Data disk: 2 x 1.5TB Barracuda, 7200 rpm SATA, RAID 0

Video: EVGA nVidia GeForce GTX-275 896MB, driver: 8.17.12.5721

Network: AT&T 6 megabit DSL (6 megabit down 512 kilobit up).

Media player: WMP 12.0.7600.16415, VLC 1.0.5

Browser: Chrome 6.0.472.55, IE 8.0.7600.16385, FireFox 3.6.8.

[Digital-Frank]

We have the same issue on 2 out of 3 workstations.

Any news on a fix?

[MobyTrix]

I'm getting this too.  I'd like to know if Adobe is aware of the problem and working on a fix or not.

[John T Smith]

Bug Report

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

[joema3]

FYI, I filed a bug report with Adobe at the previously-posted link. Whether it's a known problem or will receive any attention is impossible to say.

[Todd_Kopriva]

Someone on the Adobe Media Encoder team is looking at it.

[Missteach]

Good news because I'm experiencing the same problem.

Hope it doesn't take too long.

[Nariman Sodeifi]

We haven't seen this exact error, and are looking into it.  I can share that we did run into a rare case where updater did not work the first time it ran.  It would say that it updated AME, but if you run the updater again, it would want to update AME again.  That happened to only one of our testers a few times and was random and not easy to reproduce.

The solution was to run the updater a 2nd time.  That fixed it for him every time. I don't know why on some machines it required it to be ran a 2nd time, but in no case did we experience this problem after running the updater a 2nd time.

We are trying to get a downloadable patch posted as well.  Once that's up, users can run the downloadable patch which should not have this problem.

For now, I would like to know if running the patcher a 2nd time solves the problem for you or not.  If you continue to run into this problem, we should have a downloadable patch available for you run which should hopefully solve this issue.

AME QA team

[joema3]

Re running update again, it won't let me as it thinks all updates were done. If I try to run updater again it says "your applications are all up-to-date".

AME version number after the update is 5.0.1.0 (64-bit).

Running updater a 2nd time is not an option, unless there's some manual way to force the update.

On my machine the updater option is checked "Send reports to Adobe on success or failure of update application". You should be able to correlate failed updates to this problem, if there is any connection.

If there's an update log on PC which can be manually inspected, please post the specifics and those which have this problem can report.

Adobe simply needs to examine the AME source code to see what item (registry key, file, etc)  it's inspecting to judge the version. Then determine why it didn't get updated, and whether the entire update failed or just the registry key, etc. didn't get updated. The corrective action needed will be based on knowning those details.

[EchoMMedia]

I have the same problem.

[BigPET]

Hello,

I have the same problem. Adobe Premiere Pro 5.0.2. I just do normaly, click EXPORT > Media.

I get that message that says an update is avaiable, I click ok. Then the normal window appears. I click Queue, the window disappears, I see the "exporting prject" loading windows and ... that's all. Adobe Media does not load.

Any ideas?

[Tim Kurkoski]

I have some questions for everyone experiencing this problem:

1. BigPET stated that when he tries to queue an export from Premiere Pro to Adobe Media Encoder, AME does not launch.  Does anyone else experience this problem?
2. In the list of Formats in the Export Settings dialog in Premiere Pro (File > Export > Media, click on Formats), is MPEG2 MXF listed?  This is a new format provided by the Premiere Pro 5.0.2 update.  The presence of this format tells us if particular files for Premiere Pro were updated.
   
3. Same question as #2, but for AME.
4. Are the applications installed at the default location?  ( C:\Program Files )  If not, where are they installed at?
5. How did you install Premiere Pro?  Did you start with the trial version before getting a serial number?  Did you download it or did you have the physical discs?  Is a part of the Production Premium or Master Collection suites, or do you only have Premiere Pro?

Thanks for your patience while we untangle this problem.

-=TimK

-=Adobe After Effects/Adobe Media Encoder QE

[BigPET]

The program is installed in E:\Program Files.

Don't have enough space on C.

I found a fix around this. I just manually open Media Encoder. I still get that "update is available message"... but when I click the QUEUE button to export the settings to Media Encoder, media encoder is already open and it recieves the "whatever is requied to recieve"... so I can start the encoding.

[Magnus Allgurén]

Hi,

I'm experiencing the exact same issue.

2. MPEG2 MXF is available in Premiere Pro

3. MPEG2 MXF is available in AME

4. No, D:\Program\Grafik\Adobe

5. Never installed trial. Have the physical discs and updated to 5.0.1 and then 5.0.2 through update notifications. I have all of the Production Premium installed.

Thanks,

Magnus

[joema3]

My results on Tim Kurkoski's questions:

1. AME fails to launch if queued from Premiere Pro?: No. Works OK after I dismiss the "Media Encoder Update is Available" message.

2. Is MPE2 MXF listed under Export Settings dialog (File > Export > Media, Formats): Yes. Also export to that format works OK after dismissing the "Update is Available" message.

3. Yes, MXF export option listed in AME.

4. Installed at default location? No, at e:\Program Files\Adobe

5. Installed by download. Production Premium.

[Nariman Sodeifi]

Thank you for your patience and feedback as well as installation info.

We are still looking into this issue, but we do have a solution for you. 

To solve this issue, you can put a shortcut of AME application in PPro folder and then PPro can find AME and launch it without errors reported in this thread.  Follow these steps:

1.       Using Explorer, go to the folder 
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Encoder CS5\

2.       In that folder, you should find the AME application called
“Adobe Media Encoder” or “Adobe Media Encoder.exe”

3.       Right click on that file and select “Create Shortcut”. 
A shortcut of that file will be placed in the same folder. 
The shortcut file will be called “Shortcut to Adobe Media Encoder.exe”

4.       Copy the shortcut to your PPro folder. 
Most users who have this issue have installed PPro to a different folder rather than the default installation location.  Example: copy the above shortcut you created to E:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Premiere Pro CS5\

5.       Rename the shortcut from “Shortcut to Adobe Media Encoder.exe” to “Adobe Media Encoder”.  If you have elected to show the file extension, it may have .lnk at the end of the file which should remain.

6.       If PPro is open, close it and re-launch it.  You should now be able to launch AME from within PPro without an update reminder or other errors. 

That should do it. 

Please do let us know if this solution does or does not work for you.

[chadcarrington]

These specific steps worked; however, can you comment on why AME is installing in a different directory then I told that application to install it too? There are residuals of AME in the location I instructed it to install too. It is quite possible that a C:\.. path is hardcode in the installation file is the root of this issue, as the reference to the application in my registry is NOT pointing to the location it is actually installed.

[joema3]

I confirm this procedure worked for me, both from within PP CS5 and when running AME separately. Thanks for the solution.

This illustrates during QA the importance of testing to a non-default install location.

[Mark Mapes]

We did test patching with Premiere installed to a non-default path. We also tested exporting to AME with Premiere installed to a non-default path as well as exporting to AME after patching. The app passed all those tests.

The hole in our test plan was that we didn't install to an alternate path *and* patch *and* export from Premiere in the same test. Of course, the bug was hiding in the confluence of those two conditions. One of the great challenges of testing software is deciding which combinations of conditions to test--you don't have to go very deep before the number of tests mushrooms out of control. That said, this is one combination that should have been covered, and you can rest assured that it will be in the future.

[Stan Jones]

Mark, thanks for that explanation.  I was not affected by this, but like information about how such things come about.  For me it builds credibility.

[chadcarrington]

Mark - thanks for the explanation. I understand the challenges with QA efforts and appreciate the hard work you are doing on this.

[Todd_Kopriva]

Here's a new Technical Support KB (knowledgebase) article about this, which summarizes Nariman's workaround:

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/868/cpsid_86850.html

[parvesh_kumar]

the steps suggested in the article are not working .it doesn't happen until the product is not updated. after update the issue is there. premiere pro is installed in D drive. haven't tried installing it in default location yet. please suggest something.

[the_wine_snob]

All Adobe programs really like being on C:\, though the actual folder does not seem to matter.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Mark Mapes]

Please doublecheck that the shortcut's name is simply "Adobe Media Encoder". When I create a shortcut in Windows 7, its default name is "Adobe Media Encoder.exe - Shortcut,", so I have to strip off ".exe - Shortcut".

If the shortcut name is correct and you're still running into this problem, a second partial workaround is to manually launch AME before exporting from PPRO. You will still encounter the prompt to update AME, but clicking OK in that dialog allows you to proceed. When you click Queue in the Export Settings dialog, your sequence should be added to AME's queue.