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T
tburack
Participating Frequently
April 10, 2018
Answered

60 MacBooks facing Error 16 when opening Photoshop Elements 15

  • April 10, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 688 views

This does not help when you have a full cart of 60 macbooks and they all randomly decided to get this error..

This is ridiculous, every error in software engineering has a specific reason why, adobe developers should know the exact reason for an error 16 and have an exact fix/solution for it, not "uninstall", do you know how long it will take to uninstall a software that size during the beginning of a class and have to wait to then install again just to fix this error 16 that EVERYONE seems to be getting for years..?? This is completely unacceptable for a software that costs so much.

Other suggestions are to update the app manager, that worked for one system, not for others.. again, a solution that can be done within 2 or 3 minutes needs to be it since this is randomly now happening to all computers and we dont know until the user logs in and opens the software..

The customer support wait time is over 2 hours long, hmm.. I wonder why they are so overwhelmed..

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Jeffrey_A_Wright

    Jeff,

    I did not adjust any file permissions before the adobe error 16 started happening.

    We dont adjust permissions on standard accounts, the way they are is the way Mac OS defaults it.

    My point has been that the error happens randomly and out of all three solutions suggested by different articles, none have been the specific fix since one time one fix works, another time another fix works, for example on one computer uninstalling did not fix it, but  updating the adobe manager app did, and then the opposite (vice versa) was true on another computer.

    Sometimes I've seen the program launch with the error, then I leave the screen with the error there for 30+ minutes, and then relaunch the app and it goes and works, without the computer being touched at all.

    I also tried to explain why that location you mention is not a good idea to have read+write for all users since any user can then delete this file and ruin the licensing of the software installed for all users.

    Our settings are not that restricted at all, there are only two group of users in almost any education/school, administrators and standard users.

    Standard users (students, teachers, etc) do not and should not have access to administrative privileges on computers, so this is the standard practice for almost 99% of all schools.

    The way you guys designed your licensing part of the software with regards to that SLStore folder, is made for home users, not for shared computers like in schools, which is ironic because photoshop elements as far as I was told was aimed at lower level users such as students, hobbyist, non-pros, etc...

    Can you please point out which part of my post you did not understand before?

    -E Almonte


    Ok, thanks for the clarification and feedback, E Alamonte.

    Your organization may want to look in a Creative Cloud for Enterprise membership.  It allows the deployment and use of Adobe Creative applications in restricted environments.  Photoshop Elements 15 was primarily designed as a consumer photo editing application.

    You can find more details on how to deploy licensed Creative Cloud applications at Packaging User Guide .

    1 reply

    kglad
    Community Expert
    kgladCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 10, 2018

    do you have an enterprise or team license?

    T
    tburackAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    April 10, 2018

    We're a private school, we just purchased the software in no specific enterprise or team license, just the software to be used.

    What I am trying to get to is that how can a specific error, in this case error 16, have so many different possible solutions for a software like photoshop? Basic example, if you visit the wrong website, you get an error 404, we all know what that means because it is documented, if you open a program and get memory errors 0x000..etc.., you can look that up and most of the companies give you an exact reason for these errors so that users know why it is happening.

    Adobe does have this error documented, but spread across different places, different sites, for multiple software, which is confusing to begin with.

    But, based on the following information found here:

    Configuration error in Adobe Creative Cloud

    and here:

    Error 16 is stopping me from working completely

    I troubleshooted by uninstalling and "fixing" permissions (which do not need to be fixed since it is extremely rare for standard accounts to even modify, if even possible, any folders or files in the OS's /Library/ folder), and this did not work.

    Then I thought about that post regarding configuration file and looked at logs on the actual console of the system and firewall logs and saw these entries:

    firewall blocked:

    url http://static.photoshop.com/elements-content/15.0/elive/CEMConfig.xml,

    url http://static.photoshop.com/elements-content/15.0/wx/WelcomeScreenPSEConfig.xml,

    url http://static.photoshop.com/elements-content/15.0/wx/CEMConfig.xml,

    url http://static.photoshop.com/elements-content/15.0/wx/WelcomeScreenPSEConfig.xml,

    url http://static.photoshop.com/elements-content/15.0/wx/CEMConfig.xml,

    url http://static.photoshop.com/elements-content/15.0/elive/CEMConfig.xml,

    url http://static.photoshop.com/elements-content/15.0/elive/CEMConfig.xml,

    That domain was categorized as shareware and freeware, so we block it.

    I have whitelisted the domain and will only be able to know for sure if this xml config files has anything to do with the actual software from starting up since it seems that during load, the software (app manager agent) does contact the domain for either updates or configuration checkup... not sure, but this is something that should be public so that users can try the less time consuming options first before uninstalling and reinstalling software that are not really the solution and not everyone can do in the middle of a class when students randomly say their photoshop doesn't open.

    -E Almonte

    Jeffrey_A_Wright
    Community Manager
    Jeffrey_A_WrightCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    April 12, 2018

    Jeff,

    Thanks for the clarification.

    The parent folder /Library/Application Support/ as I mentioned does not have and cannot have read+write for all folders and all users, but yes this folder has always had Everyone: read permissions, which would affect all the network users that log in since they are not part of any group with higher privileges.

    The folder /Library/Application Support/Adobe/ does have read+write for certain Adobe folders, such as the specific ones you mentioned.

    I think this is a bit of a design flaw because I went in as a standard user to /Library/Application Support/Adobe/SLStore and was able to delete the .lic file there which gets created when the software is licensed.

    After relaunching photoshop editor the "license this software" window appears which asks for login credentials and license key again.

    This is what I meant by anything inside this folder should not be allowed to have these write permissions because that lets users delete the file.

    I will attach 3 images to show you the permissions for the folders you specified as they are listed by default after installation.

    I launched the software for the first time on another macbook (they are all the same image), to see what folders get modified when it is launched.

    As you can see they all have read and write permissions.

    After that firewall whitelist URL exception I made, yesterdays class did not experience the error 16 issue, I know I would need to wait weeks before wondering if that was the actual issue. Are you able to confirm with someone if those .xml files from those URLs are required for the software to launch in some way or another or if blocking them messes with the software?

    Thanks..

    -E Almonte


    E Almonte my apologies but I don't completely understand your most recent response.  If adjusting the file permissions of /Library/Application Support/Adobe/ does not resolve Error 16 then I would recommend you create a new Standard User account, using default permissions, to see if you face the same error.  From your posts, it seems that the Standard User account implementation for your organization may be more restricted than the default.

    You can find a complete list of the URLs required for Creative Cloud applications at Adobe Creative Cloud Network Endpoints .  Primarily the first row should be enabled if you are only utilizing a volume license of Photoshop Elements 15 in your organization.

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