FM 9 crashes while opening 7.2 documents

[Guest]

Hi,

while evaluating FM 9 we encountered that some - not all - of our existing 7.2 FM documents could not be opened in FM 9. Instead of opening the file FM 9 crashes. The internal error messages (contained within the log files) are:

1st log file

Internal Error: 9004, 9557855, 9586058, 9586266
FrameMaker 9.0.0 for Intel
Build: 9.0p255
Window System: MSWindows
Operating System: Windows NT 5.1 (major.minor.build: 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3)

2nd log file

Internal Error: 9004, 6921628, 9677518, 0
FrameMaker 9.0.0 for Intel
Build: 9.0p255
Window System: MSWindows
Operating System: Windows NT 5.1 (major.minor.build: 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3)

As you can see above we are working on Windows XP SP 3, all FM 9 service packs have already been applied (build 9.0p255).

Any ideas or suggestions on how we could solve this issue?

Many thanks for your replies in advance!

Regards,

Andreas

[Guest]

Unfortunately the log files don't give us "mere mortals" much information, as only Adobe support knows the codes that are listed.

First thing to try would be to save the FM 7.2 docs as MIF, then try to open the MIF files in FM9.

Second thing would be to identify whether there are any "unusual" features in the problem files; to they have insets from other applications, do they have particular kind of graphics, if the graphics are imported by reference are they all on the local system or are they on a network.  Also watch to see if you can determine any specific point in the document where it fails, perhaps that will lead you to identifying the problem.

Other possibility, try opening the files using the menu system (File > Open) rather than double-clicking. And test with the files on the local system rather than on a network.

Sheila

[Guest]

Hi Sheila,

many thanks for your speedy reply. Although not explicitely mentioned I have already tried all the things you suggested. Fruitless. As the file is being opened (I can see the content in the authoring pane) FM 9 crashes.

Unusual features? No. The file consists of only one page, some lines of text and three small graphics (x-refs). Nothing spectacular.

Regards,

Andreas

[MichaelKazlow]

Do you have a copy of FM 8 lying around? I frequently use FM 8 to open files rather than 9. I find FM 8 does a better job. Then I open the FM 8 file with FM 9.

[Guest]

Hi Michael,

thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, we don't have a FM 8 license installed. But I remember that we have had similar problems with FM 8 a couple of years ago when we first tried to update from FM 7 (this happened before I joined the company).

Regards,

Andreas

[Dov Isaacs]

Have you tried reporting the problem to Adobe Technical Support? For a current release, I would certainly go that route before asking folks here. If they know of the problem, they might be able to give you a workaround. If not, at least the FrameMaker development organization will have information such that they can fix the issue.

          - Dov

[Guest]

Hi Dov,

thanks for your reply. I have emailed the error logs to the FM development.

Regards,

Andreas

[Guest]

Another possibility is FM's "heroic open" command, which (I think) is still available in FM9, which is Esc o H (hit Esc, then small letter "o" then Shift-h. If it does open, save it immediately ** under a new file name ** -- ideally as MIF, and then open the new file, save it again as binary .fm file.

[Guest]

Hi Sheila,

great clue - many thanks! Now I actually can open the file. And I am also able to save the file. Wow, what a relief.

But ...

the bad news are that FM 9 still crashes immediately when I am setting the focus on the document. It doesn't matter if I move the cursur, select an object or click a button.

As a result, I am still not able to examine which entity within the file causes FM 9 to hang.

Regards,

Andreas

[Guest]

When you save the file, did you save as MIF, and if so, did you try both versions of MIF (9 and 7)? Saving back as FM7 might "dislodge" whatever is causing the problem, and then allow you to open the file in FM9.

If you have the time to do so, you might take a look at the file through the MIF with the excellent freebie MIFBrowse, here:

MIFBrowser

although it hasn't been updated for a long time it works perfectly with all versions of FM files.

Remind us again what the content of these files is: plain text? graphics? tables? languages other than English?

Were the files stored in any kind of a CMS or backup system, Sharepoint, whatever? Did they go across a unix network? I wonder if they could have gotten touched by something that's corrupting them -- do you have any different way to retrieve the files, maybe an administrator can grab them from their location rather than going across the network?

[Guest]

Hi Sheila,

again, many thanks for your ongoing support! In the meantime, I have finally managed to identify the real cause of our problems: a "corrupt" EPS file which is referenced by the FM file. The dirty trick is the following:

The EPS file "works" properly/does not cause any issues as:

- it was imported into a new FM 9 document

- it was imported into a new and/or existing FM 7 document.

But when I open a FM 7 document which references this EPS in FM 9, FM 9 reproducibly crashes.

Actually, our problem seems to be solved. Many thanks to all of you for your assistance!

Best regards from rainy Germany,

Andreas

[Art_Campbell1]

If you really are running fm 9.0.0, you need to apply the four patches that have been released since 9.0 shipped.... Get 'em from the Updates page for FM.

Then, I would try a variation on your technique -- save the file in FM 7 as MIF, then open the MIF in 9.

But the updates are critical.

Cheers,

Art

[Guest]

Hi Art,

thanks for your reply. I have already applied all service packs and am running build 9.0p255.

Regards,

Andreas