Internal Error 7204, 6107874, 7775428, 0

Report · Sep 10, 2007

I've seen that I'm not the only one faced with the same problem of Internal Error 7202 but I'm getting rather annoyed because it is now nearly impossible to update a book without a crash. Typical error message as shown below.

---------------------------
Error
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Internal Error 7204, 6107874, 7775428, 0. FrameMaker has detected a serious problem and must quit.

A file named "c:\program files\adobe\framemaker7.2\FrameLog_07.09.10_08.44.05.txt" has been generated which contains information that may help Frame development improve the product for future releases.

Please describe your recent actions and send this, along with the generated file, to fmerror@adobe.com. Due to the volume of feedback, we are unable to respond to technical questions. For support, please refer to http://www.adobe.com/support.
---------------------------
OK
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And after OK has been pressed

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Adobe FrameMaker (Structured): FrameMaker.exe - Application Error
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The instruction at "0x0034199f" referenced memory at "0x00000000". The memory could not be "read".

Click on OK to terminate the program
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

I'm using FrameMaker 7.2b158 in an XP Windows computer including all the latest patches. I've implemented some of the suggestions made in the forum like saving all documents in MIF format and then in fm-format again but nothing helps. So far I've been a quite happy user of FrameMaker because of its stability and capability of handling large documents / books but the status now is worse I ever had with any other Microsoft product. The problem is not new for me, I had it also when I used FrameMaker 7.1 and in the beginning of using FrameMaker 7.2 but it happened very infrequent.

Sometimes, if I close FrameMaker and then re-start FrameMaker again before the update process, it works but it doesn't seem to be reproducible. Please not that I'm still working on the same document, a satellite user manual, although it's now much larger (about 20 files in book with a total page count of about 2500 pages).

Of course there is also a crash log, but I cannot interpret this.

Any ideas what is going wrong?
Cheers

Tommy Strandberg

EADS Astrium GmbH / Germany

Report · Sep 10, 2007

Tommy, how much RAM is in your system?

Report · Sep 10, 2007

2 GB

Tommy

Report · Sep 10, 2007

For that size book, the amount of RAM may be marginal. Also, having a lot of space in your \temp directory would be important.

Can you open all the files at once? Sometimes a delay in opening files across a network can generate that type of crash too, when FM times out waiting for the file to open or update. Graphics, both embedded or referenced can also be a problem if they're updated across a network.

Art

Report · Sep 10, 2007

The FM files are kept under version control using Visual SourceSafe where the SourceSafe "library" is kept on a company server. When I work on the book however, I check-out all files to my local harddisk. When I open all files, which is possible, the FrameMaker Memory usage(task manager)is only 14.6 MB.

After I opened all files, I tried to update the book and it worked, very fast fact. Maybe this is the solution.

Report · Sep 10, 2007

Tommy,

It seems that book-wide functions with closed files is simply an invite for a crash. This includes Find/Change and the spell checker too. It shouldn't be this way, but it is. As a rule, I always open all files before updating and have never seen a crash since.

Russ

Report · Sep 10, 2007

As a post-script, there really isn't any good reason not to open them anyway. FrameMaker will open them if you don't, because it can't operate on closed files.

Report · Sep 11, 2007

Russ- If you do an update Book to close files that have cross references, you will get error messages, you must always open ALL files. Since I avoid using Windows XP with FrameMaker, always Windows NT or 2000, a lot opf problems I read don't exist at any of the companies I've worked for.

IS this manual structured or not? The error message seems to say yes?
Suggest you go to your Search and do a search for Files and Folders and enter *.tmp. Delete ALL temp files found except those for the current date (these can not be deleted). Reboot and try iopening all files in your boo and let us know what happens. I find down loading files from SourceSafe and uploading a pain, and would rather work over the network any day. I never lost a file in 13 years when files on on main server.

Tommy- The memory size you gave us is the Process memory, the amount MS uses when FM is loaded, it isn't the memory your system is using. What you need to look at is the Physical memory Available found under the Performance tab.

Report · Sep 11, 2007

Sherman, sometimes I just have no idea what in the world are you talking about. Consider taking a little more time to compose decipherable English... your points might be better taken.

Russ

Report · Sep 11, 2007

See post about error generating pdfs. I get the same error message about error reading 0X0000000. I have a new laptop and lots of RAM (4GB) and HD space (75 GB). I think this must be some bug in FM.

Report · Sep 11, 2007

Thanks for the inputs; it seems to be working again. I'm really not a "hacker" but just a user and so far I've been very happy with FrameMaker which we use to generate manuals (which can be up to 5000 pages in size) for various satellites. It was really new to me that it is better to open all files before updating the book so this was a good input. By the way, the manual is structured.

Concerning XP and NT, there the company policy dictates what we get and that's simply XP today ==> no choice.

Thanks again for your inputs

Tommy

Report · Sep 11, 2007

I'm glad it is working for you. I've made very large manuals with FM (pdf) without problems in the past myself. It was one of the most stable programs I owned. Even in the past though, I always used the shift key to open all files in the book before updating.

Report · Jan 31, 2008

I'm running FM8 on Windows XP. When trying to download an update from Adobe and install it, I get the message "Framemaker.exe was detected and needed to be closed". The update doesn't get installed. The message repeats at each attempt.

Report · Jan 31, 2008

Marshall,

This really should have been posted as a new topic.

Have you tried manually downloading the update from
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3837 and
running the manual install?

Report · Feb 04, 2008

I've been battling the 7204 error message for several weeks now. I'm using Frame 7.2 on Windows XP Pro. I just need to put the finishing touches on this manual and send it to the translator, but this error has set me back several days. Certain files in the book get the 7204 error when I try to generate a PDF. So far I have uninstalled and reinstalled Frame twice and that has corrected the problem for awhile, but there must be a better solution!

Report · Feb 04, 2008

Do you have all the files in the book open when you generate the PDF? How are you generating the PDF (Save As or Print?) What FM 7.2 patch are you using? Can you make PDFs of the offending individual files okay?

End of third degree. :-)
Rebecca

Report · Feb 04, 2008

If the error mesasage still exists, start generating a PDFD for one file in a book at a time. By following this suggestion, you will be able to determinbe which file is generating the erro message/ Once the file is found, you can either try recopying the information onto a new file or start stripping the file down to find the problem.

Report · Feb 11, 2008

Most files in the book get this error - sometimes. Once it starts occuring the only solution is to reinstall Frame. It seems like the files that have the problem include graphics - .gif files that have a text frame over the graphic. Graphics are inserted by reference.

Report · Feb 12, 2008

My crash is related to conditional text and XRef tags, possibly in
tables. I am using XP-pro SP2, plenty of RAM (almost 500MB available
after opening all files), plenty of swap, etc. I have all files open,
etc. This has nothing to do with generating PDF (which always seems
to work for me). I have tried doing .fm->.mif->.fm and the symptoms
did not change. Using Frame 7.1p114, non-structured.

The key is that everything works with all conditional test shown (not
hidden). Hide some conditions, click certain links and BOOM!.

When I Show all conditional text I can update the book, and all
XRefs are resolved (no errors). When I Hide some conditions and update
the book all XRefs are again resolved (no errors). But, I can reliably
crash Frame 7.1 just by double-clicking on certain links, in certain
source files, to an XREF tag located in a table (my book has 50+
files, 10+ conditional text options, thousands of XRef tags, etc.).

I can choose a specific link and confirm that the XRef tag exists and
is not hidden, both before and after hiding any text. Somehow, I think
that Frame gets confused when hiding some other tag... but even so, it
shouldn't crash.

The crash symptom indicates attempting to access address 0x0..00
(sometimes 0x0..04), which is correctly illegal (I have some sofware
experience). This is a classic software problem, caused by coding
flaws. Could be a NULL pointer (a software thing which remembers were
something is stored) or by not checking a designed-in static
limit... when the limit is exceeded the code executes into data space
(i.e. address 0x0..00). In either case (and there are other potential
causes), the root cause is a Frame implementation error; i.e. bug,
flaw, etc.

So, having said all this, I could use some advice on how to approach
Adobe about fixing this. I have a 100% reproducable problem but,
except for sending in the crash log, have not yet tried to contact
Adobe.

Advice welcome.
Thanks

Report · Feb 12, 2008

FYI, the latest version of 7.1 is p116 available here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=2715

I doubt that Adobe will fix anything that is two releases back. You
might be better off upgrading.

Report · Feb 12, 2008

Thanks Arnis, I did this update this AM after seeing it on the download site. Unfortunately, the problem still occurs.

I would consider upgrading (i.e. paying Adobe for a less-defective
version) but there is no guarantee that it will fix my problem.

I have been a Frame user since before Adobe bought it, and I am very
frustrated that the user interface remains so lame... I really wanted
to boycot upgrading, at least until they allow me to do things like
resize dialogs so I can see what I am selecting, etc.
Now, I might have to pay for a bug fix...but will fix my problem?

I feel like I'm being held hostage... years of cumulative work has
suddenly become mostly unusable... sigh.

Report · Jul 10, 2008

To J.A. Rehn,

We're having the same problem stemming from conditional text and x-ref tags. Have you found a work-around?

Thanks!
Wendi

Report · Jul 10, 2008

I had a multitude of problems with Framemaker 7.2 crashing after installing InDesign CS3. I'm posting my current solutions here in case any of these tips or tricks help anyone.

The Save As ...PDF no longer works. I have to take the long way around to generate a PDF.
1. File/Print Setup.
In Print Setup, choose Adobe PDF as the printer name.
Select Properties.
Uncheck the box "Rely on system fonts only..."
OK
2. File/Print.
Make sure Print to File and Generate Acrobat Data are checked.
Print.
(generates a .ps file.)
3. Double-click on the .ps file to kick off Distiller to generate the PDF.
4. Then, I check my pdf to see if it is missing any text, especially in my graphics. If it is, I know it is time to clear out my fntcache.dat file and try again. (I need to do this about once a week.)
5. To clear fntcache.dat:
Go to c:\winnt\system32\ and search for hidden file fntcache.dat and delete it.
6. Restart your PC - this is important!!
7. Do Steps 1-4 again - and I have a final PDF!!

Hope this helps somebody!

Report · Jul 11, 2008

Hi Wendi Missagia. The answer is "yes, but...". I traded several emails with Adobe with much optimism (since they actually responded after I send the crash log)... but, ultimately they didn't (couldn't?) help. I wrote a Perl script to process a set of mif files, looking for duplicate XRef tags. In 60+ files I found 50+ duplicates (out of >4000 unique XRef tags). I had to locate/fix them manually, giving each a unique ID. The crashing stopped (but I still hear a ticking sound...). I use a ton of conditional text and it seems that hidden duplicates don't cause the crash, which is good because I have way too many of these to fix. I have seen the problem and fixed it the same way in 2 books. When I asked Adobe why they didn't detect/warn/prevent duplicates they did not respond. Same response when I ask when they will update the UI... sigh. Anticipating questions from others, I am reluctant to expose the Perl script... it is a hack and I can't support it, etc. In the mif, the search target is: <MType 9> <MTypeName `Cross-Ref'> <MText `everything here is part of the tag ID'> Finding the last part in > 2 mif files is the chore. Good luck.