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Alison - Clearly Stated
Inspiring
May 19, 2018
Answered

internal error on opening files

  • May 19, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 5247 views

Hi.

I've been typesetting a book in FrameMaker. I haven't worked on it for a couple of months, and have since upgraded to FM 2017 - although the same issue is a problem in FM11.

The book was saved to OneDrive, and I've been working in my local folder mapped to OneDrive throughout. Now, I can open the .book file - and FM warns me it was created in an older version of FM. I save it and all is fine BUT as soon as I try to open any of the chapters within the book, I get an internal error. I've tried opening them FROM the book and as separate files. I've tried opening them in FM 2017 and in FM11. In the former, it warns me they were created in an earlier version, but doesn't get as far as opening them (so it's obviously getting as far as finding the version details). In the latter, it crashes straight away.

I can open other documents in either version of FM with no problem - but it's EVERY file in this particular book, and the only thing they have in common is that they are synced to OneDrive (although I can't for the life of me see why that would be a problem).

Does anyone have any suggestions, as I really don't want to have to manually key all 15 chapters in again.

Thanks in advance,

Alison

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Correct answer Alison - Clearly Stated

Just to update - I tried all of the above, then finally gave up. I installed a new SSD in my machine, as my hard disk was filling up anyway, and then installed a brand new Windows. It's solved that particular problem. :-)

It was definitely a Windows issue, and I think possibly to do with font enumeration (as I started to get "missing font" errors with other docs when I knew there weren't any).

Thanks to everyone for their help.

3 replies

Alison - Clearly Stated
Alison - Clearly StatedAuthorCorrect answer
Inspiring
July 21, 2018

Just to update - I tried all of the above, then finally gave up. I installed a new SSD in my machine, as my hard disk was filling up anyway, and then installed a brand new Windows. It's solved that particular problem. :-)

It was definitely a Windows issue, and I think possibly to do with font enumeration (as I started to get "missing font" errors with other docs when I knew there weren't any).

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Matt-Tech Comm Tools
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 20, 2018

Hi Alison,

It sounds to me like the files themselves are the issue.

Have you tried using File > Import > File to import your docs into a new blank document (or even better, a blank version of your template file)?

I've had success in importing files this way when the file itself has become unopenable.

-Matt

-Matt Sullivan, FrameMaker Course Creator, Author, Trainer, Consultant
Alison - Clearly Stated
Inspiring
May 20, 2018

@Matt: I doubted it, as Barb could open the file without problem, but I gave it a go anyway. The same 'Internal error' message.

I have sent a copy of the error to support, but I'm aware they don't provide individual solutions. I may try 'chat' tomorrow when the US is awake (so it won't be till afternoon here).


As Barb says, worst case scenario is extract information from the PDF - but I'll have to reindex. :-(

I will post what happens on the laptop, but as it's not after 6pm on  a Sunday, I'm going to switch off for a bit.

Thanks for your help, guys.

Alison - Clearly Stated
Inspiring
June 5, 2018

Hi Alison, I'm glad to hear you're able to edit again!

There is no need to purchase a second license...you can delicense your bothersome Fm instance and then use that number to work on the other machine as needed.

Not ideal, but only a minute or two to swap as needed until you resolve the config issue on your main machine.

FYI, if you're going to press, you should always use the CMYK option for your PDF.

-Matt


Hi there,

Yes, I do use the CMYK for press (or try to - I have had problems getting that to work but RGB has done instead) but this particular journal is saved twice - once for press (with bleeds, etc) and one as an online PDF (with RGB selected - usually, but not on this occasion).

Reinstalling made not a jot of difference. As this particular project finishes this autumn, I'll have to keep swapping the licence back and forth as you suggest. It's really weird, though, as it ONLY affects files from these two books (which share the same templates, fonts and so on) - everything else works fine on either machine, apart from the save-to-RGB, which is a very minor thing. And everyone but me can open these files too, so it's not corruption in the files themselves.

Thanks for the help and support.

Barb Binder
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 19, 2018

Hi Alison:

Have you tried:

  1. Moving the project folder to a local drive?
  2. Using heroic open? Esc o H
  3. Opening the back-up files in the project folder?

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
Alison - Clearly Stated
Inspiring
May 20, 2018

Hi Barb, Thank you for responding on a Saturday!

I have tried (1). The folder on my system that syncs to the One Drive is on my C:\ drive, and it's that copy I was trying to open. I've also tried copying the files to a non-sync'd folder, just in case that's the issue. I have also (since my original post) tried to open a chapter in the previous book I typeset - which was fine when I used a chapter as a template for the latest, but that doesn't open now either. So, with a bit more to go on, I've added a few more things that they have in common: (a) Non-standard page sizes; (b) Different fonts to my normal work (both use the same fonts) - and I've checked and the fonts are still installed); (c) I can't swear to this one, but *probably* the Save to PDF was done with "Convert RGB to CMYK" selected as the files were off for professional printing (normally my stuff saves to RGB as it's online-based).

(2) I didn't know this existed. I tried it, but no joy.

(3) Yep - that doesn't work either - and I'm struggling to see how every single file in the 'book publishing' folders - but only those files - could have simultaneously corrupted.

I know there is an issue with "Save to PDF" since the latest Microsoft update for Windows 10, and I'm wondering if there is any connection... but because I can't even open the files, I can't check what the setting is.

Alison - Clearly Stated
Inspiring
May 20, 2018

Oh, and OneDrive is a red-herring... the older book isn't, and never has been, backed up in that way.