Staff needed - Acrobat Pro 9 will not accept serial number

[echological]

I recently upgraded to Mavericks (I know I know... but baby steps!). The only reason I stopped at Mavericks was to better ensure that my CS4 would still function for me (I can not currently upgrade to a new CS). I originally installed from my discs, but ran into problems starting with InDesign (error code 5 and then saying that it wasn't installed). Acrobat Pro would not accept the serial number, and after that Photoshop and Illustrator stopped opening and gave error code 150:30.

Because CS4 is an older version, there is no phone support. I went to Chat. Not much there either, just a parrot who repeated what I said - then finally said he couldn't help me "go to forums". I came to the forum and very gratefully received help with the uninstall, cleaning (CC Cleaner Tool, etc...), and reinstall. I was advised to reinstall from a DMG downloaded from Adobe. I did all of the above and it now works fine (at least seems to!).

My only problem is still Acrobat Pro 9. I seem to recall having this as an ongoing issue over the years (through a previous OS upgrade). In the past, I was able to get help from Adobe because at that point, it wasn't as old. I managed to get someone on the phone who helped me in an obscure way that I can not remember or repeat. In googling and searching the forums, this is apparently an ongoing issue for many other people - but I haven't found an answer that works, just a lot of frustrated people. I have been told (more than once) that Customer Care are the only ones who can finally resolve the issues with the licensing or activating/unlocking the serial number - which involved a second cycle of trying the phone, then chat, and now the forums. So here I am again!

Adobe Acrobat Pro 9 was installed with the whole CS4 suite - both times (first from my disc, second from the Adobe DMG). Not as a stand alone, but the licensing issue seems to treat it as one and ignores the suite with which it was installed. I only have one serial number on my box of discs, which does not work for Acrobat Pro 9. The initial CS4 install took that serial number, and since it was an upgrade from CS2 - it took that serial number as well. This is not an option in Acrobat Pro. It only asks for one serial number.

In desperation (since not getting anywhere with Adobe - so far) I downloaded a key finder, and it found the serial number for the installed Acrobat Pro. But it did not work either. ??? I noticed that the key finder said "Acrobat 9.0" not "Acrobat Pro 9.5.5" as in my applications folder (it is fully updated now - even though I cannot open it). I manually applied all CS4 updates - since the updaters no longer work on the newer OS. There were 23 patches for Acrobat Pro and it took a long time to work through the process, so not looking forward to doing that again!

I have exhausted most tips and troubleshooting advice. I have contacted as many sources as I can. I have spent over a week (full time) on this "project" so far.

What are we supposed to do? We can't use Time Machine either, it screws everything up in other ways...

Please help!

(I have no hair left to pull out...)

[echological]

A little more info, I just realized that the key finder found TWO serial numbers for Acrobat Pro installations.

I did not notice at first, because the second one was not named Acrobat 9.0 Mac (as the first one was). The other serial number starts out the same but is a different serial number (and actually matches some of my old records) but it breaks from the Naming protocol as shown for all other software (which simply show the name of the program). In this case, it is a series of numbers and letters instead. In alpha/numeric groups of 8 4 4 4 12 (with a space in between each group.

I don't know why there would be two sets of serial numbers with only one version installed - and none of them are accepted by Acrobat!

It's possible that the Acrobat updates created this? But the whole CS4 suite was updated as well, and only shows one serial number.

[echological]

It's as if Acrobat generates its own serial number each time... guess it if you can!

[echological · Accepted solution]

I went through a lot of steps, mishaps, installs, reinstalls. But I finally resolved my issues.

The final install resolved all issues with Error: 6 / Error: 5 / Error: 150:30 and most importantly, the issue with Acrobat Pro 9 not accepting my key. The issue was mostly with my original installation discs, from the beginning of time. I was lucky (and persistent) enough in the past to get tech people help me workaround. Now, you are on your own - with some help from the forum!

I probably wrote what worked under the wrong subject (it was actually an update to a forum member who had helped me).

So I am posting it here too, just in case someone else is having a similar problem... and to answer myself ; ) I like to wrap things up!

I am not sure I mentioned this before... but one other thing that might have made a little difference, was that that Java was preinstalled by the third CS4 install. It was installed after the 2nd CS4 installation and I did not remove it after purging all things Adobe (as described below).

[echological]

Great News!

It's a miracle...

I almost gave up, but I am thorough and stubborn (and NEED those programs!). So I sucked it up and went at it again... one more time. They say 3x is a charm, and boy was it!

First of all... thank you for directing me to the Adobe DMG. I now realize that most likely, my problems ALL ALONG from the very beginning, and during every reinstall, was buggy discs. I don't think they "deteriorated". I think they might have been an early batch. I have heard that some versions required a second key for Acrobat Pro 9. Mine apparently did, but no key was provided on the box.

I vaguely remember receiving a key later? (which is sloppy for posterity) But my documentation skills were not as advanced back then (and neither were my digital tools to help with that ; ) I also thought it was registered along with my CS4 because, to me - it was PART of CS4, installed at the same time - so no need to register it independently. I must have had another "thorough attack" and registered it later (probably when I got the serial), but under another account (linked to an email that is long long long gone - because I couldn't remember my original account). I then found my original account again (apparently right after that) which I have continued to use since. That might have been part of the problem - but I don't really think so. The odd thing is that my Acrobat Pro at home IS using that key, so I don't think the registration had as much to do with my issues, as my original discs (and possibly some old old leftover Adobe and/or CS2 vestiges in this computer).

So, I was left in a situation where I did not have an uninstaller for anything adobe. Except AIR, which didn't work. I also could not open my programs for deactivation due to Error: 6 (at this point). All of my individual uninstaller aliases pointed to nothing. I tried CC Cleaner Tool. Nothing. It could not see anything, even though it was all there. Apparently, if I was using Windows - there is an "Uninstall" feature, but not for mac. I also tried Mac CS4 and Mac CS5 Cleanup Utilities. Same thing. Nothing. I then tried an app cleaner. It would not actually remove the programs, but would show me where the affiliated programs were located. I just started deleting manually...

I deleted ANYTHING I could find along the way that was Adobe related. I really didn't care anymore about anything. As I said, it became therapeutic because my frustration levels were so high! adobe... zap! acrobat... zap! zap! zap!

I then used spotlight and searched for "adobe", then "CS4", then "acrobat"... and deleted a lot more. At this point, I was about to try installing again... but I was also still searching and reading about ways to uninstall without a working uninstaller (I find it odd that Adobe never provided a working standalone downloadable version - since it seems to disappear or fail for unknown reasons on occasion). I stumbled onto this discussion for CS6 Removal (using the Terminal). https://jamfnation.jamfsoftware.com/discussion.html?id=13769

I am leery of using the Terminal (I did for the "Terminal Cure" you suggested though - Thank you for that!) but I read through it anyways and was inspired by the script posted by Aaron @jwojda. I also didn't want to try it because it was for CS6 and my issue was CS4. So I did it manually. I started at the top and checked each item. There were initially quite a few that I had already deleted. But then I found gems lurking deeper. Not everything matched, but it was pretty close. There were a few items that I had, but he hadn't listed. There were also fewer that he had listed that I never had (differences between versions I am sure). For the fonts, I didn't want to pick through them, so I sorted the folder by date, and could clearly tell all of the ones that were installed on the same day as CS4 - so deleted them en mass. I also checked all of the user libraries (as shown at the bottom) and found even more! I had to use "Get Info" to unlock those folders, but continued to delete anything adobe related that I could find. I emptied the trash. It's really interesting how many more items I found this way - than spotlight showed me.

Then I did a hard reboot. Then ran the Adobe utilities agin (never worked once during this hell week!). Then ran Disc Utility. Then ran Onyx. Then rebooted.

I was super worried because of all of the Acrobat licensing issues - and not being able to access any of the programs before uninstalling them in order to deactivate them. I was also worried about the FLEXnet Publisher folders. At various points it had been suggested to remove and delete this folder from [hard drive]/Library/Preferences/FlexNet Publisher. There were warnings NOT to delete it from User/Library/Preferences/FlexNet Publisher - but no real reason was given for this. Which creates a kind of panic... especially if you are as stressed as I was at this point. I did not have either folder! I googled some more and realized that this was an important program for licensing, and got worried. Spotlight didn't show anything. I could find no real info on what to do if it was missing and found something that said to delete [hard drive]/Library/Application Support/FlexNet Publisher. So I looked there and I DID have that folder. I figured that the preferences would regenerate (and they probably included "bad" data) so wasn't as worried as long as there was still a folder in Application Support. So I did NOT delete it as that site was recommending. (I wonder if they got it mixed up with the preferences folder?)

THEN - I opened the DMG and started the reinstall with baited breath... Did a little "program-installing rain dance" and threw imaginary darts at the bad computer gremlins for good measure. It installed smoothly. Then I opened Photoshop. GOOD! I opened Illustrator. GOOD! I opened InDesign (which had been buggy from the disc install) GOOD! Then...... I held my breath and opened Acrobat Pro 9. GOOD!!!!!! Not only that, but the first time EVER - it opened without asking for my serial number. It FINALLY accepted the serial number for my CS4 Suite! FIRST TIME EVER.... It's a miracle! (and I owe a large portion to you recommending the DMG over my discs : )

It appears that the licensing issue with Acrobat was bad planning, or CS4 was rushed out without it, and I got one of those. They must have fixed it later... which explains why there is conflicted information out there about the licensing issue with Acrobat Pro/CS4. It's Apples and Oranges depending on your version. People - always use the DMG from Adobe if you are having issues with this!!!!

I was already prepared with the DMGs for all CS4 updates (having gone down this road already). I was kind of worried that something would "break" but it went smoothly. And yes, updating Acrobat Pro was tedious! But I installed all 23 of them one at a time. The last time, I HAD to do them sequentially (not in the order that was suggested by a poster). If I skipped one, the next one would not install. This time was so smooth that I probably could have done it that way - but after everything I had been through all week, I was not going to skimp before the finish line. I also owe being able to find those and download them to you... http://khkonsulting.com/2014/08/where-are-my-adobe-acrobat-9-updates‽‽‽/  THANK YOU again!  That was not easy information to find. I am saving ALL of my DMGs, in case I need them again - since I would never transfer it over via Time Machine (especially after reading about all of the problems there!).

This is the best link to the Acrobat Pro 9 updates: ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/acrobat/mac/9.x/ The ftp is very slow, so you have to be patient and wait. Some people seem to think that it is not working... but it is.

For the record, not having FLEXnet Publisher in my User/Library/Preferences/FlexNet Publisher did not affect anything (I could not find any direct info on this, just panic). It rebounded in the [hard drive]/Library/Preferences/FlexNet Publisher - but not in the User Library. At this point, I don't know if it was EVER in there? Which might be what prompted the "warning" (because no one would find it there?). I just say this because I saw a number of people worrying about this, with no clear answers. At this point, I can't remember all of the places I have been reading in the last week! I wish I could answer now, with what I know now...

So Thank You Thank You Thank You!

I am up and running - but now I need to take a brief computer sabbatical to clear my head out (and regrow some hair : )

I told you all of this because I could see that you help a lot of people in this forum, and this info might help someone else if they are lucky enough to find you, or what I wrote here.

I thought about posting it as a title (even though it is not a question) because I could see that I am not the only person currently having issues with reinstalls of CS4. Some are even using Mavericks like I am (they also might have read up and stopped at Mavericks in hopes of ensuring less complications). In my case, I need my CS4 more than a current OS. I worried about pushing it to El Capitan. For me, it isn't a plaything, it's a workhorse - and MUST work! Now I can use it... to find work! (unemployed now due to corporate takeover)