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Question

InDesign CS6 crash when open a PMD (PageMaker) file

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
April 21, 2022
6 replies
2412 views

Hello,

I have a PMD file from an old friend, whose hobby is writing. His lifetime work is a 1000-page book, written by PageMaker 6.5 on an old Mac. However, when I try to open it in InDesign CS6 to see and probably publish it, InDesign CS6 on both Mac and Windows crashes while opening. I have the crash log from my Mac, which can be found at: (add later).

The crashed process is com.adobe.MPS. Is it safe to assume that this is due to the lack of font on my computer?

This topic has been closed for replies.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Brainiac

After all the technical exchanges, I am thinking that the odds of getting this file to a usable ID format through any kind of simple import or conversion are just about nil. Or at a minimum, far from the efficient workflow.

I'd go back to the author and ask for a save/export in a more universal format like PDF, then reconstruct the book in ID from components. Or export the PM file to components (like a clean text file) and work from there. At a certain point, remodeling becomes a lot more work than just rebuilding. A 1,000 page book with embedded illustrations from PM6 is... not a stable foundation.

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Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

It's doable. The OP and I are just waiting for the author to approve me to look at the file. If it turns out it's truly corrupted, then all options are out anyway.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Brainiac

You're one of the last people I'd question on that. 🙂

I've just learned over many such projects there's a time to quit expending effort trying to take the short route.

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rob day

Community Expert

Hi @Thong Al , it looks like the crash might be related to a placed .eps file? Does the PMD file include a folder of placed assets?

BobLevine

Community Expert

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the assets were embedded, which of course will present its own set of issues if the OP ever does get the file converted.

BobLevine

Community Expert

You're trying to run very old and unpatched software on a newer, unsupported operating system. Frankly, I'm surprised it works at all. You'll have better luck on a Windows 7 machine if you can find one.

Perhaps someone with an older stable CS6 install will be able to help.

T

Thong AlAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hi Bob,

I installed it on my Mac OSX Mojave (10.14) as from 10.15 version Mac stopped support 32-bit application. I tried InDesign CS6 on both Mac 10.14 and Windows 10, but both crash when opening my file.

I hope it helps.

BobLevine

Community Expert

None of those operating systems is supported. Try it on Windows running it in Windows 7 compatibility mode.

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

First of all, is it a .pmd (v7) file or is it a .p65 (v6.5) file? Although the two are pretty structurally similar, there are minor differences that may be enough to confuse InDesign.

Regardless, the file is probably corrupted, even slightly.

The best approach is to try and fix the PageMaker file first. Depending on how it was configured, PM could save files with mini-saves, as opposed to doing a full "save as" (this was a time-saving thing "back in the day"). These mini-saves are a notorious hitch in the conversion process.

If you do not have PageMaker anywhere yourself, I would be willing to take a look at the file and see what can be done. I just did some conversions for two users here in the last week, so I have everything up and running. Send me a PM if interested.

~ Brad

T

Thong AlAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hi Brad,

It's strange that the original file is extesionless. I manually added *.pmd and *.p65, but InDesign CS6 on both my Mac 10.14 and Windows 10 crash when open it.

I tried installing PageMaker on SheepShaver, but version 6.5 cannot open the *p65 file (Bad index), and version 7.0 crashes on opening itself. I will send you a PM.

BobLevine

Community Expert

Well, that was a detail we could have used. Are you sure it's a Pagemaker file? How big is it?

Perhaps it was a zip file with not extension that needs to be extracted.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Brainiac

The short answer is that CS6, the last version that will open PM files, is as obsolete as PM itself, and OS support etc. is eroding quickly. Many users report features that no longer work, and crashes.

I would go back to PM on the Mac and export to any available basic format to preserve the work. Print/export to PDF would be one good option, but export to a basic text format would be better than nothing.

It may not be too long before all that work is lost. Good luck!

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T

Thong AlAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hi Nitro,

That's what I guess so far. But SheepShaver crash when opening PageMaker 7.0, and PageMaker 6.5 cannot recognize that file. I don't have any real and old Mac to try.

I hope it helps.

T

Thong AlAuthor

Participating Frequently

Sorry to add a reply, but the crash log can be found at: https://pastebin.com/CdnJNXLF. This is information about the crashed process:

Thread 0 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

0 com.adobe.MPS 0x012826f2 MPSInitialize + 462226

1 com.adobe.MPS 0x01284af6 MPSInitialize + 471446

2 com.adobe.MPS 0x01286389 MPSInitialize + 477737

3 com.adobe.MPS 0x0128674f MPSInitialize + 478703

4 com.adobe.MPS 0x01290526 MPSInitialize + 519110

5 com.adobe.MPS 0x0128c2ce MPSInitialize + 502126

6 com.adobe.MPS 0x0128fb8d MPSInitialize + 516653

7 com.adobe.MPS 0x01279e18 MPSInitialize + 427192

8 com.adobe.MPS 0x01293672 MPSInitialize + 531730

9 com.adobe.MPS 0x01292f65 MPSInitialize + 529925

10 com.adobe.InDesign.EPS Page Item 0x52e8d8b6 GetPlugIn + 249030

11 com.adobe.InDesign.EPS Page Item 0x52e88c8d GetPlugIn + 229533

12 com.adobe.InDesign.EPS Page Item 0x52e86e7b GetPlugIn + 221835

13 PublicLib.dylib 0x01781d7c Command::DoImmediate(short) + 62

14 com.adobe.InDesign.Utilities 0x5945e691 0x5945a000 + 18065

15 com.adobe.InDesign.Utilities 0x5945e8a0 0x5945a000 + 18592

16 com.adobe.InDesign.AppFramework 0x54c6cbba 0x54c50000 + 117690

17 PublicLib.dylib 0x01782724 CmdUtils::ProcessCommand(ICommand*) + 48

18 com.adobe.InDesign.EPS Page Item 0x52e4ed87 0x52e46000 + 36231

19 com.adobe.InDesign.SangamServicer-Mapper 0x46d55698 GetPlugIn + 302696

20 com.adobe.InDesign.SangamServicer-Mapper 0x46d59440 GetPlugIn + 318480

... 50 lines after this.

Willi Adelberger

Community Expert

How did you install ID CS6? From the original installer or via transfer from an older computer or a backup?

Is your OS compatible?

T

Thong AlAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hi Willi,

I installed it on my Mac OSX Mojave (10.14) as from 10.15 that version Mac stopped support 32-bit application. I downloaded old installation files from <Link Removed By Moderator>. So far I can open other PMD files but not that one.

I hope it helps.

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