InDesign CS6 crash when open a PMD (PageMaker) file

[Thong Al]

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?

[Thong Al]

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]

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

Is your OS compatible?

[Thong Al]

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.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

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!

—

[Thong Al]

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.

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

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

[Thong Al]

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]

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.

[Thong Al]

I tried adding "*.zip" but it doesn't help. I assume that it is a PageMaker document because that is what the author said. According to him, it is a 1000 pages document. The file size is around 100Mb, so I assume that makes sense.

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

That was the way back then. Macs didn't use (or need) extensions until later.

As I said, it's likely a mini-save corruption.

I'll take a look at your file!

[BobLevine]

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.

[Thong Al]

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]

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

[Bob Caused This]

Sometimes OS can surprise us! I've been fortunate to run very old, unpatched 'obsolete' software on unsupported operating systems....and have made a good living doing it! It does help to trim the bottom line with not having to purchase useless software upgrades that only fill the profit pockets of big A. Currently running CS3 on win7. 

[rob day]

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]

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.

[Thong Al]

Hi Rob,

I didn't receive any other files or folders from the author. Perharps I will ask for a Library folder that contains all embedded structures from the author.

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

No need. Just send me the PM file. If the images are embedded I can extract them, but even if not, the link information carries through and you can relink once you get hold of the original files. (Considering the size of the document, my guess si they ARE embedded). If, on the chance, they weren't embedded and are not available, you'll be out of luck and will be stuck with low-res previews.

If there was a hi-res PDF made back when the project was first done, that's a possible source for any missing images.

[rob day]

If, on the chance, they weren't embedded and are not available, you'll be out of luck and will be stuck with low-res previews.

Hi Brad, if you can get the PM file opened into InDesign, and the Links are embedded (not pasted), you should be able to unembed via the ID Link panel’s Unembed Link command, and get an option to link to the original, or have InDesign write a new file to a chosen folder.

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

Not so, unfortunately, and this has been acknowledged by Adobe itself since the beginning of ID. The only thing that remains "embedded" in the converted ID file is the low-res preview, and although you CAN unembed/extract that, it doesn't do you any good obviously. Cross platform files are even worse. In addition, without access to the proper links, ID rewrites a generic file name in the Links panel (e.g. Image345.TIF) which makes relinking not a fun experience at all if even you get the original links later in the game.

This is all moot anyway. I use FlightCheck to extract all links from the PM files anyway.

[rob day]

I’m not seeing that on OSX.

Here I’ve placed and embedded a 1.5GB PSD file—the file size of the ID file is 1.58GB.

If I choose Unembed File from the Links panel and click No, I get the option to select a folder and save the embedded file. Links shows the Status as Embedded and the Dimensions are 10350 x 5925:

The written file is now linked:

If I Edit Original, Photoshop confirms the pixel dimensions as 10350 x 5925

[rob day]

Oh I see, you mean Pagemaker doesn’t properly embed the link?

[BobLevine]

PM did embed the files but the conversion to InDesign never handled it properly. There was always the requirement to open in PM and unembed there, first.

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

Yes. This is about Pagemaker. What I mean is that files that were embedded in a PageMaker file do not carry over to InDesign when converted. 🙂