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PlatinumSpork
Inspiring
April 12, 2019
Answered

Missing links only when *I* open the file

  • April 12, 2019
  • 4 replies
  • 5285 views

OSX 10.13.6, ID CC 14.0.2

A few days ago I started to have a strange problem pop up randomly, and now it seems that it is permanent.

Every ID file I open shows that all the links are missing, but when you follow the exact same file path to relink it, its still there.
I have uninstalled all Adobe products, deleted all prefs, run CC Cleaner tools, and reinstalled, and the problem still persists. I have had my coworkers open the exact same file and all the links are there for them, but when I open it right after they close it, all the links are missing.

This is hampering my ability to do my job, and I was wondering if anyone has any input at all on how to get this resolved. The only thing I can remotely think of doing would be to remove all of my servers that I link to and maybe reconnecting, but if restarts won't help this problem, I don't know what will.

Thanks for the assistance.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer PlatinumSpork

    So after a few days of working on this problem, I *think* I have it solved. After conferring with IT and roping them into this problem, which they created, we have hopefully solved this problem.

    They had us log in to different servers, but they had the same name. So somehow they rerouted and renamed one of the servers and so far, after a week, we haven't had any missing link drama since then.

    I hope that this fixes things for other people as well. Thanks for your input on this.

    4 replies

    MollyzMom
    MollyzMom
    Known Participant
    November 4, 2023

    MAC / ICLOUD USERS WITH TENACIOUS MISSING LINKS on INDESIGN:  

     

    If there is anyone like me out there searching through these threads, having the same problem with needing to reclick on dozens of red question marks EACH AND EVERY SINGLE TIME you reopen a saved InDesign document, even though you can see all your links RIGHT THERE WHERE YOU LEFT THEM, perfectly named with no strange characters, no servers, etc and other issues suggested by other posters here, I can contribute one tiny little thing I finally confirmed. (Sorry if this was "common sense" to those of you who are techier than I!)

     

    I always get, even after double clicking to relink all these "missing" (in plain view) links "not accessible" or "in use by another application." I *think* I know why now:

     

    My new MacBookPro is backing up EVERYTHING, I mean EVERYTHING, the entire desktop even, to icloud. All these links, too.  So it looks like they are no longer JUST "local" to InDesign ALONE for some reason. (I don't really understand why not, since the InDesign doc was also saved the same way, in the same folder, both locally and, therefore, automatically in icloud.) Long story short: what I must do now when I need to work on a large ID doc with lots of links is to first go to its LINKS folder--and whether it was packaged or not seems to make no difference-- open up all the files with litle clouds under them. My screen is then flooded with all my artworks for the book, so I just minimize them. And I have to keep them on, that is available locally, on the desktop, the entire time I'm working in that particular ID doc.

     

    Next, I can open the ID doc and relink just one artwork,  the rest follow if I have the "find all missing links in the folder" box checked. Sorry if this seems silly or obvious to everyone else, but it had me stumped for a couple weeks! 

     

    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Legend
    November 5, 2023

    Next time, could you please split your reply into shorter / separate Paragraphs?

     

    P
    PlatinumSporkAuthorCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    May 3, 2019

    So after a few days of working on this problem, I *think* I have it solved. After conferring with IT and roping them into this problem, which they created, we have hopefully solved this problem.

    They had us log in to different servers, but they had the same name. So somehow they rerouted and renamed one of the servers and so far, after a week, we haven't had any missing link drama since then.

    I hope that this fixes things for other people as well. Thanks for your input on this.

    nicolemaluso
    nicolemaluso
    Participant
    February 12, 2020

    .

    jane-e
    Community Expert
    jane-eCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 12, 2019

    When you make the Links panel really wide, where does it say the images with broken links have been saved?

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    PlatinumSporkAuthor
    Inspiring
    April 12, 2019

    All of the images are saved to our server Creative:_Image Library: etc etc.

    Everything we do is saved to the same server, and we all link to it the same way as well. Dunno if its DNS cache or what, but its starting to really irritate me.

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    PlatinumSporkAuthor
    Inspiring
    April 15, 2019

    So after shutting down my machine for the weekend, I opened the same files that had all of the missing links. Some of them had only a handful of missing links, and a few had all of the files still missing. I have not done a DNS cache purge, since I don't know how that will react with all of my programs.

    So far I haven't had any luck in finding similar accounts online. I don't know if I'm searching incorrectly or what, but so far nada. Will report back if anything works.

    Bill Silbert
    Community Expert
    Bill SilbertCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 12, 2019

    It sounds like you are linking to a server. If you link to graphics that are on your hard drive does the same problem occur? Also, you mentioned that you are using the most up to date InDesign and OS. If you are, indeed, linking to a network has that network been updated to be fully compatible with the latest version of the program and the latest Mac OS? Many times networks are not fully updated so as to maintain compatibility with firewall and virus protection. If this is the case I would suggest speaking to the network administrator and making sure that all is compatible.

    One last thing. If the server is a Google Drive you should know that there have been many reports of incompatibility with InDesign and Google Drives. In that case speaking to Google would also be necessary.

    P
    PlatinumSporkAuthor
    Inspiring
    April 12, 2019

    Everyone on my team uses the latest version of ID and OSX. I don't think the problem is with the OS or ID: I think its something to do with how my machine is connected to said network.

    The other people on my team connect to the network the same way I do, use the same smb:// connections to them, and mount them exactly the same way; its just me that has this problem. I even removed all of the servers that I use, tried to clear my cache of them, then rebooted and logged into them again: the same problem is still there.

    Images linked to my desktop work just fine, the other images are still missing. We don't use Google Drives for any type of image retention: we have quite a few TB of them, and I don't think Google would appreciate us trying to do that.

    Thanks for trying to help though.

    BobLevine
    Community Expert
    BobLevineCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 16, 2019

    Do you use any extended characters in the file naming or spaces? Don't use :, /, \, &, öäüß, ÄÖÜ, any dashes or any punctuation in file names or in the path.


    Are the links on the pasteboard? InDesign will not package those and if you’re opening from a packaged file, missing links would be the result.

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