Frequent "Changes cannot be saved" error message, followed by crashing

[ElenaLeeMing]

Hi there - This error has begun appearing on a near-daily basis when I try to save files, since about February. The error message says "Changes cannot be saved as InDesign can no longer access the <file name and location> file. Place the file in the original location and try again." InDesign then crashes immediately after. Sometimes I also get Error code 2 after the first message ("Could not complete your request because of a database error"). Neither seems to follow any particular actions or commands (aside from trying to save the file).

Working on Mac OS X.

Any suggestions?

[Cari Jansen]

Are you working on files that are stored on your computers hard drive? or are you working on files opened across a network (e.g. stored on a Server)?

Have you maybe renamed the file on the system while it was open in InDesign?

Are you able to run a system check and see if the file contains appropriate file permissions that allow editing/saving? or ensure the correct permissions are set?

See also: File permission troubles on High Sierra - Apple Community

[ElenaLeeMing]

Hi, Cari - Thanks for your help. I'm working on my laptop's hard drive. I haven't renamed any of the files while they were open in InDesign (this has happened with about 40 files at this point). And I'll run a system check to make sure the file permissions all allow editing, but given that it's so many files and there's no reason why I would have changed the permissions on any of them, I doubt that's the problem (also, would that cause InDesign to freeze and crash every time?). How would I go about running that system check?

Thanks again,

Elena

[Steve Werner]

You should definitely check the integrity of your hard drive. It sounds like you may be near drive failure.

[ElenaLeeMing]

Crap, that sounds serious. How would I check that?

[Steve Werner]

What Mac operating system are you running? Disk Utility in the Utilities folder offers a free First Aid utility.

Disk Warrior from Alsoft is the best but it costs some money. Could be a lifesaver, however:

https://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/index.html

[ElenaLeeMing]

Running OS X. I'll run the First Aid utility first and see what that turns up. Thank you so much for your help.

[ElenaLeeMing]

Disk Utility didn't report anything. Does that mean I'm probably in the clear or should I buy Disk Warrior?

[Steve Werner]

I'd recommend Disk Warrior even though I'm not sure it's a hard drive problem. But exactly was MacOS X version are you running? You can tell if you choose  About the Macintosh from the Apple menu.

[ElenaLeeMing]

It's version 10.11.6

[Steve Werner]

Because of changes with drive formats, Disk Warrior is not as useful yet for macOS 10.13.x (the latest version). It should totally be able to diagnose hard drive problems with your operating system. And even if no problems are found, you're at least eliminating that as a possible problem.

[ElenaLeeMing]

Okay, I'll do that. Thanks again for all of your help!

[Srishti Bali]

Hi Elena,

I would like to know if the steps suggested above worked for you, or the issue still persists.

Kindly update the discussion if you need further assistance with it.

Thanks,

Srishti

[ElenaLeeMing]

Hi there, Srishti - Unfortunately no, none of the solutions recommended above worked for me. I've also updated my OS since then, which doesn't seem to have made a difference either.

The problems seems to be happening less frequently, but I can't tell if that's a coincidence or not.

Do you have any other recommendations?

Thanks,

Elena

[Laubender]

Hi Elena,

I'm not sure at all, but did you place an inDesign page in an InDesign document?

Regards,
Uwe

[ElenaLeeMing]

Hi there, Laubender - No, that's not the problem either. Thanks for the suggestion though

e

[Srishti Bali]

Hi Elena,

Sorry to hear about that. As per your query, while working on InDesign you often get this error "Changes cannot be saved as InDesign can no longer access the <file name and location> file". This indeed is a permission error but occurs generally on server environments but as you have already mentioned that you are working from your Desktop only, I would suggest you to check how InDesign works in the Root account: How to enable the root user on your Mac or change your root password - Apple Support

If it works fine in Root Account

• Go to Location ~/Library/Preferences

• Right-click preferences folder and click get info

• Click the lock icon to unlock it

• Click plus symbol

• Change permissions to read and write.

• Click the Action pop-up menu, then choose “Apply to enclosed items.”

• If you do not see your account there click on plus symbol on the bottom left corner and add account and follow same steps

Follow same steps for

~/Library/Caches

~/Library/Application support

/Library/Preferences

/Library/Caches

/Library/Application support

Note: If you are on office system, these (/Library/Application Support and/Library/Preferences) folders may or may not allow you to add the user, that is completely fine.

Restart the system into your account and check how it works.

Regards,

Srishti

[ElenaLeeMing]

Hi, Srishti - Okay, I'll give this a try. So it sounds like in order to try out the root account, I have to stay logged in until I can confirm whether or not InDesign functions like it should in that account. Since it only seems to be crashing every couple of days now, does that mean I should stay logged in for a long period of time, like several days, to make sure I've given it enough time to test?

Elena

[Srishti Bali]

Hi Elena,

Just stay there for some time, if you find that everything is perfect to simply follow the steps and then monitor it in your own account.

Regards,

Srishti

[ElenaLeeMing]

Okay, I'll give it a try and report back. Thank you so much!

e

[Srishti Bali]

Thanks Elena.