InDesign CS5 Files Open as Read-Only (Mac)

[fineshshah]

Having a problem where InDesign CS5 files sometimes open as Read-Only versions. This happens when opened by double-clicking through Finder. In the Office we are running Mac OS 10.6.5 with Adobe Indesign CS5 v7.0.4. Have also tried on Mac OS 10.6.8 with same issue. However, closing the file and opening it again will open fine.

The Indesign files (.indd) are on the server running ExtremeZ-IP v7.1.1x94 and connecting via AFP to the Macs. However, have also tried with Indesign files on the Apple XServe connecting via AFP only and also on a Windows server connecting via SMB. In each case, Indesign has opened the file as Read-Only randomly. Have also tried accessing the Indesign files on a server running the latest ExtremeZ-IP v7.2x166 and once or twice the files has opened as Read-Only.

When the files open as Read-Only, the Lock file (.idlk) has not been generated.

Seems like several people have the issue when I checked online but I cannot see a fix on any website. Any help resolving this issue would be appreciated.

[Michael_Gianino]

It happens to me sometimes, and if I don't notice it until a warning tells me when I'm trying to save, I just save to a different folder and copy back (replacing the old version). I always figured it was either a permissions issue or the way someone else saved the file, but it hasn't bothered me enough so far to try to find an exact cause.

[fineshshah]

We are a large Media company with over 1000 Macs. This problem has been seen by several of our users therefore we need to find a solution.

[John Hawkinson]

Well, at what frequency does the problem occur? 1 in 10? 1 in 100? 1000?

Can you make it happen without the network?

Is it a consistent set of files?

Does it happen after someone else has had the same file open recently on another machine?

Do standard network diagnostics (e.g. pinging the fileserver while ID is trying to open the file) suggest any connectivity issues?

I suspect you'll have to use low-level OS and network debugging tools, like Instruments.app, Wireshark, iosnoop, etc. Talk to your network administrator.

[PTDellKACE]

This same thing has just happened to me on a Window 7 system with local files, so it doesn't look like a Network or OS problem.

[Peter Spier]

Ive seen that on occasion with files copied from a CD.

[MarkG001]

I have solved the enternal 'Read Only' problem! After years of dealing with this, and constantly bugging the IT guys to no avail, I stumbled upon the fact that if I clicked the "preview" toggle in File Finder for the InDesign file, and turned the preview "off", the file opened up fine. If I went back in and turned the preview back on, it would open the file as 'Read Only'.

Problem solved. You can send all your checks for millions of dollars to my secret off shore account.

[fineshshah]

Hi Mark. How did you turn of the preview? Is it by selecting 'Show View Options' from the View Menu and unticking 'Show Preview Column'. I have tried this and was still getting the Read-Only issue.

[MarkG001]

Hi fineshshah,

In your file finder, go all the way over to the left, there should be a toggle switch that when you click on it, a preview drops down. In Photoshop and other files types, it will give you an actual thumbnail view of the file. In InDesign it just shows you the Adobe CS5 logo. For some reason, having this preview on causes the file to open as 'Read Only'. It seems too siimple to be true, but it works. I've attached screen shots so you can see what I'm referring to. Hope this helps.

[TFabianIT]

The problem is the version of Indesign, i have detected this problem because 4 user had 7.0 and 7.0.1 and other 7.0.4...

Only can block theirs files 7.0 vs 7.0.1 -> read only 7.0.4.

If 7.0.4 -> read only 7.0 and 7.0.1

So, the solution is update all indesign on all machine to 7.0.4 with this patch

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5004

No matter OSX, we have 10.6 and 10.7.

Regards

Fabian

IT

[Peter Spier]

All patch levels of CS5 can read files from any patch level and this should not make them read only. I have no problem editing and saving files in the later updates. Are you saying that the files from the newer updates are read-only for you in the older updates?

[TFabianIT]

Exactly, in my office there was versions 7.0 and 7.0.1 so this file was Read Only for 7.0.4 and vice versa files 7.0.4 was Read-Only for 7.0 and 7.0.1 . Only when similar version can avoid Read-Write each other. In my mind correct behavior is block read versus any version.

[Peter Spier]

That's not normal.

[paul_tech]

This is happening with only one user opening the file the next day.

Nobody else previously opening/saving.

Hmmmm

[Peter Spier]

Have you checked to see if lock files are being deleted properly when the program closes?

[Colin Flashman]

My colleagues and I are experiencing the same problem, and as of 4 March 2015, we are running IDCC2014 (Feb 2015 release) on Mac OSX 10.9.5 machines, and opening our files from a common server that is Mac OSX 10.6.8 (10K549) Darwin 10.8.0.

This fault only occurs with indesign files - it does not occur with any other kind of assets that we open (e.g. word files, illustrator files, jpgs, pdfs... only indesign files).

The fault occurs with no timetable-like frequency, and the solution has been to save the file to the desktop, close the file, and then move the file back onto the server via finder. This workaround has risks such as moving the file to an incorrect folder, so two versions of the file now exist.

I have tried the "preview" trick mentioned earlier in this thread and was not able to replicate the fault, but can say we are experiencing the fault nonetheless, though the preview cause isn't what we're experiencing - 9+ users all experiencing this issue.

[MattMinor]

I'm sorry, just piling on here but I want to add my experiences to the thread for informative purposes as my work environment is about to change.

I have been dealing with this as a "random" issue for about 2 years. There has been no true rhyme or reason to it and I have looked at local copies (instances are really really rare from the local hard disk but I have noted 2 at least) while instances from the network are much more common.

I have an older OS mac (10.6.8, older version of SMB than 10.7 macs...I know its out of date...stay with me) on a PC network for about another week, I get these about 1 in 5 times, sometimes more. I open somewhere between 20 and 40 INDD docs a day on average. I have 3 users in my group who are using InDesign CC on macs/PCs and they are both having the same issue occasionally from Mac OS 10.7 and Win 7. They usually let me know because I am the experienced user in our group. Between us, we have determined it's not just someone else having a file open or permissions issues. I get the "Read-Only" note most often when I have selected my file from the finder and the Mac OS has generated a preview because I am sort of actively moving/holding/accessing it, which led me to believe the little OS application that was generating the previews was "using" the file so it became a "Read-Only" document. However, that is not always true. I try to just click/drag my files to the version of INDD I need (actively using CS6 and CC) but that is merely my own superstitious attempt to hold it off. I have full admin access on my machine and the network.

I have to save alt versions of every document this happens to and clean up my files after I finish. My colleagues are pretty green, so they just make alt files and leave them all over which makes it hard for me to sort through their latest documents if i have to. Its messy and honestly a horrible work flow to not be able to physically save your work when you finish. On rare occasions where I was using an existing document as a base document and this happened "Save As" was the natural progression anyways but most of the time its just an annoying speed bump in my workflow.

Next week we all go to a PC full time so my experiences may be different. I will be running INDD CC for Win 7 exclusively. I will come back to this thread if they are.

Thanks and good luck.

[Leann_Berger]

MattMinor wrote:

I get the "Read-Only" note most often when I have selected my file from the finder and the Mac OS has generated a preview because I am sort of actively moving/holding/accessing it, which led me to believe the little OS application that was generating the previews was "using" the file so it became a "Read-Only" document.

I tend to think there is something to this idea. Our group of 8 designers was on an XServe for about 8 years, but we've recently switched to a Windows server with a much higher latency. The number of read-only files went up immediately, from extremely rare to about 20%, though only for some users. I've asked the users with the problem to wait a few seconds between selecting an InDesign file in the finder and actually giving the command to open it. Time will tell whether this will have any impact on the issue.

[gaylyns]

Matt, I just read your remarks here and have a question. Would the server allow one document to open on two separate computers at the same time? One, of course, being the Read Only. It's happening a lot at my job. Two designers will be on the same page at the same time and editing can't be saved because of this. We save to our desktops until we find out what copies need to be updated. We have a Windows server and just our creative department has Macs. IT doesn't know Mac very well. I'm the self-taught IT for the department and like troubleshooting, but this is something I can't get a handle on. Have you got any answers for me?

[MattMinor]

Hi gaylyns,

My understanding of this when we used Macs and now that we are on PCs is that the network is very good about knowing when someone is actually in the document. You can't ever open the same document at the same time. We could make copies of a document that someone else was in sometimes and work from that. This was something we were experimenting with to make sure that someone wasn't in a document somehow to create the Read-Only condition for another person. Usually, we would open a document and were already in the document working when we realized it was Read-Only and we would have to save a copy to keep our work.

I hope that helps.

[JessicaArtDirector]

Would LOVE for this problem to be fixed. We're an in-house team and everyone experiences this issue. It's random, lasts for days, and then is fine for days.

Running: CC 2014 on OSX 10.10.1

Adobe, please help! This issue is seriously frustrating. Saving the file as a new name is not a suitable fix.

[MattMinor]

Hello everyone,

I'm just checking back in on this issue as I've been forced to switch platforms at my office and settled in. I still run a Mac at home...and I have been paying close attention to EVERYTHING.

At the office, I am now running Windows 7 on an HP workstation, late service pack until we switch to Windows 10 in a few weeks. I have not had any issues with the PC based network locking me out of INDD files at all. It has never come up. HOWEVER, there is a really similar "Read-Only" behavior with PDF files. All the time various Adobe apps, especially Acrobat, tell me I can't "Save" a new PDF of the same name over the old one. I don't have it open or anything, nothing is designated as "Read-Only". This did not happen on my Mac without due cause.

At home I am running not only my iMac but my former work machine. They are networked together for file sharing over a gigabyte switch and I have been sorting through them to create a "best of all my stuff" arrangement. There have also been no issues with "Read-Only" files occurring.

I am personally taking this to mean that a Server-based system is having a Server-Mac based conflict about sharing or permissions regarding files on a network. If someone is "browsing" a file, has it open, or is in the process of accessing it the Server reports normally and InDesign decides to protect the original file which means it opens a copy or relies on its temp file...fine, but the result is annoying in a professional workflow AND not happening on another platform OR in peer to peer sharing (so far). I am versed in the generalities of Mac/PC operation and how the gap has closed, but network specifics is not something I have a great deal of experience with as anything other than a user or longtime novice admin so I can only offer my impressions. I would be interested to see if Mac/PC OS's handle the network permissions significantly differently or if Adobe has to handle things significantly differently by platform that would explain it.

I hope this is helpful.

[MattMinor]

Was re-reading this and need to clarify one item: "All the time various Adobe apps, especially Acrobat, tell me I can't "Save" a new PDF of the same name over the old one. I don't have it open or anything,..."

I often actually am in Acrobat editing the PDF and say "Save" only yo tell me I can't....other times I want to replace an existing PDF from another app and in those cases I don't actively have it open in Acrobat or something else. Thanks.

[MattMinor]

I am checking back in about this issue and am reporting that since the change over to PC I have not had it happen in CS6, or either of the CC/CC 2015 releases. I really am not thrilled at being on a PC because my fingers are still remembering all the Mac key commands, but at least I don;'t have to re-save multiple copies of all my InDD files. I don't have a good answer other than because I'm on Windows now, with a Windows file server.

I am however having exactly this problem in Acrobat. I can almost never save a PDF back over one I just made, and sometimes over ones that I just opened. I'm going to look it up elsewhere in the forums and see if I can make some headway on it. Same issue, I finish some work, plan to save a small revision and distribute it but I wind up having to make several copies and archive them or hide them. Craziness.