ADE hangs while trying to verify document

[dfkettle]

Help! I'm not sure why, but after adding some pdf files (some purchased, some free) to my library, I can't open ADE any more. It just displays a pop-up box saying "Verifying document..." and never comes back. I have no idea which document it's trying to verify. All I can do is close ADE. I can't access anything now. What do I do?

[Frustrated in AZ]

I don't know how to reset ADE so that it's not verifying a document when

you open it. However, keep in mind that some of the features in .pdf

documents aren't supported by ADE, and this may be contributing to your

problem. You can see the writeup of what is and isn't supported in the

Adobe Digital Editions section of Adobe's website.

Hope this helps!

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[dfkettle]

Great! So I've bought these eBooks and now I can't access them. ADE kinda sucks, doesn't it?

[Frustrated in AZ]

Nope. ADE isn't the problem.

====================

[dfkettle]

Seems to me that if a document isn't formatted properly, or contains features that aren't supported, ADE should just display an error message and go on to the next document, not hang or freeze. That's really stupid software engineering. Anyway, how am I supposed to know in advance what features might be contained in a book that I want to buy?

[Frustrated in AZ]

This environment is complex and many-layered, so the frustration you (and

I) feel can stem from several items.

You have to remember that the software's design point originated in the

mid-1990's. When the first version came out, PDF documents weren't at the

level they are right now, and ADE tells you in the HELP section what

features it doesn't support. However, the ORIGINATORS of the document can

put any number of 'features' in it - and that doesn't mean the software

will be able to recognize them. It's like the different versions of UNIX

and LINUX, etc. What ADE can recognize and deal with results in messages,

just as you and I think should happen. So, I'm thinking that the document

itself or the delivery system are corrupt in ways that cause software

issues.

It could be the 'messenger' software that's transferring the document to

ADE: if it's not working properly, all bets are off. Overdrive is one

chronic offender.

Next up - the publisher. I'd contact the publisher first and discuss your

issue with them. It's quite possible that you're not the only one having

the same problem, and he or she has some 'magic bullet'.

Finally, the distributor. If they are using Overdrive, then the bugs in

Overdrive could either cause or make worse the situation.

Hope this helps!

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[dfkettle]

I don't care how old the product is, or what it's history is. And I don't care how poorly defined or enforced the PDF standard is. They should fix the damn thing, because people are forced to use it if they want to read ebooks from most ebook publishers. And as I've already said, if there's a problem with the document (an unsupported feature, for example), it should just issue a warning message and skip the document, it shouldn't hang and prevent me from accessing any of the other books in my library. (Your Linux analogy is totally bogus. Linux is an operating system. A PDF file is simply data.) I don't know of any other software application that simply hangs when you try to open an invalid input file. If you try to open an invalid document in MS Word or MS Excel, it doesn't hang. It just issues an error message and says "sorry, can't open this file". I'm a programmer myself, I know what I'm talking about. This isn't rocket science. ADE _IS_ the problem! Adobe _IS_ the problem! If I knew of a program to crack Adobe's DRM system, I'd use it without hesitation, not because I'm a thief, but because these are books I've paid for, and Adobe's crappy software is preventing me from accessing them. Why should people be forced to use crappy software like this?

I've opened a case with Adobe Support; I'll let you know what they say.

[Frustrated in AZ]

Sorry you're so upset. Programmers tend to see things in structural terms

(I know, because I started programming back in the '60's). A broader

reading says that ADE hasn't kept up with the times, but that doesn't

excuse Adobe from releasing new code that would address issues that weren't

in the original design document. Perhaps you should volunteer your skills

and knowledge of the issues to Adobe....

=================

[dfkettle]

As I said, I opened a case with technical support. I also tried the "live chat" and was told they don't support ADE. If Adobe makes their software "open source", I might be willing to volunteer my skills. Otherwise, why should I? They can afford to pay programmers, I'm sure. They certainly charge enough for their other products.

[dfkettle · Accepted solution]

I found the problem, no thanks to Adobe tech support. I read in one of your other posts about the file 'manifest.xml', so I opened it in a text editor to look at the contents. I found all my books, and started commenting them out one-by-one, until I found the one that was causing the problem. After I deleted it from the XML file, ADE opened without problem.

In my opinion, this is a bug in ADE. It shouldn't hang just because there's some invalid document in your library. It should display an error message, skip the invalid document and continue. This is User Interfaces 101 stuff. I happen to be a computer programmer so I'm familiar with XML syntax, but otherwise I would have been stuck. (The tech support agent suggested the problem might be related to the firewall on my computer, etc. None of his suggestions were really relevant to the problem.) They surely don't expect all their users to be familiar with XML, do they?

[Frustrated in AZ]

I can't speak for Adobe's tech support - or programming staff either. I

have commented on the quality of the error messages coming from ADE for

over a year now. They need to go back and do a MUCH better job. Maybe

they'll pick up on your comments and those of others and do a better job in

the next release!

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[dfkettle]

P.S. I'd recommend to everyone that they back up the file 'manifest.xml' before adding any new content to their library, just in case they encounter a similar problem.