The dreaded Internal Error error meets the dreaded Adobe support, sigh

[Dov Isaacs]

Emily,

On behalf of Adobe, let me apologize for the runaround that you
got from Adobe's Tech Support. As soon as I am done with this
response, I will be forwarding your post on to our customer
support escalation team. I don't know whether we do or don't
still "officially" support FrameMaker 7.1 (I thought we did!),
but either way, you should have immediately been connected
with someone (1) who competently understands and speaks your
language and (2) knows the product!

There was no "hidden" update to FrameMaker 7.1 or any other
version of FrameMaker or any Adobe product.

I do recall various problems with "save as PDF" with
FrameMaker 7.x causing crashes. The workarounds that tended
to work for me included a combination of simply rebooting
the computer or deleting the Windows system font cache and
then rebooting the system (which also "solves" a missing text
in output problem). Apparently, some interaction between
FrameMaker, the PSCRIPT5 driver Acrobat plug-in, and use of
the Windows registry by all these components can put the
PostScript driver in a catatonic state.

	- Dov



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Emily Berk
> Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 4:29 PM
> 
> Hi FrameUsers:
> 
> I don't know why I thought this list was no more.  I'm glad that it
is.  Please help me with my
> FrameMaker 7.1 (yes, I know it's old; I am too and it's all the
company I work for is willing to use
> and I need to be able to generate this one little PDF sometime within
the next decade).
> 
> Following is my latest tale of woe.
> 
> I always forget why I always get queasy before calling Adobe's tech
support.
> 
> But then, once again, once my interaction with Adobe is complete, the
nightmare has only just begun.
> 
> Take today, for instance.  Well, it all started yesterday when I began
to get Internal Error crashes
> when I tried to generate a PDF, any PDF, on any Frame file (not on
Word docs) using FrameMaker 7.1.
> Because I had a vague recollection of what it was like to interact
with Adobe support, I didn't try
> that.  But I did try a LOT of other stuff.  For hours and hours.  All
to no avail.
> 
> So, I decided to try to sleep on the problem, which wasn't a
successful strategy for me.  I've had a
> number of these Internal Error issues come up in the past and they
never, ever, never go away on their
> own.
> 
> Since sleep did not come, I chose to begin my Adobe nightmare early.
Called tech support and spoke
> with about 3 or 4 perfectly nice folks whose English was very unclear.
> 
> They would have to ask their questions, oh, six or seven times before
I realized that they were
> asking, for the seventh or eighth time, what my customer number or
serial number or product .... was.
> 
> Eventually, (I was on hold and/or being transferred and then asked
redundant questions about 45
> minutes) I get to speak with someone about my problem.  He doesn't
speak very good English, but I am
> given to understand that he does not DO FrameMaker support.
> 
> So now I'm on hold again for another very long interval.
> 
> And a guy picks up who DOES speak English.  And I explain my tale of
woe -- no change on my end in
> terms of the software for at least 2 years.  The doc is one I've been
working on since last October at
> least.
> 
> I tell him the whole story and he lets me go on and on and then he
tells me, in his good English, that
> he doesn't know anything whatsoever about FrameMaker.
> 
> But assures me that the guy who next picks up with both know
FrameMaker AND be able to speak English.
> So I'm on hold again for -- not all that long -- maybe another 8
minutes, but time has been ticking
> away.
> 
> Then a guy picks up and yes he does speak English and implies that he
knows everything one might want
> to know about FrameMaker.  But he knows nothing about me.
> 
> SO, I have to re-iterate EVERYTHING again.  Customer number, phone
number, address, hair color, eye
> color, preferred brand of beer, product serial number, tale of woe.
> 
> And then, after I'd re-iterated everything, he says, "FrameMaker 7.1
is no longer supported.  You need
> to search the knowledgebase or buy FrameMaker 8."
> 
> 1.  THEY ALL KNEW THAT THEY WERE NOT GOING TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO ME
ONCE THEY KNEW I WAS USING
> FRAMEMAKER 7.1.  Why did they just not hang up on me then?
> 
> 2.  AND YET THEY KEPT ME ON HOLD/TALKING for NEARLY TWO HOURS.  (I'm
guessing all those guys who
> didn't speak good English get paid to delay people like me by the
minute.)
> 
> 3.  AND THEN THEY REFUSED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM, BUT IMPLIED THAT THE
SOLUTION IS IN THE KNOWLEDGEBASE.
> 
> 4.  WHICH IT ISN'T BECAUSE I'VE TRIED TO DO EVERYTHING MENTIONED IN
THE DATABASE FOR Internal Error:
> 7104, 6063074, 7693891, 0
> 
> And, no, the company I'm working with is NOT going to upgrade to
FrameMaker 8 just because Adobe did
> some hidden "upgrade" to 7.1 that made it psychotic.
> 
> Do I sound frantic?  It's probably just stress.
> 
> Anyone have any suggestions?
> 
> -- Emily