BurrMan, the Dykes and files with a number like 343 were probably pc (dwg,dxf)>illustrator>MOI. Others are mac>illustrator>MOI. What is ADS? Leonard

Hi Leanard,
ADS=Alternate Data Stream

But I dont think it is that now. It may be a naming convention or something being handled in the files. The original files titles had some funcky characters and big long comma and spacing, but I dont know anything about MoI's ai reader, so I'm going to wait and see if Michael finds anything with it.

Hi Leonard,

> >Also can you just save files if you draw them initially in MoI instead of doing any AI import?
>
> NO. They are not saved regardless of selected extension.


So just to make sure I understand correctly - you are unable to save anything at all from MoI under any circumstances?

For example if you start up MoI and then draw a sphere in it, then if you try to save that newly drawn sphere as a 3DM file it will not save, is that correct?

Is this a new problem? I mean haven't you saved other projects you have created in MoI before this point?


> Hi Michael, update first. I installed MOI on a newer Mac running 10.7.4 and all but one of the
> original 8 files I posted yesterday opened. Only #6 failed to open

Yup, and like I wrote previously this is expected - the #6 file has not been saved from Illustrator with the "PDF compatible" option set. When you save it from Illustrator make sure you set that checkbox on the export options when it is saved and once you do that the resulting .ai file should then load into the v3 beta ok.

- Michael

Hi Pilou,

> 5275.13 In reply to 5275.12
> First ;) from post 12 Dframe .ai
> something like this Line 172 toward the end and even adress url inside ;) But Maybe
> the new import PDF can manage all this ?

That's all normal type of contents of a PDF files which contain compressed (like zipped) data in them - since Illustrator version 9 the AI format changed to actually be the same as PDF. But when you are saving them, you actually need to set a checkbox in Illustrator that says something like "Make PDF compatible" or else without that enabled it will make a kind of strange file that contains only private information in it and not stuff visible to PDF parsers. The new v3 beta should be able to handle PDF files a lot better than previous versions.

- Michael

Hi Burr,

> The original files titles had some funcky characters and big long comma and spacing,
> but I dont know anything about MoI's ai reader, so I'm going to wait and see if Michael
> finds anything with it.

Where are you seeing the funky characters, you mean inside of the file contents themselves?

Some of the .ai files are in the Illustrator v9+ format which means that despite ending in .ai they are actually PDF files, and it's normal for PDF files to contain various binary data inside of it.

- Michael

Hi Leonard, so from what I can tell it sounds like all is working fine for you on your newer machine - in addition to being able to load all the files that you posted (except file#6 which needs to be resaved from Illustrator with the "Make PDF compatible" flag set in order to work) are you also able to save everything ok there as well?

If that's the case then are you able to use MoI on that new machine to avoid all these problems?

I really have no idea what's going wrong on the machine where you're having problems. I guess MoI is having some problems with something running on that particular machine, the only advice I really have for that is if you're running anything like anti-virus or haxies or things that hook into the system at a low level like that try disabling those since maybe they are interfering with MoI's operation.

I'm also pretty suspicious that something is going wrong with it like your hard drive is starting to die or something along those lines, it might be a good time to do a backup if you have any stuff you want to save that's on that machine now. Things like the entire system locking up and requiring a hard power cycle is not a very good sign for the health of the machine...

- Michael

""""""""Where are you seeing the funky characters, you mean inside of the file contents themselves?"""""""

Yes, I was just diffing the contents and noticed the title flag with what appeared to be possible illegal charaters, so was speculating. I also noticed that the good one had a "private to illustrator" flag, that the faulty one didnt, and saw you rerspond to him about the export option...

I also refered to the windows ADS that carried the block on the file and didnt know if that was affecting a mac, but ruled that out on windows alone....

So I was just poking around before you as a learning experience.

Hi Burr,

> I also refered to the windows ADS that carried the block on the file and didnt know if that was affecting
> a mac, but ruled that out on windows alone....

That additional "zone information" data-stream thing is something that's added by the web browser when the file is downloaded, it's not actually part of the real attached file itself.

So that part is different on a mac, although the mac has its own separate version of alternate file streams as well and also the mac web browser adds one in for downloaded files when the download is complete as well. None of that should make any difference to MoI opening the files though.

- Michael

Hi Michael, been tinkering on this end. Creating geometry in MOI and the ability to save it as a .3dm file has been restored. Repairing Permissions apparently did the trick. I downloaded an anti-virus app this evening and ran it to hunt down malware. There were 3 benign files. After rebooting, still unable to open AI, EPS and PDF files.

In the old days, these kinds of issues were resolved by dumping the application's preferences.

Unfortunately, I cannot use that newer machine - it's my partner's.

This is truly bizarre. MOI is the only application with issues.

Next, I will open MOI in another account on this machine to see if that works. That is not a convenient way to work. If that fails, I will try reinstalling the Mac OS.

Leonard

Hi Leonard, yes messed up permissions can throw a monkey wrench into MoI's machinery.

You might also check permissions on your /tmp folder, if those are switched from their defaults it can mess things up, the Mac version of MoI needs to write several things into /tmp in order to run properly.

- Michael

Hi Michael, I spent an hour+ looking for instructions on how to repair permissions on the /tmp folder and folders in general and found nothing helpful.

Do you have a link to directions? I know only Disk Utility>select volume>Repair P.

Thanks.

Leonard

Hi Leonard, if /tmp needs to be fixed it would involve using UNIX command-line tools like chmod.

Can you open up a Terminal window and do a:
ls -l /tmp

And then post what prints out there? That would let me see if the permissions are set as they should be.


Also this whole thing with a disk repair needed and your system doing a hard crash at least once really does make me think your hard disk might be in the process of dying. If your disk is pretty old (say 5+ years old), it may be a good idea to get a new one.

- Michael

Hi Michael,

I did the Terminal entry: ls -l /tmp
The meager results are attached.

The computer I am using is 18-24 months old. There have been no other aberrations with this machine.

I am completely flummoxed and that is an understatement.

Leonard

Hi Leonard, so your /tmp permissions look ok.

I guess you could try upgrading from 10.6.x to 10.7 Lion, that could possibly reset whatever has gotten messed up. Either that or wipe the disk and do a reinstall of Snow Leopard.

That you have gotten different results since doing a volume repair certainly does suggest to me that something has gotten messed up on your machine somehow.

After you did that repair, you can now save files ok, is that correct? And it's just opening of specifically .ai and .pdf files that is not working for you? Do other file types like 3DM files open ok now?

- Michael

Hi.

Yes, I can create and save .3dm files. Also, I can open them using Command O and by dropping the file on the app icon in the dock. Double clicking does not work; I get the dialog in pic 1 (attached). Only v3 Beta is in the Applications folder.

Some .ai files open normally - Comm O and dropping on icon - and others have "Invalid Name" dialog (pic 2). No luck with .pdf. When I try to open the original 8 files sent in the first post, the "invalid Name" popped up with the file I tried.

Leonard

Hi Leonard, the screenshot you show there with that dialog pic says on it that the version being used there is the Jan-31 beta release.

That's a pretty old beta version and it's expired now, you should remove that old beta release .app entirely and instead use the full release version, the full version does not expire and also has various fixes in it from that old beta release, including a fix for drag/drop of other than 3DM files onto the dock icon.

So using that old expired beta release is at least part of what is going on there.

You can get the full release version from here:
http://moi3d.com/reinstall.htm

And you can also get the brand new v3 beta release from here:
http://moi3d.com/beta.htm

I'm actually not really sure how you tell Mac OSX which program you want to have open when you double click a file in finder, but you seem to have it currently set up to open that old expired beta version of MoI for that, that's why it puts up that expired dialog.


That particular "invalid name" thing was a bug in older versions that was fixed up with the Apr-29 beta.

So anyway all that you are showing there is explained by running older beta versions, please make sure you're running an updated version of MoI (either the full v2.5 release rather than one of the earlier betas, or the just released v3 beta) and that should solve those problems. If not then please let me know.

- Michael

Also it's a new feature in the just released v3 beta that the PDF import has been improved, so if you're trying to import PDF files you want to be using that new v3 beta release and not that old v2.5 beta from January 31st.

The new PDF importer should work a lot better and be able to read PDF files that the previous one got confused by.

It also improves AI v9 or higher AI files as well which are actually PDF files. You do however need to save the .AI file from Illustrator with the "Make PDF compatible" checkbox turned on as described previously in this thread.

If you want to use the v2.5 full release (the full version that does not expire) rather than the new v3 beta release, that one has the old PDF importer which was not very reliable - to work with that version you need to export to a V8 or earlier type AI file in the export options when saving from Illustrator.


Previously I just assumed that you were using the current versions - but you're actually using some old beta releases and that explains some of the problems that you are running into, there's a whole bunch of bugs that have been fixed since then.


- Michael

So anyway probably a full disk wipe will not be needed - it seems that the disk repair did fix whatever was messed up, and you just need to update MoI to use the final v2.5 release or the current v3 beta to solve these remaining problems.

Also don't forget that when saving an AI file from Illustrator to check the "Make PDF compatible" option though.

- Michael

Hi Michael,

He's b-a-c-k.

The next chapter; please read the entire post.

After the last post, I had to deal with some lingering thoughts (yours and mine) regarding hardware and software.
1. Computer crashed:
MOI is the only app to crash (only twice to date and likely my fault).

2. Hard drive might be failing:
This computer is 18 months old.
Disk Utility>Repair Disk and the extended system analysis booted from the installation disk found no issues.

Software precautionary measures.
1. Operating system:
10.6.4 reinstalled using disks original to the computer.
OS upgraded to 10.6.8 using combo file downloaded from Apple Computer support.

2. MOI app:
MoI v3 beta Jul-20-2012 was removed and the computer scoured for older versions. No older MOI apps on the computer.
MoI v3 beta Jul-20-2012 was again downloaded today from the MOI site and installed.

After doing all that, did MOI open the problem files?

No, they could not be opened on this computer (10.6.8) These same files were posted on this thread (post #1) and found to be openable on your computer.

So, I did a test using the issues computer (10.6.8) and another computer (OS 10.7):
1. On 10.6.8, a desktop folder containing files not openable on 10.6.8 was created.
2. The 10.6.8 test folder was moved (unmodified) on to the 10.7 desktop.
3. On 10.7, MOI opened all items.

On 10.7, two new MOI3D items (.3dm), one created on 10.7 and one created on 10.6.8 and the file saved to 10.7, were added to the desktop folder (originally from 10.6.8) on 10.7.

On 10.6.8, only the two new items were imported from the 10.7 desktop folder directly into the 10.6.8 desktop folder created earlier, as noted above.

HARD TO BELIEVE:
10.6.8 MOI opened the two new items (.3dm) in the desktop folder normally. Again, the original 10.6.8 file could not be opened on 10.6.8. Saving the file to 10.7 seems to have altered the file allowing it to be opened on 10.6.8.

STILL HARDER TO BELIEVE:
10.6.8 desktop folder contains files that originally could not be opened on 10.6.8 and, as noted, the two new items imported from 10.7.

Now, the original items in the 10.6.8 desktop folder OPENED NORMALLY. Why?

The identical items on 10.6.8 located several layers down in the directory DO NOT OPEN.

Did 10.7 repair the 10.6.8 files?

Finally, some probably think the solution is to upgrade to 10.7. If it were possible, I would, however, several costly apps have to be upgraded to work with 10.7. Upgrading is not financially possible.

Leonard

Hi Leonard, well that is pretty mysterious stuff...

Maybe there's some bug in MoI relating to the names of the directories that you happen to be opening the files from, do any of the directory names happen to have accented or non-English characters of any sort in them?

Do you get any different results in you place the files in a directory with a very simple and plain name?

Also in your previous message from a while ago the screenshots you were showing very clearly showed a dialog from an older beta release - are you still getting that same expiration message pop up again now?

I'm referring to this previous message here:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=5275.33

The screenshots you showed were these:





Are you still seeing this same thing now as well? Because if you are it means that the old beta is still on your system somewhere and it's still what is being launched.

Or are you no longer seeing these pop ups that you previously reported?

What happens exactly when it does not work, are any messages displayed or just nothing happens or what?

- Michael