Comments on: Issues Arise Between RAID and Adobe

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 17:38:44 +0000

I had the same problem too… I have a RAID 0 (Stripe) configuration and I believe that I stumbled on a solution by accident…

I was kind of fooling around with the activation files located in (Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe Systems\Product licenses). (These files have to be activated before continuing) So, first:

1. I copied the activation files to a diskette
2. Then copied the files from the diskette and pasted it into the license folder as Shortcuts (Thinking it might search in floppy)
3. changed the extensions of the Original activation files to .bak
4. Removed the “shortcut to” phrase from the shortcuts (make sure there’s no space in front of the filename) so that it “looks” like the original activation files.
5. Ran one of the programs
6. Tried to activate it via telephone (It will fail)
7. Exited the program.
8. Undid the renaming of all the files and deleted the shortcuts.
9. I ran the program and it didnt ask me for activation. Just to be sure, I restarted the computer and still it did not ask me.

By: highpark

highpark — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 19:49:29 +0000

ive been looking for the patch as well, if you would please, email it to me? pleaes? Thanks

highparkpilot@hotmail.com

By: iadstudio

iadstudio — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 04:20:42 +0000

Same problem here with RAID 0. Maybe not all that common these days but as power users become more common it will be a very common thing (RAID 0). Wish I had that patch:)

Maybe I’ll try to call Adobe.

By: chain

chain — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 20:22:06 +0000

Yeah, I’m having the same problem. I have a Raid0 setup. And CS2 crashes beacause of the license issue.
Does anyone have the patch, i can’t find it anywhere. WHY is this not part of the automatic updates for CS2?! :(

Anyway, if anyone has it, please e-mail it to me: chain__@hotmail.com

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 08:57:58 +0000

Would someone email me the Adobe Patch. I’d like to see if it works on my work computer.

By: John

John — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:38:28 +0000

Update 2006.08.03:

Changing to Automatic Startup helped prolong the time between activation errors, but it came back regardless.

By: John

John — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 19:42:06 +0000

2006.08.02

Seems you can sidestep this issue by setting the Adobe LM Service to Automatic Startup in your Windows Services
(Start Menu > Run: services.msc)

By: John

John — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 19:09:01 +0000

“NTLDR is missing” is typical of a missing ‘boot.ini’ file and is in no way related to Adobe, but is purely manipulated by your OS and/or other OS management tools. Often this problem occurs when your hard drive(s) have multiple partitions and you format the partition that holds the boot.ini file (as it only exists on one (boot) partition). There are many tools to fix this problem! Namely ‘fixntldr’, which I believe is shareware. All this file does is to tell the boot process the version of windows and which drive and partition number it exists on (and how long to display a selection screen if more than one OS exists). Shame to reformat just for that… I have recovered from this a handful of times (successfully every time). BTW, many times were on RAID 0 or RAID 1 arrays… which, are VERY common these days because one type or another (there are at least 8 basic types and many combination types) makes far more sense than any single/multiple non-RAID setup for any level of security/performance need. Adobe really needs to work this out… without the need for a patch (ala Microsoft).

By: CG

CG — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 19:02:35 +0000

WARNING: I just bought a Dell formatted with RAID 1 and installed Adobe Web Bundle CS2 (which includes Acrobat CS2) and experienced the activation problem described above. After calling Adobe and installing the patch, as described above, my computer completely crashed “NTLDR is missing” and now All data is lost and I must reformat completely. So, I’ll reformat without RAID, needless to say! I hope this helps someone else!
CG
~Adobe Customer

By: Christopher Hemmerling

Christopher Hemmerling — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 01:33:31 +0000

Have you contacted Adobe recently? 800-833-6687, option #2.

Customer Service has since had an “Activation Patch” released to them for customer use. You have to log into a secure FTP site and download it with a password they will provide you after they make a couple of changes to your activation account.

See This Web Document:
“Activation screen appears each time you start (Acrobat, Adobe Creative Suite 2.0 on Windows)”
http://www.adobe.com/support/salesdocs/1008894.html

The patch, in 1 in 100,000 cases does not solve the issue with raid controllers. If it does not, another customer support person will respond to your personal issue, and troubleshoot with you to fix this issue.

I heard of an Adobe customer that had a RAID controller, NO HARD DRIVES, just a controller in their computer, and it would cause the “Activation Identifier Flip Flop” issue.

Adobe customers are now urged to call customer service when experiencing RAID issues such as opening one application, and having to activate, then opening another application and having to do it all over again.

I just wanted to update this thread because Adobe Activation isn’t all that bad. You do it once, and if you have to, you do it again, and usually if you have an internet connection, the activation takes all of 5 seconds. There can be other underlying issues, but that is what the patch is for.

~CH
Adobe Customer

By: Jamie

Jamie — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 04:59:25 +0000

Most of the new motherboards are supporting raid and its getting cheaper for an individual user to buy such motherboards. I have the same problem with adobe, countless times it asked me about reactivation and finally i got to know it is because i am running software on RAID 1.
Adobe definately didn’t consider this while developing their license management software. They havne’t posted any fix yet for this problem.
It is only adobe which has so much problem with raid, which is really annoying and rediculous. After spending so much money to buy adobe’s expensive products and then you are left with all kind of these problems. shame on adobe.

By: master

master — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 07:54:10 +0000

funnyguy: Dude, why RAID-5 on a FILE SERVER! You obviously misunderstood the concept limitations of RAID-5.

Anyway: I have RAID and problems with acrobat. Fuqn idiots that don’t post a fix for it either!

RAID-0 arrays are cheaper than buying large disks. the prise for one 400gb drive is more than twice that of two 200gb disks and in RAID-0 you get double the transfer rate of the 400gb disk anyways. I’m sticking with RAID from now on. Just hope those a-holes at adobe will fix their error soon.

By: Chad

Chad — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 03:56:34 +0000

Quite a few mobo manufacturers offer IDE RAID. The last three EPoX boards I’ve owned had it.

By: funnyguy

funnyguy — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 22:16:10 +0000

all my machines have raids my work machine is raid 1 adaptec sata raid
my main linux workstation at home is raid 10 perc4
my home file server is raid 5 perc2
my mail server at home is raid 1 promise ide

By: Jeremy Flint

Jeremy Flint — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 21:51:19 +0000

Most home users would be running the full version of Acrobat either.

RAIDs exist outside of the server environment if someone is doing lots of video editing. We use a RAID array to store video that we digitize here at the office.

I think RAIDs could be more common because they are a lot less expensive than they used to be. We have two RAID arrays (external) that are about the size of a shoebox and weigh about as much as a concrete block…but they only hold about 10GB each. I think they cost about $2500 each when we bought them.

We replaced both of them with two 120GB SATA drives that we striped together for about $200.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 21:38:07 +0000

I didn’t say “most home users”, I said “most home users who are buying these high-end PC’s with RAID built in.” Big difference there.

Dell and many of the PC makers have been offering RAID on their “boutique” gaming machines for a while now, and it’s now even a (relatively) cheap upgrade option on a $1000 Dell Dimension 8400.

By: Jeff Clark

Jeff Clark — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 20:24:37 +0000

I don’t know what kind of people you guys hang out with, but I don’t have a RAID and neither do any of my friends – geek or not. I just bought a “high end” computer for my mom and didn’t even have the option of a RAID setup.

In fact, I’ve never once heard of a RAID array outside of a server setup…

“most home users” HA! Most home users don’t have a clue what a RAID serup even is.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 20:05:33 +0000

I’ve had a RAID Level 0 for about a year and a half now.

I think most home users who are buying these high-end PC’s with RAID built in are going with Level 0 for the increased speed, rather than a Level 1 for reliability.

By: James

James — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 19:34:53 +0000

I’m not currently using RAID on my main computer, but I had thought about it in the future when I upgrade my HD(s). I think more people are using RAID setups on main computers than they used to be in past years, though.

I’d like to know which RAID controller the guy with the problems is using. According to the article it’s only certain controllers and not RAID as a whole.