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Guest bertvankampen

Adobe air what will it do to our FS air files...

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See link guys...http://simflight.com/2008/08/adobe-may-be-...s-installation/Can imagine that file association will temporary taken by adobe air file association with all problems...Also adobe reader 9 has the new Flash (air files) parts in it..Maybe to save the current reg key with the file association to the current FS air files will allow an easy restore?Cheers,http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y156/awf1/sign.jpg


 

André
 

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Guest Jeffhew

Just a quick update on this issue. Mike McCarthy and a couple of other folks at FlightSim.com are working on a fix for this problem. Mike is corresponding directly with Phil Taylor and Adobe. Thus far the response, from Phil, has been that it's something we need to deal with. Mike is very experienced in these matters and has generously offered to not only carry the ball on this but, also is using his system as a guinea pig of sorts in an effort to find a fix. Given that we will need to deal with Adobe on this, having Mike act as a single point of contact is a good plan, IMHO. If anyone here would like to contribute their experience or insights to the project, we would be grateful if you would post on the thread there as well. http://forums.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?t=186262We want to make sure we have everything covered to the greatest extent possible. With any luck, a cooperative effort within the community will get this issue resolved before it becomes a nightmare for alot more people.It is also recommended to avoid updating Adobe reader to v9 until the situation is resolved. This appears to be pretty serious so, you'll likely see many similar posts throughout the FS world. This is one time where ignorance is not bliss.Thanks.Regards,Jeff

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I guess I don't see how changing file asociations for .air files affects FSX? Maybe some sort of integrity check is being run by FSX and something in NTFS file information is changed by the association?scott s..

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Guest Jeffhew

Hi Scott,According to some reports, FS is reporting corrupted .air files subsequent to installing Adobe Air. Just trying to get all our info in one bucket so to speak. Uninstalling Adobe Air and associating the .air files with notepad seems to have solved the issue for at least one person. Of course, this option denies the user the advantages of Adobe Air. This could end up being a big problem as Adobe Air is becoming very wide spread in it's use. Sites like AOL and NASDAQ are using it already. We're just getting this info out before people have an issue and start reinstalling FS and eliminating addons one by one to fix the issue. Best Regards,Jeff

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>Mike is corresponding>directly with Phil Taylor and Adobe. Thus far the response,>from Phil, has been that it's something we need to deal with.my exact words where to post exactly what Adobe AIR does ( simply change file mapping association, physically munge air files and corrupt them, etc ) to tell_fs and let things work thru the process. "officialdom" in the studio needs to see the full report of what is going on and then and only then can any determination of a)what sort of issue this is and b)what a proper response is be made.I suspect if Adobe is actually physically changing default FSX files something will happen, but that is all I can say at this time.Lets get the full details, send it thru the right channels, and let the process work.

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Guest Jeffhew

Hi Phil, I sincerely apologize for my poor choice of words. When I said that it was something "we need to deal with" I didn't mean to imply that you were the issue but, rather, that it wasn't ACES or MS' doing, and that we as a community need to address the issue with Adobe. I hope you'll forgive me. I never intended to blame you. I know Mike is working on it and I was just passing on some info as not everyone frequents all the FS sites.Best Regards,Jeff

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Hi Jeff,I've had Adobe Reader 9 on my system (Vista 64) for awhile and use it regularly. About a week ago I noticed that my .air files had changed their association to Adobe Air. I had no clue what that was but simply changed the association back to my FS .air file editor and that was that. No problems at all (yet?).I have a hard time believing that Adobe Air would somehow corrupt all .air files in the FS folder tree but it'll be interesting to see what Mike's experiments reveal.Cheers, Holger

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I took the challenge:Downloaded and installed Air from the Adobe site.Ran FS04, planes loaded just fine.Downloaded and installed an Air program.Ran the program great!(Earth Browser)Ran FS04, planes loaded just fine. Yes, my .air files in FS are now associated with Adobe Air, but they loaded just fine.I did not:Backup my entire hard drive.Make multiple restore points. (didn't even make one)Burn my entire FS installation to DVDs.Run multiple defragments of my hard drive.Run 8 spyware programs.Anyone else?Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

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JimPretty much exactly what I would have expected, except for one extra point -- if you clicked on an .air file, Adobe Air would probably take a look at it and say something like -- 'OMG! This Air file is corrupt! Please re-download at once!':)Of course then anyone sensible would backup their entire hard drive; etc etc.'El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha'

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Guest Jeffhew

Thanks Holger and Jim,I suggested this yesterday on the Flightsim thread but, was promptly shot down. Given that people more knowledgeable than I am in these issues (or so it seemed) wanted to explore other possibilities, I defered to them. I've posted these issues here as a favor to Mike while his system is down. I will certainly direct them to this thread. I am grateful for your input as I include you both in that group of people that are, in fact, more knowledgeable than I. Best Regards,Jeff

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Hi,Why would I ever need to click on an .air file? It's not like an icon or an .exe file.BTW both FS and Earth Browser/Adobe Air are still working fine this morning!Never a need to back up an entire system just to install or uninstall a program.Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

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>>Why would I ever need to click on an .air file? It's not like>an icon or an .exe file.>For those of us who use AirEd to edit air files I usually click on an air file to open it. Most folks don't, but some do. YMMVPhill :-hah

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Guest SteveS_FSD

Holger, Jeff,>I suggested this yesterday on the Flightsim thread >but, was promptly shot down. By the experts, no doubt Well, this thread piqued my interest as this is an area of great interest to me, and I seem to have found a problem when editing these files *after* Adobe Air has been installed. Before getting to the specifics, what I have found lately with regards Adobe Air (and Adobe products in general, really) is that :1. they seem to be installing far too much unnecessary bloatware on your system simply to allow you to read .pdf files.2. this junk (particularly the quick start and update helper "utilities") is hogging too many resources; and3. I have found Adobe Air appears to be altering and apparently corrupting .air files.Let me explain what I have found when using AirEd to change an .air files contents, and you can form your own conclusions. All I am doing here is telling you what I have found. Firstly I had noticed the file association and icon changes but the first of these is easily reversible. Not so the icon. What is relevant is that the edit function of AirEd (changing an entry, or a value etc) and old reliable Abacus FDE (a darn good app, IMO, with suitably updated control files) are not impaired as far as I can tell. Using AirEd to completely remove a record from an (any file) earlier version FS airfile for use in FSX - a record which may no longer be required in FSX - I have found the 'Remove Record" function of AirEd only seems to remove some of that record and not all of it. That has never happened beffore AFAIK. Hacking a file just now I again found I could repeat the probllem. The AirEd menu function I refer to is :http://www.fsd-international.com/temp/misc...emoverecord.jpgIn AirEd it appears that the edit removes the record completely as intended, for when when the .air file is reloaded in AirEd that record/table is completely gone. However, using the text based control file in the Abacus FDE you can still read some of that "removed" record - in the very same file. The remnants of that record remain both viewable and editable in the Abacus editor. This is repeatable, but happily - because that older record which you've removed is not functionally required for FSX, and must therefore be being ignored by FSX - you get the end result you want despite the fact half the record seems to remain. Obviously you'd have to regard this as a potential FSX time bomb and I don't know what this means functionally for such an altered file back in FS9 or previous, but this issue is a new anomaly I have not seen in a decade of working with air files which is area of work. I didn't put 2 + 2 together (file associations and Adobe Air) until I read this thread. I don't know what other problems Adobe Air has introduced and what else will be uncovered in time, but it seems to be doing more than changing file associations and giving you a boring cardboard box icon. I am still looking for other functional changes that may become apparent, and I'll let you know what - if any - other details I can identify.I have now removed Adobe Air, and hope this feedback is useful to someone smarter than I......Regards,http://www.fsd-international.com/team/Steve_signature.gif

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Hi Steve,thanks for the information. If validated that could indeed be an issue.Did you by chance repeat the test *after* removing Adobe Air to see whether the records are now being completely removed?Cheers, Holger

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