Technical and Installation Discussions

[TomTarget]

I'm sure that just about everybody here has seen this from the READ ME FIRST file for product updates ...

After installing the product update, run WksUpdate.exe from the server's ..\Mas90\Wksetup folder at each workstation on which you would like to update the local help files.

I've worked under the assumption that this only updates help files for quite some time.  After wasting about four hours,  I just discovered that not only does this file update help files,  it also updates the PDF driver files for Windows 7 and 64 bit machines. 

Only tumbled to this because client was helping update workstations and was not all workstations were getting this run.  This leads to the infamous  "Unable to Initalize PDF Converter" message and a few other slightly more subtle problems.

[thebottomline]

Thanks.

Just another item to make sure happens.

[Bolt73]

We updated (yesterday) from 4.40.0 to 4.40.4; in large part to get the PDF converter working for the 64 bit machines we bought at the end of last year. 

I am still getting a "Printer not activated, error code -20"

Can someone help me find my way around this?

Thanks.

Ben

[thebottomline]

Where are you getting this message?  MAS tends to throw this message if you click on the test converter button.  In my experience, this message tends to be a red herring as the converter will ultimately work.

If I may ask, why didn't you just install PU 5 instead of 4?  Would have saved you another installation step.

[TomTarget]

And you did do the WKSUPDATE program at each workstation as mentioned above?

[Bolt73]

To answer the question of why not straight to PU 5?  We have a couple 3rd party modules (ScanForce and VBScan) that aren't PU5 ready.  Otherwise I would have gone with it.  instead we will do PU 5 probably alongside another updated.  I understood PU2 addressed this.

I did do the WKUpdate with the workstations.  Should I have totally removed the workstations and started each one fresh?  If one got missed, would it impact other workstations.

I get the error both  in LibMaster - test email as well as PL_AdvancedOptions_Ui - Test Converter. 

This is what I get in the install log - making me think I might have something missing in the install:

Windows 2000/XP/2003 Install
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Checking for existing PDF printer
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing existing PDF printer
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing PDF printer driver
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installing using .inf file
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copying cdintf.dll file
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copying xmllite.dll file
Error Code: 2
The system cannot find the file specified.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installing Amyuni PDF printer driver
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installing Amyuni PDF printer
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installing Licensing Information
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Printer setup succeeded
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Launch 'Install -u' to uninstall
-------------------------------------------------------

[Bolt73]

When I go ahead and turn on the paperless office and print to PDF it hangs up at "Printing Records"

Do I need to verify database with the forms?  Just thinking outloud.

[thebottomline]

What printer port is your 64 OS machines using?  It should NOT be the nul.  The 64 machines have a nasty habit of resetting back to NUL after doing a wk update.

[SHays]

I continued to have a problem with the "Printer not activated erro code (-20, -30, -41) after following the Resolution ID 506665 on my Windows 7 64bit system. Below are the steps that I took in order to get this to work. I'm currenlty running MAS90 v4.4.0.3.

I think the key was getting the CDINTF.dll to regester on the system. At first, this dll would not register when running Regcom.bat.

1. Copied the CDINTF300.dll to the \Common Files\Sage\Common Components folder. I copied this driver from the SYSWOW folder.
2. Run Regcom.bat. Verify that the CDINTF.dll registered.
3. On the Sage MAS 90 or 200 File menu, click Run.
4. In the Program field, enter pl_advancedoptions_ui
5. Uninstall the PDF Converter.
6. Close MAS90
7. Open regedit (e.g. click Start, Run, regedit and press Enter)
8. Backup the Registry.
9. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows x64\Drivers
   Under this key, there will be the keys Version-2 and Version-3 (one or the other of these may be absent - not a problem). The sub-keys under these contain the printer driver configuration information. Delete Amyuni Document Converter 300.
10. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG\Software\Sage PDF Converter
11. Delete the Sage PDF Converter directory and all sub-keys.
12. Close the Registry.
13. Start MAS
14. On the Sage MAS 90 or 200 File menu, click Run.
15. In the Program field, enter pl_advancedoptions_ui
16. Install the PDF Converter
17. Close MAS90
18. Navigate to Devices and Printers
19. Right Click The Sage PDF Converter.
20. Select Printer Properties
21. Click Ports tab.
22. Create a new local port called PDF1 and select it.
23. Click Advanced Tab
24. Verify that Print directly to the printer is selected.
25. Click OK.
    
    

Note: I’m still getting the error “Printer not activated, error code -30” when I select Printing Preference, however, when I actually print an invoice or something that goes through paperless office, the PDF prints and does not get hung up at the print driver. I did find out that if I had Spool print documents so program finishes printing faster selected for step 25, a zero bit pdf file was created, and would error when I tried to open the file.

[jerrynorman]

This Sage PDF Converter installation process for W7 machines needs to be significantly cleaned up. I just went through several hours of Hell trying to figure out why a new W7 laptop onto a working, v4.4.4 MAS 200 system could not get a Paperless Office printing to work.

According to tech support:

- "some W7 installations have problems, others don't"

- UAC can cause some dlls not to install, while not throwing any signs of it.

- sometimes they revert to copying a 32-bit version of the cdintf300.dll file onto the offending w7 machine to make it work.

- when the Sage PDF Converter gets assigned to the NUL local port, there is no indication of this, even though it seems to happen 100% of the time on W7 64-bit machines.

As a former product manager, this leaves me cold. The specs for this installation need to be tightened up.  At the very least, they could run a little script to check for the presence and registration of the the needed files and dlls.  I suspect that the NUL port issue can also be identified programmatically, but if not, them at least prompt the user to check this at the end of  the installation.

And I'll suggest again that my favorite pet peeve on MAS 90-200 installations get fixed: when prompting for the location to install or update the files to, poll the registry to find out where it is and suggest that for confirmation. Don't just suggest a default location, since on an EES install it will ALWAYS be wrong.