v 1.9.0 crashing loading older file

[oneearth]

I have a book project created last year with previous version of Publisher. When I try to open the file I see "loading file" at the top of normal layout, then after about 10 seconds the program closes with no further message or error. I've tried a backup (duplicate) version or the file as well. Before upgrade this file opened fine. I can open a different project file, so the new upgrade seems to not like just this particular older file - which I really need to access.

So should I try downloading and re-nstalling 1.9.0 again from scratch.?

Can I go back to previous version that created the file?

Help!!

[carl123]

The current 1.9 beta has some fixes for old 1.8 documents crashing on opening in 1.9

You may want to give that a try

Or upload the document and someone on the beta will test that for you.  (if you don't want to install the beta)

1 hour ago, oneearth said:

Can I go back to previous version that created the file?

Depends on what OS and who you purchased it from - Affinity store, Apple store or Windows store

[oneearth]

I'm Mac OS 10.11.6 purchased from Affinity. Product Key CB5R-9DBP-DE**-****

If I download the 1.9 will it automatically recognize my original purchase or can I register with my existing Product Key?

 

 

[carl123]

I'm not a Mac user so I'll let someone else advise you on that

[garrettm30]

8 hours ago, oneearth said:

If I download the 1.9 will it automatically recognize my original purchase or can I register with my existing Product Key?

When you launch the beta, it will somehow look to see if you have a legitimate copy installed. I don't know the details of how it works, but basically you should just be able to download the beta and use it alongside the release version. It will not replace the released version, and even the settings will be a different set of settings, so you can download the beta without in any way affecting your setup of the release version.

The only thing to note is that if you save something in the beta, the release version may not be able to open it. That is definitely true if you are on release 1.8 or earlier and you are trying a 1.9 beta.

[oneearth]

Appreciate your note but let me better explain.

I got a program flag a few days ago when I opened v 1.8 Publisher that an update was available... I selected "upgrade and relaunch." It looked like all was successful, I now had version 1.9 directly from Affinity via the update. But when I tried to open an older project I got the program crash.

So I need to know how to either revert to previous 1.8 - if that is even possible - or how to circumvent the crash so I can open my 1.8 project.

Thanks.

 

 

[Dan C]

On 2/12/2021 at 6:49 PM, oneearth said:

So I need to know how to either revert to previous 1.8 - if that is even possible - or how to circumvent the crash so I can open my 1.8 project.

Before we look at the downgrade path, I'd like to try the latest beta version to see if this has resolved your issue, as Carl has mentioned above.

I understand that you have Publisher retail version 1.9.0 installed now, and this is crashing for you. Please leave this application installed, then download and install the latest beta version, 1.9.1, from the below link -

This beta can be installed alongside the retail version, so that you have 2 different versions of Affinity Publisher installed at once.

After installing the beta 1.9.1, please make a copy of your .afpub file, then try opening the copy within the beta. Does this open as expected, without crashing for you?

[oneearth]

Installed the beta 1.9.1with same result as 1.9.0 -- crashes at "loading document"

I have a work-around. Fortunately I have a finished PDF which I can use for reference and have re-created the document in 1.0.9.

Thanks for trying.

 

[Ed Martinescu]

I was able to get publisher to crash pretty regularly.  What it seems to be is a problem with 'linked' resources, especially when switching between Mac and Windows versions (and therefore, Mac and Windows file paths).  I had a file that had linked resources originally created/edited on a Mac.  I was able to open it on Windows, and fix the missing links with Windows file paths.  After saving the file and trying to reopen on my Mac, it would immediately crash Publisher.  I went back on my Windows machine and switched the resources to be embedded, and then the file was easily opened on my Mac also.  I hope this helps someone...

[Dan C]

Hi @Ed Martinescu,

Welcome to the Affinity Forums

Many thanks for providing this information for other users, our QA team are investigating a possible issue with linked resources and crashing within Publisher - so I'll certainly pass this information through to them. 

@oneearth Thank you for trying the beta and I'm sorry to hear this isn't resolving the issue for you. I'm glad to hear you were able to workaround this, however if you're willing I'd still like to try and get to the bottom of the issue with your existing document.

Could you please upload the document to the below link, so I can test this here and see if the app also crashes when loading for me? Please do let me know once your file has been uploaded

https://www.dropbox.com/request/YXNbXQodVGvsAzpivVNp

Continuing on the points that Ed made above, there's a possibility that the cause of the crashing is due to linked images/documents. As well as uploading a copy of this file, could you please try 'breaking' the links between the Affinity file and any placed images/documents. The easiest way to do this is to move the files from one folder to another, which changes the file path and should show the resource as 'missing' in Affinity. Once you've broken these links, try loading the document once more - does this help resolve the issue at all? 

[oneearth]

I have determined that the problem apparently is with the file. I reinstalled v1.7 - which is the version used to create the file. When I tried to load the file the program did not crash but I got a "file corrupted" notice.

Might put that same notice up with v1.9 when a corrupted file is encountered and not just crash the program.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[Dan C]

Many thanks for letting me know Oneearth - I can confirm that you should be seeing a corrupted document message in 1.9, if your document is corrupt. I've certainly not heard of a corrupted document crashing the app before this error message is shown before!

As mentioned above, the best way for us to investigate this issue is with a copy of the file. Please upload this to the below link.

https://www.dropbox.com/request/YXNbXQodVGvsAzpivVNp

As we are now investigating a possible corrupted document, I'm going to need a little more information.

1. Which Operating System are you using?
Mac OS 10.11.6
2. Which version of Affinity did the file last get saved in?

3. What drive type was the file last saved to?
Local disk
USB disk/Flash disk
Google Drive folder
OneDrive folder
iCloud folder
Dropbox folder
Network location
Other (please specify)

4. Any other information you think would help us try to find the problem?

We suggest that you check to see if you have any backups of the document available in case we’re unable to recover the file. The investigation process can take some time, but we’ll be back in contact with our findings.

[oneearth]

Uploaded original file to DropBox

Desktop Mac OS 10.11.6 Affinity Publisher 7.1.1 created original file - saved on both local disk and external backup hard drive...neither source file will load. 

There are a lot of linked images in this project which I can't delete of course. Don't worry about providing recovered file as I have recreated it in v1.9.0 using PDF which was exported correctly from original Publisher file.

I've discovered one other older file that won't load as well.

[messismore]

To add this, I am experiencing the same issue with Affinity Designer 1.9.0. The file was created with 1.8.6 (?) and had been opened and edited with 1.9.0. It also uses linked files. Publisher won't open it, either.

The Designer beta *will* open it, but still continue to gobble up all memory regardless, until the system tells me to force quit the app. I tried to get the beta to save the file under a new name, but it will sit there showing a frozen progress bar. 

I took the liberty to also upload the file ("Lifecycles"). 

1. Which Operating System are you using?
macOS 10.14.6

2. Which version of Affinity did the file last get saved in?
1.9.0

3. What drive type was the file last saved to?
Local disk, APFS
 

This is quite a predicament.  Going through my backups now to see when the file broke… 😓 Please let me know if there is a way to fix it.

[Dan C]

@oneearth Many thanks for this file! Interestingly this document loaded here in Publisher Mac within around 5 seconds, this didn't provide any error or corrupted message and I could edit the document as expected.

I then resaved the document, and I have sent this to the email address associated with your Forum account. I am interested to know if this newly saved document will open correctly for you?

Many thanks in advance

____________________________________________________________________________

Thanks for the information and file provided @messismore, I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with Affinity 1.9.0.

I saw similar results with your file, this opened correctly for me without issue, stably using just under 2GB of RAM, which is to be expected.

Again, I have resaved this document and 'shared' it to your email address using Dropbox. Please do let me know if you're able to open this document correctly?

Many thanks!

[messismore]

@Dan C Hi Dan, thank you for looking into this 🙂 Unfortunately, I can't open your file, either. AD 1.9.0 will sit there "Loading Document" until the OS kills it at about 25GB RAM, 1.9.1 beta will open it, but freeze as soon as I pan, zoom, or try to save the file.

Could I ask you the favour to export the file extents as a single large pdf or svg and share it with me? I found that my last backup does not inlude the latest work 😔

[Dan C]

Thank you for trying that for me! The main difference here is that I don't have access to your linked resources, and it sounds as though the app may be getting caught in a 'loop' as it tried to load these.

Can you please try collecting the linked resources used in this document, and then move them to a new location/folder on your computer. This will essentially 'break' the links and the app should not attempt to load the resources when opened.

Once the resources are 'missing', you should hopefully find the file opens and can be edited, as I'm seeing here. If this is the case then you can relink all of your placed content in one go by following the info below - 

I am certainly willing to try exporting the document to PDF for you, as mentioned any resources that I don't have access to will be 'missing' and likely wont be included in the export. If this is still something you'd like me to try here, please let me know your PDF export settings that you wish for me to use and I will give it a go

[messismore]

2 hours ago, Dan C said:

Can you please try collecting the linked resources used in this document, and then move them to a new location/folder on your computer. This will essentially 'break' the links and the app should not attempt to load the resources when opened.

 

That did it. After moving one of the linked Pdfs I can at least open it again. Choosing to relink the source crashes the beta, but in 1.9.0 it appears to work. Unfortunately this has reset the individual settings of each instance of the link. (Artboard is back to "Document" instead of a particular page, scale is reset, etc.) But yeah at least it opens again.