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Can not open pdf forms in Firefox

  • 9 replies
  • 31 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by Scifi

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We have pdf qoutationforms that can no longer be opened whenusing Firefox. (The files opened fine till a few weeks ago). When we click the link it just say stopped in the left corner and after a minute or two Acrobat Reader opens up with the following error message "A file I/O error has occurred. The file connection timed out." The file opens fine in Safari and Internet Explorer.

The two forms are here A file I/O error has occurred. The file connection timed out.

We have pdf qoutationforms that can no longer be opened whenusing Firefox. (The files opened fine till a few weeks ago). When we click the link it just say stopped in the left corner and after a minute or two Acrobat Reader opens up with the following error message "A file I/O error has occurred. The file connection timed out." The file opens fine in Safari and Internet Explorer. The two forms are here A file I/O error has occurred. The file connection timed out.

All Replies (9)

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I am not sure how to solve this but I will make the suggestions I would try if I had the problem.

Download the files to your computer, then open Adobe Reader and open the downloaded file in that, it should work no problem (you can already open pdf file in other browsers). That proves the files will download ok and that the reader itself works.

Now close the pdf file and try to open it in firefox, does it open ok. If so you have now proved that your firefox plugin is working ok to open pdf files. So possibly problem is that the downloads are timing out when you are trying to open the acrobat plugin. Next try downloading files after you have already used a pdf file within firefox that may work.

If you can not get the file to open in firefox without downloading it first there may be some settings that can be changed, (for instance I think the plugin container timeout can be modified or disabled - but that problem would give you a message along the lines that a plugin had crashed, that is not what you get).

You should also try to check that the computer is not busy with other tasks or downloads. You should also try in Safe Mode, for downloading, but to open the pdf file you will need to have the acrobat plugin enabled.

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Thank you for your suggestion but that didn't make any difference. I downloaded the file as you said opened it up in Adobe Reader. But I can still not open the file in Firefox. Not sure if I was not clear when describing the problem. I can open pdf files in Firefox just not these two forms and it was never a problem before. The website has over hundred pdf files available for download/view in browser and it is only the forms that suddenly stopped being able to view http://www.shipownersclub.com/quotationforms/quotationforms

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I did try the link, it includes 2 pdf s on that page I did successfully load in firefox, and also downloaded to my computer, so that rules out the site being faulty or the pdf file itself.

As a workaround for that particular form, I note it is merely there to complete details and gives the option of attaching it to an email. You presumably will already be in a position to do that.

Regarding the link you quote and the 2 pdfs

  1. are you able to download them to your computer, can you confirm again that you did that ?
  2. do those specific pdf files open on your computer with your adobe reader ?
  3. confirm, or otherwise, do other pdf files open with firefox, when those pdf files are saved on your computer
  4. what version of reader & plugin are you using, is it the latest version (mine is 9, that worked)

See also

From what you are saying you appear to have a problem with the plugin. If you are unable to open the pdf with firefox when it is on your computer it is unlikely firefox will open that pdf on the webpage

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Answers to your questions:

1) Yes I can download the pdf files to my computer and then open them.

2) I can open the forms from harddrive once downloaded.

3) All other pdf files on that site opens fine in the browser I do not even have to download them first.

4) I have Adobe Reader 9 and Adobe Acrobat Professional and when try to open those two forms it default open Adobe Acrobat Professional and I still get this error "A file I/O error has occurred. The file connection timed out"

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Sorry if it is just those two particular files that will not open I am nearly out of ideas.

Are you saying with those two particular files

  • when saved on your computer they can only be opened with Acrobat
  • when saved on your computer they can not be opened with Firefox

Try using Firefox in safe mode

  1. do not make any initial changes when you see the first dialogue box, just click the continue button
  2. enable the acrobat reader plugin, but no others
  3. try again opening the problematic files both whilst on your hdd & from the website
  4. scan the pdf with your security software, then disable the security software and try again to open the pdf file while it is on the hdd.

As I said earlier if the files when on your hdd will not open, it is unlikely that they will open from the website. Is security software interfering for some reason and blocking the files, it seems unlikely, but something odd happens.

As I mentioned before the specific purpose of one of the forms is to provide information and attach that information to an email, you should be able to do that regardless of whether you are able to open the pdf on the website.

Modified by John99

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The problem is only with those two files - could be that I would have similar problem with forms from other sites, but from this site it is only those two. My guess is that it is because they are forms and not standard pdf files.

- Yes I can open both files from my computer with Acrobat - I can not open them in Firefox at any time (but I can using other browsers)

I tried opening the files using safe mode as suggested but that didn't make any difference.

It is not a problem for me personally as I can access the files just using a different browser, but as normal users of the website wouldn't know that I was just trying to find out what could be causing this to happen.

If there is no way of finding the problem then I just need to add text to the website saying that if anyone is having problems opening the file in their browser they just need to save it and open the file from their computer. As that works.

-)
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So it is your own website then ?

I do not understand the problem, but maybe someone else will post a solution.

As I said I do not have problems opening the files on the website with firefox. The problem is therefore not going to affect all firefox users of that website. If the problem is one of website use and design maybe the MozzilaZine forum would be more helpful. http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewforum.php?f=25

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It is not my website as such - but it is my clients website. So I was only trying to help them work out what the problem was as they have the same problem as I do.

I will try to have a look at the link you just gave me and thanks again for trying to help me, I really appreciate it.

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I had this same issue. It has to do with the security settings in Adobe getting corrupted. The fix I used was to uninstall Adobe Reader (9.3.3) which removes the Adobe plug-in from Firefox. I then installed the newest version of Adobe reader (X) and everything worked fine.