Home Forums Networks & Cross-Platform Networking Trouble Downloading PDF Files

On my Macbook 10.16.2, I have, for PDF functions, the Safari Preview, Adobe Reader 9.3, and something called PDF Browser Plug-In. There are two important websites I must consult that require the Adobe Reader to download their PDF files. Clicking on PDF links produces only a black screen, but Adobe Reader will open a PDF file that I have received via e-mail. What am I doing wrong? Thank you so much for helping.

I just had the identical problem. For me, it turns out that the Adobe Reader 9.3 Updater produced a bad update. To solve it, I downloaded and installed the full version of AR 9.3. I did not uninstall the wonky version of AR 9.3; I simply ran the installer.

> There are two important websites I must consult that require the Adobe Reader to download their PDF files.

Out of curiosity, have you ever tried to open one of those PDFs in Preview?

I've visited any number of websites that have told me I needed Adobe Reader, and every one of their PDFs has, nonetheless, opened just fine in Preview. (My understanding is that any PDF will open in any app designed to open PDFs.)

I guess the Adobe thing is simply for the benefit of PC users.

That's not quite true; there are PDFs that Preview can't open.

They tend to be fairly rare, but password-protected PDFs and PDFs saved in the PDF version 1.6 standard can't be opened by Preview, for example.

Thanks for the clarification.

I tried Preview and it also did not work. Downloaded the "full version" of Adobe Reader as suggested and struck out there too. I don't recall having this trouble before. Went to a third website and also got a black screen when I hit a pdf link.
Hmm.

I wonder if you have a corrupted preference file. You can test this by logging into a test account and seeing if the problem occurs there. If it does not, a bad preference file is suspect. If you don't have such an account, go to System Preferences > Accounts and create one.

If you are willing to experiment without logging into a test account, close all browsers and also Adobe Reader. Go to Users/you/Library/Preferences and move com.adobe.Reader_x86_9.0.plist (at least, that's what it's called in my system) to the desktop. Reset AR preferences so that you are using it as your default PDF downloader (Adobe Reader menu > Preferences > Internet) and launch Safari. If the problem is solved, reset your other AR preferences and trash the plist. If not, quit those apps (as before) and put it back.

Add to that PDF "Portfolios" which require Adobe Reader 9 or Acrobat 9 to open. I used them a lot as they are a very handy way of collecting and organizing PDF documents.

May I suggest two workarounds. If there are files that require the Reader, use Safari and when right clicking or control clicking on a pdf link choose download linked file. It will land on your desktop or in the downloads folder (whatever is default on your machine). Then you will be able to open it easily with Reader by double clicking the file. To make a pdf display in the browser window, I know only one reliable way - PDF Browser Plugin. Lately, I only encountered one stupid site that tried to open pdf rather than downloading it (of course, the government's baby grants.gov) and it was saying that my software was old. Then I went to Safari and used it great option.
To make the PDF browser plugin work, open Adobe Reader, go to preferences>internet and uncheck the first box "display PDF in browser using". The plugin will start working (if not, quit the browser and reopen).
Hope this helps.
P.S. No matter what they say, both Acrobat Pro and Reader are no good to reliably display PDF files in the browser (I had trouble with them since Tiger times). Ironically, they work great on PC...
The only important warning about PDF browser plugin: it does not work in 64-bit, so you have to get info on the closed browser and check the box "open in 32-bit mode".

Alex,

Before I solved this problem (by using the full AR 9.3 Installer), I tried your suggestion and it didn't work. I unchecked the box in AR Preferences to use AR as the default PDF reader but I still got the black box (and I have PDF Browser Plugin installed). PDF Browser Plugin worked fine in Camino, however.

I don't know why my procedure has not fixed sidneyfalco's problem but you're right about quitting Safari before making any changes in AR Preferences (or relaunching Safari afterwards). I found that out when I experimented after using the full installer. Changes don't take effect unless you quit Safari and relaunch it.

Here is my report: Got the Reader to work, but in Firefox only, not Safari. The problem was (is) not with a corrupted plist or solved by using an alternate log-in. Turns out that one of my important websites has a technician with capability to share your screen, and she and I tried a number of pdf/browser combinations that finally worked in Firefox. Actually, I had tried Firefox myself previously, but wasn't able to get Reader to work, so I can't exactly describe in detail what this French technician did. My French is not that great. It's true that Reader problems don't appear to exist on PCs where Firefox or Explorer is the norm. It's also true, as I knew before, that if you can manage to download the pdf file to your desktop then Reader will work, even on Safari. This Adobe Reader is not so hot--and after all these years.
Thanks, everyone, for your interest and help.

Jon,
Thanks for the feedback. I guess, I can only state the obvious. 1. You need the latest PDF browser plugin; otherwise, SL does not like it. 2. You need to set the browser to 32-bit only in the Get Info because the plugin does not work in 64-bit mode, which is default for Safari install, I guess. The other browsers are not 64-bit yet, so that may not be a problem (your Camino experience is good indication).
I constantly view and download pdf files and the plugin always works well. The only exceptions again were the grants templates that would only work in Reader 9x or Acrobat 9x. So, they opened only after the download, which, I guess, only Safari can do (did not try Opera though) if the plugin is installed and is your default viewer.
Would be interesting to see if sidneyfalco would be happy with the plugin rather than with the unreliable Reader. But, I guess, they did not try...

Let me clarify something, Alex.

1. In my system, Safari 4.0.4 is set to open in 32-bit mode.
2. After running the AR 9.3 Updater and before installing the full version of AR 9.3, PDFs could not be downloaded with either AR 9.3 or PDF Browser Plugin (latest version).
3. After applying the full version of AR 9.3, PDF Browser Plugin worked fine.
4. I reset AR 9.3 as the default for Safari and it worked fine also.

I apologize if I wasn't clear.

I may be in the minority, but I like Adobe Reader for the following reasons:

1. It has more printing options than PDF Browser Plugin or Preview.
2. PDF Browser Plugin does not allow scrolling with the scroll wheel of my Mighty Mouse.
3. Often, the bottommost part of a page gets cut off when printing with Preview. This does not happen with Adobe Reader.

Now I understand. We are talking apples and oranges, actually! I was talking about viewing pdf files inside the browser and you are talking about downloading them. Since I mostly visit PubMed site, I have to first see the pdf and then decide whether I need to save it (download) or move on. Sometimes I read them first and all the time I assign a new filename, so opening it first is essential. This is why my favorite is the plugin. Concerning the printing, it prints fine from it. The only problem is the scrolling, which has to be done old-fashoned way by grabbing the slider with the cursor and moving it.
I don't understand how the plugin would be influenced by the new Reader version unless you are talking about Adobe browser plugin. Interestingly, if you keep the reader off the browser, this plugin gets trashed.
I also prefer the Reader functionality and would have loved to use it (I do envy PC users who can work with it seamlessly with any browser), even in the older renditions) but was never able to use it because it was trying to load the file and would abort, then try again and again with no luck. I will give the new version a try with your instructions and report back.

Update: reinstalled Reader as you suggested and no luck even in Safari. The pdf tries to load, then reload, and on and on. Still no go. Staying with PDF browser plugin.

Another misunderstanding. We were actually talking about the same thing, namely viewing PDFs inside a browser.

Good! I know we are on the same tune!