There are 5 installer formats for Adobe Reader available via yum/apt-get OR via FTP from Adobe’s FTP server:

1. BIN installer
2. RPM installer
3. DEB installer
4. TARball installer
5. PKG installer

Installation using yum and apt-get/aptitude is convenient and updates happen automagically so we recommend doing that.
We’ve previously described how to install using yum and using apt-get.

Installer formats explained

Here’s a brief description and the merits/demerits of each installer format, to help you choose the format that best suits your needs/constraints:

1. BIN installer: The BIN installer can be used to install Adobe Reader on any location that is writable by the current user.
   The advantages of using this installer are:
   • Smallest size. This installer has the smallest size amongst all installers for Adobe Reader on Unix platforms. (It is approximately 29% smaller than the second smallest installer.)
   • Install anywhere. This installer can be used to install Adobe Reader on any location that is writable by the user performing the installation.

   The BIN installers are available for both Linux and Solaris-x86 platforms.

2. RPM installer: The RPM installer may be used to install Adobe Reader on RPM-based Linux distributions such as RedHat, Fedora, CentOS etc.
   The advantages of using this installer are:
   • Native installation. The package can be managed using RPM manager, which provides a one-stop place for managing all RPM-based packages.
   • Managing updates. RPM allows fully-automated, in-place upgrades of the package.
   • Package querying and verification.

   However, unlike the BIN installer, the RPM installer can only be installed by a privileged user. Once installed, it can used by any user on the system. The RPM installer can be used only on RPM-based Linux distributions.

3. DEB installer: The DEB installer may be used to install Adobe Reader in Debian-based distributions such as Debian, Ubuntu, Linspire, KNOPPIX etc.
   It has exactly the same advantages and limitations as RPM installer. The DEB installer can only be used on Debian-based Linux distributions.
4. TARball installer: The TARball installer is provided for legacy reasons.
   It has the following advantage:
   • Install anywhere. Just like the BIN installer, the TARball installer can be used to install Adobe Reader on any location that is writable by the user performing the installation.

   The TARball installer is available for both Linux and Solaris-x86 platforms.

5. PKG installer: The PKG installer is native installer for Solaris and uses the ‘pkg’ installation mechanism, which is similar to RPM/DEB on Linux.
   It shares its advantages and shortcomings with the RPM and DEB installers. The PKG installer can be used only on Solaris-x86 platform.

Installation methods

Once you’ve chosen the installer format that suits your needs best, here’s how you can install Adobe Reader using it:

1. Download the latest installer (9.1.1, at the time of writing this post) from here and save it to you HOME directory.
2. Now, open a terminal (gnome-terminal / xterm / konsole /… ) and go to your home directory (which is where you downloaded the installer in step 1.)
   • cd $HOME

BIN installer:

• Now, mark the installer file as executable for the current user, that’s you:
  • On Linux: chmod u+x ./AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i486linux_enu.bin
  • On Solaris-x86: chmod u+x ./AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i486solaris_enu.bin
• Launch the installer:
  • On Linux: ./AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i486linux_enu.bin
  • On Solaris-x86: ./AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i486solaris_enu.bin
• Now follow the steps and answer the questions asked to complete the installation.

RPM installer:

• Start the installation using the RPM installer (remember this would need to be done as root):
  • rpm -i ./AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i486linux_enu.rpm
• Alternatively, you can open the Desktop folder in nautilus installer and double-click the AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i486linux_enu.rpm file to automatically start the installation.
  This method also requires you to be a privileged (or root) user.

DEB installer:

• Start the installation using the DEB installer (remember this would need to be done as root):
  • sudo dpkg -i ./AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i386linux_enu.deb
• Alternatively, you can open the Desktop folder in nautilus and double-click the AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i386linux_enu.deb file to automatically start the installation.
  This method also requires you to be a privileged (or root) user.

TARball installer:

• Extract the contents of the compressed tarball:
  • On Linux: bunzip2 AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i486linux_enu.tar.bz2; tar -xf AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i486linux_enu.tar;
  • On Solaris-x86: bunzip2 AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i486solaris_enu.tar.bz2; tar -xf AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i486solaris_enu.tar
• Launch the installation script:
  • ./AdobeReader/INSTALL
• Now follow the steps and answer the questions asked to complete the installation.

PKG installer:

• Extract the contents of the compressed PKG installer:
  • bunzip2 AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i386solaris_enu.pkg.bz2
  • pfexec pkgadd -d ./AdbeRdr9.1.1-1_i386solaris_enu.pkg

We hope this will act as a definitive guide to install Adobe Reader using the various installer formats offered.
In case you run into any issues related to Adobe Reader for Unix, please let us know at our forum.

Switching Modes
By default, documents are opened in tabs. You can switch to the Single Document Interface (SDI) mode as follows.

1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Documents
2. Uncheck Open documents in tabs (requires restart) in Open settings and restart Reader to open PDFs in separate windows.

Feature List
The tabbed interface provides features to allow easier and better organization of the documents you are viewing.

• Rearrange tabs
  To rearrange the tabs in a window, click and drag the tab to its new position. (Note: This feature is supported on distributions with Gtk+ version 2.10 or higher.)
• Create new window from a tab
  Do one of the following:
  • You can move out a tab to create a new window. Click and drag the tab out of the current window. (Note: This feature is supported on distributions with Gtk+ version 2.10 or higher.)
  • Right-click the tab, and choose Detach Tab.
• Move tab to a different window
  To move a tab to a different reader window, click and drag the tab from its original window into the destination window. (Note: This feature is supported on distributions with Gtk+ version 2.10 or higher.)
• Duplicate tab
  To open the same document in a new tab in the same window, right click the tab, and choose Duplicate Tab.
• Close tab
  Do one of the following:
  • Click the [x] icon in the tab.
  • Right-click the tab, and choose Close Tab.
• Close Other Tabs
  Right-click the tab, and choose Close Other Tabs.
• Close Tabs to the Left
  Right-click the tab, and choose Close Tabs to the Left.
• Close Tabs to the Right
  Right-click the tab, and choose Close Tabs to the Right.

Configurable Settings
You can change some of the preferences associated with tabs using the Preferences dialog box. The preferences settings control how the application behaves whenever you use it; they are not associated with any particular PDF document.

Choose Edit > Preferences > Documents and edit the preferences in Tab settings section.

• Show tabs at
  • Top Show tabs at the top below the menu bar.
  • Bottom Show tabs at the bottom of Reader window.
• Show thumbnails on tab hover Determines whether page thumbnails are shown on hovering over the tabs. If this option is not selected, filename/title of the PDF will be shown.
• Open new tab next to active tab Specifies whether to open a new tab next to the active tab or at the end.
• When closing a tab, switch to last active tab Determines whether the last active tab comes into focus on closing a tab. If this option is not selected, the previous tab will come into focus.
• Warn when closing multiple tabs Enables warning dialog that would appear when you close a window with multiple tabs.

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Switch to next tab: Ctrl+Tab, Ctrl+Page Down
• Switch to previous tab: Ctrl+Shift+Tab, Ctrl+Page Up
• Switch to tab (first 9): Alt+1…9

For all Windows Users – If you are looking for support related to issues with the Reader on Windows, please use the User-to-user forums. If you have purchased support for Acrobat, please use the official Acrobat Support Page.

Problem
Problems installing or uninstalling Adobe Reader 8.1.2 on Windows

Solution
Windows Reader users who are having problems in updating or rolling back from version 8.1.2, or getting the 1714 error during installation may find help on this official Adobe KB page at: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=320310&sliceId=1

Following is a list of the various comments we’ve received related to this problem:

The error I am receiving with my Adobe upgrade is that the older version of 8.1.2 cannot be removed. To contact my technical support people. However, as I am a private individual, I am the technical support. Any suggestions??

Posted by: Linda | February 19, 2008 12:35 AM

My Adobe Reader updated to the 8.1.2 version and now I can’t print from it. I am running a Windows XP operating system. I also can’t fix the update as it sayd that an older version cannot be removed. If I delete the Adobe and try to reinstall it, again it comes up with an older version cannot be removed with a file it sayd is not there. Any suggestions?

Posted by: Mary Anne | February 20, 2008 12:40 AM

I can open a pdf e mail file to read but it will not print,says unable to print…is printer ready,which it is.
also get error 1344 trying to open some pdf emails that have been saved.

Posted by: peter wilkinson | February 26, 2008 08:39 AM

I have the same problem as Linda. I don’t get any Icons for *.pdf documents! When I try the autoupdate, uninstall or manual remove and a new download and install, the install stops with the message Reader 8.1.2 can’t be removed. when I run adobe reader, it starts o.k. but tells me, it’s version 8.1.1 ! Any ideas? “please help me if you can, I’m feeling down, and I do apreciate …”

Posted by: Marc | March 7, 2008 04:52 PM

I’ve found it! Solution on http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3c06482d
where maggie hallinan (http://www.adobeforums.com/webx?224@@2d1f975f@.3c06482d/2)
suggested to use the “Microsoft Windows Installer CleanUp Utilities”.
Worked for me fine to!
cu, Marc.

Posted by: Marc | March 7, 2008 05:11 PM

The error I am receiving with my Adobe upgrade is that the older version of 8.1.2 cannot be removed. To contact my technical support people. However, as I am a private individual, I need technical support.

Posted by: rudolfo | March 8, 2008 01:18 PM

Unable to bring up any tax fil from my broker which i desparetly need When reinstalling says”cannot uninstall older version. Can you help me?

Posted by: DAN SMITH | March 9, 2008 12:29 AM

Unable to updated to Adobe 8.1.2…. I can’t even print pdf’s anymore with this application. Why can’t I uninstall Adobe’s 8.1.1 and update — Dialog informs me a “patch” is missing?? Rolled back to Adobe 7. I’m using Windows XP.

Posted by: Rosalyn Martin | March 10, 2008 12:16 AM

After downloading update 8.1.2 I haven’t been able to use AdobeReader. I keept trying to reinstall, update or remove and I keep getting a message saying, “The path ‘C:\DOCUME~1\CHARLES~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\Adobe Reader 8_\AcroRead.msi cannot be found.’ And I also receive a message saying “The older version of Adobe Reader 8.1.2 cannot be removed. Contact technical support.”

What can I do? Please help!

Posted by: Charles Lovelace | March 10, 2008 07:25 AM

Adobe Reader 8.1.1 doesn’t function well: I can read PDF-pages, but I can’t print them. A new try to install failed and the message was that an older version couldnot be removed. When I tried to remove the program with the standard uninstall-possibilities of Windows XP I received the message that the program couldnot open the patchpack (or package?) and that I should ask you if the Adobe Reader contains a valid Windows XP Installer-Pactchpack(age?). Wat can I do and how can you help.

With regards,
Anton de Jong

Posted by: A. de Jong | March 11, 2008 07:13 AM

Acrobat was unable to print.
I tried to re install ver 8.1.2
I also receive a message saying “The older version of Adobe Reader 8.1.2 cannot be removed. Contact technical support.”

Posted by: arnaud Bibard | March 13, 2008 07:36 PM

The error I am receiving with my Adobe upgrade is that the older version of 8.1.2 cannot be removed. To contact my technical support people.
Or it keeps saying that the printer is unavailable?? Any suggestions??

Posted by: Ian Cullen | March 17, 2008 07:07 AM

I’m have the same troubles as many of the other users.
My Adobe Reader updated to the 8.1.2 version and now I can’t print from it. I am running a Windows XP operating system. I also can’t fix the update as it says that an older version cannot be removed. If I delete the Adobe and try to reinstall it, again it comes up with an older version cannot be removed with a file it says is not there. Any suggestions?

Posted by: Dean Avery | March 18, 2008 01:56 AM

When I tried to remove Abode Reader 8.1.1, there was an error messege: This patch package could not be opened!! I couldnt remove or update the program! Please Help!

Posted by: Nancy | March 18, 2008 08:27 AM

I am having same problem as Nancy…need this program for work! HELP!!!!

Posted by: Ganesa Wiens | March 19, 2008 08:50 AM

Same problem here. I can’t use it, repair it, delete it or even open it. Get a message telling me that the patch package cannot be opened. Verify that it exists. I have no idea what to do. Throw me a life line here…pretty please?

Posted by: Ganesa Wiens | March 19, 2008 08:56 AM

This patch issue seems to be a recurring problem. I too am unable to uninstall AR 8.1.1 for the same reason. Is there an answer???

Posted by: Greg Cooke | March 21, 2008 08:21 AM

Same as is the one posted the most….can’t print, can’t unistall.

where are the answers to these posts?

Posted by: Michele | March 21, 2008 05:32 PM

I have tried to remove adobe 8.1.1 as it is not working properly.
When I try to remove it from add/remove programs in control pannel a message appears: Missing patch file,make sure file patch exists.
It will not let me remove it. Any ideas?

Posted by: kEVIN MARSH | March 21, 2008 06:54 PM

I also have trouble with the reader pdf
same as others it will not work and can not remove it or reistall it as many poeple are having same problems how can I get to answer
is there somewhere i cat go to get a response

Posted by: bill thomson | March 22, 2008 12:26 AM

Same problem with the patch could not be opened error. Never had this problem before today. Where do we find help? All I get is directed to this page.

Posted by: Janet | March 22, 2008 04:32 AM

8.1.1 reader does not function it always fails cannot reload cannot uninstall refers to AC76BA-7AD7-0000-2550-7ABC-40000000 cannot use it update or remove it

Posted by: Tommy Wooten | March 22, 2008 10:36 PM

The error I am receiving with my Adobe upgrade is that the older version of 8.1.2 cannot be removed. To contact my technical support people. However, as I am a private individual, I need technical support

Posted by: richard ojeda | March 23, 2008 04:39 AM

NEED HELP. SAME PROBLEM CAN,T UNINSTALL OR PUT ANOTHER VERSION.

Posted by: JUDY FARK | March 23, 2008 11:37 AM

Same problems. Older version of 8.1.2 cannot be removed. Cannot use Reader or reinstall. WTF?!

Posted by: Shannon | March 25, 2008 06:20 AM

Same problem as preceding folks – how do we uninstall 8.1.1? Doesn’t function, no reload, no way out – how do we get rid of this thing?

Posted by: Pete Lord | March 28, 2008 06:52 AM

The error I am receiving with my Adobe upgrade is that the older version of 8.1.2 cannot be removed. To contact my technical support people.
Or it keeps saying that the printer is unavailable?? Any suggestions??

Posted by: f.g.pachano | March 28, 2008 03:08 PM

Hi. I get the same results and messages as. A. de Jong | March 11, 2008. But I don’t see any answers for this problem. I tried to update to 8.1.2 but when i try to install it the message comes up that, it cant install because of the problem patch of 8.1.1.
Please help as I am stuck without the reader. It did not happen before i updated to newer version 8.1.1

Nic (XP)

Posted by: Nic | March 28, 2008 08:14 PM

I thought i was going “bonkers” till i read other persons are having the same problem of not being able to install 8.1.2

Posted by: Maurice | March 28, 2008 11:33 PM

I can read PDF-pages, but I can’t print them. A new try to install failed and the message was that an older version couldnot be removed. When I tried to remove the program with the standard uninstall-possibilities of Windows XP I received the message that the program could not open the patch pack and that I should ask you if the Adobe Reader contains a valid Windows XP Installer-Pactchpack.I need to print an important document.

Posted by: Tracey | March 29, 2008 03:00 AM

I can not remove or update Adobe Reader8.1.1 form my Pc it tells me Error 1714 the older version CAN NOT be removed.or this patch could not be opened,verify that the patch exists and you can access it.or contact the application vender to verify is a valid windows Installer patch package.

Posted by: Joe Perez | March 29, 2008 03:19 AM

Same as everyone else, can no longer open pdf files. Keep getting error 1714. I can’t remove the older version and reinstall. This is a BIG problem for me.

Posted by: Chris Watkins | March 31, 2008 03:04 AM

I am having the same issues like most of the postings. I cannot print, I have Windows XP, and Adobe Reader 8.1.2. I tried manually removing as per instructions on your website but when I get to removing c:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\Active X\del ACroIEHelper.dll it tells me access denied. What can I do to correct this issue?

Posted by: Arleen Gross | March 31, 2008 04:47 AM

I have tried to remove adobe 8.1.1 as it is not working properly.
When I try to remove Adobe Reader 8.1.1 from add/remove programs in control pannel a message appears: Missing patch file,make sure file patch exists.
It will not let me remove it. Can you help me?

Posted by: Judith Abernathy | March 31, 2008 07:36 AM

Hi- I use the Canada Post website to print my shipping labels and it is always when using it that I get the notices of upgrades etc. I d/l 8.1.2 a few days ago but then I got error message that it failed to install. Message of upgrades popped up again today so I tried again. Still says failed to install. What do I do????

Posted by: Pat Pitcher | March 31, 2008 10:46 PM

Has anyone heard back about the “unable to uninstall 8.1.1″ due to patch package? I tried to do it as well with the same result. I would like to get 8.1.2 and I can’t due to the problems with 8.1.1. Please advise and help! Thanks…. Staci

Posted by: staci | April 1, 2008 12:05 AM

Same problem as Tracey, Nic, Pete, Tommy, Janet, Greg, Ganesa, and Nancy! HELP! I can’t print any PDF files, can’t uninstall, can’t update. Major mess!!!

Posted by: Lucy | April 1, 2008 10:20 AM

I’m having the same problem as most here. I can’t uninstall or remove 8.1.1 it’s crazy. Please ….some advice please.And i can’t update because of the error “patch” thing

Posted by: rebecca whitehouse | April 2, 2008 02:07 AM

Same problem, 8.1.1 does not function well at all and wont uninstall. Operating system is Windows XP. Does anyone have a solution???

Posted by: Andy Jones | April 7, 2008 05:45 PM

I need to uninstall Adobe Reader 8.1.1 before installing 8.1.2….cannot uninstall….need Adobe Reader 8.1.2 in order to print my income tax returns. Please help

Posted by: Claire | April 9, 2008 06:45 AM

abode8.1.1 wnat let me open to my broker/want let me uninstall it/say can uninstall old verion can not be remove/ helphelp runner window xp

Posted by: james brown | April 9, 2008 10:32 AM

cant remove old version … can anyone help me?

Posted by: Ron | April 10, 2008 09:43 AM

I cannot fully delete an earlier version of Adobe Reader in order to install an updated version. An update file [AC76BA86-7AD7-0000-2550-7A8C40000000] cannot be removed. How do I uninstall this file so that I may install a newer version of Adobe Reader?

Posted by: Bob | April 10, 2008 08:09 PM

I am trying to install Reader 8.1.2 but it keeps erroring out telling me it can remove an older version of 8.1.2. I don’t have any versions of Reader installed and it keeps giving me this message.

Posted by: Russ | April 11, 2008 04:24 AM

how do you delete reader 8.1.1

Posted by: andrea dove | April 12, 2008 10:01 PM

Because it’s not a perfect world, it’s not always possible to implement each and every feature request, but we do look at each item very seriously and try our best to implement the same.

So if you have a great idea or feature that you’d like to see implemented in the Adobe Reader for Unix Platforms, go ahead and post a comment on this page. We will add your idea to this list after review. Once again, thanks for your continues feedback – that’s what keeps us going!

Note: This page is for feature requests, not bug reports. Bugs can be posted on the Known Issues Page, or the User-to-user forums.

1. Tabbed Viewing of PDF Documents
   Currently Adobe Reader does not support Tabbed Viewing of documents, which is an MDI (Multiple Document Interface) view. Tabbed Viewing allows documents to be viewed in separate tabs within the same Reader window (similar to web browsers such as Firefox or Opera).
2. Reloading / Refreshing an opened PDF Document
   If a PDF document is already being viewed in Adobe Reader and the document’s contents change from an external source (such as an external PDF creator), the Reader should automatically reload the document from the new contents (with the user’s permission, of course).
3. Support for Solaris x86 Platform
   Currently the latest version of the Reader (8.x) does not support Solaris x86 platform. Support for this platform has been requested by a large number of users.

This page attempts to do the same thing, for Reader 8.1.2. This page will be updated regularly with new Known Issues in this release. Note that a “Known Issue” listed on this page is one that has been confirmed to be a bug in this release by Adobe testers and has been logged in our internal bug tracking system. These issues are our highest priority and we try to fix them by the next patch or major release.

So please keep your feedback coming in as it has been so far and help us improve this product! You can post your feedback either on this page or on the User-to-user forums and we’ll see to it that we resolve your issue.

1. Acroread 8.1.2 cannot print multiple copies
   There’s a bug in Adobe Reader 8.1.2 (reported here) wherein printing to multiple copies to any printer doesn’t work.
2. Some 3D files throw “3D Parsing Error” on trying to enable 3D on Solaris
   This issue is present on Solaris Reader and is file specific. On trying to enable 3D on some 3D files on Solaris the Reader returns an alert saying “3D Parsing Error” and the 3D image is shown blank.
3. Acroread 8.x doesn’t properly support Unix Style Copy/Paste
   This issue has been reported by multiple users at on the User-to-user forums. The Primary selection clipboard text is not updated on second selection and the paste returns the first item that was selected. This is a known bug in Adobe Reader 8.x and will be fixed in the next release.
4. Acroread locks up when going to Edit -> Preferences | Reviewing
   This issue has been reported by users here. The issue is reproducible on opensuse 10.3, Ubuntu 6.10 and RHEL5. The hang/lock-up happens on second or third iteration of opening the Edit -> Preferences -> Reviewing tab.

• Problems running on Solaris 10: There were issues with Adobe Reader 8.1.1 on the default installation of Solaris 10 due to GTK version. This has been fixed in 8.1.2 Reader which does not require users to upgrade GTK to 2.6.
• Launch problem on Solaris 9: On some Solaris 9 machines Acroread 8.1.1 did not launch and hung on startup. This has been fixed in Reader 8.1.2
• Font caching Issues: Various font caching issues are fixed in Reader 8.1.2, including the issue of fonts that were configured using fontconfig not being picked up by the Reader to render documents (reported by Novell here).
• Reader freezes for 40 seconds on startup: This was also related to font caching (originally reported here) and has been fixed in Reader 8.1.2
• Unable to find the HTML rendering library (libgtkembedmoz): This issue was reported by many users who did not have the libgtkmozembed library installed properly (discussed in the Adobe Reader 8.1.1 FAQs, point 2). Some fixes have been made in Reader 8.1.2 to ensure that the alert for the missing library is not shown on every startup to enhance the user experience.
• Problem with Dual-screen setup (Xinerama mode): Issue number 4 listed on the Known Issues page for Reader 8.1.1 (also reported here). This has been fixed in Reader 8.1.2
• Firefox plugin problem on SELinux Enabled systems: On SELinux enabled systems nppdf.so did not load with Reader 8.1.1 (originally reported here). This has been fixed in Reader 8.1.2.
• Document ordering and fullscreen mode: Issue reported here has been fixed in Reader 8.1.2
• Font KozGoProVI-Medium.otf is missing in Japanese Reader: Reported here, this issue is fixed in Reader 8.1.2
• Not able to play multimedia with RealPlayer 10 on Linux under some conditions:8.1.2 Reader has better support for playing multimedia using the latest release of RealPlayer on Linux.

Printing Related Issues

• Incorrect orientation: Issues with printing PDF files containing portrait and landscape pages (reported here) have been fixed in Reader 8.1.2. Choosing “Auto Rotate and Center” will now print the pages in their inherent orientation.
• Red wash on printing with HP CLJ 2605: A workaround for this has been added in the preferences ($HOME/.adobe/Acrobat/8.0/Preferences/reader_prefs), namely “brokenCRDs”. This value is set to “false” by default and can be modified to “true” if one faces the red background issue.
• Scaling issues: Problems with -shrink/-expand options in the command line (Issue #1 listed on the Known Issues page for Reader 8.1.1) as well as with “Custom” printing in the dialog (reported here) have been fixed in Reader 8.1.2
• Incorrect preview on Ubuntu Fiesty: The default page size for a printer (and not US Letter) is used to draw the print preview.
• Reader does not remember last chosen printer across sessions: Last chosen printer is now remembered between different sessions of the Reader in 8.1.2 release.
• Cannot pipe PDF as input to acroread: PDF contents can be read from stdin when using the -toPostScript option
• Hardcoding of printer command: Earlier the printer command was hardcoded in the reader binary (reported here). This has been fixed in Reader 8.1.2 to pick up the command from the PATH environment variable.

1. shrink and expand options in -toPostScript command line options do not work
   The -shrink and -expand suboptions when given with the -toPostScript command line option do not work – these options have no effect on the scaling property of the generated postscript file.[FIXED IN ADOBE READER 8.1.2]
2. JavaScript getField.display call fails on a non-form-rights-enabled document when called in page-open /PO event
   The JS fragment:
   f = getField(name)
   f.display = display.hidden
   f.display = display.true
   With Adobe Reader 8.1.1 the fragment fails when run in a page-open /PO event, unless the PDF is forms-enabled.
   But the fragment works in a non-forms enabled PDF for all the other events: mouse down, mouse up, mouse enter,
   mouse exit etc.
3. Animation files with Optional Content Groups (OCG) run slow
   PDF files with animated graphical content containing Optional Content Groups, controlled using embedded JavaScripts, run with slow jerky movements in Adobe Reader 8.1.1.
4. Problem with Dual-screen setup (Xinerama mode)
   When used under dual-screen setup, maximizing the Acroread window leaves the contents of the page unchanged, whereas the window is maximized.[FIXED IN ADOBE READER 8.1.2]
5. Wrong Minimum GTK version for Solaris in the ReadMe
   Adobe Reader 8.1.1 for Sparc Solaris requires a minimum GTK version 2.6. However, the ReadMe incorrectly specifies GTK 2.4 as the minimum requirement. For more information on updating the GTK libraries on Solaris, please refer point no. 8 in the Adobe Reader 8.1.1 FAQs.[FIXED IN ADOBE READER 8.1.2]

1. Is there a version available for Solaris x86 platform?
   Adobe Reader is currently available on the following flavors of Unix: Linux (8.1.1), AIX (7.0.9), HP-UX PA-RISC (7.0.9) and Sparc Solaris (8.1.1). There is currently no version available for Solaris x86 platform. Adobe shall let the user community know in case there is a plan to support Solaris x86 in a future release.
2. On starting acroread, a dialog box pops up “Unable to find the HTML rendering library (libgtkembedmoz).”

   This happens if acroread was unable to find libgtkembedmoz.so and related component files on your system.

   GNOME Help (aka Yelp) also uses these libraries for displaying the HTML content. To find out if your system has libgtkembedmoz.so, check the output of the following command:

   ldd `which yelp` | grep libgtkembedmoz

   If this returns a valid folder name, set the Adobe Reader preference at “Preferences > Internet > libgtkembedmoz Folder” to the returned folder name (see screenshot below). If this does not work for you or your desktop environment is non-GNOME based, then try one of the following:

   • Check to see if you have XULrunner installed (you can install the latest XULrunner from here), and find the folder containing libgtkembedmoz.so in the XULrunner installation. Set this folder in the “Preferences > Internet > libgtkembedmoz Folder” preference in Adobe Reader.
   • Check to see if you have Mozilla web-browser installed. Make sure the Mozilla installation is based on GTK 2+ (you can install GTK 2+ based Mozilla from here). Find the folder containing libgtkembedmoz.so in the Mozilla installation. Set this folder in the “Preferences > Internet > libgtkembedmoz Folder” preference in Adobe Reader.
   • For debian based distributions you can install libxul0d from here, and find the folder containing libgtkembedmoz.so in the libxul0d installation. Set this folder in the “Preferences > Internet > libgtkembedmoz Folder” preference in Adobe Reader.

   If you’re still not able to fix this, please post a comment to this page with the details and we will try to help you. Also refer FAQ item no. 10 below.

   Note: On 64-bit systems you need a proper installation of 32-bit XULRunner, Firefox or Mozilla. Copying only 32-bit libgtkembedmoz.so is not sufficient.

   

   [This launch-time Alert has been suppressed in Adobe Reader 8.1.2]

3. What is libgtkembedmoz.so and why does acroread need this library?
   libgtkembedmoz.so is used by acroread to render HTML content within the user interface elements, including the Beyond Adobe Reader page, the HowTo panels and the Adobe Help Viewer.
4. I found a potential bug in Adobe Reader 8.1.1. How should I report it?
   Please first take a look at the known issues page. If you do not find the entry there, please post a comment on that page with your issue. We will add your entry to the list of known issues, and register a bug to track the problem. However, there may be workarounds available, so do please check out the user to user forums as your query may have already been answered there by a fellow user.
5. Which Linux distributions does Adobe Reader 8.1.1 work on?
   Acroread works on a large range of linux distributions, some of which have been used for testing at Adobe and others by customers. Refer the system requirements page, and the page which lists the supported linux distributions.
6. Does Acroread run on 64-bit systems?
   Acroread is currently a 32-bit program and it will run on 64-bit systems in emulation mode only. If you desire to run acroread in emulation mode, make sure that all the required dependencies of acroread (such as GTK, libgtkembedmoz.so, browser, etc.) are 32-bit. Acroread does not work with 64-bit binaries or libraries.
7. Browser plugin doesn’t load on Linux
   If SELinux security is turned on, the browser plugin (nppdf.so) as well as PPKLite plugin (PPKLite.api) doesn’t load because these are not SELinux compliant. To fix this you can run the patch for SELinux which is shipped along with Adobe Reader 8.1.1 kept at acroread_install_dir/Adobe/Reader8/Reader/Patch/selinux_patch.

   Run this patch script as follows:

   ./selinux_patch acroread_install_dir/Adobe/Reader8

   with root privileges.
   Note of caution: This will disable SELINUX enforcement for all the libraries of Adobe Reader 8.1.1

   [This issue has been fixed in Adobe Reader 8.1.2]

8. Adobe Reader 8.1.1 doesn’t launch on Solaris
   By default, Solaris 10 comes bundled with GTK 2.4.9, whereas Adobe Reader 8.1.1 requires a minimum GTK version 2.6 to run properly (refer point 5 on the Known Issues Page). So if you try to run acroread on such a system you may observe a host of GTK related warnings on the console and acroread may not launch. To fix this issue, you can update the GTK version on the Solaris machine (read the steps below for one way in which the GTK libraries can be updated easily).

   Updating the GTK Libraries on Solaris, from BlastWave.org

   1. You need pkg-get on your system. If you do not have pkg-get, you can install it using the following command:
      pkgadd -d http://www.blastwave.org/pkg_get.pkg
   2. Edit the pkg-get configuration file in order to download from the nearest mirror (blastwave.org lists all mirrors at: http://www.blastwave.org/mirrors.php)
      vi /opt/csw/etc/pkg-get.conf
   3. Install the wget package (along with all its dependencies) using pkg-get
      /opt/csw/bin/pkg-get -i wget
   4. Install gtk+ using pkg-get
      /opt/csw/bin/pkg-get -i gtk2
   5. Set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH appropriately before running acroread
      export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/csw/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

   PS: The above listed method is just one way of updating the GTK libraries, and other methods may exist. Irrespective of the method used, before launching acroread, remember to set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH appropriately to the directory which contains the correct GTK libraries.

   [This issue has been fixed in Adobe Reader 8.1.2]

9. Why does ld-linux.so.2 show up in the process list, instead of acroread?
   On non-LSB compliant Linux distributions, acroread launches the default linux loader (ld-linux.so.2). This is why you see the name ‘ld-linux.so.2″ in the process list instead of acroread. This should have no effect on the working of the acroread program.
10. On starting acroread, a blank window titled “Beyond Adobe Reader” pops up.
    Try running acroread from the command line and check for any warnings messages on the console. If you see gtkembedmoz related warning messages, it means that you don’t have the required Mozilla installation. For more details you can refer the FAQ item no. 2 above.
11. Can I set the libgtkembedmoz folder preference globally, for all the users?
    Yes, this preference can be set globally for all the users .To do so,
    1. Create a file named mozilla_config in <Installation_dir>/Adobe/Reader8/Reader/GlobalPrefs/.
    2. Write MOZILLA_COMP_PATH=<location of libgtkembedmoz.so> in this file and save it.
    3. In the acroread script, located at <Installation_dir>/Adobe/Reader8/bin/, search for the section “Enable this if you want to set MOZILLA_COMP_PATH globally”, the section would be commented out, removes the #s, and save the file.

    Now all the users should be able to see the html contents without setting libgtkembedmoz folder preference individually.
    Note: In case you want the global preference to override users’ preference, then move the section mentioned above just before the following line in the acroread script:
    ADOBE_USER_PREFERENCES=”$HOME/.adobe/Acrobat/$majorRelease/Preferences”

12. Unable to print secured files on Ubuntu Gutsy (7.10)
    Are you on Ubuntu Gutsy (7.10) and printing to a non PostScript printer? If yes, please check the GhostScript version on your machine. If it is “8.61 pre-release”, download the sources of the official release version 8.61 and build it using the standard configure/make/install method. That should fix the issue. The issue occurs as GhostScript is bundled as a shared library with Gutsy. The Ubuntu Gutsy engineers are aware of this issue and are tracking it through this bug. Refer to the original GhostScript bug for details.
13. Unix Reader unable to act upon .etd files
    Unix Reader 8.x does not support eBooks plugin, and therefore does not support viewing eBooks. This is supported in Reader 8.x on Windows and Macintosh platforms. Note that Reader 9 for Windows and Mac too have removed support for the .etd eBook format and instead redirect to Adobe Digital Editions if it’s installed on the user’s system. Digital Editions is not currently available on Unix platforms. For more information on Digital Editions, please refer http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/.