13 replies to this topic

[Adam]

I have an issue.

First i need to install Adobe acrobat with my install.
Second i need to pop up a release notes in .pdf format
Third the Adobe install asks the end use to reboot and this could cause problems.

So the easy fix would be if somone has a silent install of Adobe acrobat reader 4.0 or later

Other than that i see no way that i can pop up the release notes if the Adobe setup gives the end user the option to reboot, if he reboots, he will most likely hose my install since it did not finish.

Anyone have that silent adobe install or any other lovely ideas?

[Taco Bell]

You don't need to get a silent install, you can just make it yourself.  Look in the help file and you'll find the steps necessary to do this.

Basically though you'll manually run the Acrobat Reader install with an appropriate switch.  This will record your responses to a file such as the ever important NO to reboot.  Next you'll include that previously generated file with your install stuff.  Then just run the install from IS as before, but with the -s switch.

[Adam]

all i found pertaining to installing were irrelivant things and this

"You are expressly prohibited from
modifying or creating your own installer for the Acrobat Reader software."

are you sure i can do this? and please post where i can find this since its not in the adobe acrobat reader help.

[Adam]

ok i tried what i could find on the internet by including the .iss file and then using C:\temp1\rp505enu.exe -s -a /s /f1 C:\temp1\setup.iss to launch it.

It changes my mouse cursor and sits there for a few seconds then closes and i see no new acrobat reader icon or program.

All of the things ive found on the internet specify 4.05, whereas i have 5.05. Could this be the problem?

[Adam]

hrm seems that for some reason package for the web strips the "-" in front of some of the switches.  

I replaced the "-" in

C:\temp1\rp505enu.exe -s -a /s /f1 C:\temp1\setup.iss

with "/" so it looks like the below

C:\temp1\rp505enu.exe /a  /s  /f1C:\temp1\setup.iss  

and it seem to do its thing.

Still testing but seems to work.

[Taco Bell]

The instructions contained in the referenced ISS file would be different depending on whether its 4.05 or 5.05.

Also, the help that I was referring to though was InstallShield's and not Acrobat Reader.

Now if the ISS file resides in the same directory as the setup file, you do not need to explicity reference.  Therefore the line of code in InstallShield would look like:

LaunchAppAndWait("rp505enu.exe ", "-s", WAIT);

You'll of course need to include the appropriate path to the install (i.e. TARGETDIR ^ "acrobat\rp505enu.exe ").

[Adam]

well i thought it worked but it decieved me.

GAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ive tried all the suggestions and still i cant get the thing to go silent on install.

seems that none of the switches work unless you put a "-a" in front of them to access the package for the web.

when i use -a /s  it does the little unpacking thing in the upper left corner of the screen, the mouse flickers a bit and then it just stops.

so  /s & -s dont work
they seem to work when -a is in front of them, but they just unpack the app they dont setup the app.

(Edited by Adam at 1:31 am on Jan. 4, 2002)

[Taco Bell]

Yeap, so their use of the PackageForTheWeb wizard causes it to require some extra switches.

Sounds like you're basically going about it the right way though.  Just watch the spaces.  They'll kill you.

Here's a URL for v4.05, but it's probably the same one you were using:
http://www.swynk.com...pkg.asp<p>Sorry I couldn't be more help.  Good luck.

[runningquicklynowher]

If you can't figure out how to get it to install silently you could let it run normally launched from your install and set a flag in RunOnce and cause your installation to return to where it left off before reboot.  That way your install won't be hosed by the reboot that the reader is causing and will continue where it left off.

[Bill K]

I found that with the Reader installs, there was often a need for reboot and then the silent install using the setup.iss would fail.  I then determined that the msvcrt.dll was the culprit causing the need for reboot.  So I test for the version of the msvcrt first and then can launch the reader install and refer to either of the iss files that I created.  One answers the call for a reboot and the other answers the "finish" option.  You can choose whether to have the reboot now or wait.
Good luck.  The Reader install has always been one of my major challenges but this strategy got me through one of the biggest hurdles.

[sweetp]

Adam, I am going through the same thing you are. Before I package for the web, if I run my InstallShield installer with -s -f1 switches, the setup.exe is not even run, as you say.

No matter what I put after f1, ever just <setup.iss>, it won't work. I don't put a space between f1, just f1setup.iss. I know my iss is good because it works if I just run -s.

Once I use package for the web, it gets even worse. I cannot run in silent mode at all, the -a -s does not work. I copied the setup.iss file that worked running setup.exe into my PFTW folder, still no luck.

I am running IS 6.12. I would be interested to hear what your outcome was Adam.

[sweetp]

I should add that I pass my own command line argument, and it is passed along by PFTW via the -a switch, so it is passing along the arguments. However, as I said, it still doesn't seem to respect the -s switch, or something is configured incorrectly. It doesn't generate a .log file when I run PFTW, so it is hard to figure what is going wrong.

[Taco Bell]

Here's a web site which talks about setting up Acrobat Reader to do a silent install:

http://www.swynk.com/friends/jthompson/ar405pkg.asp

It also references an InstallShield article which may be source of all your troubles.  It's regarding a bug in PFTW 2.x involving command line parameters.

http://support.installshield.com/kb/view.asp?articleid=Q102293

Hope it helps.

[sweetp]

Hey thanks, that second link did the trick! Now I can pretty much do what I want, I have a silent install that passes arguments to my setup.exe within my package.

I have to know where the .iss will be, so I set the option in PFTW to create a static directory instead of removing it. I am using %temp%\myProject. I suppose I could try to take the last step and get this work with a package that removes itself, I notice PFTW create dirs like pft29e~tmp in my temp dir. Problem is, the name changes every time.

Is there a way to know what temp dir that PFTW will be named?