With IE 5.5 the pdf-Plugin (Adobe Acrobat Reader) reports an error when displaying pdf Files Error (in German): "Dokument beginnt nicht mit %PDF" = document don't start with %PDF After confirming the error message and pressing reload in the browser everything is ok. This problem is not with Apache 1.2 (same page, same pdf-file same browser, same plugin) and not with Mozilla and Konquerer
I'm not sure if it is an Apache-related bug (maybe IE related?) But if you put this in your config file, the IE pdf plugin will work again: <FilesMatch "\.pdf$" > BrowserMatch MSIE nokeepalive downgrade-1.0 force-response-1.0 </FilesMatch>
Seems to be a faq. It's an acrobat plugin problem, which doesn't work well with chunked responses.
has this been added to the FAQ/dcoumentation?
Tested also with Mozilla 1.6, 1.7, 1.7.2 and Firefox 0.9.2, 0.9.3 (Apache 2.0.50). The problem don't sussist if the PDF's filesize is small (less than 90 Kb).
The problem seems to be related to gzip-compression not handled correctly by some browsers/plugins. Disabling compression at server level (NOT using "SetOutputFilter DEFLATE") solve the bug.
*** Bug 31717 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
This bug has completely messed me up in trying to deliver course material to my students. It is a completely random bug-- sometimes the same file will work on the same Windows system and teh next day stop working. What happens is that the file gets truncated, with the first K or so thrown away when it arrives at the Windows system. It is NOT just if the adobe plugin is used. This happens even if the file is saved to file on the Windows system (it is truncated.) Watching the net trace while the pdf file is delivered to the Win system, that header (%pdf ) IS delivered, but something on the windows system throws it away. Pressing reload does not clear up the problem reliably. Emptying the cache does not clear up the problem reliably. I have also seen the problem with Mozilla on the windows system.
This bug has become just a catch-all for anyone having problems delivering pdf files. As such, it is no help at all in getting anything fixed, so I'm going to close it. If you can identify a specific bug in apache or you can suggest a specific documentation improvement, please feel free to open a new bug.