All TDF files "corrupt"

users
#1

I was running LO writer just now, and suddenly all my files are
corrupt - templates, documents, spreadsheets, everything. I can't
even open a new document.

I have LO 4.2.4 running on Xubuntu 12.04 LTS.

My system is in the middle of an upgrade, but I'm not sure how that
could be part of the problem.

Any suggestions?

I can go back to an earlier version, but I've been using 4.2.4 since
shortly after it came out and never saw anything like this, or on any
earlier revisions either.

WTF?

MR

#2

More information:

Most of the files I tried to open have not changed in quite a while.
One I was editing earlier today at work and had no trouble with it at
all.

To be sure, I restored a backup copy of the first file I tried to
open, one I saved last night, and magically it, too, is "corrupt."

I visually inspected a .csv file and it looks fine. I made a copy and
it opens fine.

So it appears to be limited to .o[dt]? (open document format) files.

However, when I close the files, even the ones it says are corrupt and
the (not corrupted) .csv file, the LO lock files are not getting
removed.

#3

I also still have LO 4.1.<something> on my machine, and it has the same problem.

The template file is more than a year old with no change in the mtime,
so I have to believe it is something else.

#4

I rebooted (after the kernel update) and all seems well again.

Still wondering why that would happen....

#5

The files were never 'corrupt', it is just that your system 'forgot' how to open them... in the Windows world, it is called 'file associations', not sure how linux handles these (I only mainly use linux on servers)...

#6

MR ZenWiz wrote:

I rebooted (after the kernel update) and all seems well again.

Still wondering why that would happen....

On most OSes (including GNU/Linux) I doubt one can update (in other words, change) something as low-level as an operating system's kernel and continue to run the system normally. After the update and before the reboot, the new kernel is updated on the primary storage medium and the old kernel is still running in memory. I'd imagine that there are all sorts of kernel dependencies where the currently-running kernel and newly-installed kernel differ. Therefore you'll see lots of adverse effects for the currently running system which are resolved by getting everything rebased on the updated kernel. Hence kernel update packages are marked to require a reboot as soon as possible.

#7

:

On most OSes (including GNU/Linux) I doubt one can update (in other words,
change) something as low-level as an operating system's kernel and continue
to run the system normally. After the update and before the reboot, the new
kernel is updated on the primary storage medium and the old kernel is still
running in memory. I'd imagine that there are all sorts of kernel
dependencies where the currently-running kernel and newly-installed kernel
differ. Therefore you'll see lots of adverse effects for the currently
running system which are resolved by getting everything rebased on the
updated kernel. Hence kernel update packages are marked to require a reboot
as soon as possible.

I've never seen that happen before, but it makes sense.

Now if I knew why the update got stuck running depmod for more than
ten minutes, I'd feel more comfortable. Oh, well.

Thanks.

#8

MR ZenWiz wrote:

Now if I knew why the update got stuck running depmod for more than
ten minutes, I'd feel more comfortable. Oh, well.

It's hard to say without knowing what was happening at the time.

I can only guess it took some time to identify and remove your oldest kernel and all of its unique dependencies (files that aren't shared by any other package) in order to free up space for the newest kernel and its dependencies, plus manipulate whatever configuration files needed changing to accommodate the new kernel, plus do any other ordinary package work performed when installing/removing any package. And on top of all that, do all the other activity the system was also doing at the time.

But this is clearly a system administration issue and not related to LibreOffice per se. If you wish to followup please don't be surprised if my address doesn't show up as a destination; I'm experimenting with headers to tell mail clients to only send followups to the list and not to me. I can read followups posted to the list on the list, I don't need another copy sent to me.

#9

Hi :slight_smile:
Proper Server OSes and command&control systems on such things as the space
station and presumably military systems can often do kernel upgrades
without needing to reboot. The requirement for minimal down-time is
probably a major reason why such systems tend to be BSD, Gnu&Linux and
other unix-based platforms and why IWndows has such a tough time trying to
crack into such markets.

However, desktops do generally need to reboot at the slightest thing, let
alone kernel updates.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#10

I invite you to read this excellent article [1], I tweeted about a few
month ago. It was speaking about kGraft and kSplice, 2 tools you can
use to apply security updates to a kernel without reloading it.

Regards,

[1]
http://www.linux.com/news/featured-blogs/200-libby-clark/764542-suse-labs-director-talks-live-kernel-patching-with-kgraft

- --
William Gathoye
<william@gathoye.be>