LibreOffice suddenly hanging on my MacBook Pro

users
#1

LibreOffice 3.6.4 and 3.6.5. I have been running LibreOffice for
several years with no problems. When I check for updates I am told
3.6.5 is the latest version for the Mac.

This program was working fine a couple of days ago. I think I may have
installed a Mac update since then but I'm not sure, which could explain
the problem. I can find nothing in the log files.

The problem is that if the ~/Library/Application Support/LibreOffice
directory exists, LibreOffice will hang when I try to start it. If I
try to delete this directory the computer will hang. If I force the
computer to quit and restart it, the directory will have been moved to
Trash and LibreOffice can be started once.

Once started it seems possible to open, change and save LibreOffice
files, but once you exit the program you can't get back in.

I have not tried this but it might be possible to get LibreOffice
running and to minimize it when not needed, thereby avoiding exiting.
However, I really would like a solution to keep it from hanging.

The more I think about it the more it seems possible this was caused by
a Mac update installed in the last couple of days.

#2

In article <bob-65097A.21472026022013@news.gmane.org>,

I have not tried this but it might be possible to get LibreOffice
running and to minimize it when not needed, thereby avoiding exiting.
However, I really would like a solution to keep it from hanging.

This works for LibreOffice but then Safari hangs! Possibly other apps
hang as well but this was the first one I encountered. Leaving
LibreOffice open but hidden is not a solution.

I forgot. I am running Mountain Lion, 10.8.2, on a MacBook Pro I bought
in December. It has the Retina Display and flash memory.

#3

Hi :slight_smile:
Can you try reinstalling 3.6.5?  Perhaps download the installer from the LiberOffice website afresh.  When you try to install it there should be an option to "Repair" and that might let you add the "Quickstarter" component.  Then in LibreOffice itself go to
Tools - Options - Memory
errr, sorry, is that the same for Macs?  The bottom option should be a tick-box allowing you to have the quickstarter on.  That effectively stops LibreOffice from completely closing.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#4

Tom

The LO Options for a Mac are in LO> Preferences.
The Options differ too as there is no option to switch "Quickstarter on or
off under the Memory option.
It may exist elsewhere, but I have never seen it.
BTW. I am running Mac 10.8.2 on an iMac and I have never experienced that
problem.
I am happy with the "Quickstarter" currently using LO 4.0.1

Tink.

#5

Hi :slight_smile:
Thanks Tink.  Errr on other platforms the option only appears if you have chosen the right option during install.  Otherwise it doesn't appear at all, which is a bit weird.  Usually those sorts of things would be greyed-out rather than absent.

I like your idea of upgrading or re-installing the 4.0.1 already.  That has got to be a good move anyway.  It's just bug-fixes and stuff on the 4.0.0 so it's not likely to introduce new features and new problems. It should just fix a few things. 
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#6

In article <1361962498770-4040433.post@n3.nabble.com>,

BTW. I am running Mac 10.8.2 on an iMac and I have never experienced that
problem.

Me neither until yesterday. I have absolutely no idea what happened. I
thought maybe it was a system update but I restored from an earlier
backup without success.

Do you know how to do a complete uninstall on a Mac? There may be
something floating around somewhere that is causing the problem.

#7

In article <bob-3216E6.12422727022013@news.gmane.org>,

Me neither until yesterday. I have absolutely no idea what happened. I
thought maybe it was a system update but I restored from an earlier
backup without success.

I discovered what happened. There was a directory in Application
Support but there were also Preferences plists. The latter were locked!
After deleting them LibreOffice seems to be working fine again.

#8

In article <bob-C1A022.12550827022013@news.gmane.org>,

In article <bob-3216E6.12422727022013@news.gmane.org>,

> Me neither until yesterday. I have absolutely no idea what happened. I
> thought maybe it was a system update but I restored from an earlier
> backup without success.
>

I discovered what happened. There was a directory in Application
Support but there were also Preferences plists. The latter were locked!
After deleting them LibreOffice seems to be working fine again.

Not quite. Eliminating the preferences file allowed me to fire up
LibreOffice once but then something causes it to hang. There is
something getting created on my computer that is causing this but I have
no idea what it is or where to look!

#9

Robert

To ensure a compete removal of an Application I use "Clean My Mac"

http://macpaw.com/cleanmymac

or you could try "Amnesia"

http://www.koingosw.com/products/amnesia.php

Both these search and remove associated files when you do an uninstall.

Tink.

#10

In article <bob-9BD879.13352227022013@news.gmane.org>,

Not quite. Eliminating the preferences file allowed me to fire up
LibreOffice once but then something causes it to hang. There is
something getting created on my computer that is causing this but I have
no idea what it is or where to look!

I tried OpenOffice. Same result. In fact it looks like the same
program. It must share code.

After years away, I decided to try NeoOffice again. It cost $10 but
opened my LibreOffice spreadsheets and seems to work. I guess I will
use it until I can figure out what the problem is with
LibreOffice/OpenOffice on my machine.

BTW, if I want to, I can connect to my computer from my wife's, open
LibreOffice there and access the spreadsheets on my machine. That was
my fallback if NeoOffice didn't work.

#11

Hi :slight_smile:
It is god to hear you have found a work-around.  If you wanted to install a version of Libreoffice or OpenOffice alongside it then please use the "Installing in Parallel" wiki-guide
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Installing_in_parallel

I don't know why it was giving such problems so it's good to hear you have found a way to make it work.
Apols and regards form
Tom :slight_smile:

#12

Hi Tom,

It is god to hear you have found a work-around. If you wanted to install a version of Libreoffice or OpenOffice alongside it then please use the "Installing in Parallel" wiki-guide
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Installing_in_parallel

On OSX 10.8.x, the first part of that advice with regard to installing
on Mac is obsolete. In OSX 10.8, the system recognizes that an
application with the same name is already installed and asks if you want
to overwrite or install the other version as a separate app. If you
answer the latter, then OSX automatically numbers the newly installed
app as LibreOffice2.

The second part of the information you pointed to in your link still
holds true, at least for the shared user configuration, i.e. any newer
LO installation will share the same configuration directory in
/<username>/Library/Application Support/ (which is hidden by default,
thanks Apple). The trick about renaming the profile also seems to work
on my system (from what I can tell), contrary to the information given
on the wiki page, at least between 3.6.x and 4.0.x

Alex

#13

Hi :slight_smile:
So the "UserProfile" page is wrong about how to rename the profile for Macs?  Could you correct it easily?
Apols and regards from
Tom :slight_smile: