Time-lag response in v. 4.4.0.1 Writer

users
#1

Hi list

I recently installed LibO v. 4.4.0.1 and have noticed that when using Writer, there is a response delay. For example, when typing, there is a periodic (perhaps every few minutes) when the text doesn't appear on the screen, the cursor stops blinking and remains fixed in place. This then clears and all is good again. This happens when highlighting or deleting, etc., so it is more than just typing. I timed one of these lags, and counted up to 8 seconds before Writer responded.

Having used LibO for many years now, I cannot recall having such an issue before, and I haven't changed my OS or desktop settings (Linux Mint 17, Mate desktop environment) since using the previous Fresh 4.3 updates or even previous releases.

If necessary, I will uninstall this version and go back to the 4.3, but that seems to be using a hammer to crack a nut.

Any advice on this please as it is quite disruptive given I'm trying to do my thesis on it!

Thanks for any help.

Sun

#2

It might be due to how often LO is doing a backup of your text. With a large document it can take a while. I've had that happen to me too on all revisions of LO on a Mac with large documents. I just got used to it. I figured I'd use it as a way to take a break, look away from the screen and stretch my fingers.

Perhaps there is a setting you can change to make the timing different or turn it off? I don't know abut that I never bothered to look for it. I've used the emergency recovery feature too often to turn off the automatic saving that happens occasionally.

Eugenie (Oogie) McGuire
Desert Weyr, LLC - Black Welsh Mountain Sheep http://www.desertweyr.com/
LambTracker - Open Source SW for Shepherds http://www.lambtracker.com
Paonia, CO USA

#3

Now you mention it.. I've had this both on my slow PC and on my Mac.
However, I now realize that since I changed my disk for a SSD I never had it again (even while working on a very old Mac: 24 ", end 2006, 2,16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)
Rob

#4

Thanks all - I've changed the auto-save time and will see if that has any effect.

Best wishes

Sun

#5

Update:

Changed the auto-save setting, and that hasn't helped. Closed out all other open documents. No change.

I wonder if it is an interaction problem with the LibreOffice Mendeley Plug-In?

Does anyone else use Mendeley Desktop reference management software v. 1.12.4 with LibO 4.4.0.1? If so - can this lag be replicated? Not sure if this is a LibO or a Mendeley issue at this point.

Thanks for any ideas.

Sun

#6

Hi :slight_smile:

Tools - Options - "Load/Save" - General

Then about half-way down the default is to save every 15mins. You
might find it helps to make it half-hourly or so.
Good luck and regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#7

Hi :slight_smile:
It might be.

You can test to see if any Extensions/Plug-ins or configurations and
settings are causing it by renaming your User Profile;
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/UserProfile

Then when you re-open LibreOffice it automatically creates a fresh new
one, taking you "Back to factory defaults". If that doesn't fix
things then you can delete the new one and rename the old one back to
the right name.

It is often a good idea to create a copy of your user profile when you
are reasonably happy with the way LibreOffice is working. I tend to
add the date in reverse order at the end of the file-name to make it
easier to figure out which backup-copy is likely to be best.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#8

Hello Tom

Thanks for your further thoughts on this.

As it so happens, I did something else which seems to have fixed the problem (touch wood). Basically, I uninstalled 4.4 and reinstalled 4.3.5.2 (fresh), uninstalled the LibO plug in from Mendeley, reinstalled it and took it for a run. At first, same problem, then after a few minutes (and testing this problem on another document written previously and with Mendeley references) the lag stopped.

I'm tempted to go back to 4.4. but since I need this for production work (i.e. my thesis), I think I'll stick with this version (4.3.5.2) for now.

Thanks again.

All the best

Sun

#9

Hi :slight_smile:
The 4.3.5 is a good choice.

That 3rd digit is roughly the equivalent of Microsoft's "Service
Packs" but divided by 2, so the x.x.4 is roughly like "Service Pack
2". LibreOffice and many, perhaps most, OpenSource projects work on 2
branches keeping both updated and current.

The 'newer' branch (the one with the lower 3rd digit) tends to have
more and newer features but because of that, because "you can't make
an omelette without breaking eggs", it sometimes suffers unexpected
problems or unexpected things go a bit wonky.

Hence why the older branch is still actively used and developed. The
older branch has less new features which makes it less likely to have
unexpected problems suddenly appearing. It gets bug-patches and fixes
to fix the problems that may have appeared earlier in the branch's
life-cycle.

Usually branch's aim to keep producing new releases until it reaches
x.x.7 although usually a branch is so solid after x.x.4 that it's
decided the x.x.6 is going to be the last release for a branch.

So, 4.3.5 should really be "Still", because it's after the x.x.4 of
that branch, but a few unusual things seem to have happened over Xmas
and we have ended up with 3 active branches. Really that should
probably be 2 "Still" branches and 1 "Fresh" but i'm guessing there
are still discussions going on about that elsewhere.

Anyway, the 4.3.x is a good choice as there are still a couple more
releases due in that branch over the next few months so it's very much
active.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile: