Broken Wizards in Debian Open Office

GTrax · 11-12-2007, 06:10 PM

Open Office Writer has 'Wizards' in its 'File' menu.

Clicking on the 'Letters' choice brings about a bad lock-up on Open Office. The File menu stays displayed, but the video in the main window gets frozen, and progressively overwritten to blank if the window is moved about. Closing the application involves a wait, and eventually, the 'not responding/terminate' choice is offered.

Google searches did find some java wizard bugs - but not this one.

I have Debian 4 'Etch' using kernel 2.6.18-4-686, on a KDE desktop, and Open Office fully updated using Synaptic.

Does anyone have any ideas about this?

rickh · 11-12-2007, 07:10 PM

Exactly what version of OO do you have?

farslayer · 11-12-2007, 10:36 PM

I'm running etch as well and do not experience a lockup with that wizard.. it does take a few seconds to start (much longer than I think it should) but works fine..

here are my working versions so you can compare..

Code:

debianetch:~# apt-cache policy openoffice.org-writer
openoffice.org-writer:
  Installed: 2.0.4.dfsg.2-7etch2
  Candidate: 2.0.4.dfsg.2-7etch2

debianetch:~# uname -r
2.6.18-5-686

debianetch:~# java -version
java version "1.5.0_10"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_10-b03)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0_10-b03, mixed mode, sharing)

gnome desktop rather than KDE here..

So your desktop is different than mine. KDE rather than gnome

You haven't updated to the latest etch kernel, but I doubt that would be the cause

what java runtime are you using ? the default Debian java, or did you install the sun JRE like I did ?

GTrax · 11-15-2007, 03:02 PM

Thanks for your help.
Firstly -

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickh

Exactly what version of OO do you have?

It is Open Office version 2.0.4

Quote:

Originally Posted by farslayer

what java runtime are you using ? the default Debian java, or did you install the sun JRE like I did ?

Its now like yours. When I first installed ETCH, I used the Debian JRE via Synaptic. When the browsers (Konqueror and Iceweasel) failed to display a java math animation, I un-installed JRE. Then I fetched a new JRE from the Sun Java site, and installed it like you did. At this stage, the java test utility ran just fine, and the animations worked.
The test is here ->Java Test Page Link

I have followed your checks, and they answer identical to your installation, except for the kernel version.

Code:

miranda:~# apt-cache policy openoffice.org-writer
openoffice.org-writer:
  Installed: 2.0.4.dfsg.2-7etch2
  Candidate: 2.0.4.dfsg.2-7etch2
  Version table:
 *** 2.0.4.dfsg.2-7etch2 0
        500 http://security.debian.org etch/updates/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     2.0.4.dfsg.2-7etch1 0
        500 http://ftp.uk.debian.org etch/main Packages

miranda:~# uname -r
2.6.18-4-686

miranda:~# java -version
java version "1.5.0_10"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_10-b03)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0_10-b03, mixed mode, sharing)

I checked in Synaptic. The only Debian java package left listed is java-common. The version is 0.25(stable). It probably arrived there as a necessary dependency when the browsers were installed.
The 'letters', 'fax', 'agenda and 'web page' wizards mess up.
The 'presentations', 'document converter', 'euro converter', 'address data source' and 'install new dictionaries' wizards at least appear to start OK. (I pressed 'cancel'). Other than just not using the Wizards, I am not sure where to go from here.

GTrax · 11-22-2007, 04:29 PM

Its Java alright, JRE or JVM or something.
JRE is in a problem, and it has reached my limit of understanding, and maybe patience!
I visited the site where one checks it out.

The URL looks complicated, in that I may be looking at a result specific to my machine, but here it is:
http://java.com/en/download/installe...n=2.6.18-4-686
The result is ...

Quote:

Oops! You don't have the recommended Java installed.
Your Java version is Version 5.0 Update 10. Please click the button below to get the recommended Java for your computer.

Sure - click the button, and end up running as root a shell script called 'jre-6u3-linux-i586.bin', presumably version 6.3. It does not work, because now we end up on a different Linux install page, where all sorts of previous versions are also available. Thats nice, but it would help to know which one is appropriate.

The message at the top of the Iceweaselbrowser says

Quote:

Additional plugins are required to display all the media on this page

with a button to 'Install Missing Plugins' which leads in circular fashion back to the install we just did.

Trying to start clean by using the Synaptic Package manager has its problems too. Un-installing Java will automatically delete all of Open Office. The version that eventually gets put back is Open Office 2.0.4 - still with the broken Wizard, but this time a message box instead of an outright crash.

Quote:

JRE is Defective
Open Office.org requires Java Runtime environment (JRE) to perform this task. The selected JRE is defective. please select another version or install a new JRE and select it under Tools-Options-OpenOffice.org-Java.

Doing exactly as asked invites me to a choice of Add.., Parameters..., or Class Path... It offers a choice of folders in one's home directory, none of which are anything remotely Java. I am not a Java expert, so I would there be stuck!. Parameters example appears to be 'Windows-centric', and Class Paths will have to wait until I know what they are.

I am thinking,"It is just me? or can it really be so tough to get a common feature working?" I need to discover what is the difference between 'JRE' and 'JVM' but that will come. I am just surprised at how one can get in so deep, so quick, into areas requiring one to enter 'Class Paths'. Anyway - is not the fact I can edit and post this message in this forum an indicator that Java is working?

puigmald · 02-24-2008, 08:51 AM

Java in openoffice:

Openoffice apparently was not able to successfully configure jvm after java upgrades.

So, I removed (manually) ~/.ooo-2.0/user/config/javasettings_Linux_x86.xml

After that, I've restarted openoffice and it worked nicely, with the new jvm (automatically found)!

GTrax · 02-24-2008, 01:04 PM

Wow - it was such an old post, but it yielded and answer. Thanks so much for the tip. It was such a blot on an otherwise fine Open Office.