[SOLVED] LibreOffice Writer Doesn't Open

LibreOffice 6.0.3.2 running under a fresh total install of Lubuntu 18.04.1 on an old Dell laptop.

LO seems to open OK, all the elements apart from Writer open and edit/save fine.

Writer starts with a slim border, then quits.

Any suggestions ?
Is there a log file that might be useful ?

John

Try starting Writer from the command line. It will likely throw some helpful error messages.

The command ls /usr/bin/*writer* should turn up the command to use.

Then post them here, being sure to use "code" tags, which become available when you click the "Go Advanced" button under the compose post window.

john@Bluebox:~$ sudo  /usr/bin/*writer*
[sudo] password for john: 

(soffice:2983): dbind-WARNING **: 19:12:55.151: Error retrieving accessibility bus address: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.a11y.Bus was not provided by any .service files

Got this dialog box pop up:

Either another instance of LibreOffice is accessing your personal settings or your personal settings are locked.
Simultaneous access can lead to inconsistencies in your personal settings. Before continuing, you should make sure user 'john' closes LibreOffice on host 'Bluebox'.

Do you really want to continue?  Yes?  No?

Selected "Yes", got an outer window border, delay a few seconds and then quit.
John

You didn't run what he asked.To launch writer from the command line try:

$ lowriter

FYI, frankbell wanted you to run:

$ ls /usr/bin/*writer*

That would search /usr/bin for any file with "writer" in its name and return "lowriter" which is the libreoffice writer.

After running lowriter in a terminal, post what error messages you get. That will help troubleshoot what's going on. If your not sure what to do post back and I'll give more detailed instructions.

By golly, you are correct - I misread and copied badly.
The search does produce just what you noted.

Re-doing produces the same result, but the dialog box says that root should close LibreOffice (previously user john).

So, if john attempts a launch, the system complains about root not previously closing, and when root attempts a launch the system complains about user john not previously closing.

John

That would indicate you have a libreoffice process running which has probably hung up, probably the one you inadvertently launched with your sudo command since it's complaining about root running. Libreoffice will apparently only allow one instance to run at a time. Post the output of:

 $ ps aux | grep libreoffice

That should list all the libreoffice processes running which you can kill off one at a time. Or you could just reboot and try running lowriter from the command line again. The reboot should automatically kill off all running libreoffice processes.

The following is typical after a reboot, at two different times.

john@Bluebox:~$ ps aux | grep libreoffice
john      1006  0.0  0.0   6524   852 pts/0    S+   21:27   0:00 grep --color=auto libreoffice
john@Bluebox:~$ ps aux | grep libreoffice
john      1432  0.0  0.0   6524   800 pts/0    S+   21:34   0:00 grep --color=auto libreoffice

Then tried to open from the terminal, same result complaining about root.

John

You have no running libreoffice processes so that can only mean that your personal settings are locked for some reason. The configuration files for libreoffice are located in your home directory .config/libreoffice directory in most distros. You could try renaming that directory like so:

$ mv ~/.config/libreoffice  ~/.config/bad.libreoffice

And then try launching writer again. The program will automatically generate a new ~/.config/libreoffice directory. If it launches OK, then you know the problem is in the configuration files in your old libreoffice directory. My speculation is that if you start digging down in there you might find some files owned by root which are screwing things up.

Did some digging and found a [.lock] file with [User=root], timestamped the previous night.

Used the GUI File Manager to accomplish the rename, then Terminal to launch LOWriter, and got the same result.

The File Manager now shows [.config/libreoffice] rebuilt with what seems to be identical contents, with the [.lock] file now containing [User=john], timestamped this morning corresponding to my attempted launch.

I will do some more investigations into the content of the [.config] files.
I have Calc, Base etc to compare to, they would presumably have the same system of configuration methods and records.

In the meantime, AbiWord has been pressed into service.
Thanks for the help, you have opened up a new area of investigation.
John

That would search /usr/bin for any file with "writer" in its name and return "lowriter" which is the libreoffice writer.

As an aside, on this Mageia 6 machine with Libreoffice v. 5.x.x.x., I get this:

bash-4.3$ ls /usr/bin/*writer*
/usr/bin/oowriter

Running that command opens LibreOffice Writer.

That's why I phrased my response as I did.

You should also check the .config directory in /root. If you find a libreoffice directory there, that would be a likely cause for your problem, i.e. something with root privileges is locking your personal settings. If you are using a *buntu, you won't be able to access or read /root from the command line since only root has read privileges and *buntus have no proper root account. Running the following is my workaround:

$ sudo su
<enter admin password>
# cd /root/.config
# ls -al

If you find a libreoffice directory there, rename it like you did before:

# mv libreoffice bad.libreoffice

Then check to see if that solves your problem.

No [.config[ in [/root], the only config specific to LibreOffice is [/home/john/.config], the one that has been renamed a couple of times.

Thanks for prompting me into dipping my toe into user [root], interesting.
On Lubuntu, PCManFM does a good job of investigating the hidden contents, so very little need for [root].

I will keep digging, all the files checked so far for Writer and Calc appear to be identical, allowing for the different programs to be launched.

I will now go back to the log files, alternately launching Calc and Writer, to see if I can detect an inconsistency.
There was, a few days ago, a reference in a log file to modules [crypto: libbd_crypto.so.2] and [mdraid: libbd_mdraid.so.2] failing to load at about the time a Writer launch was attempted.

John

The old dog is getting forgetful !

Finally remembered that LibreOffice Writer was a problem when I installed Linux the first time (Lubuntu 17.04).
The solution then was:

~$ sudo apt-get remove --purge libreoffice-wiki-publisher

Prompted by:
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.p...133566#p648049

Tried it again, and SUCCESS.

I will put a copy of this post in my Linux Reference folder for the next time.
John