Ubuntu Vancouver Technical Support

Open Office Freezing and same with Moz FF

Asked by Genny

I use Open Office (OO for short) Word Procesor daily all the time and for the past month or so, every few days, and sometimes a few times a day it freezes on me and I have to force quite it and restart it (and then it rescues what files I had open). I've been talking to an ubuntu friend of mine and he thinks I should just install ubuntu 11.10 (I currently run 10.04) since it comes with LibreOffice and then I would never have to deal with OO issues again.

Can LibreOffice open dot odt (open office default format)? I've got a LOT of files to re-save if it can't :-(

 Mozilla Firefox has also been freezing a bit, I have about 14 gigs on my drive (and it's a duel core) is this related somehow? Do I need more free space on my laptop?

 It seems like a lot of trouble to back everything up, burn a 11.10 CD, install it, re-synch my music in Rythembox and my ebooks in Calibre and transfer everything over just because OO doesn't work for me.

Is there some sort of command line i can key in to fix OO?

Would it note make more sense to install 11.04 since it's the long term support version (and because it's been out quite a bit longer then 11.10)? I use Red Green's motto when it comes to computers, "If it aint broke you're not trying" so the longer I can hold off upgrading my computer the better.

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Randall Ross
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Revision history for this message
Mark Cariaga (mzc) said : 		#1

Hi Genny,

First off, Libre office is a fork of Oo hence they're very close relatives,
which means it's not 100% certainty that Oo issues will disappear if you
move into Libre office. But Libre office can definitely open odt files.

I would recommend that you try to free up space first for virtual memory.
Also when upgrading always do your homework to check if drivers for your pc
has no issues and there's a known and easy workaround if necessary.

11.10 is pretty nice and frees up desktop space but some people may
argue...lol:)

hope this helps..

On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 1:05 PM, Genny <<email address hidden>
> wrote:

> New question #179142 on Ubuntu Vancouver LoCo Technical Support:
>
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu-vancouver-loco-tech-support/+question/179142
>
> I use Open Office (OO for short) Word Procesor daily all the time and for
> the past month or so, every few days, and sometimes a few times a day it
> freezes on me and I have to force quite it and restart it (and then it
> rescues what files I had open). I've been talking to an ubuntu friend of
> mine and he thinks I should just install ubuntu 11.10 (I currently run
> 10.04) since it comes with LibreOffice and then I would never have to deal
> with OO issues again.
>
> Can LibreOffice open dot odt (open office default format)? I've got a LOT
> of files to re-save if it can't :-(
>
> Mozilla Firefox has also been freezing a bit, I have about 14 gigs on my
> drive (and it's a duel core) is this related somehow? Do I need more free
> space on my laptop?
>
> It seems like a lot of trouble to back everything up, burn a 11.10 CD,
> install it, re-synch my music in Rythembox and my ebooks in Calibre and
> transfer everything over just because OO doesn't work for me.
>
> Is there some sort of command line i can key in to fix OO?
>
> Would it note make more sense to install 11.04 since it's the long term
> support version (and because it's been out quite a bit longer then 11.10)?
> I use Red Green's motto when it comes to computers, "If it aint broke
> you're not trying" so the longer I can hold off upgrading my computer the
> better.
>
> --
> You received this question notification because you are a member of
> Ubuntu Vancouver LoCo Support Heroes, which is an answer contact for
> Ubuntu Vancouver LoCo Technical Support.
>

Revision history for this message
Genny (gbourdages) said : 		#2

Mzc,
  Thanks for all your great advice.
I'll begin to clean up space on the drive (darn movie/tv downloading habit) and will backup and go to 11.10 (once I download and burn it) and I might stick to the classic desktop.

How do i check what drivers my PC has?

I know i had issues with wireless when i switched my laptop from windows to ubuntu, but i can wire in at home and download the driver for it then.

Revision history for this message
Mark Cariaga (mzc) said : 		#3

Its lspci and lsusb to know what peripherals and usb devices you have,
respectively,

also, there no classic desktop on 11.10. It's unity at its best :)

On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 5:30 PM, Genny <<email address hidden>
> wrote:

> Question #179142 on Ubuntu Vancouver LoCo Technical Support changed:
>
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu-vancouver-loco-tech-support/+question/179142
>
> Status: Answered => Open
>
> Genny is still having a problem:
> Mzc,
> Thanks for all your great advice.
> I'll begin to clean up space on the drive (darn movie/tv downloading
> habit) and will backup and go to 11.10 (once I download and burn it) and I
> might stick to the classic desktop.
>
> How do i check what drivers my PC has?
>
> I know i had issues with wireless when i switched my laptop from windows
> to ubuntu, but i can wire in at home and download the driver for it
> then.
>
> --
> You received this question notification because you are a member of
> Ubuntu Vancouver LoCo Support Heroes, which is an answer contact for
> Ubuntu Vancouver LoCo Technical Support.
>

Revision history for this message
Genny (gbourdages) said : 		#4

I'll give those two a try in Terminal.
  As Dan Savage says it best, the price of admission may be too high if my only options are a Unity desktop....

so my question is does 11.04 have BOTH classical desktop option and LibreOffice?
installing 11.04 would save me a LOT of time since I have a burned copy of it already from the lovely folks from FreeGeek.
thanks.

Revision history for this message
Best Randall Ross (randall) said : 		#5

Hi Genny,
Mark has given excellent technical advice so there's little I can add on the that side. A few community comments might help with context though:
1) We have Ubuntu 11.10 disks at UVLC meetings, so next time you're at one just ask and you shall receive :)
2) There's a lot of Unity hatred online, generally from people who haven't given it a fair shot. Many people I talk to who have used Unity regularly *love* it. It's also the future, so it's a good opportunity to jump on the next wave of Ubuntu growth.
3) We have published a Unity guide to help you get started: http://randall.executiv.es/unity_simplify_your_life

Cheers,
Randall

Revision history for this message
Genny (gbourdages) said : 		#6

hi Randall,
  Thanks for the advice, i'm going to be reading the Unity Guide shortly on my e-book reader. I've decided to give 11.10 a go, so i'm just in the process of backing up everything. I've already downloaded and burned to CD 11.10 it didn't take nearly as long as I would have thought (15 min or so).