5.2 branch is EOL, could you give a try with a recent LO version (last stable one is 5.3.5)?

(In reply to Julien Nabet from comment #1)
> 5.2 branch is EOL, could you give a try with a recent LO version (last
> stable one is 5.3.5)?

The same applies here using 5.3.5.2.

After years of successfully using Writer, the crashings began to occur only when I moved to a new Mac (Sierra). On my old Mac (Mountain Lion) Writer works impeccably.

1) Since LO on Mac is 64bits.
Did you check you had Java 64 bits?
Indeed LO 64 bits needs Java 64 bits
(and LO 32 bits needs Java 32 bits).

2) Did you install any specific fonts?

3) Do you have any accessibility options enabled? If yes could you disable them for the test?

(In reply to Julien Nabet from comment #3)
> 1) Since LO on Mac is 64bits.
> Did you check you had Java 64 bits?
> Indeed LO 64 bits needs Java 64 bits
> (and LO 32 bits needs Java 32 bits).
> 
> 2) Did you install any specific fonts?
> 
> 3) Do you have any accessibility options enabled? If yes could you disable
> them for the test?

1. Java here is Version 8 Update 144 (build 1.8.0_144-b01) (can't find info on whether 32 or 64 bit, but the Java Control Panel says "Your system has the recommended version of Java.")

2. Yes, lots of specific fonts installed.

3. no accessibility options activated AFAIK

About Java, could you open a "Terminal" and give the result of:
java -version

For fonts, would it be possible you uninstall them temporarily to check if the crash could be related.

It'd be interesting too to have the backtrace (see https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/QA/BugReport/Debug_Information#Mac_OSX:_How_to_get_debug_information)

@Sam
Is the apple crash reporter opening after the crash? The crash report could be helpful.

Currently there are several main possibilities for crashing on startup :

1) graphics chip switching problems (discrete/dedicated, especially certain Intel/Nvidia combinations);

2) no recognized Java JDK - you mention your Java version but don't say whether it is a JDK or a JRE - you *need* a JDK

3) incorrect permmissions - check to see whether the xattr bit is correctly set - if LibreOffice was installed without bypassing Gatekeeper security (even though it is a signed bundle), the xattr bit can be set and cause LO to crash on startup.

4) Screen display resolution / HiDPI support if outputting to a separate screen.

5) VoiceOver / Assistive Technology options, or apps that use these functions like Dragon Dictate.

(In reply to Julien Nabet from comment #5)
> About Java, could you open a "Terminal" and give the result of:
> java -version

Done (JDK):

java version "1.8.0_144"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_144-b01)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.144-b01, mixed mode)

Note that these crashes do not occur at startup but "out of the blue", for no apparent reason -- I haven't found a way yet to reproduce them. Sometimes several hours' work cause no problems, and then suddenly a crash strikes.

Don't know whether this is related, but I occasionally get this message:

Either another instance of LibreOffice is accessing your personal settings or personal settings are locked.
Simultaneous access can lead to inconsistencies in your personal settings. Before continuing, you should make sure user [username this "macbook"] closes LibreOffice on host [username "another macbook-air-1.home"].
Do you really want to continue?

I click Yes, and LO seems to work normally afterwards (till the next unexpected crash).

(In reply to Sam from comment #10)

> I click Yes, and LO seems to work normally afterwards (till the next
> unexpected crash).



This sounds like the bash user profile corruption/settings bug that Telesto mentioned in another bug report about LO crashing on OSX.

@Sam : if you create an extra new user account (for testing purposes) on your Mac, and then start LO from that account, does it still crash repeatedly ?

@Sam : by any chance, are you using Nuance Dragon Dictate ?

No, I'm not using Nuance Dragon Dictate.

(In reply to Telesto from comment #6)
> @Sam
> Is the apple crash reporter opening after the crash? The crash report could
> be helpful.

There is no Apple crash reporter message that I get. All I get is this, from LO:

===

Due to an unexpected error, LibreOffice crashed. All the files you were working on will now be saved. The next time LibreOffice is launched, your files will be recovered automatically.

The following files will be recovered:

- [name of 1st file]
- [name of 2nd file]
- etc.

===

I click ok, then this:

===

LibreOffice 5.3 Document Recovery

Libre Office will attempt to recover the state of the files you were working on before it crashed. Click "Start" to begin the process, or click "Discard" to cancel the recovery.

Status of recovered documents:

[a table with the headers] Document Name / Status
[1st column lists files, 2nd column says "Not recovered yet"]

===

The recovery works fine.

(In reply to Alex Thurgood from comment #11)
> (In reply to Sam from comment #10)
> 
> > I click Yes, and LO seems to work normally afterwards (till the next
> > unexpected crash).
> 
> 
> 
> This sounds like the bash user profile corruption/settings bug that Telesto
> mentioned in another bug report about LO crashing on OSX.
> 
> @Sam : if you create an extra new user account (for testing purposes) on
> your Mac, and then start LO from that account, does it still crash
> repeatedly ?

I haven't tried, for practical reasons: Using my normal account, I have been able to use LO Writer for several days without it crashing a single time (up to now, when it just crashed again -- see comment #14). If I knew what steps to take to make it crash, I would of course create a new user account to see if it also happens there.

Created attachment 136257 [details]
error report

Comment on attachment 136257 [details]
error report

These crashes are definitely back again. The last two occurred while editing:

- a .DOC file
- View | Web
- Record Track Changes on
- Show Track Changes off

This time only one file was open when LO Writer crashed, and surprisingly, Document Recovery did not seem to work – the spinning beach ball did not disappear, and I had to force quit. Attached is the error message I then got.

(In reply to Sam from comment #16)
> Created attachment 136257 [details]
> error report

The trace you provided suggests on the face of it that Assistive Technology objects are being called that are no longer referenced or have been released, which appears to block the main thread.

Are you sure that you don't have any of the Assistive Technology options activated ? (System Prefs > Assistive Technology. 

As the problem seems to appear randomly, I am wondering maybe whether some AT key combo when you're typing might accidentally set this off ?


Other than that, perhaps a dodgy memory chip (clutching at straws, I'm afraid) ? No idea how one tests memory on MacOS.

> The trace you provided suggests on the face of it that Assistive Technology
> objects are being called that are no longer referenced or have been
> released, which appears to block the main thread.
> 
> Are you sure that you don't have any of the Assistive Technology options
> activated ? (System Prefs > Assistive Technology. 
> 
> As the problem seems to appear randomly, I am wondering maybe whether some
> AT key combo when you're typing might accidentally set this off ?

Thanks. System Preferences | Accessibility | General: all items were ticked, so I have toggled them now.

(In reply to Sam from comment #19)
> > The trace you provided suggests on the face of it that Assistive Technology
> > objects are being called that are no longer referenced or have been
> > released, which appears to block the main thread.
> > 
> > Are you sure that you don't have any of the Assistive Technology options
> > activated ? (System Prefs > Assistive Technology. 
> > 
> > As the problem seems to appear randomly, I am wondering maybe whether some
> > AT key combo when you're typing might accidentally set this off ?
> 
> Thanks. System Preferences | Accessibility | General: all items were ticked,
> so I have toggled them now.

No improvement, unfortunately: LO Writer just crashed again (the third time today) just after I opened an existing .doc file. The *only* thing I did was go to View and choose Web – and then it crashed. (Document Recovery worked fine, and there is no error report to submit.)

The crashing continues after installing with LO 5.3.6.1.

Am at a loss. What can I do to help you experts find the source of the problem?

Please see Comment #17 (attachment 136257 [details]) and Comment #20

(In reply to Sam from comment #22)
> Please see Comment #17 (attachment 136257 [details]) and Comment #20

Hmm, looking at the bottom of that trace, are you opening/editing/saving your documents to/from Apple's Cloud Drive as opposed to saving locally on the hard disk ? Just a shot in the dark I'm afraid.

(In reply to Sam from comment #21)
> The crashing continues after installing with LO 5.3.6.1.
> 
> Am at a loss. What can I do to help you experts find the source of the
> problem?

Ideally, a full backtrace using a nightly(daily) build of LibreOffice with symbols/debug-code included.

Unfortunately, there are no such versions currently available.

@Sam : could you check that you're not suffering from bug 98805 ?

(In reply to Alex Thurgood from comment #23)
> (In reply to Sam from comment #22)
> > Please see Comment #17 (attachment 136257 [details]) and Comment #20
> 
> Hmm, looking at the bottom of that trace, are you opening/editing/saving
> your documents to/from Apple's Cloud Drive as opposed to saving locally on
> the hard disk ? Just a shot in the dark I'm afraid.

No, everything is done locally, on my hard disk.

Thanks. Then the only other way is to obtain a full backtrace from a debug-enabled build.

(In reply to Alex Thurgood from comment #25)
> @Sam : could you check that you're not suffering from bug 98805 ?

Hmm, I can't see any connection ... If you were referring to comment 7 there, yes, I'm using the latest LO version:

Version: 5.3.6.1
Build ID: 686f202eff87ef707079aeb7f485847613344eb7
CPU Threads: 4; OS Version: Mac OS X 10.12.6; UI Render: default; Layout Engine: new; 
Locale: en-GB (en_GB.UTF-8); Calc: group

In case this is relevant: after Document Recovery, I usually notice that the display of text is "slightly less clear" (difficult to describe) than it was before the crash. If I close the file and reopen it, it looks fine again.

(In reply to Alex Thurgood from comment #24)
> (In reply to Sam from comment #21)
> > The crashing continues after installing with LO 5.3.6.1.
> > 
> > Am at a loss. What can I do to help you experts find the source of the
> > problem?
> 
> Ideally, a full backtrace using a nightly(daily) build of LibreOffice with
> symbols/debug-code included.
> 
> Unfortunately, there are no such versions currently available.

Once a debug-enabled build is available, how can I get notified?

(In reply to Sam from comment #30)


> 
> Once a debug-enabled build is available, how can I get notified?

Other than by consulting the daily builds list manually (or writing a script that will check and notify of any changes in the daily builds lists), you can't.

Created attachment 137190 [details]
error report

Here's another error report that I got after a Force Quit. This time, the crash occurred while I was doing a simple "Replace All" (with view track changes on).

Perhaps there are details in this report that point to the source of the problem?

(In reply to Alex Thurgood from comment #31)
> (In reply to Sam from comment #30)
> 
> 
> > 
> > Once a debug-enabled build is available, how can I get notified?
> 
> Other than by consulting the daily builds list manually (or writing a script
> that will check and notify of any changes in the daily builds lists), you
> can't.

(In reply to Alex Thurgood from comment #24)
> (In reply to Sam from comment #21)
> > The crashing continues after installing with LO 5.3.6.1.
> > 
> > Am at a loss. What can I do to help you experts find the source of the
> > problem?
> 
> Ideally, a full backtrace using a nightly(daily) build of LibreOffice with
> symbols/debug-code included.
> 
> Unfortunately, there are no such versions currently available.

I'm now using Version: 5.4.4.0.0+ (nightly build).

How do I provide you with symbols/debug-code next time it crashes? (There was another crash, but again no error report.)

(In reply to Sam from comment #33)


> How do I provide you with symbols/debug-code next time it crashes? (There
> was another crash, but again no error report.)

You need XCode and the lldb debugger (provided with the XCode command line tools as an extra installation after first launch of XCode).

1) From a terminal, start lldb and point to the app to load into the debugging session :

lldb /Applications/LibreOfficeDev.app

2) wait for it to load until you see something like this :

(lldb) target create "/Applications/LibreOfficeDev.app"
Current executable set to '/Applications/LibreOfficeDev.app' (x86_64).

3) then type

run 

and the application will start. Output will be channelled through the debugging session in the terminal. You can enter various lldb commands to set breakpoints, obtain backtraces, follow threads, examine register content, etc.

4) When a crash occurs, try typing, in the debugging session in the terminal:

bt all

and wait for the output to appear on the terminal. This output can be copied to a text editor and saved for posting here (or zipped, if too big).

5) Type c to continue with the debugging session or q to quit.

Created attachment 137987 [details]
two reports

Comment on attachment 137987 [details]
two reports

Thanks much! I've now installed Xcode and it works fine.

So I've started LO, and after working a couple of minutes on a Writer file, it froze and I had to force quit.

Attached are two files: the output from the terminal (crash1) and the problem report generated from Apple.

The force quit mentioned in the previous comment turns out not to have happened: there is the spinning wheel, and even using Cmd+Opt+Esc and choosing LibreOfficeDev does not close the application. It's still frozen, with the wheel. This has never happened before (maybe this is in connection with the debugging session?) What can I do?

Update: The problem mentioned in Comment # 37 is resolved (I've now been able to quit the app properly.)

I know this is slightly off-topic, but I fail to find basic information (targeted at non-superusers) on how to use Xcode Command Line Tools. For example, how do I properly stop a debugging session (without causing LO to freeze)?

Sam, since the bug summary is a very general description and I don't want to read all comments written since your first report, it is hardly impossible for me to make a contribution to confirm your bug. I assume that a lot of people who might be willing to help, would agree. So is your actual bug description and the steps to reproduce still up to date? If not, can you give an update and narrow down the bug summary?

Thanks for the BT. Looks like document specific issue (as far I can tell; not a Dev); A change related to page layout change because of a change related to footnotes. For example cutting a footnote (or something like that).

So a sample file is needed & a list of exact steps to reproduce.

(In reply to Dieter Praas from comment #40)
> Sam, since the bug summary is a very general description and I don't want to
> read all comments written since your first report, it is hardly impossible
> for me to make a contribution to confirm your bug. I assume that a lot of
> people who might be willing to help, would agree. So is your actual bug
> description and the steps to reproduce still up to date? If not, can you
> give an update and narrow down the bug summary?

Thanks. I have now summarised all the info and created Bug 114064.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 114064 ***