Description: I have a document ("banking.ods") that I've been editing for years with LibreOffice Calc. It is a LibreOffice password-protected file. I last worked with that file around mid January, 2021 (I do monthly dumps of personal finances into that file). On 2021-02-14 I tried to open that file, but I received this warning: "The password is incorrect. The file cannot be opened." I have rsync backup copies of that file (hourly/daily/weekly/monthly/...; same file name but different path), on a separate (local) hard drive, that I also cannot open with the recent LibreOffice Calc version. Again, before this issue I was able to open those copies with LibO Calc. Interestingly, I am able to use the current (installed) version of LibreOffice Calc to open OTHER password-protected .ods files that I previously (months/years ago) edited/password-protected with older LibreOffice versions. It is not a Caps Lock, nor a file permissions ... issue. Likewise, restarting LibreOffice in Safe Mode with a new profile did not help. I downgraded my Arch Linux LibreOffice installation to some earlier versions (most distant tried: libreoffice-still-6.4.7-8), without success in opening that LibreOffice password-protected file. System info: uname -a Linux victoria 5.10.16-arch1-1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Sat, 13 Feb 2021 20:50:18 +0000 x86_64 GNU/Linux libreoffice --version LibreOffice 7.0.4.2 00(Build:2) pacman -Ss libreoffice | grep installed extra/libcdr 0.1.6-3 [installed] extra/libreoffice-still 7.0.4-1 [installed] `glxinfo` is not installed. Cross-posts (mine): * https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/question/293498/the-password-is-incorrect/ * https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=104490 Steps to Reproduce: 1. Restart in Safe Mode. 2. Downgraded installed LibO version. 3. Usual sanity checks: Caps Lock; ... Actual Results: See Description. Expected Results: Expected ability to open (LibO) password-protected Calc .ods file. Reproducible: Always User Profile Reset: Yes Additional Info: The current version of LibreOffice Calc should open my password-protected spreadsheet. I did an extensive internet search for a solution and posted to two LibreOffice user/discussion forums, with no solutions found. In my opinion, this is a serious issue. I have a multi-year financial spreadsheet (personal finances) that I can no longer decrypt, hence the loss of that data.
Obvious check: does the same happen with TDF provided builds instead of the Arch packages?
TDF: The Document Foundation? ... I tried installing/building (configure/make) older LibO versions downloaded from https://downloadarchive.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/old/?C=M;O=D (installed as ./configure --prefix=...) but I invariably had errors such as ooSplash missing, numerous .../program/... files missing ... so I was unable to get those older sources installed.
Do not build yourself as you might be pulling in broken libraries from your system, try with the builds provided. Still that is no guarantee as the runtime may pull in broken system libraries as well.
Hi @erack : thank you for the suggestion. As mentioned, I am on Arch Linux; the closest source I see at (e.g.) https://downloadarchive.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/old/7.1.0.2/ are the `.deb` files. However, I am reluctant to mess around with my system with forced `dpkg` or `deptap` installs of deb files.
SOLUTION. I managed to install, build LibO 7.1.0.2, which worked. While exploring this further, I found the solution. I am pretty embarrassed to admit / nearly mortified to discover that it was a [wrong] password issue. Mea culpa; my profound apologies for the disruption caused to various Readers / Developers.