I'm reporting this as a bug because it happened before, with an earlier version. I'm running LibreOffice on an Intel processor Macbook Pro under OS X 10.10.3. After reading about LibreOffice version 5 I started LibreOffice and had it look for updates. (I was running version 4.4.3.2 with no problems.) The "check for updates" dialog said that 4.4.5 (not version 5) was available. I thought that the correct update path might be to do this intermediate update first, so I downloaded and installed LibreOffice 4.4.5.2. LibreOffice 4.4.5.2 does not show that any updates are available. When I open an existing LibreOffice Writer (that's the only one I tried) document, it shows up as "Untitled 1," NOT as the named document. And when I go to the Save dialog the program hangs. I have to force the program to quit. I am submitting this report before downloading version 5, which may fix the problem. HOWEVER, previously I went through the normal update procedure (starting with "check for updates" within LibreOffice) and ended with a version that also hung in the Save dialog. This looks like the same (or similar) problem. I was advised to install a newer version of LibreOffice--which "check for updates" didn't tell me about, and everything worked again. Until now. There are two issues: 1) The "check for updates" mechanism leads from a good version of LibreOffice to a later version that has some problems. 2) The "check for updates" dialog does not find the latest stable version of LibreOffice.
NEW INFORMATION: After updating to LibreOffice version 5 I still had problems with the document I referred to previously. It still showed as "Untitled 1" and still hung on the Save dialog. I forced LibreOffice to quit and started it again, opening a different existing document. No problems. The problem document was an old one, originally created with Microsoft Word. It was in Microsoft Word 97-2004 format. What's more, the filename did not include a suffix, which used to be normal on Macs. (Its name was "myfile", not "myfile.doc".) When I added .doc to the filename everything worked fine. LibreOffice 4.4.3.2 did not have any problem with this file and filename. Versions 4.4.5.2 and 5.0.0.5 do. Also, the second issue I reported previously still exists (I didn't try "check for updates" with version 5.0.0.5, but since I downloaded that version today--asking for version 5 from the "official" website--I wouldn't expect to find new updates.
The upgrade mechanism looks for the next version from the (default) branch, which is in your case 4.4. 4.4.5 is out now, but later on 4.4.6 and maybe 4.4.7 will be released. So it would be unwise to say v5 is the next stable, because the 4.4 branch isn't EOL.
(In reply to comment 2) Assuming that version 5 works with no issues, and presumably includes some new features not present in earlier versions, is there any reason to be interested in later iterations of 4.4 than the one I just replaced (4.4.5.2)?
(In reply to Matthew from comment #3) > Assuming that version 5 works with no issues Well, if you don't have any issues with ver. 5 then you're lucky.
I'm describing this problem here rather than creating a new bug report because this looks like one of the problems I reported in my previous posts. LibreOffice 5.0.0.5 on a MacBook Pro running OS X 10.10.3. Step by step: 1) I created a new Writer document, which LibreOffice called Untitled 1. 2) I entered some content (specifically, a line of text and the beginning of a table). 3) I chose Save (not Save As) from the File menu. 4) The Save dialog came up, but hung (spinning pizza, for those familiar with Macs). 5) After a minute or so LibreOffice crashed. 6) I reopened LibreOffice and it went through its recovery process. Said it finished successfully. 7) The "recovered" document was empty. I opened an existing LibreOffice document and tried to save it, and there was no apparent problem. So I thought there might be some issue with saving Untitled 1. However, the existing document was a spreadsheet. Next, I opened an existing LibreOffice text document (_.odt). When I tried to save it (Save As; I tried to save it with another name before making any changes) there was a hang. I waited a minute or two but LibreOffice didn't crash this time--just the spinning pizza. This problem is apparently specific to LibreOffice Writer.
Followup to Comment 5. I went back to LibreOffice 4.4.3.2, which is the version I was using up to a few days ago. I went through the identical procedure of creating a new Writer document, entering content (most of the same content, though that probably doesn't matter), and trying to save it. Exactly the same thing happened: hang, crash. When I restarted LibreOffice it went through its recovery process. Because (see comment 5) I had opened and tried to save an existing _.odt document, two documents were recovered. The existing one was fine but the new one I had just tried to create was blank. Apparently there is some incompatibility between LibreOffice's Save mechanism and the current version of OS X that prevents me from saving a new Writer document (I have not tried to create a new spreadsheet or other type of LibreOffice document). The problem exists with both version 4 (4.4.3.2) and version 5 (5.0.0.5). I seem to be able to work with existing spreadsheets (but not existing word processor documents) and save the results, but I can't create a new (Writer) document and save it.
@Matthew : please remove or rename your LibreOffice user profile and then restart LibreOffice Alos, you have reported what appears to be more than one bug here, please don't do that, but rather, open up separate reports for each one. At present, I have no way of telling whether your bug report is about the update notifier, or the repeated hang/crashing you see on saving. As regards the notifier, to my knowledge, and I admit to not knowing all of the details, the notifier works within a given branch. So, for example, you will be notified of a version update from 4.3.x to 4.4.x, but not when a new branch is created, as in the case of the 5.x release. Unfortunately, it was decided to not switch to a 5.x user configuration directory when releasing the 5.x branch, rather to keep relying on the 4.x user config folder. It might well be that some of your reported instability is due to an incompatible user profile. Please test a complete new restart of latest 5.0.x release without your existing user profile. Setting to NEEDINFO
(Replying to comment 7, posted by Alex Thurgood) Thanks for your suggestion. I apologize for talking about two issues in the same bug report. The reason is that (comment 1, which I posted) the problem I am having trying to save a file looked exactly like a problem I had previously, which was apparently fixed by upgrading to a newer version of LibreOffice. I'm satisfied with the explanation of LibreOffice's upgrade mechanism. All of my subsequent comments deal with my problem in saving LibreOffice documents. That is the only issue. You recommend removing or renaming my LibreOffice user profile and restarting LibreOffice. Please tell me where to find that user profile. I am using LibreOffice on a MacBook Pro running OS X version 10.10.3. Deleting the user profile and having LibreOffice create a new one is worth a try, but I'm not sure that the problem is related to version 5 using a version 4 user config folder. As I reported in comment 6, I went back to LibreOffice 4.4.3 2 and had the same problem trying to save a Writer file. But I'm willing to try it, so please tell me where to find the user profile. You refer to a "user config folder". Should I delete the entire folder?
(In reply to Matthew from comment #8) > Deleting the user profile and having LibreOffice create a new one is worth a > try, but I'm not sure that the problem is related to version 5 using a > version 4 user config folder. As I reported in comment 6, I went back to > LibreOffice 4.4.3 2 and had the same problem trying to save a Writer file. > > But I'm willing to try it, so please tell me where to find the user profile. > You refer to a "user config folder". Should I delete the entire folder? Hi Matthew, With LO not running (remove from Dock), just rename /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/LibreOffice to something else, e.g. LO_old and then restart LibreOffice, a new profile will be created. You might get asked the security question again or refused access by Gatekeeper (depending on your security settings), so you might have to use right mouse button click and "Open"
Replying to Alex Thurgood (comment 9): Without LibreOffice running, I changed the name of ~/Library/Application Support/LibreOffice to LO_old (I realize that any name change would be equally good). That folder contained two subfolders, /3 and /4, each with sub-subfolders inside. Then I restarted LibreOffice 5.0.0.5. It created a new LibreOffice folder in ~/Library/Application Support (containing one subfolder, /4, with stuff inside). Then I created a new Writer document in LibreOffice, typed a few words, and chose Save from the File menu. Same familiar behavior: hang, crash. I opened an existing spreadsheet (I worked on a copy just in case the file got trashed), entered some new data in LibreOffice, and saved it. No problem. Just to check, I also used Save As to save another copy with a different name. Also no problem. But my problem with LibreOffice Writer files and saving is unchanged.
@Matthew: are you running any accessibility programs, e.g. VoiceOver, or other tools such as a screen magnifier ? It would be helpful if you could post a copy of the Apple trace that is provided by the OS when an application crashes in this way, at least that might give us a hint as to what's happening. Do you have Java installed ? If so, which version ? You need both Apple Java 1.6 and Oracle Java. Do you have any mounted network shares or intermittently mounted network shares ?
(Replying to comment 11) Your advice about Java may be the solution to the problem. Apparently I don't have Java on my computer at all. (I recall that a few years ago Apple advised Safari users to get rid of the Java plug-in unless it was absolutely necessary. And Oracle says newer versions of the Mac OS don't include Java.) The Library folder at the root level on my hard drive has a Java folder, but it is empty. And I don't have Java in my System Preferences (I'm running OS X 10.10.3). Apple (as of May 26, 2015) says: Get Java for your Mac Download Java for OS X directly from Oracle. Get the latest version If an app or webpage you want to use asks you to install Java software, you can download the current version of Java for OS X directly from Oracle's website. Note: You can also download legacy Java SE 6 from Apple if you’re using an app that specifically requires this unsupported, out-of-date version. Oracle (FAQ page) says: Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) and above: Java is not pre-installed with Mac OS X versions 10.7 and above. To get the latest Java from Oracle, you will need Mac OS X 10.7.3 and above. If you have Java 7 or later versions, you will see a Java icon under System Preferences. Java versions 6 and below are listed in the Java Preferences.app located in the Applications > Utilities folder on your Mac.
(Follow-on to comment 12) The LibreOffice system requirements page (for Windows, Mac, and Linux) says: "For certain features of the software - but not most - Java is required. Java is notably required for Base." Is it likely that Java is needed simply to save a file? If so, how come I can save a spreadsheet but not a word processor file without Java?
(In reply to Matthew from comment #13) > > Is it likely that Java is needed simply to save a file? If so, how come I > can save a spreadsheet but not a word processor file without Java? Some of the menu entries or functionalities in Writer require Java - certain bundled extensions from memory, e.g. spellchecker ? Not sure, but defo a requirement for "peaceful" functioning. The obligation to have both versions (Apple and Oracle) is apparently Oracle's fault, as they have a bug in their JNI instantiation that they won't fix until at least Java 9.
Rather than installing Java because not having Java might (or might not) be the cause of the problem, I followed Alex Thurgood's suggestion in comment 11 to post a copy of the Apple trace that the system produces when an application crashes. The trace is VERY long, so I'm only posting the beginning here. If you need more I can post the entire trace, or send it in an email message (I saved the trace in a text file). What I did was: I created a new Writer document in LibreOffice version 5.0.0.5. It was the only open LibreOffice document. I typed a few words and tried to Save the document. The save dialog came up, and after a few seconds I got the spinning pizza. After about a minute LibreOffice crashed. Here is the beginning of the trace, which is saved in a 141K TextEdit document—as I said, very long. Process: soffice [2804] Path: /Applications/LibreOffice.app/Contents/MacOS/soffice Identifier: org.libreoffice.script Version: 5.0.5 (0) Code Type: X86-64 (Native) Parent Process: ??? [1] Responsible: soffice [2804] User ID: 501 Date/Time: 2015-08-15 11:06:02.288 -0500 OS Version: Mac OS X 10.10.3 (14D136) Report Version: 11 Anonymous UUID: 9A171B99-DE15-AECE-B42D-80261D725A84 Sleep/Wake UUID: F6A7AAF6-9E2E-4B8B-AFE3-8D152C03ACA9 Time Awake Since Boot: 54000 seconds Time Since Wake: 2800 seconds Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV) Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x00007fff5823afd8 VM Regions Near 0x7fff5823afd8: MALLOC_SMALL 00007fadc8000000-00007fadc8800000 [ 8192K] rw-/rwx SM=PRV --> STACK GUARD 00007fff54a3b000-00007fff5823b000 [ 56.0M] ---/rwx SM=NUL stack guard for thread 0 Stack 00007fff5823b000-00007fff58a3b000 [ 8192K] rw-/rwx SM=COW thread 0 Thread 0 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread 0 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff8efa7876 __CFStringEncodeByteStream + 246 1 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff8ef83a6b CFStringGetBytes + 795 2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff8ef8df44 CFURLCreateStringByReplacingPercentEscapes + 356 3 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff8ef8dba4 _retainedComponentString + 964 4 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff8ef8d2aa CFURLCreateStringWithFileSystemPath + 362 5 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff8ef90c82 CFURLGetFileSystemRepresentation + 930 6 com.apple.CoreServicesInternal 0x00007fff93d1e0bf corePropertyProviderPrepareValues(__CFURL const*, __FileCache*, __CFString const* const*, void const**, long, void const*, __CFError**) + 365
OK, I'm going to close this report. Java is a requirement on OSX for LibreOffice to function without crashing at seemingly random intervals. You need to install a JDK and not a JRE - a JRE alone will no longer be recognized in current versions of LibreOffice. 5.0.x is EOL. The latest "Still" release is 5.1.5, release 5.1.6 is expected 24-30/10/2016, however 5.1.x will be EOL on 27/11/2016. The latest "Fresh" release is 5.2.0.4 LO 5.2.1 is expected this week (29/08 - 04/09/2016). See https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleasePlan