Troubleshooting Tips

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There are several common sources of problems that cause crashes or sub-optimal performance in NeoOffice. This page collects some common problems and tips to help narrow down the cause of, or in some cases even fix, the problem.

Contents

NeoOffice fails to start, or crashes during startup or right after starting

  • Check the Console.log (via /Applications/Utilities/Console.app) for messages about Java, soffice.bin, or NeoOffice
  • Check to see if you are running the most up-to-date version of Java 1.4.2
    • Open the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) and type the following and then press return:
      java -version
      • Mac OS X 10.3.9:
        java version "1.4.2_09"

Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.2_09-233)

Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.2-56, mixed mode)
      • Mac OS X 10.4.3:
        need a 10.4.3 user to paste the results here
between the nowiki tags
  • Check for a corrupt Java 1.4.2 installation (how? does the 1.3.1 method here work for 1.4.2?)
  • Java Shared Archive corrupted (would this be detected by the above?)
    Caused by some 10.3.x update; Apple issued another update to fix it

NeoOffice crashes randomly

  • Haxies (programs that use Unsanity's APE)
    Not all random crashes are caused by haxies, but we have found a disproportionate correlation between the presence of haxies and strange NeoOffice crashes (this was particularly true of NeoOffice versions prior to 1.2 Alpha, which used Java 1.3.1). Many other Mac developers have experienced similar issues with their applications when haxies are present.
    Haxies work by injecting their code into running applications in order to customize the behvior of Mac OS X or an application in a way that neither Apple nor the application developer intended. A haxie may have a bug that causes an application to crash, or it may simply create a condition that the application is not prepared to handle and thereby cause a crash.
    Because of the scope of the project and the limited time and resources of the NeoOffice developers, no effort will be made to fix a bug that only occurs when a haxie is present.
    • Disable any installed haxie(s), or add NeoOffice to the exclusions list for the haxie(s)

Problems with the menus or menu bar

  • Haxies and haxie-like programs
    • MenuCracker
      While not an Unsanity APE haxie, this hack for enabling third parties to add items to the Mac OS X menu bar has caused problems, such as the disappearance of NeoOffice's menus from the menu bar, in the past.

Crashing in the font dropdown

  • This is usually caused by a corrupt font that hangs or crashes Apple's text layout routines (e.g. Vivaldi)
    • Check for a corrupt font and disable this font via Font Book
      • Mac OS X 10.3.x: Use FontDoctorâ„¢ (demo mode)
      • Mac OS X 10.4.x: Use Font Book :
        • Select all your fonts in Font Book
        • In the file menu, select Validate Fonts
        • Select Warnings in the dropdown menu while Font Book operates
        • Then check the fonts you would like to delete and click "Delete selected fonts"

Performance

  • Background processes
    Constantly-running background processes can degrade the performance of NeoOffice
    • Seti@Home
    • Folding@Home
    • others?
  • OpenOffice.org 2.0
    OpenOffice.org 2.0 by default creates converted copies of all of your installed Mac fonts. Because these fonts are stored inside an application bundle in OpenOffice.org 2.0 (as opposed to simply being in a normal folder in OpenOffice.org 1.1.2), all of the duplicate fonts are loaded by the Apple Type Server (ATS) process and made available to Mac OS X apps. These duplicate fonts seriously degrade the performance of NeoOffice, may cause fonts to display incorrectly, and may even cause crashes.
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