I'm trying to access a file I created based on a handwritten story draft, but Libreoffice tells me it has a general input/output error. How can I repair the f

I wrote a handwritten 40-page draft for a story called Nordyke and inputted the first half of that story into a file using Libre office. When I tried to access that file two days later in order to complete the story, I found that it had a general input/output error and could not be opened, forcing me to create an entirely new file for the second half of the story. Not only that but the second file also now has an input/output error in its own right. Meanwhile, a file named NORDYKE has mysteriously appeared in my computer’s database, containing several garbled files. I copied the original files and was able to open the copies, only to find them garbled as well. I don’t want to input the whole 40-page story into the computer again, but I do want to repair the original files. What should I do to accomplish this?

As a quick experiment, attempt to open the file with a text editor, such as GEDIT. (You may get visible control codes that may make the text appear garbled.) Only experiment with one page to see how things turn-out.

If that succeeds, attempt to re-save using a different name for the file (you may need to manually delete the visible control codes before saving). Then attempt to open the new file with Writer.

If things work-out, add the remaining pages to Writer from the rudimentary text editor.

The purpose of using a rudimentary text editor is to get a “clean” copy that eliminates the control codes normally used by a word processor.

More information is required.

  1. What operating system and LO version are you using?
  2. What file format are you using to save the Writer files, native LO odt or MS doc?
  3. Is this happening only with these two files and can you open other files without problems? If you create a short file containing only a few words without any special formatting can it be saved and opened?
  4. Have you recently updated the LO version?
  5. You say you have a file NORDYKE that has appeared in your “computer database”. What do you mean by this? Is it a LO Base database file type odb?

@SteveR sugested you open the Writer files with a text editor. This will not help as a Writer file is in archieve format (ZIP type) and you will not see the Writer text.