I installed LO Version 4.0.1.2 on my MacBook. Started Writer and got the message that normal.ott does not exist. I get the message each time I open a new blank document.
This may need to be filed as a bug. I think this can be solved by adding a default template. Go to Tools > Options > Paths and find the path next to Templates. (there may be two paths listed back to back. Make note of the first one. It should end in templates\common) In your OS file browser, go to the templates path. This should be where the default templates are located. Are there any files listed there with the .ott extension? If not, you’re just missing the standard template. To create a new one, create a new text document. Go to File > Save as, enter normal as the name and select ODF Text Document Template (.ott) from the drop-down list of file types. Save the file to a folder you can get to easily. Close LibreOffice. In your OS file browser, find the file you just created and copy it to your template directory. Restart LibreOffice and create a new text document. Your new file should load and not have the error.
I’m seeing the same problem with LibreOffice 3.4.5 on Ubuntu Linux 10.04. Unless I put a normal.ott file in ~/Templates, LibreOffice Writer complains and defaults to its built-in page settings, even though I’ve completely removed ~/Templates from the LibreOffice “Paths” options. This is definitely a bug: LibreOffice should be looking at my ~/Templates directory at all. Has a bug report been filed on this issue?
(Sorry about posting this comment as an “answer”: There is no “comment tool” visible on my browser screen – another bug.)
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(That should work now …)