LibreOffice Writer randomly decides to stop working

English
#1

Oh Crap
Oh Crap1898×987 15.3 KB

I’m writing a novel, and this stuff just randomly hangs up on me, and when I try to shut it down, poof! I’ve lost MY PROGRESS, plus, when it restarts, I can’t even OPEN the document itself, it just REFUSES the even open, what’s going on here? I’m trying to write a long novel that I spent over A YEAR writing, and this happens? It just KEEPS HAPPENING, I don’t know what’s happening, although I have to “pay” for Cloud Storage on my computer, I think that’s why THERE’S NO PROGRESS SAVED, and I HAVE TO REWRITE EVERYTHING, it hurts.

Any solutions?

#2

We can’t extract anything from the screenshot (a blank screen) and you didn’t mention OS name nor LO version.

All I can see is you’re creating an .odm document, i.e. a master. Is there any reason for it?

You say you have to pay for cloud storage. Is your document on the cloud? What happens if you work on your local disk? Could it be you’re trying to access simultaneously several document on the cloud (the master and its sub-documents)?

#4

Okay, I use that format as I had originally made several documents which formed the nucleus of that document, also my OS Windows 11, plus, I need to update, but the strain of the program just randomly crashing doesn’t help. It’s sort of like a cycle:

  1. Write something LONG that took a lot of effort and skill.
  2. LibreOffice gives up on me
  3. Recover document
  4. Progress wasn’t saved
  5. Rewrite passage to the best of my abilities (it’s not good, but sometimes it is)

REPEAT CYCLE
If you’re curious of what I’m writing, think of Norm Macdonald but crazy like Eric Andre and composed of whatever I thought of. It took almost a whole YEAR to finish, and I’m still writing, and THIS happens to me, I had something like this happen, but I sort of recovered from that, in comparsion, that was mild to this. I don’t know what’s happening, but I chalked it up to “oh LibreOffice HATES me because i’M mAkInG tHe nExT Infinite Jest and War and Peace iT wAnTs mE tO wRitE yEt aNoTheR fAntAsY rOmAnCe”.
(this also happened, ERGH, it hurts, I’m STUCK* on THIS:(

image
image3437×1438 115 KB

Does anyone know how to fix this? And update, it decided to WHITE again, like it was white, I don’t know what’s happening, but I hope this isn’t related to storage or something. Could a cntrl alt delete work, 'cause if doesn’t, well, I’m screwed.

#5

At this point, we know:

  • Window$ 11,
  • using native format documents: .odm and others .odt (right?)
  • probably not the latest LO release (“I need to update”)

Apart from this, nothing. Is there already some contents in your .odm? Are you trying to add contents to it? Are you linking your master to subdocuments? Which order of magnitude is the size of the subdocs?

Have tried loading your documents on your local disk (not necessarily all of them) to see if this makes a difference?

Was there an automatic OS update on your computer? Have you rebooted after it?

I understand your pain with the breakdowns but consider we can’t see your screen and have no idea about your procedures. So, help us with “technical” facts so that volunteers can reproduce what’s happening.

#6

Please test in safe mode, Menu/Help/Restart in Safe Mode

#7

Even IN SafeMode IT KEEPS CRASHING, I don’t know what’s up, but I hope it’s not with the file itself, because I worked for about A YEAR from 2023 to 2024, and in that time, my life was an emotional roller-coaster. And if it is because of something with the file or the computer itself, there goes A YEAR OF HARD WORK.

#8

Try copying the entire document into a new Writer dicument, Save As a different name. Close LibreOffice and try opening the new file, does computer open and run it OK?

Backup up both of the documents to different media not on the computer, see Preventing data disaster - The Document Foundation Wiki
.
Please

  • click Help > About LibreOffice then click the icon next to the end of Version Information to copy info to clipboard. Paste info into a comment if you cannot edit your question to add it.
  • Say what format your file is in, .ods, .doc, .docx, etc.
  • say how large the file is

Cheers, Al

#9

Ok, obviously you are a story-teller with no interest in solving your problem. To reduce your workload: There is a save-button. Use it. Maybe after each paragraph use Ctrl-S. So will not loose much.
.
As a precaution use also from File-menu Save a copy to have an additional backup. Maybe store on another disk.
.
General hints:

  • Avoid master-documents unless you know what you do. If you use .odm your text/chapters should be in ordinary .odt-files.
  • Prefer local storage for direct work (internal ssd or hard-drive) and sync after closing the file to cloud-storage for backup, if you need.
  • Consider learning something of computers, if you spend so much time with one. (For example Ctrl-Alt-Del never helps. It can be the only way out, if a program crashes or is in endless loops, but this is usually “break without saving”).
#10

Update: So it decided to save from 700 or so to 639 pages, plus, any single time I try to move the mouse, the following happens: As it expected, it just crashes, it decides to go in ENDLESS LOOPS, I don’t know WHAT is causing it, still.

Also, I went on a trip to Chicago, and before I left, it (somehow) was on 870 pages, my original PAGE COUNT, then, when I recently checked it again, it decided to CRASH. I’m losing it, I can’t do anything, I had the thought to convert the .odt to a .docx.
I don’t know if that will work in the slightest, if it does, I hope it doesn’t DELETE THE ENTIRE FILE, if it does, I’m done.

Update: saved it :slight_smile: happy now

#11

If you intend to go on working with Writer, I strongly recommend not to convert to .docx. This will make your case even worse because you’ll have a conversion DOCX → ODF every time you open your fine and again ODF → DOCX when you save. Since there is no one-to-one correspondence between the formats, the input and output filters approximate the different/missing primitives by substitutes which progressively damage the structure of the document (their effect is cumulative). You’ll end up with more problems.

Usually, the kind of problems you describe originates in the structure of the document itself, i.e. not using the application according to its designed workflow. In human lay words: too much direct formatting and mechanicl typewriter-era habits. They are amplified by the size of the document. Using consistently styles has two benefits: structuring rigorously the document and dramatically reducing the size of the file.

I offer you the possibility to analyse a reduced sample of the document. Contact me through private mail: click on the icon at top left of my post, then on the Message button.

#12

Yes I could, but the file is an utter mess, hahaha.

#13

UPDATE
Turns out images cause it

And I realized I screwed up on one, so I decided to fix it, and this is the result, please, why does .odt files from LibreOffice kill me for looking at images? WHY? And glitched the text, come on, what’s happening?

image
image3439×1439 358 KB

#14

Since you didn’t enable View>Formatting Marks, I can’t make out how your document is structured. It looks like you have a 3-column table or perhaps a 3-column section, though the red overflow triangles suggest this is a table. I’d say your table is badly configured. Also you should break your text into table rows so that you can synchronise the translations.

Regarding images, remember that wrap properties have a huge influence on text spill-over across pages. If your document is not “well-structured” (i.e. not correctly formatted with styles), inserting images can mess up the document. And direct formatting makes thing really worse.

#15

I screwed up
I wanted to rename my novel
So I removed the little html thing, dunno if that screwed up anything.
Actually IT DID, which I mean it kept crashing on me, dunno if that helps. Because at this point I’m considering giving up.

#16

This does not help at all. Attach a reduced version of your document. Or, if you prefer in case you consider it private and confidential, mail it to me: click on the icon next to my name then on the “Message” button.

#17

I’m a bit puzzled, as none of my Writer-files has a “little html thing”. But I have a lot of files wich names end on .html, these usually open in my web-browser (Firefox, Chrome, Edge, …).
.
If you remove the “extension” of a Filename (the part, wich Windows usually hides, starting with the “dot” .) Windows no longer knows wich program to call to open your file. But YOUR filename should end on .odt or still on .odm (as your picture showed).

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