Remote Files, Google Drive, Error "The specified device is invalid"

Hi, with LibreOffice 7.5.2, tried both rpm and deb builds from this link on Ubuntu 22.04 and I still get the same error message. Can you confirm if the API related problems are back or is there a problem on my end? Thanks

As best as I can tell, as of this post this feature still does not work as advertised and as instructed in the LO Help files, and no viable solution has been posted. I no longer even attempt to use the Google Drive connection supposedly baked into LibreOffice; instead I have resorted to FreeFileSync (donation version). Even if TDF should ever fix the problem—or make it clear how to connect to Google Drive in a way that actually works when you follow their instructions—I would continue to use FreeFileSync because it has one-way AND two-way synchronizing.

You are not alone. I have attempted to get Remote Files to work on and off since April 2023. Using Google as a test, keep getting “Specified Device is Not Valid” error. I was able to get Remote Files to work a few years back, albeit very slow and non-intuitive.

I have recently decided to get back onto this topic. I utilize Ubuntu (version 22 presently) with the 7.3 version of LibreOffice.

Without any interaction with the developers as of yet, I can imagine this is a case of one-step forward and two-steps back. Third-party storage sites have soared in use in the past ten years, with attending security issues. The remote storage applications I have used at the enterprise level usually involve an elaborate exchange of keys for the user, the device and the session. My guess is that this evolving standard has been a challenge for the open source community to keep up with.

Have you tried FreeFileSync? I doubt that TDF will ever provide anything comparable to FFS.

Looked it up and it does look promising. But I typically use remote files in collaborative projects. Not necessarily syncing entire folders. From your experience with FreeFileSync, is it possible to use it to link to a specific Google Drive via a single folder on my local system?

Thanks for the recommendation, @larrybradley1 . So can I assume still on 2024-08-13T19:52:00Z this is a unsolved problem by the ODF? It’s a pity, as it would make things easier. I would suggest to remove this option from the LibreOffice User interface.

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on the problem of connecting Google Account with 2FA on Libre Office 24.2.1 on Windows 11. Google replies with Error 400: invalid_request.
— Quoted text from google page—
Access blocked: LibreOffice’s request is invalid for
xxx@gmail.com

You can’t sign in because LibreOffice sent an invalid request. You can try again later, or contact the developer about this issue. Learn more about this error :slight_smile: support.google.com accounts answer 12379384

If you are a developer of LibreOffice, see error details.

Doing so google search i read the following article saying that google upgraded its infrastructure and does not support legacy 3rd party apps using the oAuth v2.0
support google com accounts answer 12379384

I think that Libre Office developers must update the code using the latest authentication method that Google supports.