Suddenly, all .odt files are locked by 'Unknown User'

[amead]

I see several questions about unlocking files but none seems to match my circumstances.

My files reside on a CentOS 6 server. I am trying to edit them using Windows 7 and a product called ExpanDrive (v2.4.0). ExpanDrive exposes my server’s files (using sftp) as a virtual drive in Windows. This set-up has been stable for a couple years on several different computers and as far as I know, nothing has changed about the CentOS server or ExpanDrive but I am experiencing this problem on a new computer and a new installation of ExpanDrive and a fresh install of LO (4.1.0.4).

Suddenly, today, whenever I open a .ODT file using Writer/LO, I get a message like this:

“Document file ‘xxxxxxxxxx.odt’ is locked for editing by:

Unknown User

Open document read-only or open a copy of the document for editing”

There are no visible lock files (i.e., not visible in Windows 7 and not visible in an ls -a on the server.) When I try to open a .DOC file in the same directory, everything works and I can see that the lock file is created (and then removed correctly when I close the file).

This seems to affect files in all directories (i.e., 100% of the several folders which I tried) and affects .ODS files as well as .ODT files.

Can network latency cause this kind of problem? This kind of drive always has some latency and today it’s like molasses…

[oweng]

I am not sure this is your problem, but perhaps try turning off file locking in LO. The README contains a heading “File locking” with details. This thread may also be helpful.

EDIT: I did not realise with my first response the client system was Windows. This answer indicates there are problems with file locking under Windows that are ongoing. The use of SFTP may also indicate bugs fdo#57765 and fdo#72460, although the last bug seems to also have a GVFS aspect.

[LibreAddict]

If you have left over hidden lock files (.~lock.xxxxx.odt#) where xxxx.odt file is the original file name try deleting them first then opening the odt file again.