Writer (Linux) freezes on save file until finally locks up

clarkepeters · September 4, 2019, 2:47pm

Whenever I use Writer (LibreOffice 6.0.7.3) it freezes up when I try to save the document–doesn’t matter which extension.
I’m on Linux–Ubuntu 18.04.3 Bionic Beaver.
At first I thought it was something like information overload, that it just couldn’t handle all my column updates etc…
But if I save the file every 3 minutes or so… no problem. But then I noticed if I make even only a very few changes, or even just add a sentence or two, if I walk away from the computer and comeback in 10 minutes, I get a freeze up. So in the end, it seems more time related than anything else.
I’m so focused on my work that, of course, I can’t remember to save every 3 minutes or so.

I have loved Libre and I’m at my wits end. I’m a professor so I publish a lot, and I have lost many many hours of work on freeze-ups. Somebody, walk me through what I need to do to fix this thing. I NEED MY LIBRE. (on knees begging)

anon73440385 · September 4, 2019, 4:01pm

Two questions

Are you saving your files to a local hard disk or to some network drive / cloud service?
Are you working (saving) with a non-native format (e.g. .doc, .docx, etc…)?

clarkepeters · September 4, 2019, 4:14pm

Saving to local harddrive. I use native format, odt, but even with docx have the same problem.

mariosv · September 4, 2019, 8:06pm

Please in Menu/Help/Restart in Safe Mode.

clarkepeters · September 5, 2019, 12:58am

Did that and tried checking the different options. Same problem in safe mode.

In frustration, I deleted and reinstalled libre full suite. It is now in libre’s native interface mode (icons and dialogs) and not the gnome theme. I only had time for one test and even though it didn’t freeze, it still took a long time to save. 1-3 minutes? I’ll test again when I’m back at the computer to see if it still freezes and will time how long till save is finished.

clarkepeters · September 5, 2019, 7:59am

Solution: Completely removed LIbreOffice Suite with a purge command and then Reinstalled LIbreOffice Suite. After the reinstallation, the GUI changed back to the native Libre interface (menus and dialogs) rather than the Gnome theme.

So far it doesn’t freeze anymore, but it takes a 25 to 45 second wait each time I save my changes. IF anyone else has this problem, you may be able to switch back to the original Libre GUI without a reinstallation, but I have no idea how to do that or if that is what truly fixed the problem.