Locked for editing by Unknown User

Issues with installing under all GNU/Linux Distributions
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jjanderson5
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Sep 11, 2021 3:39 pm

Locked for editing by Unknown User

Post by jjanderson5 »

I am using BunsenLabs Lithium Linux (Debian 10) for my PCs and have been using openoffice for a number of years without issue. The past few months I have been experiencing a problem that I have not seen in the past. I am using openoffice 4.1. The problem occurs with calc, impress or writer. I rarely use draw, so I don't know if the problem will exist there. I searched the forum for a similar problem, but I did not see any reports of this problem on Linux.

The problem is that after creating a file, saving it and exiting it, then on the next entry to the file I get a message that:
Document file 'inventory.ods' is locked for editing by:

Unknown User

Open document read-only or open a copy of the document for editing.
I get this message despite the fact that I see no lock files in the working directory. I searced the directory for any files that start with a period, i.e. '.', and none were found. I also tried a search for any files starting with tilde, i.e. '~', and none were found. I then searched for any files containing 'lock' in the filename. None were found.

I appreciate this message when I do have the file opened already in another window, but even then it should identify me with my user ID, not 'Unknown User'.
It is very annoying because every time I edit a file, I must make a new file, then replace the original file with the new file.

This is either a bug or something is wrong in my environment. I have a LAN set up and I use the same login ID on each system so there should not be an ownership problem.

I have not had the chance yet, but I plan to install some older versions of OpenOffice to see if the problem pefsists.

Suggestions and comments are most welcome!!

Jim A.
Openoffice 4.10 on BunsenLabs Linux Lithium
John_Ha
Volunteer
Posts: 9583
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 5:51 pm
Location: UK

Re: Locked for editing by Unknown User

Post by John_Ha »

The lock files are hidden files - google for how to make them visible. When open, fred.odt has hidden file .~lock.fred.odt#.

1. Close AOO
2. Search for lock files and delete all you find
3. If it's still there, delete the master lock file in the profile - in W10 it's C:\Users\xxxxxx\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\.lock
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit

See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.

Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
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