[Solved] OpenOffice does not install

[johasco]

Edit: Topic locked to preserve this discussion

I am trying to upgrade to OpenOffice 4.1.5 on a Mac recently upgraded to Mojave. The update downloads correctly. I then drag the OpenOffice icon to Applications, but instead of installing OpenOffice in Applications, it puts in a shortcut to the Disc Image. Thereafter, when I select OpenOffice to run the program I have to go through the Disc Image menu (verification, permission to open app from internet). I doubt this is the way it is supposed to work. What I am doing wrong?
Thanks for any help.
John

[robleyd]

Does https://www.openoffice.org/porting/mac/ ... g/ooo.html help?

[johasco]

No, sorry, that does not help, because that is exactly what I have done. I dragged the icon to the Applications folder--which resulted in a shortcut to the disc image.
Anything further?

[RoryOF]

See [Tutorial] Mac FAQ Q05/A05

This is caused by Apple's Gatekeeper. The above will tell you how to allow the install.

[johasco]

I have gotten past the Gatekeeper, and authorized an installation from SourceForge. It was after that authorization that the shortcut to the disc image appeared in Applications after I dragged the OpenOffice Icon there. Any further ideas?

[MrProgrammer]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

I then drag the OpenOffice icon to Applications, but instead of installing OpenOffice in Applications, it puts in a shortcut to the Disc Image.

The installation instructions for OpenOffice haven't changed in many years and so thousands of people have been successful with them. When I (and others) follow them, a copy of OpenOffice.app is placed in the /Applications directory.

In Finder, use Go → Applications. Drag the incorrect entry in the /Applications directory (the link to the disk image) to the Trash. Then, if you're having difficulty with the official instructions, I suggest you read Q03/A03 very carefully, especially the sentence beginning with "Drag the …".

If this solved your problem please go to your first post use the Edit button and add [Solved] to the start of the title. You can select the green checkmark icon at the same time.

[johasco]

I don't want to get testy, but I have been installing programs on Mac for many years and have been successful every time. When I follow the standard procedures, a copy of the required app is placed in the Applications directory EXCEPT THIS ONE!! Just in case you are convinced I do not know what I am talking about, I have followed your instructions PRECISELY! I deleted the shortcut by dragging it to trash. I opened the disc image. I dragged the OpenOffice icon to Applications. What I have now in Applications is a short cut to the disc image. I would appreciate some help which does not depend upon assuming I do not know what I am doing. Thank you.

[RusselB]

Getting testy is not going to help.
We had no way of knowing how long you had been using and installing programs on your Mac, so the helpers here were defaulting to try to use the simplest steps available.
All things considered, including the fact that I'm not a Mac user, I have to wonder if you have (probably accidentally) gotten a version that is not the official version.
After selecting the version you wanted to download on http://www.openoffice.org/download did you just wait for the transfer to the SourceForge servers, and then for the download to start automatically? or, as some people have done, clicked on something on the SourceForge server site?
If you did click on something, it simply means that you may have gotten something other than the official OpenOffice package.

[johasco]

Just in case something like that happened, and I hope to remove all doubt concerning the source of the problem, I deleted all previous downloads, and followed the link provided above. I clicked on "Download Full Installation," which took me to the SourceForge page. I did not touch anything and waited for the download. When the download had completed I did not touch anything, and got a popup with the OpenOffice icon. I dragged the icon to my Applications folder, and wound up, again, with a shortcut to the disc image. Now, I can open the program that way, but it is a pain to go through the verification/authorization process every time. I hope it is clear that I have not made an error in following the correct steps to get a valid installation. So, are there any ideas about why this is happening? A conflict with Mojave? A conflict with some other app? Any guesses at all? I really do appreciate the help, but got frustrated when it was suggested that the only problem was my inability to follow simple directions.

[robleyd]

The Mac FAQ mentions "Double-click the .dmg file" once the download has finished; I don't see this step mentioned in your description above?

[johasco]

I did not click the .dmg file because when the .dmg file was downloaded it opened automatically without needing to be clicked. However, just in case it made a difference I deleted the shortcut and disc image which resulted and went to the downloaded .dmg file, clicked it (getting the same result as when it opened automatically), and dragged the OpenOffice icon to Applications. It made no difference. I again got a shortcut to the disc image in the Applications folder. Honestly, I am following all the right steps to install an app on a Mac, precisely as described and precisely as I have done successfully many, many times. This is a new problem, and I am reasonably certain that simply repeating the correct steps to install a program is not going to be the solution. I am beginning to think there is no solution, and I will just have to live with accessing the program through the disc image every time, but I live in hope that there is a fix.

[RusselB]

Does Mac have a Safe Mode? If it does, have you tried doing the installation in Safe Mode? That should remove most of the possibilities of an app conflict.

[johasco]

That was a really good suggestion, and I had such high hopes for it working . . . but no! The attempted OpenOffice installation in Safe Mode again resulted in a shortcut to the disc image.

[johasco]

Well...I figured it out. This installation is somewhat different from those I am used to, and I must admit I did not read the instructions carefully enough. I was dragging the OpenOffice icon to the Downloads folder in the dock (which is how I am used to installing programs). I did not carefully read: "After verifying the file, the Mac will display a screen which shows OpenOffice.app, then an arrow, then an Applications folder. Drag the OpenOffice.app icon on that screen into the Applications folder icon ON THAT SCREEN." So MrProgrammer was right all along, and I apologize for wasting everybody's time. (My face is red.)