Bad allocation ; etc.

[ptoye]

Interesting - my problems started with 4.1. Maybe I should try 4.1.1.

[commentator]

I did install OO ver. 4.1.1 about a week ago as some here suggested. The new ver. did NOT solve the constant 'bad allocation' message; I am still getting it. For brevity, in my earlier post, I did not mention another continuous problem I am having, both in OO ver. 4.1.0 previously and now - maybe even more frequently - with OO ver. 4.1.1.

I am quite frequently getting very slow OO response; "(not responding)" in the title bar at the top; and these are often followed by a shutdown. As with the "bad allocation" message and shutdown this is happening with both calc and text.

When I get "(not responding)" I simply have to sit there and wait until it refreshes itself, usually a couple of minutes. It is terribly frustrating. I ready to give up because I just can't understand why I am having this problem and almost no one else seems to be.

To reiterate from my earlier message:
OO ver. 4.1.1 (previously 4.1.0), Windows 8.1, brand new Dell XPS12 convertible laptop with Core i7 processor. The problem was the same when running OO 4.1.0 on my old Comapq Presarion desktop until a couple of months ago.

Normally, the only application I have open simultaneously with OO is my Chrome browser (usually many tabs) and one or two Windows Explorer windows. Lately I've had Skype open but that doesn't seem to make any difference. None of those applications show any slowdown or crashing or messages. It seems to purely be an OO problem.

So again, any suggestions?

I have NOT tried:
- Running OO in safe mode
- Running OO with NO other applications open

But I will get around to those.

Edit: : Just FYI I have never gotten the "Vector <T> too long" error message that others have been mentioning. I did reset my profile as suggested elsewhere and that appeared to help for only an hour or two. If anything, it's worse than before. If I revert to OO ver. 4.0 can anyone give advice on: - Where to download - Which sub-version to use (can I choose?) such as 4.0.0 vs. 4.0.1 etc. - Are there issues with documents created in 4.1 being used in 4.0?

[Villeroy]

I have NOT tried:
- Running OO in safe mode
- Running OO with NO other applications open

- Visiting http://openoffice.org/download/
- Applying http://www.openoffice.org/download/checksums.html

[commentator]

Villeroy, I went to the links you provided but I could not perform even step one:

"Save the following file with your Internet browser to the location where the downloaded AOO and PGP/ASC file is stored: http://www.apache.org/dist/openoffice/KEYS"

I searched for a while but didn't find an AOO file or PGP/ASC file. I did find where all of the AOO files are stored but there are many folders, several nested layers, and I did not go searching through each one to find these two particular files. Can you tell me which one it would be in?

[Villeroy]

Ignore any "sponsored Google links" on top of search results. Do not download any open source software from dubious "warez sites".
Regarding OpenOffice or LibreOffice, always download the original packages from http://openoffice.org (redirected to a sourcforge.org server) or from http://libreoffice.org respectively.
If you understand the "mechanics", you may test the integrity of the downloaded packages by the published check sums. If you run a test against some file xxxoffice-4.a.b.c.exe and the test returns the exact same check sum as the published check sum, you can be 100% sure that the downloaded file is byte-by-byte identical to the file that had been uploaded by the development team.

If you run a bad operating system (read: any version of MS Windows), you should go offline and shut down all anti-virus programs before starting the installation routine.

If you still encounter very strange problems (crashes, unspecific misbehaviour that can not be deduced to a known problem), resetting the user profile is recommended as a general solution. Resetting the profile means no more than renaming a certain folder while the office suite is shut down for sure.

Starting your Windows operating system in "safe mode" is just a well known method to hunt down software problems that may be unrelated to the misbehaving software itself. If some software runs slowly but flawlessly in "safe mode", this is a hint that some other software interacts badly with the misbehaving program.

[commentator]

I also followed post advice and reset my user profile. The 'bad allocation' and crashing seemed to slightly improve for a couple of days, then got worse than before. Now, some couple of weeks later, it has worsened further. Several times in a row, using <<File>><<Save As>> the calc program froze and crashed. Rebooting repeatedly finally eliminated that, and in it's stead a new message: "Error Saving the Document <<DocName>>. Object already exists. This document has already been opened for editing." But it wasn't.

Running
Windows 8.1
OO 4.1.1
on Dell XPS12 (core i7, only a couple of months old.)

Copying comment by ptoye (above), I repeatedly find the same: "One further point: I mentioned above that following a recovery it says that it will load the error reporting tool, but this doesn't seem to happen. Does anyone here know why not or how to get it to work? There isn't a forum for general OO issues, or I'd ask there."

I am so frustrated I don't know what to do. Would I be best to revert to 4.0.1 as I see others have done? How do I do that? Can I just go to OpenOffice.org and find the version I want to download and assume it will clean up and eliminate the old version, or do I need to uninstall 4.1.1 before downloading 4.0.1?

[Villeroy]

You don't know what to do with your brand new computer because OpenOffice does not run on it?

You can install Linux.

If your brand new hardware is not so well supported by Linux, you can format the system disk and re-install the entire Windows system together with the software you actually want. Get rid of all the scamware that comes with cheap consumer products. Harden the security settings so you do not need the anti-virus bullshit anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if something on your current system sabotages OpenOffice on purpose.

Nobody forces you to run OpenOffice. You can simply install MS Office which is the one and only "official" office software for your Windows PC. Alternatively you may try LibreOffice which is very similar to OpenOffice or SoftMaker Office or ...

[Ted X Asperay]

UPDATE - unfortunately.
I reported that installation of Open Office 4-1-1 had solved the problem of referencing another tab sheet.
This worked for a time, but then general crashes started to occur, and now, today, the error crash when I try to reference a cell on another sheet has returned. (to great cost I might add!)
Mainly the error is "Vector too long" but also the "Bad Allocation" message appears, for OO crashes totally out of the blue, where the cell referencing is not an issue.
All I can do now is to try reinstalling aoo 4-1-1 and if that doesn't work , using safe mode.
This may or may not be connected with other problems on my Desktop Computer I am experiencing, though these only started recently. I'm still working with my security provider on those, and so far removed a lot of junk. (hope that didn't affect O-O.)
There are not usually any other "Applications" running when the OO errors happens, but quite a lot of "Processes" including security. The fact that it's Ok in Safe Mode does suggest some process that is suspended in safe mode may be conflicting.

On commentator's question as to error reporting, I rather assumed this error report was automaticaly sent when one clicked "Next", which is what it says it will do. However, there's no confirmation message, admittedly.

Villeroy's proposal - only use Open Office with Linux - is a bit drastic! OO has been fine with Windows until recently.

[Ted X Asperay]

INTERESTING UPDATE: a solution?
I had decided to live with this and hope that eventually a new version of AOO would solve this. I was even contemplating going over to Libre Office (but which one?!) Anyway an accidental development...
I was experiencing some internet connection problems, that seem to have been eventually solved by changing a setting in my security suite, which conflicts with the common Security Software Trusteer Rapport (Endpoint Protection).. Loathe to reveal exactly what I did in public, but it was recommended by my security software provider.
As a bonus it seems that the crashing experience when pointing to a cell on another tab-sheet has disappeared too. Not fully tested yet, but watch this space!
(so, Villeroy, your comments proved very pertinent!)

[Villeroy]

Well, the problem had nothing to do with OpenOffice. It is all about crapware.

[Ted X Asperay]

Crapware? Well. one advisor did advise me against Trusteer Rapport but quite frankly it's what the banks provide and you can't be too careful with money. And the conflicting security suite, with its amazingly good personal service, has from time to time rooted out malware which was lurking there despite all my best efforts, - and ultimately they sorted it.....of course it's early days yet....
On my income I really can't afford to spend any money on Microsoft Office if I can avoid it, and I really like Open Office .
I should be interested to hear from other users whether my solution is relevant to their similar problems.

[Villeroy]

It intercepts the start of a software. This has nothing to do with security. Either the system IS safe and every user can start his/her tools that had been installed by the administrator; or the system is UNsafe and some crapware intercepts each and every fart on that system.

[Ted X Asperay]

So far I can say that this issue appears solved for me but AOO is still prone to crashing and stalling in other ways that I can just about live with.
Unfortunately the "final" solution i think I am hearing - migrate to Linux - is less likely than a junkie quitting. Fork out for MS office ? -with a sigh and a gun in my back, perhaps.
But I want Open Office to work,or more specifically Calc, (the rest of OO seems fine) so I take part in these forums.

[Villeroy]

For Windows users there is still LibreOffice and and SoftMaker Office. Nobody can fix your problem with OpenOffice without being able to reproduce the problem which means testing and developing on the exact same system with all the intrusive crapware. If your security tool had any problem with MS Office it would not be released until the problem is fixed. Nobody cares about crashing OpenOffice.

[ptoye]

Well, the problem had nothing to do with OpenOffice. It is all about crapware.

And can you say with your hand on your heart that Linux doesn't have crapware or malware?

[Villeroy]

Well, the problem had nothing to do with OpenOffice. It is all about crapware.

And can you say with your hand on your heart that Linux doesn't have crapware or malware?

Yes, I can. In 12 years I did not encounter a single attack. And I do not even run any "anti-virus" snake oil. All my hardware running Linux is older than 6 years and everything runs smoothly, fast and with no crashes in months.

[RoryOF]

I agree with what Villeroy says. My setup of several computers (mostly old and discarded by Windows users) has been running on Linux for over six years and I've had great stability.

[ptoye]

I'm glad to hear it. A shame that some of the software I use is Windows only, and trying a dual boot on my machine caused a lot of instability - once I'd run Linux I had to switch the power off before Windows would stay up without blue-screening, so I gave it up. But that's not exactly on-topic for this forum.

But I suspect that apart from MS's inability to design secure code, the Unix derivatives have more stability is that there's far less malware directed at their machines. If Linux ever became seriously widespread, the malware would start arriving. Or am I just a total cynic?

[Villeroy]

If Linux ever became seriously widespread, the malware would start arriving. Or am I just a total cynic?

The cynical fact is that this will never happen.

[ptoye]

[Ted X Asperay]

UPDATE: The "crash errors when pointing to a different sheet in a Calc workbook" saga. CHAPTER VI
Well, not solved after all.
Sailing along, all working, then then the issue just came back, out of the blue, Circa 21/11/14.
Solution: updated Trusteer Rapport with the latest version 1404.24 . "Normality" restored. For 3 days.
Tried stopping ,as well as reinstalling Trusteer Rapport but none of these were successful.
Back to creating these cell references in Safe Mode, which always works. Bloomin' annoying though, but luckily this isn't something that needs to be done every day, only when making additions or changes to the data structure of the Spreadsheet, not when entering routine data.
Currently pestering IBM Trusteer about this, (as I strongly suspect they are the culprit in some way) but it's quite a feat to get them to treat the message in anything other than a superficial routine way.

[ptoye]

Well, if we have the same problem, I don't have Trusteer on my machine, and would resist all attempts to make me install it.

[RoryOF]

If OpenOffice runs stable in Safe Mode, then the problem is caused by a driver, a service, or some other application that runs when Windows in in full mode. The problem is machine specific.

[Ted X Asperay]

Interesting info from ptoye. I had previously saw this as an interaction between AOO, Rapport and my security suite, since changes in these two latter brought temporary solutions. It still could be - or indeed these plus any of the dozens of processes etc that are running, and it may not be some "crapware". While trawling for solutions I noted that even Excel can get this sort of problem through the actions of certain printer drivers. In which case we could be back to a fundamental flaw in AOO. If this is so, the Open Office dream could be fading.
I could do more systematic tests on certain hypotheses, but it's all very tiring. I could switch to Libre Office, but what's to say this would not recur? Or indeed I could stump up for Excel - though what if it still happened?

[downeast]

I too have been have LOTS of crashes the last couple of weeks. I don't remember all messages, but many were Bad allocation. Thought it was because I was usually editing a VERY large spreadsheet, but attempts to reduce the size didn't help. Today I'm noticeing crashes with a brand new small sheet <200 rows, <10 cols.

Have tried a new user profile.

What else can I try?

[Villeroy]

What else can I try?

Has been discussed in this very thread.

[downeast]

I wouldn't have asked if anything discussed here solved the problem

[Ted X Asperay]

Well, here's my update: I absolutely can verify that it is not caused by Rapport. I continue to get the major error of crash when referencing other sheets, the only solution being to use safe mode. I also regularly get other spontaneous crashes with the similar messages, sometimes even when saving. I have not tested whether these happen in safe mode but I suspect not.
The major precaution against these later types of crashes is save very frequently, almost after every entry. AOO is at least very good at file recovery after a crash.

To locate the conflicting software, it can only be in the background "Processes" or, I guess , "Services". There are too many of these to investigate: Indeed I can't do without many of these (e.g. printer drivers) so it's sort of irrelevant. Hoewever, I will make more definite tests for the role of the security suite, but so far the evidence is that it is not that either; nor does testing so far indicate it is the presence of an additional AV program (one is only operated manually on demand, as it finds things the main suite doesn't)
A suggestion has been made that it is the presence of "crapware" (definition please?). I have got rid of an awful lot of the worst of this sort of stuff using Rogue Killer and ADW Cleaner.

[ptoye]

I just tried my crashing spreadsheet on LibreOffice 4.3.4.1 and it doesn't crash. I suggest you try it out, Ted.

[Ted X Asperay]

That sounds promising. I wasn't going to make myself the guinea pig on that, so thanks. I wonder, can Libre Office sit alongside AOO or would I have to uninstall AOO? ( it's only the Calc that gives me grief.) I somehow fear Libre Office will not be without its problems. I've had a few false dawns (see above) after reinstalling things.