[Solved] Unchanged password not accepted

[Guzziman]

running aoo v4.1.2 on mac osx el capitan v10.11.2

i attempted to open a password protected spreadsheet file but was met with the message "password is incorrect. the file cannot be opened." I use this file just about every day. The password has not been changed. Any ideas?

[FJCC]

This appears to be related to a bug: https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=125431. I have skimmed through the many messages on bugzilla but didn't see a clear description of how to repair the problem. I will ask on the dev mailing list for a recommendation.

[MrProgrammer]

Any ideas?

Try LibreOffice, at least until a patch becomes available for Open Office, perhaps in release 4.1.3. The release notes and the bug report will say whether the bug is fixed.

if you prefer to stay with your current software, see if the problem remains when you use your Mac's guest account ( → System Preferences → Accounts → Guest Account → Allow guests to log in). The bug report suggests that it could be due to a setting in the Firefox & Thunderbird profiles, so starting Open Office in the guest account (and not starting Firefox or Thunderbird there) might allow you to open the file with your password. If that works, you will want to save a copy of the document with password protection removed. Keep in mind that all of Guest's files are deleted when you sign off, so you'll need to save or copy it elsewhere, perhaps in your primary account's Drop Box (see Finder → Help → type Drop Box in the search field).

Then use other methods to protect the data until a patch becomes available. If it were me, i'd save the document in an encrypted read/write disk image. Read about that in Finder → Help → type Disk Image in the search field → Show all help topics. Of course you should test that you can open the encrypted disk image before deleting the unprotected document since it would be unwise to assume that it will be possible to open the image without the correct password.

You could also protect the data by saving the unprotected document on a removable external disk drive, perhaps a USB drive, taking care to follow correct protocol for device removal. Then keep the external drive in a locked cabinet. If the data is valuable, you should use two (or more) external disk drives to help ensure that it is not lost.

For more ideas, see Search found many matches: +password, which would have gotten you some immediate answers without waiting for a reply from us.

[Guzziman]

Thanks for the suggestions and for taking the time to look into this. I'll be following up on your ideas and will post results when they are available.

[Guzziman]

Was able to work around the problem by using the guest account to create a copy of the file without a password and saving it offline. Looking into using LibreOffice. Thanks for your help.

[RoryOF]

I understand that using the Guest account will open the file in many cases. Also that it is important not to use Mozilla/ (Firefox) or Thunderbird on the guest account before trying to open the file. As Guest account files are erased when the guest account is exited, it is also important to Save the file in unpassworded form to external media before exiting the guest account. Observe USB removal protocols.

[dgstarwalker]

Just out of curiosity, I tried opening the same password protected files which are stored on two different external hard drives--none would open.

Leads me to think it's something with open office being corrupted, not the files.