Calc freezing in split screen, M4 chip

[martinj]

I've recently updated my iMac to the latest model. I was previously running an old Mac using High Sierra and am now on Sequoia. I transferred my Open Office app and files from the old to the new device. Everything works fine except when I want to view a spreadsheet in Calc in split screen alongside another app such as a web page or pdf document. The Open Office spreadsheet soon slows down with a 'spinning disc' response to any attempt to scroll or make an entry in a cell. Eventually, it just seizes up. I've tried installing the Open Office app and downloading it afresh - to no avail. Any suggestions please?

[RoryOF]

What amount of memory (RAM) on your computer? What does a system monitor tell about memory usage in the circumstances you describe?

[MrProgrammer]

Everything works fine except when I want to view a spreadsheet in Calc in split screen alongside another app such as a web page or pdf document.

I use neither OpenOffice 4.1.15 nor Sequoia, but I have no problem with split view on my Mac. I do not use View → Fullscreen in Calc. I view the spreadsheet, hover on the green dot in the title bar, select Tile Window on Left of Screen, then select another window for the right side. I can make changes to the spreadsheet in split view mode with no difficulty. For more details read Apple's explanation of the procedure with Finder → Help → MacOS help → Search → Split View → Use apps in Split View on Mac. I cannot offer help with MacOS 15. I do not recall that anyone else has reported this problem, though perhaps it is unique to MacOS 15 which has only been available for a few months.

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I've recently updated my iMac to the latest model.

If you mean that your Mac uses one of Apple's M chips instead of an Intel chip, OpenOffice doesn't support Apple's chip yet. But OpenOffice should run if your Mac has Apple's Rosetta 2 translator installed.
If you need to install Rosetta on your Mac

[martinj]

Thanks for your quick responses.

Mr Programmer - I think you may have misunderstood my issue. I've no difficulty in arranging the apps side-by-side and have been using the method you suggested. It's just that Open Office then seizes up and becomes unresponsive. I've no problem in normal view.

Rory OF - I've 24GB of RAM. I took some sample readings whilst working on a 25MB workbook in Calc. In normal view, my used RAM was 11.01GB, Cached 12.35GB, App 6.86GB, Wired 1.81GB and Compressed 65.9 MB. Open Office was using 698.1MB.

I then switched to split screen, the other half displaying a page from Safari. Open Office soon ceased to respond (spinning wheel) and I took some more readings. Used RAM was now 21.11GB, Cached 2.84GB and compressed 12.7GB. Open Office was now shown to be using 66GB! I eventually got a message saying that I'd run out of memory and had to force quit Open Office.

This is a brand new M4 iMac with ample memory and I've not encountered problems with any other apps - although I tend to only use the split screen when working on spreadsheets.

[Hagar Delest]

Weird.
You can try LibreOffice, it may behave better.

[martinj]

Weird indeed Hagar. I might have to do just that! Since my last post I tried using split screen with Safari and Apple Mail. No issues.