Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

I have been using OpenOffice happily for years without any problem but today suddenly I cannot open any files. I get the message 'Read Error Internal Import Error' whenever I try opening any of my files. I looked online and saw that version 4.1.10 has just been released so I downloaded that.....same problem.

Can anyone please help? I feel cut off from all my contacts and will be seripusly affected if I cannot open the files that were OK just yesterday!

Try resetting your user profile as explained in this tutorial

Try opening this file.

Thanks John,
I opened your .odt file OK with 4.1.10 but not 4.1.9.

It's my .xls and .ods files that are still not openable.

Here is a small .ods file from another thread today. Does it open correctly?

Bingo! That file opened straightways thanks. I tried it one one of my .ods files with 4.1.10 and it opened too.

So we are on the right track but heaven knows how!
Now for the .xls files perhaps?

Thanks

Try these .xls and .xlsx files.

No luck this time. Got the failure message with the .xls file using 4.1.10 and nothing from 4.1.9.

No response to the .xlsx file from either versions!

Did you reset the profile as FJCC suggested? If you do you probably won't need to do the following.

1. Uninstall AOO
2. Rename (on Windows it's) C:\Users\xxxxxx\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\user to something like ...\4\user_old. It's a hidden file - google for how to show them or see [Tutorial] How to find and un-delete AOO temporary files for instructions. Or see Resetting the user profile.
3. Download AOO from https://www.openoffice.org/download
4. Install AOO. If it does not ask for your name and initials you did not do step 2.

Just to confirm both files open correctly on my OpenOffice.

Hi John,
I thought I had replied but can't see my message .

I had said that I had not been able to follow the tutorial - not being very 'techy' and as I am the only user of my Mac, could not find any sort of user profile.

I am busy for the next few days so will probably not reply further until Sunday.

Many thanks for your help everybody!

Install LibreOffice which is just another flavour of OpenOffice.

https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/li ... penoffice/

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

MacMik wrote:Now for the .xls files perhaps?

XLS is a non-standard format for OpenOffice. When you store files in XLS format, OpenOffice must convert them to ODS format before it can display them. If you then re-save in XLS format, OpenOffice must convert the ODS spreadsheet back to foreign XLS format. Repeated conversions make for messy files which can sometimes finally break. It is better to save all spreadsheets in ODS format. If you need to create a copy in XLS format for someone else, open the saved ODS file, convert it, send it to them, then delete the XLS file immediately so you aren't tempted to open it. These topics might be relevant even though they mention other versions.
Cannot open .xls; Just installed AOO 4.1.6
[Solved] Open Office 4.1.7 no longer opens .xls files

MacMik wrote:I have been using OpenOffice happily for years without any problem but today suddenly I cannot open any files.

You did not attach any of the files demonstrating the difficulty (remove confidential information then use Post Reply, not Quick Reply, and don't attach a picture instead of the document itself). That would be a good way to help us investigate what the problem might be. It will also help to explain where these files are stored. On your Desktop? In your Documents folder? On an external disk drive? On network-attached storage?

MacMik wrote:I have been using OpenOffice happily for years without any problem but today suddenly I cannot open any files

Did you enable iCloud? That could be a problem. Later versions of MacOS may come with iCloud enabled by default.
Mac FAQ Q63: Can I use OpenOffice with iCloud?

John_Ha wrote:Try these .xls and .xlsx files.

Both of John_Ha's attachments open fine for me with OpenOffice 4.1.7 on MacOS 10.14.6.

MacMik wrote:Now for the .xls files perhaps?

Mac FAQ Q28: How do I use the Guest User account to run a test?
Mac FAQ Q55: Why can't I open the "new" Microsoft formats, DOCX/XLSX/PPTX?

John_Ha wrote:2. Rename (on Windows it's) C:\Users\xxxxxx\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\user to something like ...\4\user_old. It's a hidden file - google for how to show them or see [Tutorial] How to find and un-delete AOO temporary files for instructions. Or see Resetting the user profile.

MacMik wrote:I had said that I had not been able to follow the tutorial - not being very 'techy' and as I am the only user of my Mac, could not find any sort of user profile.

MacMik: Do not try to follow those instructions from John_Ha because they are for Windows!

If you want to reset your profile, instead read these instructions for Mac.
Mac FAQ Q02: How do I create a new profile on a Mac?
But a profile reset won't cure anything if this difficulty was caused by enabling iCloud storage for documents on your Mac.

Villeroy wrote:Install LibreOffice which is just another flavour of OpenOffice.

If the problem is caused by iCloud, perhaps LibreOffice will help, though I haven't seem anything which suggests that there is iCloud support in it.

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

Thanks for all the replies. I've never known such a friendly Forum!
I will try Libre Office but for the time being I will just avoid using .xls files.

Over the past many years, I have been sending monthly data to my local Bird Club using their template in .xls format without any problems.
I merely typed in the data , saved the file and emailed it - without any trouble.
Then I found one day that I could not open the template - nor could I open the .ods and .odt fles.
After some help I could open them but still not the .xls file.
So I will take the advice offered and keep away from that format. As it happens I now have the template in .ods format which works.

So I can call this [Solved] although the problem has really only been avoided rather than solved!

I would still like to know why and how I suddenly experienced his problem. Can it be anything to do with the latest upgrade to OO? Surely not as I only downloaded that a few days after the problem occurred.
Thanks again for all the help.

Upload the template or document. Without the actual file nobody can tell what is going on.

I tried uploading the template but it's too large. Max allowed size is 128 kb and the file is 160 kb.
Suggestions please.

MacMik wrote:I tried uploading the template but it's too large. Max allowed size is 128 kb and the file is 160 kb.
Suggestions please.

Try an uploadservice for the file, something like https://www.mediafire.com/

and paste the link to your file on this forum.

Don't forget to remove sensitive information that might be in the file (you can replace it with zzzzzzzzzzz for instance)