Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

Hello friends,
after several hours online search Google, Apple and YouTube - I need your help if you have encountered and SOLVED this problem on your own MBP/MAC machine -

Many of my older documents on my MBP - running on OS 10.14.6 -have been converted to Unix Executable files by Apple without my permission.

When I attempt to open them with OpenOffice 4.1.10 I am presented with a long list of ' CHARACTER SETS' / ASCII options. Which is the correct one for an ENGLISH LANGUAGE representation of the original .odt file ?

What can successfully be done so I can actually get down to the work I must do on the content of these files?

[And does anyone think like me that such actions by Apple developers to mask archived documents or change their formats without notification or posting easily accessible solutions and fixes on their support sites or YouTube is criminal extortion on small one person business users and home users?}

Thanks for the fix if you have it.

Edit: Changed subject, was Opening Unix executable files/Reconversions to .odt  Make your post understandable by others  -- MrProgrammer, forum moderator

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

stephen.rekab wrote: ↑Thu Jun 29, 2023 4:39 pm Many of my older documents on my MBP - running on OS 10.14.6 -have been converted to Unix Executable files

What is a Unix Executable File? Why is it doing this?

stephen.rekab wrote: ↑Thu Jun 29, 2023 4:39 pm What can successfully be done so I can actually get down to the work I must do on the content of these files?

Can you open the documents by launching OpenOffice and using that application's File → Open menu?
• If so, it's just Finder which is confused.
Q33: How do I get my documents to open with OpenOffice when I use Finder?
• If not the documents have been damaged and you must recover then from backups.
Q24: How do I restore OpenOffice files from backups?

stephen.rekab wrote: ↑Thu Jun 29, 2023 4:39 pm When I attempt to open them with OpenOffice 4.1.10 I am presented with a long list of ' CHARACTER SETS' / ASCII options. Which is the correct one for an ENGLISH LANGUAGE representation of the original .odt file ?

If an undamaged Writer document correctly has the .odt file extension and you are using OpenOffice → File → Open, you will not receive a prompt to select ASCII file options. If you do, the file has been damaged and none of the options will be successful. OpenOffice knows how to open undamaged Writer documents with no further assistance from you. Recover damaged files from backups, if you have them.

stephen.rekab wrote: ↑Thu Jun 29, 2023 4:39 pm And does anyone think like me that such actions by Apple developers to mask archived documents or change their formats without notification or posting easily accessible solutions and fixes on their support sites or YouTube is criminal extortion on small one person business users and home users?

I don't see reports in reliable news media which say that Apple or its developers engage in criminal extortion. It is far more likely that you are the victim of malware, perhaps ransomware, which you have accidentally installed on your machine. If you have installed malware, ask an Apple service dealer for assistance with removing it. Or, if you have undamaged external backups of your data you can remove the malware yourself: just reinstall MacOS and restore your files. Or, perhaps you have a hardware problem which is damaging files on your disk drive. This is an OpenOffice forum and not the right place to get assistance with diagnosing hardware or operating system problems, with malware removal, with reinstalling your operating system, or with restoring files after reinstallation. I decline to offer assistance with those tasks.


I suspect your signature is obsolete since I doubt that MacOS 10.14.6 will run OpenOffice 3.2.1 (from 2010) without problems. Please update your forum signature with your real OpenOffice version and your real MacOS version. I will not respond further until you've done that. Fix your forum signature by clicking your name in the upper right corner of this page and using User Control Panel → Profile → Edit Signature. If you're really running OpenOffice 3.2.1 you are more likely to have success with OpenOffice 4.1.x.
Q04: How do I uninstall OpenOffice on a Mac?
Q03: How do I install OpenOffice on a Mac?

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.

these are my real OenOffice and MacOS versions MrProgammer.
I used dosdude's patch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9sE_Fh ... l=dosdude1

...to upgrade the MacOS on my MBP 5,5 build....why would I lie to you? other than this issue ....the old machine works well if a little slow.

BTW MrProgrammer ---I never received a 'ransom demand' ...I therefore conclude whatever is going on in my machine the 'attacker', if there is one, is not motivated by profit. But what do I know, I'm a user ( who enjoys learning) not a programmer

Answer to your 1st question : "Can you open the documents by launching OpenOffice and using that application's File → Open menu?"

NO. I get an ASCII Filter Options window pre populated with: Character set with a drop down list. eg.Western Europe ASCII/US; or Western Europe Apple Macintosh ...and many others.
So far each one I select displays nonsense/meaningless characters. Is there a correct ASCII option?

forgive me...I see that you MrProgrammer have already answered that:

(if I) "receive a prompt to select ASCII file options. If you do, the file has been damaged and none of the options will be successful. OpenOffice knows how to open undamaged Writer documents with no further assistance from you. "

Am I right to assume therefore that given that I don't have a back up of this corrupted file -converted from a .odt file into Unix Executable file - that there is nothing that can be done even by an certified Apple Service Dealer because there is NO software fix other than recovering a back up?

" bedee bedee bedee what a bummer Buck ! "

What do you get if you try to open such a file using an Archive Manager?

stephen.rekab wrote: ↑Thu Jun 29, 2023 6:50 pm forgive me...I see that you MrProgrammer have already answered that:

(if I) "receive a prompt to select ASCII file options. If you do, the file has been damaged and none of the options will be successful. OpenOffice knows how to open undamaged Writer documents with no further assistance from you. "

Am I right to assume therefore that given that I don't have a back up of this corrupted file -converted from a .odt file into Unix Executable file - that there is nothing that can be done even by an certified Apple Service Dealer because there is NO software fix other than recovering a back up?

So I woke up this morning and found that both my new MBP M1 & the old machine we were discussing yesterday....have both been reset/altered ! All my Applications are missing on the old MBP and all my customised settings on my desktop on the M1 altered and OpenOfice and Logic Pro and a few other applications disappeared ! No Ransome note. No viruses detected. I had to download them anew. Yet time consuming. What do you make of that Mr. Programmer? I am still not dismissing "criminal extortion" by the opaque Mr. BIG...

RoryOF wrote: ↑Thu Jun 29, 2023 6:56 pm What do you get if you try to open such a file using an Archive Manager?

What's an "Archive Manager"? and where would I find it on my machine 5,5 2010 MBP Rory?

Please read the update I just posted to MrProgrammer...

An Archive manager is a program (differing names on differing operating systems) that opens compressed files.

Search engines are wonderful things - see for example Using the Mac's Hidden Archive Utility

given that my files have all disappeared because someone with a sick mind but programming ability has chosen to injure me and my activities just because they can, it is all irrelevant to me and the work i needed to perform.
as I said before the violence --- beedee beedee beedee what a bummer Buck.
Evil does what Evil must. I came here for help opening a work related Unix Executable File using OpenOffice and coincidentally got abused and my ignorance exploited by an opaque malicious actor. "Go figure" ...as the American Slang goes. Enjoy your lives and thanks for all the fish