• Edit PDF docs in Linux

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    #2424956

    Running Mint Mate 19.2, has LibreOffice 6.0.7.3 installed.  IIRC, about a year ago I was able to edit PDF docs in Draw, but today I get an error message.  Looking for guidance on how to proceed.  Anyone have a preferred app for that?

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    • #2424980

      @Slowpoke47, I use Master PDF Editor, which is available for Linux, Windows, and macOS and offers a full range of editing features. The demo version has no functional or time limitations, but it does insert a watermark on documents.

      If paid software is not an option, then you can try the Linux version of Foxit PDF Reader. It’s free, but the document handling capabilities are more limited.

      Hope this helps!

       

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      • #2424986

        Many thanks for posting.

        I open the L-O home screen, select “open” and I’m directed to my Docs.  Clicking the PDF I need generates this pop-up.  Error-message

        Same thing sequence if I try to open the file from Draw, which I recall worked a year or so ago.

        I’m not familiar with “reinstalling LibreOffice via synaptic.” 

        Is our version of L-O outdated?

      • #2424992

        Cybertooth- All I need currently is to fill in a pre-printed tax form.  If Foxit is not the answer I have no problem buying an app.

        I ask here because, while there are quite a few PDF editors around, I want one with no unexpected drawbacks.

    • #2424985

      @Slowpoke47, What error are you encountering in Libreoffice that prevents pdf editing? Post the error 🙂
      Have you tried re-installing Libreoffice via synaptic to possibly
      correct the issue?
      Then there are other methods to upgrade your current installation.
      https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/?type=deb-x86_64&version=7.3.0&lang=en-US

      Something to be aware of is that Master PDF Editor is
      a proprietary PDF editor, in both Free and paid editions.
      Personally I prefer FOSS over proprietary.. YMMV

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      • #2424990

        Oops- got my reply attached to the wrong post…  see above.  Thanks for the info!

    • #2425003
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      • #2425007

        @Slowpoke47, I use Kubuntu so I haven’t run into the problem described in that thread.

        I didn’t know that Foxit had stopped developing its Reader for Linux, so thanks for the heads-up. FWIW, I’m still using the Foxit Reader version I have on my system and haven’t encountered any issues (yet).

        I’d say, give it a shot and see how it works for you. It looks like the worst thing that might happen is that you’ll have to kill the process by hand.

         

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        • #2425033

          @Cybertooth, yeah the problem @slowpoke47 will have is dependancies.
          Given that Master PDF Editor is flatpak based on kde/qt, there will no doubt be a HUGE stack of dependancies along with the application for a Linux Mint Mate on 18.04LTS. Foxit Reader will more than likely be the same…
          As you are using KDE, dependancies will mostly be there to start with so you wouldn’t notice.

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    • #2425004

      Something to be aware of is that Master PDF Editor is a proprietary PDF editor, in both Free and paid editions. Personally I prefer FOSS over proprietary.


      @Microfix
      , is there a FOSS PDF editor that permits the user to: 1) move pages within a document; 2) extract pages from a document; and also 3) insert pages into a document from another PDF document?

       

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    • #2425010

      Could that error message refer to an “outdated” version of the PDF?  Is there more than one version?

      • #2425029

        My guess is that the pdf file was made by a version of some pdf creating program that is no longer supported by Libre Office (or perhaps never was supported). If it’s a tax form, who knows what program or method the governmental agency used to create it.

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      • #2425034

        The last pdf version control I know of is PDF 2.0 – ISO 32000-2
        which was released somewhere in 2017, so any LibreOffice edition after should open any pdf. One thing, as it’s an official pdf for taxes, perhaps these are embedded with encrypted signatures or something that requires newer PDF editors, just a guesstimate, IDK??

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        • #2425039

          The form I need to complete is from my CPA.  No idea which version PDF he uses and he might not know either.  But step one is to update L-O on general principles.

    • #2425027

      As an aside to this thread, I looked at LibreOffice to see what the current version of L-O is- seems like we are ‘way out of date.  Not interested in 7.3 which is still being ironed out, but v. 7.2.5 is much newer than our 6.0.7.3.  Apparently Mint system updates do not extend to L-O.  Any tricks to updating to 7.2.5?

      https://www.libreoffice.org/download/release-notes/

      • #2425030

        For L O 7.2.5, try the most appropriate of the following links to download it directly from their site:

        https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/?type=deb-x86_64&version=7.2.5&lang=en-US

        or

        https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/?type=rpm-x86_64&version=7.2.5&lang=en-US

        On either link, just click the yellow “Download” button to get the file. One link is for the “rpm” version for 64 bit Linux installations, the other is for the “deb” version for 64 bit Linux installations. The links will download a “tar.gz” file that your system utilities should know how to handle for installation.

        For a little additional help along the lines of updating your L O installation, I have a question for @Microfix and/or @Cybertooth: Would it be a good idea to first uninstall the older version of L O and then install the newer version, or will the newer version’s installation routine do that by itself with no user intervention needed?

        BTW, although I don’t run Linux, it seems to me that the error could very well be coming from your outdated L O installation’s built-in .pdf viewing capabilities in Draw. The file has probably been produced with a newer program that included something new in the PDF file format that your older version included with L O doesn’t know how to process/what to do with it. In other words, something could have been added within the pdf file format specification recently that didn’t exist back in 2018 when your version of L O was released, so your version doesn’t know what to do with it.

        I hope this helps.

        • This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by Bob99. Reason: Add clarity
        • This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by Bob99. Reason: Grammar fixes
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      • #2425035

        Yup, I’d look at updating LibreOffice to the more mature 7.2.5 version but I no longer have 18.04LTS to try it out 🙁
        Reason I moved is things like this are becoming more prevalent as time slips by, so I’ve moved to fresher pastures.

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        • #2425037

          Thanks for that advice, seems like a good move just generally speaking.  Do you have a comment on Bob99’s and my question as to how the new install will play out?

    • #2425036

      I have a question for @Microfix and/or @Cybertooth: Would it be a good idea to first uninstall the older version of L O first and then install the newer version, or will the newer version’s installation routine do that itself with no user intervention needed?

      I actually had the same question.  I have the L-O download page bookmarked, but not sure what will be the result of the download, and whether the old version will be overwritten by the new install.

      • #2425046

        To answer your and @Bob99’s question: I can’t say for sure.  🙂

        I was going to write that in Kubuntu, whenever there’s a Libre Office update, it shows up alongside all other other available updates in Discover, their package manager (not sure about the terminology here). But checking the currently installed version number, it says that I have 6.0.7.3, which means it hasn’t been updated for a while. (I’m using Kubuntu 18.04 LTS.) Perhaps it did automatically update at one time, but not after a certain date, possibly after 18.04 went out of support.

        However, I don’t have any experience manually installing LO on any OS, including Mint, so I couldn’t say how the process should work on your system.

        Sorry I couldn’t be of more help on this point.

         

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    • #2425257

      Been trying to make some headway on this.  Downloaded the desired L-O 7.5.2 from the L-O site, but didn’t know how to go from there.

      Next typed into terminal <sudo apt-get install libreoffice 7.5.2> and once password was entered, many lines of code flashed by then stopped.  There was a reference several lines up from the bottom line of code that referred to configuring on a reboot.  Exited terminal and rebooted system but cannot find any menu item or other reference to the new 7.5.2 suite.

      The LibreOffice site linked me to this page:  https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Install/Linux  but after poking around there and not understanding just how to proceed, I ran the terminal command above, with results as noted.

      There is no menu entry for the new version.  Not sure if the installation was in fact completed or not.  Cannot figure out how to see a list of installed programs, so I’m at a standstill.  What’s my next move?

      EDIT- In Synaptic Package Manager, there are no entries shown of LibreOffice 7.5.2.

    • #2425295

      Use the libreoffice PPA method described within this link:
      https://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2022/01/libreoffice-7-2-5-released/
      To upgrade, input code data from steps 1 and 2
      SKIP part 3!
      Now check your mint-updater or synaptic which should show libreoffice as an upgrade. Commence upgrade.

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      • #2425497

        Followed steps 1 then 2, which generated hundreds of lines, see s/shots for part of terminal output.  The s/shots do not include the bulk of the output generated, just the beginning and the end.  This OS does not have Software Updater, looked at synaptic, 74K entries in “shorthand” but didn’t find anything that seemed to be the new L-O app.  Ran the search function there and no returns.  Apparently I’m doing something wrong?

        • #2425535

          If you are not comfortable carrying on, remove and purge the libreoffice PPA within the Terminal to revert back to original setup:

          sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:libreoffice/ppa

          You’ll get a whole load of scrolling text…let it finish to remove all traces.

          No harm done although pdf edits within libreoffice Draw still won’t work.
          good luck!

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          • #2425554

            Thanks for following up.  I’m comfortable going on with this, since you were kind enough to post exact steps https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/edit-pdf-docs-in-linux/#post-2425295  but I can’t seem to find the new app- there doesn’t seem to be a Mint Updater and if it is in fact in the Synaptic list, I don’t know how to find it.

            EDIT:  Just found this.  I wasn’t asking properly!  It displayed just like this- one entry checked.  What should I do with it?Screenshot-at-2022-02-15-14-55-05

            Also, I see the tar.gz file for LO 7.2.5 in Downloads.  Just not sure how to proceed from here.

          • #2425564

            Slowpoke – You don’t need to do anything with what’s showing in your attachment. The fact that it’s there will enable new updates to Libre Office (after you get it installed) to be offered to you along with updates that you’ve already been getting (kernels, etc). I think that now you’re ready to do the graphical installation method according to the instructions either in the @microfix link or in the help link from Libre office you posted above.

    • #2425309

      Anyone have any experience with “Master PDF Editor?”

      • #2425337

        Yes, that’s the one I use for work on Kubuntu. I can’t say that I’ve tested the limits of its capabilities, but so far it’s been able to do everything I’ve asked it to do.

         

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        • #2425460

          That app was suggested on the Mint forum.  Looks like the best strategy is to use the info by Microfix posted above to update L-O, and install Master PDF editor as an alternate.  I’ll be able to tackle this over the course of today and will report back on the gory details.

        • #2425505

          Should I download it or use <sudo apt-get install masterpdfeditor>?

          • #2425537

            I’m not very “fluent” in the Linux command line, so personally I would go to the downloads page and select the right type of package for Mint. (In the case of Kubuntu, for example, I would download the .DEB package.)

            The way the process works in my case runs like this: once the package is downloaded to my selected location (for instance, the Downloads folder), I double-click on it from the file manager, then enter my Kubuntu account password (like entering sudo in the CLI) and let the installer do its thing. I get a terminal window that shows me what the installer is doing, and at the end it tells me it’s done.

            Good luck, and keep us posted.

             

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            • #2425547

              That’s also the way it works in Mint 19.2, in my limited experience installing software, mostly just the Opera browser. The installer does its thing, and inserted an item in the ‘Start’ menu. It also set things up in ‘Software Sources’ so that when ‘Update Manager’ goes to check for for updates (for kernels, FF, Samba, etc.) it will offer any new updates to Opera. It’s all actually quite Windows like (for better or worse!). I’m a bit surprised that Libre Office isn’t set up the same way. I’ve not updated LO but from what I read above it seems overly complicated.

              Also, with Mint you want the ‘deb’ versions.

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            • #2425563

              Found a source for edition 4 which is free and retains the PDF editing feature.

              https://codepre.com/download-master-pdf-editor-4-free-edition-for-linux.html

              Looks like I need the third option under “QT5 version 64 bit”  for our Mint Mate 19.2.  Comments?

            • #2425566

              I think you want the second option – the one with ‘deb’ in it.

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            • #2425567

              Oh, yeah!  Looked right at it and didn’t see that!

    • #2425571

      The way the process works in my case runs like this: once the package is downloaded to my selected location (for instance, the Downloads folder), I double-click on it from the file manager, then enter my Kubuntu account password (like entering sudo in the CLI) and let the installer do its thing.

      That’s also the way it works in Mint 19.2, in my limited experience installing software, mostly just the Opera browser. The installer does its thing, and inserted an item in the ‘Start’ menu.

      Tried various sequences, no joy.  In this system, Start>File Management displays options for file appearance, etc, but no means to request a new installation.  From the Downloads folder I can get the file to unpack into its components, but again can’t find a means to install.  If there is a function “File Manager” I can’t find it either from the start menu or from the actual download.

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      • #2425582

        We’re talking right now about LO, right? If so, do you have something called “Update Manager”? on Mint 19.2 Cinnamon, I find Update Manager either from the ‘Start menu’ in the lower left corner or from an icon that looks like a shield on the lower right near the internet icon, time, date, etc. It’s the program or app that I get notified about updates. When I open it up there’s a Refresh button at the top, which when I click it I will get (after a minute or 2) the latest list of updates available to me. I’m thinking that if you do something like that with the program/app you normally use to see available updates, you’ll see an update or updates from LO – that’s what the LO entries in the Software Sources screenshot you posted above is supposed to do. If you see it being offered, then just install it like you normally would for a kernel or FF update.

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        • #2425585

          Yes, I’m offered a LO update, but it’s not 7.2.5, it’s 7.3.0.  IIRC, I read that that (newest) version, still being tested, has removed the pdf edit function.  The whole idea of this upgrade from the original 6.0 is to insert text into pdf’s.

          Is there a terminal command that will install the LO 7.2.5 from the downloads folder?

          • #2425592

            There probably is a terminal command but that’s starting to get above my pay grade. What happens when you go to your downloads folder and click or double click on what you downloaded?

            Also, if you do get LO instaled you’ll need to be careful not to update to 7.3.0 if they end up taking the feature you want away.

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          • #2425756

            I wonder if 7.2.5 is in synaptic?
            Within synaptic, highlight LO then right click/ properties/ versions where you can choose the version.
            To force a version you need to go to the synaptic menubar/Package/force version.
            This is another option if it’s available, although I think LibreOffice will be pushing the newest only.

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    • #2425588

      The way the process works in my case runs like this: once the package is downloaded to my selected location (for instance, the Downloads folder), I double-click on it from the file manager, then enter my Kubuntu account password (like entering sudo in the CLI) and let the installer do its thing.

      That’s also the way it works in Mint 19.2, in my limited experience installing software, mostly just the Opera browser. The installer does its thing, and inserted an item in the ‘Start’ menu.

      Tried various sequences, no joy.  In this system, Start>File Management displays options for file appearance, etc, but no means to request a new installation.  From the Downloads folder I can get the file to unpack into its components, but again can’t find a means to install.  If there is a function “File Manager” I can’t find it either from the start menu or from the actual download.


      @Slowpoke47
      , I used the phrase “file manager” as a generic name for whatever tool you use in Mint to see the contents of your drives and folders. I tried a quick lookup of what the default file manager would be in Mint, but I had to give up as no site seemed to provide a hard-and-fast answer. As possibilities I saw Nemo, Dolphin, Nautilus, etc etc. So where I wrote “double-click on [the master PDF Editor installation package] from the file manager,” it means whichever of the dozens of possible file managers for mint happen to be installed on your OS.

      You should not need to locate a menu item, type any commands, request an installation, or do anything else fancy with the installation file or the file manager. just find the installation file with your file manager (Nemo or Dolphin or Nautilus, etc.) Once you locate it, simply double-click on the Master PDF Editor installation file, and it should do all the work for you.

       

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    • #2425599

      @Slowpoke47, I used the phrase “file manager” as a generic name for whatever tool you use in Mint to see the contents of your drives and folders.

      Can’t find a menu item or sub-item that fits this description.  The menu search box returns two options, already mentioned- the repository list and file management, which has appearance etc options.

      Right-clicking on the folder entry does not display any options to install (unlike the master pdf editor item, same folder, where a right click shows an install option.

      I did come up with this, as posted earlier, but not sure what to do with it…

      Screenshot-at-2022-02-15-14-55-05-1

       

    • #2425605

      Maybe just by coincidence, but LO 7.3 today showed up in the offered updates.  My understanding is that this version is somewhat de-contented, thus losing the pdf edit function, as compared to the one I’m hoping to install, 7.2.5.

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      • #2425616

        You got 7.3 offered because of what’s in the screenshot immediately above. The Enabled PPA in that shot is telling the updater to look in the LO repository for any new versions updates, etc to LO and then offer those updates to you in the same way you are normally offered updates.

        It sounds to me that you can get to your downloads file. If so, the you have used what @Cybertooth is referring to as the ‘file manager’. On my 19.2 Cinnamon, in the lower left I have the LM logo ‘start’ button, an FF icon, a terminal icon and a files icon. The files icon looks like a file folder and when I hover the mouse over it the word Files pops up. That icon is what @Cybertooth is calling the file manager, and when I click on it I get a window that has some folders like Desktop, Documents, Downloads, and a few others. I’m thinking you downloaded 7.2.5 into the Downloads folder. Open the Downloads folder and you should see something pertaining to LO 7.2.5 – it may be another folder or just a file, or something. @Cybertooth is suggesting there may be an installation file to click or double click on. It might not say installation, maybe just 7.2.5, or something similar.

        When I installed Opera I got an OperaSetup.zip file in my downloads folder. I right clicked on it, selected Open with Archive Manager, and wound up with a file named opera-stable *.deb (the star represents a bunch of stuff irrelevant here). I right clicked and selected Open with GDebi Package Installer, and Opera was installed. Took maybe 10 minutes and I was up and surfing.

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      • #2425617

        Switching over to Master PDF editor, it looks to me that after you download the 64 bit .deb option, that you should find that file in your downloads folder. Then right click on it, select Open with GDebi Package Installer, and Master PDF should install.

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    • #2425613

      At this point I need to let this go until tomorrow.  I’m thinking I should delete this LO download and start over with a new instance of 7.2.5 and go from there.  Not sure what if any permanent changes I have put in place, but the app is not accessible or installable as it is.  Back at it then, thanks to all who are trying to save my butt!

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    • #2425715

      Fresh start today-  (shouldn’t have confused the issue by bringing up Master PDF Editor in the same thread).  Master is apparently installed, including an item on the Start menu, although I haven’t tried it out yet.  Terminal reports no LO 7.2.5 installed, so nothing to remove before starting over.  Deleted and re-downloaded LO 7.2.5 today, tar.gz compressed, but not clear to me how to get it installed.

      LO-7.2.5-display-from-Downloads

      • #2425749

        I’ve no experience with tar.gz files, everything I’ve installed is either from repos or downloaded self extracting .deb files from ‘trusted’ sources that extract in appropriate places with no configuration required.

        Read #2425756 first to try.

        Therefor my advice is to stick with the LO you have untill EoS 2023 and to do so follow these steps:

        1. IMPORTANT Remove the added LO PPA as described earlier using the command.
        sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:libreoffice/ppa
        You’ll get a whole load of scrolling text…let it finish to remove all traces.

        2. Go with your chosen pdf editor and LEARN to use it 🙂

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        • #2425781

          The reason to get LO 7.2.5 is that the 6.x that we all seem to have will not open the pdf I need to edit, see error message posted earlier.  I’ve learned that the LO 7.3 no longer has pdf editing.  The new LO in the Download folder, downloaded today, generates the same pop-up as the one from yesterday, and I can’t find a clickable item on it to start the installation.

          Seems to me in the past, following these steps generated a box with an “install” option- when clicked, the install ran its course, and IIRC that was true for tar.gz downloads as well.

          I did run a terminal check looking for the LO 7.2.5 install and it came back negative, but it wasn’t the same as you have posted.  If I run that sequence, will the system lose the original 6.x version as well?

          • #2425796

            I’ve got my parachute..! 🙂

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    • #2425761

      When I open Synaptic Package Manager and search for Libre-Office I see the latest version listed as 1:6.0.7 which is what I have installed and also what Slowpoke has installed right now (I think).

      I don’t have any experience with tarballs either. From your attachment it looks like if you’re inclined to experiment you can try clicking on Open and see what happens or try clicking on Extract and seeing what happens.

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      • #2425769

        Difference is, Slowpoke47 has added the Libreoffice PPA which may (or may not) offer the option within synaptic to choose and force a version 😉
        If it does offer 7.2.5 and he forces the version, an in-place upgrade should occur. If there is no option, nothing gained.
        Normally I’d try it prior to suggesting but I’m no longer with ubuntu herbs and spices

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        • #2425799

          Good point about the LO PPA. That hadn’t occurred to me.

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          • #2425801

            Just now searched Synaptic- dozens of entries for LO 6x, nothing newer, but I figured out how to install a pkg shown there, so if I can get v.7.5.2 in there, I should be in good shape.

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        • #2425802

          Note that the s/shot shows the search for LO, but not the actual app- no entries in the larger field.

    • #2425774

      You got 7.3 offered because of what’s in the screenshot immediately above. The Enabled PPA in that shot is telling the updater to look in the LO repository for any new versions updates, etc to LO and then offer those updates to you in the same way you are normally offered updates. It sounds to me that you can get to your downloads file. If so, the you have used what @Cybertooth is referring to as the ‘file manager’. On my 19.2 Cinnamon, in the lower left I have the LM logo ‘start’ button, an FF icon, a terminal icon and a files icon. The files icon looks like a file folder and when I hover the mouse over it the word Files pops up. That icon is what @Cybertooth is calling the file manager, and when I click on it I get a window that has some folders like Desktop, Documents, Downloads, and a few others. I’m thinking you downloaded 7.2.5 into the Downloads folder. Open the Downloads folder and you should see something pertaining to LO 7.2.5 – it may be another folder or just a file, or something. @Cybertooth is suggesting there may be an installation file to click or double click on. It might not say installation, maybe just 7.2.5, or something similar.

      That’s almost identical to our tray icons, didn’t understand the “manager” reference- of course, we have used those files since day 1.

      Back trying to get the 7.2.5 LO because in trying to open a doc Master PDF Editor, the app wants a password, and I’ll have to mess around to find out just where this p/w is to be found.

      • #2425786

        Do you have a password that you use to log onto your machine or that you need to enter before you are able to install updates? I think you probably do (I do and its required to have one to install updates, I think), and that’s the PW Maaster PDF probably wants.

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        • #2425793

          While our machines are set for auto log-on w/o password, there is, of course, a p/w required for other functions- updating, etc.  Turns out the doc itself wants a p/w, which I am able to supply, thus opening the doc.  The layout is similar to LO, with a main field showing the doc, a smaller field to the left, and rows of icons, with dropdown menus, across the top, but all those are ghosted.  I did manage to find an “edit” option, but it calls for a password as well, and doesn’t accept our system p/w or the p/w indicated in the CPA’s cover letter.

          For this reason, before I went back to the CPA I thought to try the LO I’m trying to install to see if that app will do the job.

          Also- across the top of the screen, where there is the usual line of text id-ing the app in use, is the notation, “Master PDF Editor (Not Registered)”.  Haven’t found anything about registering this app.

    • #2425798

      Since I’ve reached an apparent impasse with Master PDF Editor, see previous post, I’m hoping to get LO 7.2.5 up and running to see if that will allow editing.  Is there a means to get the downloaded app into Synaptic, and from there install it?

      Sorry to be so dense about this, I’m doing the best I can!

    • #2425805

      It seems to me that you should proceed as described below (which I copied from the LO installation page link you posted near the top of this topic https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Install/Linux ) It’s easier to read from the link, but start reading with this (you’ve already got the tarball so go down about 3 paragraphs or so to the heading “Graphic Installation (Preferred Method):

      You should be looking at a file called something like:

      LibreOffice_<your downloaded version>_Linux_x86_install-deb.tar.gz

      (where “<your downloaded version>” is your downloaded version like “5.1.5.2”, “5.2.2.2” or something else. For simplicity’s sake, we will use “$version” in the following text. You should remember there to replace it with your downloaded version.) which we affectionately call a “tarball”. This is a special type of file that serves as an archive. It is actually a collection of folders and files that are packaged together under one file name (that’s what “.tar” signifies), and makes downloading easier. The file is also compressed for quicker downloads; identified by the “.gz” part.

      NOTE: The file name you end up with can be quite different from these examples; the “.tar.gz” is the common element though. The changes occur if you are running a 64bit system (then it will have a “x86_64” instead of “X86” in its name) or if you are running an RPM based system (then it would contain an “-rpm” instead of “-deb”). But the instructions work the same, regardless of the variations.

      We will try to make as much sense as possible. If any of these instructions won’t work for you, we have instructions for a detailed Terminal-Based Install that is guaranteed to work, in the next section.

      Graphic Installation (Preferred Way)
      Attention: This paragraph may be outdated. If you can confirm that these instructions still work, remove this line. If you find any errors in these parts, feel free to correct them.

      Unpacking the Tarball
      Click on your downloaded package (or right-click on it and choose “Open With” and select your preferred unpacking tool).
      Extract the package to a location where you have easy access to (a directory in your home directory would be fine).
      You should now have a folder that is called something like: LibreOffice_$version_Linux_x86-deb/ (remember that names can vary somewhat, as explained earlier).
      Installation of Multiple Packages
      Change into the unpacked folder. In it, you will see some directories (one called “readmes with a README_en-US file) and a DEBS/ (or RPMS/) folder.
      Change into the last mentioned folder.
      Select ALL files within this folder.
      Right-click on them and in the drop-down menu select something like “Open with Package Manager” or “Open with Install Tool” (the wording here is defined by your distribution, desktop environment/manager and/or installed packages).
      Attention: Some users have reported problems while trying to select and install multiple packages with the “Package Manager” tool of their distribution (specially Ubuntu). This step might result in the package manager/installer opening multiple windows at once, which can hang your system (e.g. with GDebi). Please try to use Synaptic (if it is already installed. Otherwise you need to install it first.) for this step if you encounter problems, or go directly to the Terminal-Based Install instructions below.

      You will be prompted for the root (or on *buntu and maybe other distributions your user) password.
      You may be prompted to install dependencies. Generally, the system will tell you if these dependencies will break something, so if you don’t see a message that freaks you out, it is OK to say yes here.
      If all goes well, and you don’t see any error messages from your system, it is safe to say we have succeeded. The program is installed now. To be sure you can open a terminal and type
      $ libreoffice
      (you could also try “soffice”, if this does not works for you). If LibreOffice doesn’t start up, see Testing the Installation below. But be aware: if you want to install a language pack for a different GUI language than en_US and want to use this language from the beginning, then you should wait with this test after installing the language pack. Otherwise you need to change the GUI language later to your preferred language.

      Now you can open the LibreOffice suite via your system’s Programs > Office menu, and it even could be that LibreOffice is already your default Office Program (click a spreadsheet file to make sure).

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2425806

      It seems to me that you should proceed as described below (which I copied from the LO installation page link you posted near the top of this topic https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Install/Linux ) It’s easier to read from the link, but start reading with this (you’ve already got the tarball so go down about 3 paragraphs or so to the heading “Graphic Installation (Preferred Method):

      Thanks- that seems like a lifetime ago!  Following up now…

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2425823

      While our machines are set for auto log-on w/o password, there is, of course, a p/w required for other functions- updating, etc. Turns out the doc itself wants a p/w, which I am able to supply, thus opening the doc. The layout is similar to LO, with a main field showing the doc, a smaller field to the left, and rows of icons, with dropdown menus, across the top, but all those are ghosted. I did manage to find an “edit” option, but it calls for a password as well, and doesn’t accept our system p/w or the p/w indicated in the CPA’s cover letter.

      You might want to ask your CPA if he/she added a second “editing” password to the PDF file that you’re trying to work with. I have not heard of this, but I suppose it’s conceivable to have both a password to simply open (view) a file and a further password to then make changes to it as you’re trying to do.

      If you can, check the document’s properties and see what functions it says are allowed. The likeliest possibility is that editing is simply not allowed and there is no second password. in this case, you’ll want to tell the CPA that you can open the PDF but it doesn’t let you enter anything into the form, and see what they have to say about this.

       

      2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2425825

        Just now reported back to the CPA and he sent the doc again.  And…SURPRISE!  I tried it in the old v.6x Draw that I used in previous years, and was able to edit this new download!! No idea what’s up- but that might get us rolling for the moment, and take the urgency off.  If that works, I’d be smart, maybe, to abandon this wild goose chase…  I’ll update when I have more to report.

        3 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2425893

      Curiousity got the better of me, so I dug out an old laptop that runs Mint 19.2 Cinnamon and tried to install LO 7.2.5. I did it, although half way through the graphical method the laptop froze and I needed to do a hard shutdown. After booting back up I managed to pick up via terminal where the graphical method failed and completed the installation.

      I’ve come to expect that installation directions for the majority of Linux software is pretty iffy, suspect, dodgy, partly wrong ranging to blatantly wrong, etc. and the directions in the LO link that @Slowpoke posted near the top did not disappoint in this regard. It’s a real shame that Libre Office can’t take a few minutes and make sure their directions are totally clear, although to be fair they are better than many. I would think that linux software writers would be doing themselves a big favor by making installations easier for the masses.

      Anyway, if anyone wants to know what I did, I’ll write it up (hopefully clearly after my mini-rant!) but it’ll be tomorrow (Thursday) since it’s the wee small hours of the morning where I am.

      @Slowpoke: sounds like you’ve got your problem under control, but let me know if you still are interested in installing LO.

      2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2425919

      @Slowpoke: sounds like you’ve got your problem under control, but let me know if you still are interested in installing LO.

      Walking away at this point would leave a bad taste in my mouth and constitute a poke in the eye to you and all who have tried to help me through this ordeal.  Your comments re installation instructions for Linux systems ring true in this case, as I have not succeeded using either GUI or Terminal.  I encountered substantial misinformation when asking for help on the Mint forum, where one responder asserted that all entries shown in Synaptic are installed in the system, a claim that I think is not true.

      Yes, I would like to get LO 7.2.5 installed, as that version likely includes some years’ worth of corrections, etc., to the 6x version we all seem to have.  The LO developers are pushing v. 7.3 but, as previously noted, that version eliminates at least the editing function, thus encouraging users to buy the pro version.  In truth, the older app has been adequate for our needs, especially now that I know that the inability to fill in the CPA’s form seems to now be corrected with his replacement attachment.

      I also have to reiterate what lifesavers you have all been over the years of our introduction to Linux following the abandonment of W7 by MS.  Especially in light of the ongoing problems with W10, not to mention default telemetry to MS, that switch was superior strategy, and I likely couldn’t have done it solo.  Huge thanks!!

       

      2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2426003

        I would not take offense if you decided to walk away from this. It can get pointlessly frustrating sometimes. Updating LO has been on a far-back burner for a while and your topic brought it to the fore. I got pretty curious last night so I decided to give it a shot. I learned some stuff doing it which will probably be useful in the future.

        I’ll try to clearly write up what I did. When you get down to it, it’s not much different than the instructions on the LO site you linked to, but as usual the devil is in the details. I’ll try to do it today sometime.

        1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2425922

      Be aware- Update Manager is now offering this machine an update to LibreOffice 7.3, seemingly a step backwards in functionality from 7.2.5.  Both versions were updated by LO last month.  I’ll check our other machine to see if the update to 7.3 is offered there as well- this should tell me whether there is any correlation to my efforts on this system with 7.2.5, or a general release.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2425976

        The LO 7.3 update is not offered in our other machine, just this one, in which I have tried to install v.7.2.5- looks like I’ve triggered this 7.3 offering.

        1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2426001

        You posted a screen shot of “Software Sources”, showing a box checked next to a LO link, and I think that’s why you’re getting LO update offers in your update manager. I think that if you uncheck that box, you’ll stop getting the update offers for LO. I was messing around one day and unchecked an analogous box for Opera, and I immediately stopped getting Opera updates. For Opera that’s not a good thing because the only way to get Opera updates on that computer is to now download and install a new version of Opera. But for LO it shouldn’t be a problem because of what I discovered in the paragraph below.

        Last night when I installed 7.2.5, nothing happened to my “Software Sources”. There were no entries for a LO PPA (no links to any LO web page). What happened instead was that when I open 7.2.5 LO and pull down the help menu, there’s an entry for Check for updates. I clicked on that and it did check saying I was up to date. I actually prefer this because it allows me to not worry about LO updates at the same time I’m dealing with security updates for Mint.

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    • #2426048

      Here’s what I did to install LO 7.2.5 on Mint 19.2 Cinnamon 64 bit. I used Firefox 97.0 for the downloads. I’ve opted not to do screen shots because I did this on a very old computer that had a gitchy screen shot function, and because it seems that things look enough different between say Cinnamon and Mate, that the screen shots might cause more uncertainty than they prevent.

      Went to http://www.libreoffice.org and clicked on the DOWNLOAD NOW button. In the resulting window I scrolled down to Libre Office 7.2.5. There’s a small pull down menu that by default reads Linux (64 bit)(rpm). If you’re running Ubuntu or Mint choose the entry immediately below this that reads Linux (64 bit)(deb). deb is short for Debian on which both Ubuntu and Mint are based. If you have another Linux distribution, you’ll need to know whether its based on Debian or Red Hat (rpm). After choosing the correct entry, click the DOWNLOAD button.

      You the get a pop-up window with the heading “opening LibreOffice_7.2.5_Linux_x86-64_deb.tar.gz”. Below that it will say “You have chosen to open LibreOffice_7.2.5_Linux_x86-64_deb.tar.gz which is a Gzip archive. What should Firefox do?” Just below this you’ll see a selected circle with “open with Archive Manager”; leave it like that and click OK.

      You’ll get a new popup with the word “Extract” in the upper left; it doesn’t look like a button but it is. Below that is a space for “Location” with a folder icon followed by a slash; leave it like that and then click on “Extract”

      You’ll get a new window with the heading “Extract”. There are some folders listed in the window and in the lower right the word “Extract” again which you should click on.

      Another new window saying extraction completed successfully (may take just a bit of time) with 2 buttons, one says “close” the other “show the files”. If you choose “show the files” you get a new window with 2 folders: “Debs” and “readmes”. If you choose “close”, you can still get to a window with “Debs” and “readmes” in it by going to either Home or Files, where you will see the usual folders for Desktop, Documents, Downloads, etc, but there will also be a new folder with title LibreOffice_7.2.5_Linux_x86-64_deb. Open this folder and you will see the “Debs” and “readmes” folders.

      Here is where the graphical instructions fail. They say to open the “Debs” folder and select all the items in it (Edit pull down menu and then Select All), then right click anywhere in the “Debs” folder and select “Open with GDebi package installer”. When I did that there was massive continuous hard drive activity for 20 minutes with a generally unresponsive mouse/touchpad. Basically the machine was frozen and all I could do is press and hold the power button until the computer shut down. Don’t worry, after booting up everything was normal and I still had the folder LibreOffice_7.2.5_Linux_x86-64_deb in the home or files folder.

      Sorry, I have to run now but will post the rest of this later today. You know how to get to the “Debs” folder and that’s right where I’ll pick up in the next post, where I’ll be switching to some terminal commands.

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    • #2426060

      OK, so far I’ve downloaded and extracted a bunch of files, and tried a graphical method of installing those files. The graphical method failed so it’s time to try the terminal.

      I’m almost as far from a terminal guru as you can get so I’m sure there are several ways to do this. What I ended up doing was very simple. I got to the “Debs” folder and opened it. Inside that opened window (it doesn’t matter where just so it’s inside the window) I right clicked and about half way down the resulting menu selected “open in terminal”. A terminal window opened and at the cursor I typed in $ sudo dpkg -i *.deb (you can copy and paste this; also, to be honest I don’t really understand the $ sign which was already there in my terminal, but if it’s not in yours you may need it) then hit the Enter key. I think I needed to enter my password (same one I use to log on and to install other normal security updates like kernels) then Enter again. Then it was off and running with lines appearing in the terminal window. Sometimes it appeared to linger after a few lines went by but just let it be and it’ll get done. I didn’t time it but it took somewhere around 5 to 10 minutes. It’s done when the cursor blinks consistently.

      That’s it. To check if it installed I clicked on the start button and found Libre Office. There was still an entry “Libre Office” which opened to the old version 6.0.7 if I recall correctly, but the other entries all had 7.2 in them. I opened it up and the few things I tried seemed to work. I didn’t have a pdf handy so I didn’t check to see if I could edit one. Updates are obtained by pulling down the Help menu and selecting “check for updates; there were no PPAs added to Software Sources.

      That’s it. Hope this helps anyone who tries to install a newer version of LO.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2426106

        If I had looked more carefully I would have noticed that while 7.2.5 did in fact install completely and correctly, 6.0.7 appears to remain fully installed as well.

        1 user thanked author for this post.
        • #2426178

          Dr. Bonzo- many thanks for the detailed posts- I’m hoping to make some headway on this install this afternoon.  It does seem worth doing and I’ll review your posts and everyone else’s first, take a deep breath, and jump in.

          If successful, I’m in no hurry to remove the older version until I test-fly the newer one.

          1 user thanked author for this post.
          • #2426184

            Good luck! I probably spent more time reading popup windows and clicking on stuff than the computer did actually installing. Even on the laptop I used, which is from 2009 and has a Centrino processor, it went fairly quickly. If your computer seems to freeze up, just give it time – maybe 5 or 10 minutes. Usually if it’s frozen you won’t see any hard drive indicator light flashing, or if the computer doesn’t have a light you won’t hear anything but the cooling fan. If it really does freeze push and hold the power button until it turns off. Wait a couple minutes and boot it, the things should be back to normal.

            Let us know how things turn out.

            1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2426196

      Another new window saying extraction completed successfully (may take just a bit of time) with 2 buttons, one says “close” the other “show the files”. If you choose “show the files” you get a new window with 2 folders: “Debs” and “readmes”. If you choose “close”, you can still get to a window with “Debs” and “readmes” in it by going to either Home or Files, where you will see the usual folders for Desktop, Documents, Downloads, etc, but there will also be a new folder with title LibreOffice_7.2.5_Linux_x86-64_deb. Open this folder and you will see the “Debs” and “readmes” folders.

      In my case, the extracted files were added to the items in the “Downloads” folder- 30-some entries.  All but one entry are entitled libre7.2(this or that) and are deb files, one is a text doc README.  Doesn’t seem to be anything I can do with these collectively, but righ-clicking any individual generates a pop-up menu that includes an option “Open with GDebi Package Installer.”  Holding up on doing this sequence those 3 dozen times, looking for more advice…

      Dr. Bonzo- I had bookmarked the steps you posted in https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/edit-pdf-docs-in-linux/#post-2425805 above, and couldn’t make the install happen.

    • #2426206

      A minor victory- just discovered, on the Updates screen, right-clicking the offered LO update gave me the option of refusing LO updates, now and in the future!  They’re playing my song…

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2426213

      Just made another attempt, new download.  Right-clicking the file displays this pop-up:  LO-install-s-shot
      The only other choice for a download is .rpm.  AFAIK, this system is debian.

      • #2426223

        You’ve got Mint so you want deb.

        When I downloaded the “tar” file Firefox asked me “What should Firefox do?”, and immediately below that was “open with Archive manager” with a filled in circle just to the left. I clicked OK and then it was extracted.

        Are you using Firefox?

        At this point I’d be tempted to delete everything you’ve ever downloaded for LO 7.2.5 (if you put stuff in the trash, then empty the trash) shut down your system and then boot up again. Then start the download/installation totally fresh. Ignore the instructions LO gave in the instruction link and try to replicate what I did. That probably sounds pompous on my part, but on the other hand I couldn’t get their instructions to work, and I could get mine to work, so at the moment I’m going with my way.

        1 user thanked author for this post.
        • #2426225

          Running FF 97.0. 

          At this point I’d be tempted to delete everything you’ve ever downloaded for LO 7.2.5 (if you put stuff in the trash, then empty the trash) shut down your system and then boot up again. Then start the download/installation totally fresh. Ignore the instructions LO gave in the instruction link and try to replicate what I did. That probably sounds pompous on my part, but on the other hand I couldn’t get their instructions to work, and I could get mine to work, so at the moment I’m going with my way.

          My vote goes to you- can’t argue with success.  All LO 7.2 downloads deleted from computer, the new attempt to follow your successful path will have to wait until tomorrow- I plan to take my time with it.  Your detailed help much appreciated.

          Applmage has been suggested on Mint forum.  New to me, worth pursuing?

        • #2426357

          OK, new start from square 1- All remnants of previous tries deleted yesterday, including from Trash.

          This is the source I’m using, today as well as previously- https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/?type=deb-x86_64&version=7.2.5&lang=en-US.  Haven’t looked for other sources.  The Download option in the green banner at the top displays choices; I’m using v.7.2.5 debian 64 bit, which should be compatible with this system.

          System is Dell 519 desktop, amd64 x2 athlon 4400 processor, vintage 2009.  Power supply replaced 10 years ago, also replaced 2 keyboards, 1 screen and multiple mice since new.  Two HD’s, the one with this Mint OS is 1TB and was installed new for Mint a few years back.  This HD reported “good” by system.  This system has run without hardware problems (other than above mentioned) since new.  Currently running FF 97.0, with update to 97.0.1 offered but yet installed.

          I’m focused on the new LO install here rather than our almost-new laptop because it’s in my home office with a printer-scanner-copier attached and this is where we need LO.

          My goal today is to replicate Dr. Bonzo’s results and I plan to follow the same steps he posted.  Cross your fingers!

          2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2426226

        I’m just thinking off the top of my head here, but if you can get the 3 dozen or so extracted files (that you describe herehttps://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/edit-pdf-docs-in-linux/#post-2426196

        and then get them all into the same folder with nothing else (i.e., a folder with only the extracted files in it), then right click in that folder and select “open in terminal”. Then in the terminal type in $ sudo dpkg -i *.deb

        That would be the equivalent of what I did and hopefully will work. I think the details of how you get the “tar” file extracted are not important, as long as you get them all by themselves in the same folder. Then the “open in terminal” method should work.

        1 user thanked author for this post.
        • #2426228

          I actually did that yesterday, don’t remember what operations I tried to do, probably not exactly like yours.  What about that error message-“Not a debian package”?

          • #2426234

            Unfortunately I don’t know what to make of the “not a Debian package” error message. I suppose technically it’s not a debian package and that only the extracted files in it are the debian package. But there’s got to be a way of extracting it. I think you’ve done it before. Maybe highlight it and go through the pull down menus looking for “open” or “extract” or…

            I’m not familiar with AppImage.

            1 user thanked author for this post.
            • #2426237

              This link was posted for me on the Mint forum What Is AppImage? How to Run It on Linux as a workaround for running a program without installing it.  If I can’t duplicate your results, I’ll see how that option works out- this effort to continue tomorrow.

              1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2426278

      Curiousity again. On my daily driver (Mint 19.2 Cinnamon), using the Opera browser, I just downloaded the “tar file” LibreOffice_7.2.5_Linux_x86-64_deb.tar.gz I downloaded it to my desktop, then put it in a new folder that was also on the desktop. (I wanted to keep all the LO files “contained” in the same folder and I thought there was the possibility of getting 3 dozen or so files on my desktop after extracting files and the desktop didn’t have room for that.)

      Then I opened the new folder, right clicked on the “tar” file, selected the first option “open with Archive Manager”, got a new window with “Extract” in the upper left, clicked that, got another new window, clicked “Extract” in the lower right, and after about 5 seconds got a small window saying extraction completed and the option to either close or show the files. I chose “close”. Then I opened the new folder that I had created and saw 2 folders. One was the “tar” file and the other was titled LibreOffice_7.2.5.2_Linux_x86-64_deb, which I opened and saw 2 folders, one titled “DEBS” and one titled “readmes”

      I opened “DEBS”, right clicked at a random spot in the opened folder, and selected “open in terminal”. Got the terminal and stopped there because I don’t want to actually install it on my daily driver yet. If I did I would type into the terminal $ sudo dpkg -i *.deb and I’d be installing.

      The above is a condensed version of exactly what I did Thursday night on my old laptop using FireFox. (Obviously tonight I didn’t get a window asking me what I wanted Firefox to do, since I’m using Opera, otherwise everything is the same.) I wanted to see if for some reason a different browser made a difference or if using a computer that’s only 6 years old instead of one that’s 13 years old made a difference (I don’t really know why it would, but you never know.) I also wanted to see if my method from Thursday was a fluke or if I got the same error message you got about the “tar” file not being a Debian package. I got neither a fluke nor the error message.

      I’m thinking maybe you got a bad download that caused the error message? Or maybe you have a bad sector on your hard drive? I’m purely speculating about this. Other than that I don’t know why it didn’t work for you.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2426281

      Curiousity yet again. On my daily driver I just did what I did above using Opera but this time using FireFox 97.0. Worked again just as above. The default location for downloads on my FF is the Downloads folder (on my Opera it’s the desktop). I did get the window where FF asked me what to do with this the “tar” file. This time I clicked save, and it saved to Downloads. From there I right clicked on the “tar” file selected “open with Archive Manager, etc., etc., etc. all the way up to the terminal. So, it worked again.

      Also, if you find you can’t get it to work, I did find this about LO AppImage, from the LO website. I’ve never used AppImage, but it seems after a quick read pretty straightforward (I can’t believe I just said that)

      https://www.libreoffice.org/download/appimage/

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2426373

      With fresh start (see https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/edit-pdf-docs-in-linux/#post-2426357)  New download of LO 7.2.5, isolated in a new folder, rt. click, selected “install with GDebi installer”, got same “not debian” error message as before.  Then rt-clicked “extract here” and got list of 42 files in subfolder, rt-clicked that subfolder and selected “open in terminal” then typed Dr. Bonzo’s text cited here: https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/edit-pdf-docs-in-linux/#post-2426226, entered p/w, of course, and this screen displayed.  Not sure what to do next…

      Screenshot-at-2022-02-19-14-16-39

       

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2426391

        That’s not quite what I typed in to the terminal

        try $ sudo dpkg -i *.deb

        make sure you get the spaces and the ‘*’

        1 user thanked author for this post.
        • #2426394

          SUCCESS!  Sometimes I score a win in spite of myself.  (actually, YOU scored the win by proxy.)  LO 7.2.5 looks to be fully installed, new entries on the menu, v 6x still installed, no rush to remove it.

          I did find that, with the extracted files showing, a right click anywhere in the field of items tried and failed to act on the item closest to the cursor when clicking.  But right-clicking on the folder itself got it into the Terminal.  (I had changed the folder name to the name of the app first.)

          After my previous post, while trying various combos, had a scolding from Terminal- should use apt not dpkg- but you had the right answer, proven by the results.  Can’t thank you enough.  I could write you into my will, but all you’d inherit is just a share of debt. 🤨

          1 user thanked author for this post.
          • #2426400

            Cool! Glad it’s working. I hope it does what you want it to do. It’s kind of weird that you couldn’t get into the terminal from the open folder but only by clicking on the folder, but that sort of thing is what makes Linux so frustrating sometimes. Too many distributions and desktops maybe; seems like we see different things sometimes between your Mate and my Cinnamon.

            Think I’ll opt out of your will. :-))

            1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2426376

      SP
      Did you actually extract the files? I an a little unclear about that.

      🍻

      Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.
      2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2426380

        Thanks for joining the discussions.  Here’s a s/shot of part of the list in that folder- AFAIK, this format means “extracted”.Screenshot-at-2022-02-19-14-42-14

        1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2426537

      Just did some experimenting with Draw 7.2.5 to fulfill my original goal- editing a PDF doc.  Pleased to report that 7.2.5 is a huge improvement over the tedious method in the old 6.0.  Once again, the Ask Woody community has saved the day!

      2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2426567

        Good to know that it’s a big improvement. And it only took a week to get it done!

        I like Mint a lot, but it can be very inconsistent when it come to installing software/hardware. On one hand installing a printer took less than 30 seconds from the time I connected via usb cable to printing documents. And the only thing I had to do during the installation was answer “yes” to the question “Do you wish to proceed with software installation” (or something to that effect). On the other hand there is this LO installation, which for me, at least, was a real head scratcher at times and seemed pretty fussy.

        2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2426571

      And it only took a week to get it done!

      Perhaps if I were more accomplished, it would have been quicker…

      I like Mint a lot, but it can be very inconsistent when it come to installing software/hardware.

      We abandoned MS when MS abandoned W7 and I saw the ongoing W10 debacle.  To me, the advantages of Mint greatly outweigh the drawbacks- and show W10 up for the step backwards that it seems to be- catalogued weekly in the Ask Woody newsletter

      2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2426577

        You’re not responsible for it being a fussy installation!

        All things considered I’ll take Mint over Windows anytime. It’s my daily driver and for the most part stress free. My quibbles with Mint are trivial compared to mine with MS.

        1 user thanked author for this post.
        • #2426588

          Our feelings exactly.  And, don’t get me started on Microsoft’s telemetry, added toward the end in W7, standard equipment in W10.

          1 user thanked author for this post.
        • #2426615

          My quibbles with Mint are trivial compared to mine with MS.

          I doubt whether it’s ever taken a week to edit a PDF with MS.

          • #2426616

            You’re probably right, and I’ve already admitted to my frustration with Mint in installing LO. My comment you quoted is, quite clearly, I think, meant to be taken in a much wider context.

    • #2426619

      @Slowpoke47

      GREAT to hear that you’ve finally been able to d/l and install LO 7.2.5!! 👍👍

      A big tip of the proverbial hat to @DrBonzo for the thorough guidance provided for the tedious unpacking and subsequent installation!!

      Also good to hear that it seems to handle the pdf you wanted to open better than your older LO version of Draw did.

      BUT, now comes another question, which would be for another thread:

      How to uninstall 6.0.7.3??

      Reason I ask is that I didn’t see any indication in the posts that installing LO 7.2.5 uninstalled/overwrote/updated the files for LO 6.0.7.3, making me think that it installed “alongside” 6.0.7.3 instead of replacing it. Any way for you to tell if that’s the case?

      3 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2426639

        When I installed 7.2.5 on my old laptop, the previous version remained along side it. I could open one or the other, didn’t try opening both at the same time and didn’t test for conflicts. I haven’t tried to uninstall the previous version.

        Slowpoke47 posted a link near the top that talks about whether you should uninstall a previous version and also gives instructions for terminal and graphical uninstalls. For convenience, here’s the link

        https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Install/Linux#Should_I_uninstall_the_LibreOffice_that_comes_with_my_Distro.3F

      • #2426641

        I have never needed to uninstall a program, and I’m in no rush to remove the 6.x LO.  But one source tells me that a program can be uninstalled via Terminal using <sudo apt-get –purge remove package-name>.  Another reference cites     <sudo apt-get remove package_name>.  These are both Debian.  If I were to try a removal, I might try a hybrid of these, mostly using the first example, but re-placing the hyphen package-name with an underscore package_name.

        Edit- retyping the commands because they are not on one line in the published rendition of my post:

        <sudo apt-get –purge remove package-name> (space and double hyphen before the word “purge”)

        <sudo apt-get remove package_name>

        Again note- I have not used either one of these.

         

         

         

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      • #2427096

        Here’s a quick, non-Terminal method to uninstall a program- in the Menu, right-click on the app to be removed, the pop-up generated will have an option to uninstall.  When you click this, you’ll be asked for a password if not logged in as a superuser, then you’ll see one of those “are-you-sure? pop-up windows, click OK, sit back, and watch.

        Just used this, it’s no sweat.

        3 users thanked author for this post.
        • #2427102

          yup, although it’s worth checking synaptic soon after to purge the remnants otherwise the system stores orphaned dependancies 😉
          Keep it clean and mean!

          Edit: One thing I did notice in Post #2425497 screenshots is, you have LOADS of ‘out of service’ kernel files on the device, which will probably free up circa 1Gb of storage space. That would be another topic though.. 😉

          Windows - commercial by definition and now function...
          3 users thanked author for this post.
          • #2427134

            Just hit upon that right-click move cited above by accident.  I’m only slightly nervous re Terminal use, but in this case, the gui method was, for me, quicker and left no room for foul-ups.

            Microfix- if you have a chance, for many (I think) of us, a thread on cleaning up superfluous data would be helpful…

            1 user thanked author for this post.
          • #2427159

            I’ll keep it in this thread then 😉
            FAO @Slowpoke47:
            As you prefer to use the GUI…

            To clean extraneous old kernels:
            1. Click on the Update Manager shield in your MATE panel.
            2. Once Update Manager is open, click ‘View’ on the top menubar followed by ‘Linux Kernels’ in the dropdown menu.
            3. On left-hand panel click 4.15 -I know you use the 4.15 series 😉
            Now you will see a list of kernels installed or (inactive) on your system.

            NOTE: I always leave the latest (inactive) kernel installed as a
            safety net in any linux distro.

            4. Then click on each of the older kernels listed as (inactive) and click uninstall.
            (unfortunately one by one) you will be prompted for your login password.
            Let it do it’s uninstall…

            5. Repeat 4 for the other old kernels until you are left with one active new kernel and one inactive last kernel by numerical order.(higher number the newer)

            I no longer use ubuntu mint so allow for minor faux-pas.
            😉

            Windows - commercial by definition and now function...
            3 users thanked author for this post.
            • #2427176

              I use @Microfix’s method to remove inactive kernels on 19.2 Cinnamon. No “minor faux pas” that I can tell!

              I was just offered a new kernel that I haven’t installed yet, 4.15.0-169. It’s at the very top of the kernels view. Right below that is -167 and is labelled as “Active”. Below that are a bunch of kernels, -166 and -163 are labelled as “installed” (they aren’t active, though, only the-167 is active at the moment), and the rest aren’t labelled which means they’re not installed (because I uninstalled them with the @Microfix method), but if you ever need one of them you can click on it and be given the option to install it.

              Right after step 2 in @Microfix post I get a big warning screen. Don’t let that scare you, just click continue. The warning screen does have some useful information that you ought to read, though. It came in handy last summer when there was a new kernel that caused random crashes.

              3 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2427200

      Followed @Microfix’s 4 steps, and, as he said, “your results may vary.”  List of old kernels displayed as he said, with the active one and newest update at the top of the list.  Moving the cursor up and down the list, including scrolling to the bottom, showed a barely visible highlight on the kernel under the cursor, but there was no way to select any, with either mouse button.  At the bottom of the pop-up box were two options, “perform queued actions” and “remove kernels.”  Left clicked in about the middle of the list, but unable to select any kernel(s).  Left clicked on the option “remove kernels” and the system took over, displaying the progress using the familiar bar graph in a pop-up analogous to the one for installing updates.  The ongoing progress under the bar showed the various kernels apparently being removed, not in numerical order, ran for quite a while, then closed.

      The attached s/shots show what that box looks like now- upper and lower extremes since the entire list doesn’t fit on the screen.  The icons at the bottom are now ghosted.  Not sure what exactly happened.  Screenshot-at-2022-02-22-16-22-27
      Screenshot-at-2022-02-22-16-22-27

      Does this look like what was expected?

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2427210

        My screen looks exactly like yours. If I scroll up, I see the newer kernels. When I hover my mouse over a given kernel the kernel gets highlighted and if I left click I get drop down menu that gives me the option to remove or install it.

        Sounds like you may have removed a lot of kernels. How many kernels do you see now after doing what you did?

        1 user thanked author for this post.
        • #2427223

          Quick and dirty count about 78.  Does “superseded” on the right mean they are removed, but still listed?

          • #2427225

            So you still see about 78 kernels?

            Superseded just means there is a newer kernel. In my middle column -167 says active, -166 and -163 say installed, and all the rest have nothing. -169 is atthe very top with nothing in the middle column but on the right says supported until 2023. If a kernel has nothing in the middle column I consider it to be removed.

            1 user thanked author for this post.
          • #2427281

            I pulled out my old Mint laptop again and clicked on the “Remove Kernels…” button at the bottom of my list of 4.15 kernels. I then got a small popup window with “Remove Kernels” at the top and containing all of the kernels that were labelled as “installed” – there were only two in my case, the -163 and -166 – each having a checked box next to it on the left. If I had clicked “Apply” at the bottom of this popup window, both of these kernels would have been removed.

            I’m going to guess that after you clicked “Remove Kernels…” you then clicked on “Apply” and that all your kernels that were listed as “Installed” had checked boxes next to them and therefore got removed, and that when you now look at your list of 4.15 kernels you still see a long list but only the -167 kernel is labelled as “Active” (the -169 kernel is still at the top and just says active until April 2023). That’s why your screen shot above now has “Remove Kernels…” greyed out, indicating that there are no kernels to remove (you don’t want to remove the active kernel!)

            So now you have only one installed kernel – the active one, -167 – which is not a big deal, although I personally like to keep an active kernel and 2 installed kernels. In the future, if you want to remove a kernel or kernels, go ahead and click “Remove Kernels…” and then pick the one or ones you want to remove by unchecking the boxes next to them. That assumes that my guess is correct.

            I’m also guessing that you couldn’t select a kernel by left clicking on it just because of a difference between your Mate and my Cinnamon.

            1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2427310

      Left clicked on the option “remove kernels” and the system took over, displaying the progress using the familiar bar graph in a pop-up analogous to the one for installing updates. The ongoing progress under the bar showed the various kernels apparently being removed, not in numerical order, ran for quite a while, then closed.

      That says to me that extraneous installed superseded kernels have been removed.
      Result = freed up storage space 🙂

      Windows - commercial by definition and now function...
      2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2427311

      Definitely some differences between Mint versions.  Although I left out a couple of details to avoid making a long post longer, I’m sure that there was no visible option to select which kernels to uninstall.  You are right, it appears that the only one still installed is the active one.  In my case, there are no check boxes, the appearance of that list now is exactly the same as before I started this operation, and the entire list still shows.  I assume it dates from the original Mint install, some years ago.  If I click on any of the superseded kernels, I am offered the opportunity to re-install it.  FWIW, the HD running Mint in this machine is 1 TB.

      This has been another good lesson in my Mint education, as I had never done anything with the “Updates” screen except choose and install the updates I wanted, based on guidance from this forum.  Currently I’m offered another kernel update, and in a day or two I plan to install it barring any caveats from here.  I’ll leave the now-active one installed, and in the future would uninstall the superseded kernels only when there is a new one ready to install.

      2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2427315

        There’s a setting that automatically removes older kernels and leaves the last one which is superseded by default. It may be worthwhile ticking that option to save future faffing about cleaning old kernels out.
        To do so, see this walkthrough and follow CAREFULLY!
        https://winaero.com/automatically-remove-old-kernels-linux-mint/
        I had this as a set-and-forget configuration in mint 19.3

        Might be worthwhile doing on your other device too 😉

        Windows - commercial by definition and now function...
        2 users thanked author for this post.
        • #2427319

          Thanks, will follow up on that.  Our other computer is a laptop, much newer, originally ran W10 before we replaced it with Mint, and it likely has many fewer old kernels, but I try to keep the two machines configured as nearly identically as possible.

        • #2427547

          Looking at this procedure- the toggle for removing old kernels cautions  that it will not remove “manually installed kernels.”  When an updated kernel is offered, and I accept and install it, is this a manual installation?

          2 users thanked author for this post.
          • #2427548

            No, kernels are automatically installed by default using mint-updater. That warning is only applicable to those who install kernels outwith mint-updater. Just ignore the warning.

            Windows - commercial by definition and now function...
            2 users thanked author for this post.
            • #2427549

              In that Update> Preferences sequence, a red banner warns me to enable System Snapshots.   Since I do a complete weekly backup using Veeam, I have never used the System Snapshots function, assuming it to be redundant.  True?

              1 user thanked author for this post.
            • #2427551

              no need, it’s only a default warning.
              I’ve hardly used timeshift (only for testing) and never had a problem on 19.3 tricia in the last few years without it.

              Windows - commercial by definition and now function...
              2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2427596

      Just did the steps as shown in the winaero link cited above (post-2427315) by @Microfix, see s/shot:Screenshot-at-2022-02-24-15-47-17
      Then installed offered updates, which included a kernel update.  Install went as usual, wanting a restart in this case, which I did, I then looked back into the kernel history list in Update Manager (See s/shot)- that pop-up looks identical to before I did any of the above, with the exception that the “remove kernels” button is now available, not ghosted as it was most recently.Screenshot-at-2022-02-24-15-48-47
      Were any of the old kernels supposed to disappear?  I am still offered the option to install any of the kernels shown- if I click anywhere in the list of old kernels, some clickable options appear, including one offering re-installation.

      2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2427605

        It all looks good to me. I installed the latest kernel on my old laptop last night and my list of kernels looks exactly like yours. (Well, not exactly because I keep an active kernel and 2 installed kernels, so I have -167 and -166 both showing as installed.) The “remove kernels” button is available because you could, if you wanted, uninstall the -167 kernel.

        The use of the word “remove” is sort of confusing. It doesn’t actually remove kernels from the list; a better word IMHO is “uninstall”.

        2 users thanked author for this post.
        • #2427613

          Thanks for confirming that I haven’t shot myself in the foot (yet again!).  Had the idea that, in this list, the older ones would be maybe gone.

          I used a 1 TB hard disc when I installed Mint, so there’s plenty of room.

          2 users thanked author for this post.
          • #2427622

            As an FYI I’ve installed the latest kernel on 2 laptops (those are my old test machines) and restarted each 3 times and everything seems fine. Haven’t installed it yet on my daily driver.

            With 1TB you’ve got plenty of room. My daily driver has a 500GB drive with only 454GB useful (because of formatting, etc). It dual boots into Win 7 which has 300 GB allocated to it leaving Mint with about 150GB and I’ve got about 90GB free right now. I do keep a couple installed kernels but I’m pretty careful about what I download and keep on my hard drive. I suppose I could try to reallocate the hard drive partitions, but I just took the default I was offered when I installed Mint. But everything works the way it is and I don’t want to fix what ain’t broke.

            1 user thanked author for this post.
            • #2427625

              This machine was new at the tail end of the Vista era- when W7 came out, I installed a second disk for that OS. (Yes- we abandoned Vista!.)  When MS dropped support for 7, we broke from them completely, I trashed the original Vista disk and replaced it with the 1 TB currently in use, running Mint, and while 7 is still installed, with the Internet connection disabled, we never look at it anymore.  The files from 7 are accessible using Mint.

              1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2427696

        Looks as it should, congrats!
        Relax, it’s a safety net, set-it-and-forget-it function that’s available on all later versions of LinuxMint also.
        FYI: Now that ‘Automatic Maintenance’ function is enabled, you need not concern yourself about uninstalling old kernels any more 🙂

        Windows - commercial by definition and now function...
        2 users thanked author for this post.
        • #2427698

          Your help and patience greatly appreciated!  A BIG thank you!

          1 user thanked author for this post.
          • #2427754

            now you know what to do, you can also configure your other device with LM19.2 😉

            Windows - commercial by definition and now function...
            1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2427885

      Laptop now fully updated with 4.15.169 and set to uninstall old kernels automatically.  Good to go 🙂

      3 users thanked author for this post.
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