Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 9339
S3 Savage 4 drivers may cause OOo to crash
Last modified: 2003-05-20 16:33:59 UTC
This issue is very reproduceable, but only on certain machines. This issue may be similar to #7216, but I have ONLY seen this under Windows NT 4.0 Workstation. Over the last several days I attempted to install OO build 643 (developers build) on several computers with Windows NT4 Workstation and Windows 2000 Pro. All Win2000 installs went okay, but 5 out of 9 WinNT installs failed - all the same way. The installation actually complete with no error messages displayed. The QuickStarter icon appears in the task tray. But when I try to run the application, for example if I right-click the QuickStarter and select Spreadsheet, the splash screen comes up and the computer freezes a few seconds later (with the splash screen still up). The computer hangs hard, so the mouse pointer is frozen and the keyboard doesn't work (Ctrl-Alt-Del) does not do anything. I have to reset the computer to get back up and running. I too have tried repairing, uninstaling and reinstalling. But on those 5 computers, it is always the same. I have even tried using commercial uninstallers to return the computer to it pre-OpenOffice state, and reinstalling. Still the same bad result. The computers have various hardware ranging from Pentium 800's to Athlon 1.2GHz. Some of the computers that work appear to have the same hardware as the ones that don't. All computers have all Windows service packs installed. There is nothing in the Windows Event Log, and I do not know where else to look for clues. Since Ctrl-Alt-Del doesn't work, I can't try killing processes. I believe I have seen this with OO1.0, but all of my recent work has been with Build 643. I would like to know if thereis a way to supress the splash screen under Windows. Also, is there some type of log file or command switch that enables logging or verbose error messages. I would like to find specific traces of the error.
Sorry, but what you describe here is normally impossible. When you open a new document with the quickstarter there should never be a splash visible. The splash screen will only be shown when you start the Office but the quickstarter already started the Office! In general an application is not able to freeze Windows NT, this looks more like a driver or hardware problem. Can you please describe in detail which hardware is inside the computers that have the freeze problem. Most important: Type and name of the graphic card used and the driver version. We already had problems with some 3DFX and ATI based graphics cards/drivers.
In addition to the questions asked by Carsten, Can you start OOo using the Start menu? Are you performing a multi-user install followed by a workstation install? Do you have Java installed?
First, Carsten is correct: The splash screen only appears if Quickstarter is not active. If Quickstart is active, no splash screen appears, Windows NT just freezes after the Office is started. If Quickstarter is not active, then Windows NT freezes while the splash screen happens to be visible. Second, Carsten appears to be correct again: This appears to be a driver issue. Most of the computers have an S3 Savage 4 video chip. Computers with an older version of the software driver for the display card exhibit the problem. Computer with newer version of the display driver do not. I have updated 3 of the 5 computers that had the problem and the problem has immediately disappeared with the new driver. I will examine the remaining computers shortly and add my findings in an additional comment. So far it looks very likely that this "old driver" is the problem. Carsten asks for the tyype and name of the graphic card used and the driver version. So far all five computers had either the Diamond Stealth III S540 or Creative Labs 3D Blaster. Both cards are based on the S3 Savage4. I will add an additional comment with the specifics of the driver version. It appears the you should ad S3 to the list of problematic graphic card/drivers (which already includes 3DFX and ATI). Finally, I would like to specifically answer the question asked by "P M". With the old, problematic driver, starting OOo using the Start menu causes Windows NT to freeze just as if it were started with Quickstarter. I am NOT performing a multi-user install followed by a workstation install? Since I am using Developers Build 643, I am simply installing under the Administrator account. So far this has provided many advantages over the older multi-user (network) install followed by a workstation install. I can comment on this further if necessary, but there is no question that the multiuser network/workstation install is undesirable. Java 2 Runtime Environment 1.4.1 is installed and seems to work well on all machines. To be thorough, I will examing the remaining computers within the next 18 hours so that this issue can be resolved.
I have concluded that the S3 Savage 4 under Windows NT with certain, usually older drivers cause Windows NT to freeze when OpenOffice Build 643 is started, either from the Start Menu, or from the Quickstater. Specifically, the Diamond Stealth III S540 (S3 Savage4 based) exhibits the freeze problem with Diamond Driver version 4.00.1381.0105. If the driver is upgraded to Diamond Driver version 4.1024.8189.0005 or 4.1024.8189.0009, the problem goes away. Incidently, I tried several different BIOS versions flashed to the cards and noted no effect. Finally, I tried two Windows 2000 computers with the same S3 Savage4 card. One exhibits the problem with S3 drivers 5.12.1.0 and 5.12.01.8006-8.30.24. There appears to be no driver upgrade from here. Uninstalling the S3 driver and using the standard Windows 2000 VGA driver solves the problem. Another Windows 2000 computer with the same video card and S3 driver 0.8.40.1 works fine. In summary, OpenOffice Build643 can cause Windows NT and Windows 2000 to freeze with certain video card/driver combinations. The problem can often be verified by uninstalling the video card driver and using the standard Windows VGA driver. If the problem disappears, the workaround options are to 1) Leave the VGA driver installed, 2) Find a different (usually newer) driver for the video card, or 3) change the video card altogether.
David, thank you for all your effort, time and resources. I personally would not consider this a bug with OOo, since installing stock drivers or new drivers resolves the problem. I'd consider adding this issue to the install readme as a known issue. I've added this case to the OOo QA duplicates list.
Updated component and subcomponent fields. Updated QA Contact. To sum things up: S3 Savage 4 drivers may cause OOo to crash. User summary: OpenOffice.org crashes when I attempt to start it or any of its components.
Due to the fact, that an IBIS inhouse task (#105362) exists, this one is closed. Remark about possible problems, caused by older driver versions, will be added to the readme.
This task is fixed or worked in OOo 1.1 beta2.
closed ...