MacBook Pro install

astoria · Newbie Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2

I cannot get Open Office to install on my new macbook pro. any suggestions?

AndrewZ · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:29 pm Post subject:

Is that with an Intel (aka x86) CPU? While I know they are working on it, there has been no OpenOffice.org stable release for Intel Mac yet.

I think this guy has been doing a lot of work on OOo Mac:
http://eric.bachard.free.fr/news/

In particular, read this post:
http://eric.bachard.free.fr/news/2006/01/it-works-even-if-work-is-not-finished.html

astoria · Newbie Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 2

it is the new duo core.
thanks for your reply and the links.

AndrewZ · Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:08 pm Post subject:

I checked, and the MacBooks use Intel (aka x86) CPUs and not the PowerPPC (aka PPC) CPUs, so all the "old" or "normal" Mac OS X program do not run yet.

Anyway, here are some more links:
http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/
ftp://ooopackages.good-day.net/pub/OpenOffice.org/MacOSX/SRC680_m156/ (Feb 13 alpha build)

Seahorse · Newbie Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 3

Same problem here. My reading is that there is now a version that will run on an Intel-based MacBook Pro - OpenOffice.org 2.0 for Mac OS X (X11).

But if I install it and try to run it I get a message saying that it's an executable script saved as an application.

I'm a PC nerd but a Mac newbie. My guess is that this is because X11 isn't installed - but when I try to install X11 (downloaded) it tells me that there is a newer version already installed - presumably came with the MacBook Pro?

Can anyone help? I really need to get OpenOffice running if there's a working version available!

Thanks...

Adam

AndrewZ · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:35 pm Post subject:

Seahorse · Newbie Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 3

Thanks for the reply and advice. I understood from this page that 'OpenOffice.org Mac OS X (X11)' has 'Support for Intel based Macs' - but maybe I'm misunderstanding what that means!

You say I can try an unready version. Are you able to point me towards the version I should be trying?

Thanks again!

AndrewZ · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 6:31 pm Post subject:

Click on second ericb link I posted in this thread. Then, click on"OpenOffice.org site." You should see some .dmg files with "x86", and x86 is the kind of CPU you have (as oppposed to PPC). Try the one with the newest date. Also, "en" is for English while "fr" is for French.

Seahorse · Newbie Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 3

Thank you again. And I have finally found the problem that was preventing me running it. For the benefit of any other Mac newbies: you need to have X11 installed and this does not come pre-installed on the MacBook Pro.

It is however available on the installation disks that come with the computer, though wasn't where I first looked. Inset Mac OS X Install Disk 1, open Optional Installs and, when you get to the selection screen, open Applications and select X11. If you've already installed OpenOffice, it's OK to install X11 afterwards.

The good news is that I now have an apparently fully-functional version of OpenOffice 2.0 running on my MacBook Pro. Thanks, ahz, for your advice.

AndrewZ · Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:19 am Post subject:

I'm glad you got it working, and I know they are working on a version that does not require X11. The new version will use Aqua or Carbon (I forget which buzz word--I don't use Macs), and it will look and feel much more like a Mac application. For example, the following recent blog entry from an OOo developer shows a baby step towards that goal:

http://blog.janik.cz/archives/2006/03/05/T13_47_13/

transco · General User Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 6

I have the Intel iMac. I also tried installing a copy of X11User from the Mac web site, but it said I had a later version already installed. The build of OpenOffice I am trying to install is 'OOo2.02rc420060311_MacOSXIntel_en-US.dmg'. When I try to run it, it will appear in the Dock for a few seconds, then disappears (no error message). Any idea what I might be doing wrong? Any help would be appreciated. I am a new Mac user, so it may be I'm just missing a step.

AndrewZ · Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 10:11 pm Post subject:

transco, not sure but...

1. Read these FAQs
http://neowiki.sixthcrusade.com/index.php/FAQ_for_OO.oX11_2.0RC3
http://www.planamesa.com/neojava/en/faq.php
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/FAQ_Openoffice.org_and_NeoOffice
2. Ask Mac users here:
http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/
http://trinity.neooffice.org/modules.php?name=Forums
mac@porting.openoffice.org

transco · General User Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 6

Problem solved. The build of OpenOffice was good. Unfortunately I hadn't installed X11 properly. Once that was fixed, it took right off.

AndrewZ · Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:12 am Post subject:

Good. Now, I am curious how well the Intel version of OpenOffice.org works since it's so new and hasn't been tested much.

transco · General User Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 6

I'm using:

OOo_2.0.2rc420060311MacOSXIntek_en-US.dmg

So far most everything I've tried to do with it has worked. The only strange thing I've seen so far is when accessing the 'Edit' menu in Writer. It spreads itself across both screens (Intel iMac with second monitor), and off the edges of both. I also have not figured out how to access files on other than the system drive. All my word processor files are either on attaced external drives or on the NAS. So far no luck getting OO to access them.

I do a lot of web site stuff and my current project is to find some way of using a very large clipart library (in Corel Draw's '.ccx' and 'cdr' format) with Open Office. Ideal would be a cdr / ccx to svg (or whatever scaleable vector graphics format that OO understands) batch converter, but I haven't been able to locate one.