A Readme file contains important last minute technical information and is delivered with the software. On StarOffice 9 installations you can find it in the main StarOffice installation directory. Occasionally, last minute issues cannot make it to the Readme file that is contained in the installation set. You can always find the most up-to-date version here on this wiki. Please select the tab that corresponds to your operating platform.
Windows
StarOffice 9 Readme for Windows
This file contains important information about this program. Please read this information very carefully before you begin.
Notes on Installation
System Requirements
- Microsoft Windows 2000 (Service Pack 2 or higher), XP, or Vista
- Pentium compatible PC (Pentium III or Athlon recommended)
- 256 MB RAM (512 MB RAM recommended)
- 370 MB (multi-language version: 650 MB) available hard disk space
- Chinese, Japanese and Korean versions: 650 MB (multi-language version: 830 MB) available hard disk space
- 1024x768 resolution (higher resolution recommended), at least 256 colors
 | Please be aware that administrator rights are needed for the installation process. |
Registration of StarOffice 9 as default application for Microsoft Office formats can be forced or suppressed by using the following command line switches with the installer:
- /msoreg=1 will force registration of StarOffice 9 as default application for Microsoft Office formats.
- /msoreg=0 will suppress registration of StarOffice 9 as default application for Microsoft Office formats.
If you perform an administrative installation using setup /a, you need to make sure that the file msvc90.dll is installed on the system. This file is required for StarOffice 9 to start after an administrative installation. You can get the file from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9B2DA534-3E03-4391-8A4D-074B9F2BC1BF
Please make sure you have enough free memory in the temporary directory on your system and that read, write and run access rights have been granted. Close all other programs before starting the installation.Problems During Program Startup
Difficulties starting StarOffice (for example, applications hang) as well as problems with the screen display are often caused by the graphics card driver. If these problems occur, please update your graphics card driver or try using the graphics driver delivered with your operating system. Difficulties displaying 3D objects can often be solved by deactivating the option Use OpenGL in Tools > Options > StarOffice > View > 3D view.Network Installation: Error When Calling the StarOffice 9 Quickstarter
If, when starting the system, problems should occur in calling the StarOffice 9 Quickstarter (for example, invalid link), this is probably due to the fact that the network drive on which the network installation is installed is not or not yet available.
In most cases, this happens when the network drives are logged in via a login script, thereby establishing the connection for the network drives parallel to running the programs of the autostart group from which the Quickstarter is also started.
To avoid this problem, the network drive should be connected via the system's services. If this is not possible, the link used to call the Quickstarter can be removed from the autostart group of the system, or the Quickstarter can already be disabled when installing the workstation installation. If the system administrator already disabled the Quickstarter during installation of the network installation, then the Quickstarter cannot be selected by the user in a later workstation installation.
Important Accessibility Notes
Windows users also need the Java™ Access Bridge For Windows Operating System 2.0 (or higher). You can download the software from one of the following web sites:
For more information on the accessibility features in StarOffice, see http://www.openoffice.org/access/.Shortcut Keys
Only shortcut keys (key combinations) not used by the operating system can be used in StarOffice. If a key combination in StarOffice does not work as described in the StarOffice Help, check if that shortcut is already used by the operating system. To rectify such conflicts, you can change the keys assigned by your operating system. Alternatively, you can change almost any key assignment in StarOffice. For more information on this topic, refer to the StarOffice Help or the Help documention of your operating system.
| Due to a conflict with input method switching on multiple platforms, the following shortcut keys required to be changed at last minute:
|
Problems When Sending Documents as E-mails From StarOffice 9
When sending a document via File > Send > Document as E-mail or Document as PDF Attachment problems might occur (program crashes or hangs). This is due to the Windows system file Mapi (Messaging Application Programming Interface) which causes problems in some file versions. Unfortunately, the problem cannot be narrowed down to a certain version number. For more information visit http://www.microsoft.com to search the Microsoft Knowledge Base for "mapi dll".
Using Info-ZIP
StarOffice uses Info-ZIP to create and unpack the StarOffice installation, as well as for packing and unpacking the StarOffice XML file format. Info-ZIP programs (ZIP, UnZip and other utilities) are available free of charge and can be used in the source code and as an executable program. They can be attained by visiting Anonymous FTP sites such as ftp.uu.net:/pub/archiving/zip/*.
Used / Modified Source Code
Portions Copyright 1998, 1999 James Clark. Portions Copyright 1996, 1998 Netscape Communications Corporation.
Customer Support
For support questions, please visit our support portal at: http://www.sun.com/star/support
Adabas End-of-Feature Note
The option of installing a limited version of the Adabas Database Engine with StarOffice is no longer available in this releases of StarOffice.
For more information about the Adabas Database Engine please refer to the Software AG website at http://www.softwareag.com/adabas.
Linux
StarOffice 9 Readme for Linux
This file contains important information about this program. Please read this information very carefully before you begin.
Notes on Installation
System Requirements
- Linux Kernel version 2.4 or higher
- glibc2 version 2.3.2 or higher
- gtk version 2.2.0 or higher
- Pentium compatible PC (Pentium III or Athlon recommended)
- 256 MB RAM (512 MB RAM recommended)
- 440 MB (multi-language version: 730 MB) available hard disk space
- Chinese, Japanese and Korean versions: 440 MB (multi-language version: 900 MB) available hard disk space
- X Server with 1024x768 resolution (higher resolution recommended), with at least 256 colors
- Window Manager
- Gnome 2.6 or higher, with the gail 1.8.6 and the at-spi 1.7 packages, required for support of assistive technology tools (AT tools)
| The UNIX versions of StarOffice cannot be installed on a (V)FAT partition, since FAT file systems do not support the creation of symbolic links. The path for the StarOffice installation directory must not contain a space. |
If you use Debian linux, you need to use the alien command to install StarOffice:
- Change to the directory that contains the rpm packages for StarOffice.
- Type the following command: sudo alien -i -k *.i586.rpm
This process might take a few minutes to complete.
Installing StarOffice 9 on a Linux File Server
If you install StarOffice on a Linux file server, you need to perform the following steps to install the StarOffice menu integration package on a client.
| You need the RPM package manager to install this package. |
- On the client, open a terminal, and become root.
- Type rpm -ivh staroffice-desktop-integration-9.0.0-9290.noarch.rpm. You can find the menu integration package for your Linux distribution in the rpm directory of the StarOffice installation directory. Note, that the file name may vary.
- If your linux distribution is based on SuSE or openSuSE, type rpm -ivh staroffice-suse-menus-9.0.0-9290.noarch.rpm
- Modify the staroffice9 symbolic link in the /etc directory so that the link points to the StarOffice installation on the file server.
For example, if you mount the file server as /mnt/nfs, type ln -sf/mnt/nfs/staroffice9 staroffice9.
Please make sure you have enough free memory in the temporary directory on your system and that read, write and run access rights have been granted. Close all other programs before starting the installation.
Problems During Program Startup
If you experience StarOffice startup problems (most notably while using Gnome) please unset the SESSION_MANAGER environment variable inside the shell you use to start StarOffice. This can be done by adding the line unset SESSION_MANAGER to the beginning of the soffice shell script found in the [office folder]/program directory. Difficulties starting StarOffice (for example, applications hang) as well as problems with the screen display are often caused by the graphics card driver. If these problems occur, please update your graphics card driver or try using the graphics driver delivered with your operating system. Difficulties displaying 3D objects can often be solved by deactivating the option Use OpenGL in Tools > Options > StarOffice > View > 3D view.Important Information for Asian Versions
Thai Input-Sequence Checking
In a "th_TH" locale, the Thai XIM will carry out the input sequence check. That means that StarOffice is not able to normalize and auto-correct the Thai input sequences.
Please change the following lines in your user environment settings before running the application:
XMODIFIERS="@im=BasicCheck" or XMODIFIERS="@im=Strict"
to (or add the following lines if they do not exist at all)
XMODIFIERS="@im=none"
export XMODIFIERS
Important Accessibility Notes
For more information on the accessibility features in StarOffice, see http://www.openoffice.org/access/.Shortcut Keys
Only shortcut keys (key combinations) not used by the operating system can be used in StarOffice. If a key combination in StarOffice does not work as described in the StarOffice Help, check if that shortcut is already used by the operating system. To rectify such conflicts, you can change the keys assigned by your operating system. Alternatively, you can change almost any key assignment in StarOffice. For more information on this topic, refer to the StarOffice Help or the Help documention of your operating system.
| Due to a conflict with input method switching on multiple platforms, the following shortcut keys required to be changed at last minute:
|
File System ReiserFS: StarOffice Will Not Start for User IDs Larger Than 65535
In versions lower than 3.6, the file system ReiserFS causes a problem as soon as the user ID is larger than 65535. The problem is that files temporarily saved by StarOffice can no longer be removed by the program itself, but rather only by the system administrator (for example, /tmp/OSL_PIPE_xxx ). The result is that StarOffice cannot be started. The problem is in the ReiserFS file system and has been fixed in version 3.6 and higher.
File Locking
File locking is enabled by default in StarOffice. On a network that uses the Network File System protocol (NFS), the locking daemon for NFS clients must be active. To disable file locking, edit the soffice script and change the line
export SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING
to
# export SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING
If you disable file locking, the write access of a document is not restricted to the user who first opens the document.
Using Info-ZIP
StarOffice uses Info-ZIP to create and unpack the StarOffice installation, as well as for packing and unpacking the StarOffice XML file format. Info-ZIP programs (ZIP, UnZip and other utilities) are available free of charge and can be used in the source code and as an executable program. They can be attained by visiting Anonymous FTP sites such as ftp.uu.net:/pub/archiving/zip/*.
Used / Modified Source Code
Portions Copyright 1998, 1999 James Clark. Portions Copyright 1996, 1998 Netscape Communications Corporation.
Customer Support
For support questions, please visit our support portal at: http://www.sun.com/star/support
Adabas End-of-Feature Note
The option of installing a limited version of the Adabas Database Engine with StarOffice is no longer available in this releases of StarOffice.
For more information about the Adabas Database Engine please refer to the Software AG website at http://www.softwareag.com/adabas.
Solaris
StarOffice 9 Readme for Solaris
This file contains important information about this program. Please read this information very carefully before you begin.
Notes on Installation
System Requirements for the SPARC Platform
- Solaris 10 operating system (SPARC platform) or higher
- 256 MB RAM (512 MB RAM recommended)
- 480 MB (multi-language version: 760 MB) available hard disk space
- Chinese, Japanese and Korean versions: 480 MB (multi-language version: 930 MB) available hard disk space
- X Server with 1024x768 resolution (higher resolution recommended), with at least 256 colors
- Window Manager
- Gnome 2.6 or higher, with the gail 1.8.6 and the at-spi 1.7 packages, required for support of assistive technology tools (AT tools)
System Requirements for the x86 Platform
- Solaris 10 operating system (x86 platform) or higher
- 256 MB RAM (512 MB RAM recommended)
- 480 MB (multi-language version: 760 MB) available hard disk space
- Chinese, Japanese and Korean versions: 480 MB (multi-language version: 930 MB) available hard disk space
- X Server with 1024x768 resolution (higher resolution recommended), with at least 256 colors
- Window Manager
- Gnome 2.6 or higher, with the gail 1.8.6 and the at-spi 1.7 packages, required for support of assistive technology tools (AT tools)
| The UNIX versions of StarOffice cannot be installed on a (V)FAT partition, since FAT file systems do not support the creation of symbolic links. The path for the StarOffice installation directory must not contain a space. |
If you install StarOffice 9 on a Solaris file server, you need to perform the following steps to install the StarOffice 9 menu integration package on a client.
- On the client, open a terminal, and become root.
- Change to the directory that contains the installation packages for StarOffice 9 and type pkgadd -d . SUNWstaroffice-desktop-integratn
- Modify the staroffice9 symbolic link in the /etc directory so that the link points to the StarOffice 9 installation on the file server.
For example, if you mount the file server as /mnt/nfs, type ln -sf/mnt/nfs/staroffice9 staroffice9
Problems During Program Startup
If you experience StarOffice startup problems (most notably while using Gnome) please unset the SESSION_MANAGER environment variable inside the shell you use to start StarOffice. This can be done by adding the line unset SESSION_MANAGER to the beginning of the soffice shell script found in the [office folder]/program directory. Difficulties starting StarOffice (for example, applications hang) as well as problems with the screen display are often caused by the graphics card driver. If these problems occur, please update your graphics card driver or try using the graphics driver delivered with your operating system. Difficulties displaying 3D objects can often be solved by deactivating the option Use OpenGL in Tools > Options > StarOffice > View > 3D view.Important Accessibility Notes
For more information on the accessibility features in StarOffice, see http://www.openoffice.org/access/.Mozilla Address Book Driver
The Mozilla address book driver requires the SUNWzlib package. This package is not part of the minimum Solaris operating system installation. If you require access to the Mozilla address book, then add this package to your Solaris operating system using the command pkgadd from the installation CD.
Shortcut Keys
Only shortcut keys (key combinations) not used by the operating system can be used in StarOffice. If a key combination in StarOffice does not work as described in the StarOffice Help, check if that shortcut is already used by the operating system. To rectify such conflicts, you can change the keys assigned by your operating system. Alternatively, you can change almost any key assignment in StarOffice. For more information on this topic, refer to the StarOffice Help or the Help documention of your operating system.
| Due to a conflict with input method switching on multiple platforms, the following shortcut keys required to be changed at last minute:
|
File Locking
File locking is enabled by default in StarOffice. On a network that uses the Network File System protocol (NFS), the locking daemon for NFS clients must be active. To disable file locking, edit the soffice script and change the line
export SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING
to
# export SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING
If you disable file locking, the write access of a document is not restricted to the user who first opens the document.
Using Info-ZIP
StarOffice uses Info-ZIP to create and unpack the StarOffice installation, as well as for packing and unpacking the StarOffice XML file format. Info-ZIP programs (ZIP, UnZip and other utilities) are available free of charge and can be used in the source code and as an executable program. They can be attained by visiting Anonymous FTP sites such as ftp.uu.net:/pub/archiving/zip/*.
Used / Modified Source Code
Portions Copyright 1998, 1999 James Clark. Portions Copyright 1996, 1998 Netscape Communications Corporation.
Customer Support
For support questions, please visit our support portal at: http://www.sun.com/star/support
Adabas End-of-Feature Note
The option of installing a limited version of the Adabas Database Engine with StarOffice is no longer available in this releases of StarOffice.
For more information about the Adabas Database Engine please refer to the Software AG website at http://www.softwareag.com/adabas.
Mac OS X
StarOffice 9 Readme for Mac OS X
This file contains important information about this program. Please read this information very carefully before you begin.
Notes on Installation
System Requirements
- Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or higher
- Intel processor
- 512 MB RAM
- 500 MB (multi-language version: 800 MB) available hard disk space
- Chinese, Japanese and Korean versions: 600 MB (multi-language version: 800 MB) available hard disk space)
- 1024 x 768 graphic device with 256 colors (higher resolution recommended)
| The UNIX versions of StarOffice cannot be installed on a (V)FAT partition, since FAT file systems do not support the creation of symbolic links. The path for the StarOffice installation directory must not contain a space. |
Problems During Program Startup
If you experience StarOffice startup problems (most notably while using Gnome) please unset the SESSION_MANAGER environment variable inside the shell you use to start StarOffice. This can be done by adding the line unset SESSION_MANAGER to the beginning of the soffice shell script found in the [office folder]/program directory. Difficulties starting StarOffice (for example, applications hang) as well as problems with the screen display are often caused by the graphics card driver. If these problems occur, please update your graphics card driver or try using the graphics driver delivered with your operating system. Difficulties displaying 3D objects can often be solved by deactivating the option Use OpenGL in Tools > Options > StarOffice > View > 3D view.Important Accessibility Notes
For more information on the accessibility features in StarOffice, see http://www.openoffice.org/access/.Shortcut Keys
Only shortcut keys (key combinations) not used by the operating system can be used in StarOffice. If a key combination in StarOffice does not work as described in the StarOffice Help, check if that shortcut is already used by the operating system. To rectify such conflicts, you can change the keys assigned by your operating system. Alternatively, you can change almost any key assignment in StarOffice. For more information on this topic, refer to the StarOffice Help or the Help documention of your operating system.
| Due to a conflict with input method switching on multiple platforms, the following shortcut keys required to be changed at last minute:
|
File Locking
File locking is enabled by default in StarOffice. On a network that uses the Network File System protocol (NFS), the locking daemon for NFS clients must be active. To disable file locking, edit the soffice script and change the line
export SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING
to
# export SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING
If you disable file locking, the write access of a document is not restricted to the user who first opens the document.
Using Info-ZIP
StarOffice uses Info-ZIP to create and unpack the StarOffice installation, as well as for packing and unpacking the StarOffice XML file format. Info-ZIP programs (ZIP, UnZip and other utilities) are available free of charge and can be used in the source code and as an executable program. They can be attained by visiting Anonymous FTP sites such as ftp.uu.net:/pub/archiving/zip/*.
Used / Modified Source Code
Portions Copyright 1998, 1999 James Clark. Portions Copyright 1996, 1998 Netscape Communications Corporation.
Customer Support
For support questions, please visit our support portal at: http://www.sun.com/star/support
Adabas End-of-Feature Note
The option of installing a limited version of the Adabas Database Engine with StarOffice is no longer available in this releases of StarOffice.
For more information about the Adabas Database Engine please refer to the Software AG website at http://www.softwareag.com/adabas.