libreoffice writer crashes on start

[Manny Martines]

1) lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 17.04
Release: 17.04

2) apt-cache policy libreoffice-writer
libreoffice-writer:
  Installed: 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2
  Candidate: 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2
  Version table:
 *** 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

apt-show-versions -r libreoffice*
libreoffice:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-avmedia-backend-gstreamer:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-base:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-base-core:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-base-drivers:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-calc:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-common:all/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-core:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-draw:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-gnome:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-gtk3:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-impress:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-java-common:all/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-librelogo:all/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-math:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-nlpsolver:all/zesty 0.9+LibO5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-ogltrans:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-pdfimport:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-report-builder:all/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-report-builder-bin:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-script-provider-bsh:all/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-script-provider-js:all/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-script-provider-python:all/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-sdbc-firebird:i386 not installed
libreoffice-sdbc-hsqldb:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-sdbc-postgresql:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-style-breeze:all/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-style-galaxy:all/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-style-tango:all/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-wiki-publisher:all/zesty 1.2.0+LibO5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate
libreoffice-writer:i386/zesty 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2 uptodate

3) What is expected to happen in Writer is <PRECISE, STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO REPRODUCE ONE PROBLEM>.

Start libreoffice writer from:
- Desktop menu: Office => Libre Office Writer
- Filetype association: /.../anyfile.odf or /.../anyfile.doc
- from Libre suite => Libre Office Writer

The libreoffice writer initial dialog is displayed.
After the dialog indicates "100% complete", the dialog closes.
Then, the writer application opens a blank document or the selected document.

4) What happened instead is...

(All in step 3 above until: After the dialog indicates "100% complete", the dialog closes).

But, the writer crashes or fails to start.
The writer does not open.
There are no error messages or dialogs displayed.

The problem does not occur with the other libreoffice applications (suite, base, calc, impress, math).

-Version-
Kernel : Linux 4.10.0-33-generic (i686)
Compiled : #37-Ubuntu SMP Fri Aug 11 10:53:59 UTC 2017
C Library : GNU C Library version (Ubuntu GLIBC 2.24-9ubuntu2.2) 2.24 (unstable)
Default C Compiler : GNU C Compiler version 6.3.0 20170406 (Ubuntu 6.3.0-12ubuntu2)
Distribution : Ubuntu 17.04
-Current Session-
Desktop Environment : LXDE (Lubuntu)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 17.04
Package: libreoffice-writer 1:5.3.1-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.10.0-33.37-generic 4.10.17
Uname: Linux 4.10.0-33-generic i686
ApportVersion: 2.20.4-0ubuntu4.5
Architecture: i386
CurrentDesktop: LXDE
Date: Tue Sep 12 11:02:21 2017
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-10-07 (339 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Lubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release i386 (20140416.2)
SourcePackage: libreoffice
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Manny Martines (martinesm3)]

The same problem was reported by others:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/946624/libreoffice-writer-will-not-open
https://askubuntu.com/questions/927859/libreoffice-writer-crashes-on-start

The problem persists after I reinstalled libreoffice (remove, install, update, autoremove,upgrade-full).

The lowriter command only displays the launch dialog. No error messages are displayed.

[Olivier Tilloy (osomon)]

This is a known issue in the kernel/JVM code. A workaround is to disable java in libreoffice. To do that, just launch libreoffice, open the Tools > Options menu, and in the LibreOffice > Advanced section, uncheck the "Use a Java runtime environment" checkbox.