Jot Notes » Ubuntu

OpenOffice Error: “javaldx: Could not find a Java Runtime Environment!”

somejotnotes — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:00:41 +0000

If you are running OpenOffice from the command line in Ubuntu, you may see the following error:

javaldx: Could not find a Java Runtime Environment!

This error can occur even if you have a valid Java Runtime Environment (JRE) on your machine.

The reason why that happens is that even though OpenOffice is installed by default in Ubuntu, the package that enables OpenOffice to use the JRE is not installed by default, due to space constraints. From the Ubuntu 8.04 Release Notes:

For reasons of disk space, the database and equation editor components of OpenOffice.org, as well as Java integration support, are not included on the installation CDs. To get the full OpenOffice.org suite after install, you can select “OpenOffice.org Office Suite” from the Applications -> Add/Remove menu, or install the openoffice.org metapackage using the package manager.

The way to get OpenOffice to see the JRE on your machine is to install the openoffice.org-java-common package. Alternately, you could install the openoffice.org metapackage (as described in the release notes above), which will install the openoffice.org-java-common package along with some other components of OpenOffice that were left out of the default install as well.

This confusing behaviour exists in Hardy and Intrepid. According to this Launchpad comment, in Jaunty the “javaldx: Could not find a Java Runtime Environment!” error message will be changed to something more helpful.

Additional references:

Setting Up the Windows Key in Ubuntu

somejotnotes — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:21:05 +0000

One of the disconcerting things about switching from Windows to Ubuntu is that Ubuntu doesn’t treat the Windows key the same way Windows does, at least not by default. This article will show you how to set up your Ubuntu system so that it treats the Windows key in a way that’s similar to how it is used in Windows.

In Windows, the Windows key on your keyboard is what is known as a “modifier key”, meaning when you press the key and hold it down, it modifies the meaning of any other keys you press. For example, in Windows, if you press “r” then you get the letter “r” on your screen, but if you press and hold down the Windows key and then press the “r” key, it launches the Run dialog box.

By default, the Windows key is not treated as a modifier key in Ubuntu. It is just a regular key that does not modify anything else, and is therefore not nearly as useful as it could be.

In order to set up your Windows key to be a modifier key in Ubuntu, you need to do the following:

Go to System >> Preferences >> Keyboard.
Go to the Layouts tab.
You will see a button marked Layout Options (Hardy and earlier) or Other Options (Intrepid). Click on this button. This will bring up a dialog box.
In the list of options, there is an item marked Alt/Win key behaviour. Change the value from “Default” to “Super is mapped to the Win-keys”. This will allow you to use the Windows key as a modifier key.

Now that the Windows key is a modifier key, you can go into System >> Preferences >> Keyboard Shortcuts and use it to create some shortcuts. In the Keyboard Shortcuts panel the Windows key will show up as “Mod4″.

Additional references: