CrossOver Support - Community Forums

A very annoying bug still present in version 21 shows ghost frames of Office windows (Excel, Word, etc.) on the wrong workspace. If I have, say, Excel open in workspace 4, but I'm working with a browser on workspace 2, after some time is elapsed (I think it's which I click in the right place in the browser) a ghost frame of the Excel window appears in front of the browser, wanting to be resized and getting in the way of my work. If I resize the ghost window, the real Excel window is resized.

Is this a known bug? Other than minimizing or exiting my Excel window every time, is there any fix/workaround?

WS 2:
WS 4:

First of all you provide too little pieces of information in order to reveal the roots of a problem and to provide you solution.
No, it does not happen(at least on Ubuntu 20.04lts) with gnome. I use office daily in my workflow on a few workspaces without an issue.

I would like to know:
-What distro are you running? Sometimes more unusual distros uses different versions of some dependencies which can cause malfunctions.
-What desktop environment are you running?
-Are you running combination of window manager to manage your desktop? This is the most common problem because for example qtile tilling window manager sometimes see sub-windows of wine apps as separate and display them as a blank windows. I highly discourage you from reporting problems with window managers instead of a full DE.

Thank you for responding. I'm running xubuntu with xfce as the window manager. Specifically "Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS".
This is a valuable clue. I upgraded from 16.04 lts to 20.04 lts last July, and I think that's about when the problem started.
xubuntu comes with xfce as the window manager, and I haven't tinkered with it other than a few preferences, so perhaps the problem is related to xfce.

Hmm. My first suggestion would be making backup of your personal data and performing a clean reinstall of xubuntu. Sometimes jumping from lot older version to newer one creates the problem because some dependencies etc are causing a conflict.

If it does not really resolve the problem then it can be the issue caused by xfce itself, but I have not used it in a long time due to glitches on my setups.

If the clean reinstall will not resolve your issue then I can help you in two ways:
-I can help you via discord or other communication channel to customize other DE like Gnome/Plasma to look and work as similar to XFCE as it can. I confirm that it works flawlessly on Gnome, and heard that it works great on KDE.
-I can install xubuntu on my machine and test the issue for you, but it is gonna take a few days because I need to move my whole workflow and then make a proper tests.

Good luck and let us know here. It may come in handy for others in future :)

Thank you again, especially for your kind offer to install xubuntu in your main environment. Hopefully that won't be necessary.

Perhaps I gave the impression that I let 16.04 upgrade itself to 20.04, but what I did was a clean install onto another disk. Do you believe that another clean install might fix this?

If the working theory is that this bug only exists under xubuntu 20.04/xfce, that's the sort of thing a test machine is for. Let me look around a bit. I think I put an Ubuntu partition on my Windows laptop that I haven't used, and I was also able to boot 16.04 on my main machine (on the other hard disk) although it's been a long time since i booted it and I doubt all the files are still there. I'll follow up with more information.

Update 8/8. I have an xubuntu partition on my laptop and it has (an older version of) cxoffice. Now I have to work on exactly what click it takes to reproduce the problem. I'll update when I am able to reproduce it on command.

As I have mentioned before: I do not use XFCE because it always causes some graphical bugs/issues on all of my machines. It would be helpful if you can give me neofetch screenshoot(it will give me all of your specs), and if nvidia then which driver(nvidia drivers are tricky).

My suggestions is making a proper backup of your personal data and install default ubuntu gnome with some tweaks or run virtualbox specially for msoffice(I use it for my bussiness meetings app and it merges into desktop perfectly) everything else including office 365 is running in gnome via crossover flawlessly).

Since there is nothing to lose and both gnome and xfce are based on gtk you can move to gnome desktop without breaking theming and looking weird(you can use the same theme scheme etc.). I can help you to choose proper extensions for gnome to recreate your xfce like experience.

Thank you again. I've installed Gnome on my test xubuntu. Gnome will login (it's so awfully different) but choosing xubuntu or xfce on the login screen exits rather than launch xfce - I assume it's crashing. So I'm reluctant to install it on my real device. But I can play on the testbed, and try to set it up so I can do real work by NFS mounting my home directory.

You mentioned configuration to make it seem like xfce, and I'd be grateful for tips or a pointer to a how-to. Specifically, I'm looking for a start button (at lower left if possible), a panel at bottom that will show my 8 static workspaces, control over default font size (I'm using a 4K monitor and Gnome print is tiny so I'd like to set it to 150%).

Do I have to reinstall crossover? It's not in any of the menus, although I can run it from the command line.

Thanks!

Here is a screenfetch of my main system:
root@mah:/home/mah# screenfetch
./+o+- root@mah
yyyyy- -yyyyyy+ OS: Ubuntu 20.04 focal
://+//////-yyyyyyo Kernel: x86_64 Linux 5.4.0-81-generic
.++ .:/++++++/-.+sss/Uptime: 1d 1h 51m .:++o: /++++++++/:--:/- Packages: 2263 o:+o+:++...`.-/oo+++++/ Shell: bash 5.0.17 .:+o:+o/. `+sssoo+/ Resolution: 3840x2160 .++/+:+oo+o:` /sssooo. DE: Xfce /+++//+:`oo+o /::--:. WM: Xfwm4 \+/+o+++`o++o ++////. GTK Theme: Greybird [GTK2] .++.o+++oo+:` /dddhhh. Icon Theme: elementary-xfce-dark .+.o+oo:. `oddhhhh+ Font: Sans 10 \+.++o+o-```.:ohdhhhhh+ Disk: 3.2T / 5.9T (57%) :o+++ ohhhhhhhhyo++os: CPU: Intel Core i7-5775R @ 8x 3.8GHz [55.0°C] .o:.syhhhhhhh/.oo++o` GPU: Mesa Intel(R) Iris(R) Pro Graphics 6200 (BDW GT3)
/osyyyyyyo++ooo+++/ RAM: 7677MiB / 15716MiB

                          `oo++.

The lab box:
mah@mahlteos:~$ screenfetch
./+o+- mah@mahlteos
yyyyy- -yyyyyy+ OS: Ubuntu 20.04 focal
://+//////-yyyyyyo Kernel: x86_64 Linux 5.4.0-81-generic
.++ .:/++++++/-.+sss/Uptime: 1d 23h 21m .:++o: /++++++++/:--:/- Packages: 2065 o:+o+:++...`.-/oo+++++/ Shell: bash 5.0.17 .:+o:+o/. `+sssoo+/ Resolution: 3840x2160 .++/+:+oo+o:` /sssooo. DE: GNOME /+++//+:`oo+o /::--:. WM: Mutter \+/+o+++`o++o ++////. WM Theme: Adwaita .++.o+++oo+:` /dddhhh. GTK Theme: Greybird [GTK2/3] .+.o+oo:. `oddhhhh+ Icon Theme: elementary-xfce-darker \+.++o+o-```.:ohdhhhhh+ Font: Noto Sans 9 :o+++ ohhhhhhhhyo++os: Disk: 553G / 961G (61%) .o:.syhhhhhhh/.oo++o` CPU: Intel Core i5-6200U @ 4x 2.8GHz [43.0°C]
/osyyyyyyo++ooo+++/ GPU: Mesa Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 (SKL GT2)

                          `oo++.

Sorry for the lack of response on my side, but I have been bothered much by my daily tasks.

First of all I would make a clean installation of Ubuntu Gnome(preferablly LTS 20.04) and do not install any other Desktop Environment(it can cause some problems). Please use the default Gnome setup for at least 3days and test whether the bug appears before applying changes!

Second of all, and I need to point it out: Using plugins in Gnome is highly discouraged because they can cause instability and bugs...but Imho on LTS where the DE version does not change a lot it does not matter that much.

So... To make Gnome more civilized for XFCE user you will need gnome tweaks and Arc menu plugin(it will make the app list look more like XFCE). Then you just enable icons on desktop and choose the theme of your liking and voila :)

Thank you, David. To bring you up to date, I've spent the last couple of days making Gnome usable enough to get work done (mostly that meant copying in my Thunderbird and Firefox . directories, several tries at cxoffice, an NFS mount of my real home directory, and a big learning curve. I do not like Gnome's handling of workspaces!

cxoffice has been a disaster. Installing version 21 and copying over .cxoffice didn't work. I moved .cxoffice out of the way and started with a clean office bottle. Exporting the office bottle worked fine but importing it hung halfway through (and I checked that there was room on the filesystem). So I did a clean Office 2016 install (activation problems notwithstanding, it's good for a few days.) The resulting Office was highly unstable, Word and Excel would crash/vanish for no obvious reason, sometimes Word was missing fonts, sometimes it took 100% of CPU.

I tried to keep a couple of spreadsheet open in workspace 4 while doing actual "work" (email and web surfing) in workspaces 2 and 3. I never did get the kind of ghost cross-workspace behavior I get often with Xfce. So I believe the problem I'm having is likely specific to Xfce.

I did have one strangeness with two Word windows and a PDF reader open. Excel had just crashed. My PDF was the active window but dragging it it displayed behind the Word docs. Then a Word window had a visible forward border (similar to what I see on Xfce) on top of the PDF but the PDF content was otherwise on top. Then Word crashed and both windows exited. All this was within Workspace 4, not cross-workspace. And I doubt it would reproduce.

When you suggest a clean Gnome install, presumably you mean a clean Ubuntu install, not xubuntu? I can do that if you think it will help a lot, but I'm pretty sure the problem doesn't appear under Gnome, and that's a full day of work to download, install, reconfigure, etc.

Would I have to permanently switch to Gnome with your solution, or is this a step toward an Xfce fix?

I have suggested trying under Gnome because it is the most common DE(base Buntu, Fedora etc.), so it should be the most tested and the least problematic one. If the problem does not exist under Gnome then I would try cinnamon(Linux Mint), which is more familiar to your liking. The suggestion of Gnome was only given to make sure that the problem is with "XFCE" and is not caused by anything else.

If the problem does not appear under Gnome and you are able to customize it to your liking, then I would make a clean install of Gnome Ubuntu, then make it work the way you want and then everything will be fine.

I wasn't the fan of Gnome either...until the 3.36 I guess when some nice features were introduced :). The only problem you will be left with under Gnome is that it is much more resource heavy than XFCE... Much as I would like to use XFCE it causes a lot of problems on my systems, so that is why I suggested swapping to other DE.

You can also try other DEs before you make a clean flash to try out which you like the most, and on which you do not have the bug. Unfortunately the more DEs you put onto your machine at one time, the more likely they are to fight each other...

Hmm I try my best to help, and I can make a huge testing under many DEs to reproduce bugs for you, but it will take time ( especially since my daily job has become a "real thing") :) . If you are under time pressure the try out my suggestions by yourself. I hope that will help you :) .

Mary Ann,
I follow this for a while and may have a solution for you (concerning MS Office) that solves all your issues. Yet it's going a different way. I was for years on the Windows site (since Win95) and switched to Linux Ubuntu and then Mint last spring. There is an office suite on the market that works 100% like MS Office. It's available for Windows, Mac, and for Linux as a native version. It's tested on their side for Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and others.
Coming back to Europe from the US roughly 15 years ago, I used it parallel to MS O. and later in Linux exclusively. So I can confirm the 100% compatibility. It's content has equivalent tools for Word (TextMaker), Excel (PlanMaker), and PowerPoint (Presentations). Have a look and give it a try.
They offer a trial version too (fully operative). So you can test it with your Ubuntu/Linux OS. The Suite cost about 80 EUR (79.99) and the company is located in southern Germany. Website is in English and and their Support [if needed] is good.
URL: www.softmaker.com/en/products
URL [Trial version downloads, all OS]: www.softmaker.com/en/softmaker-office-download

Hope that helps you with your MS Office issues. I never looked back since I started using it yeas ago. :)
Hans

Thank you both. I will give SoftMaker a try. I can't use Libre because it's not compatible enough (Word's Review is incomplete, Excel's handling of CSV files is atrocious.)

I would also try WPS Office. They claim 100% compatibility. I've not tried the two areas you specifically mention that LibreOffice doesn't do well with. It is free (they make their money off of the Windows, Mac, & mobile versions), so you won't waste any money trying it out. I used it for several years before I switched over completely to LibreOffice which works fine for my needs (including the revision notes which I haven't had any problems with, and better than any other office suite for dates before 1900-1-1).

To be totally honest... While I respect the other office tools... the only ones which I am using are LibreOffice and MsOffice365. Some people suggest trying the alternatives, but in my opinion it is better to help the author to find out what is causing the glitches and problems and resolve the problem itself.

Currently I am running Fedora on vanilla gnome and there are no issues with MsOffice, so the more I think about your issue the more I am sure it is connected to how the XFCE handles the windows itself.

I have tried on many distros with crossover on Gnome and Tiling Window Managers. I had a similar issues sometimes on qtile wm, so that probably is the root of your problem.

Well, I certainly agree about helping the author fix the issue. I'm not sure how to do that. I opened a case with Codeweavers, and got the perfunctory email saying I'd hear within 1 business day. But I never heard from them. This has been true the last 3 times I opened a case for support. Nothing happens.

I've installed SoftMaker and so far, it's pretty good. The Word review feature isn't quite right (it turned all my comments and replies to the comments into separate comments, there's no concept of resolving a comment). Fortunately for me this only matters for one specific project, and that project I can use real Word for by either tolerating the ghosts or switching to a Win10 device. There were a few annoying items in their spreadsheet, but so far I've been able to set a configuration option to get it to behave like Excel. I definitely like the native window treatment, so I can easily move a window to another workspace by right clicking the frame.

I'll give WPS Office a try too.

I will be totally honest with you. I tried my best to help you to settle your case within Ubuntu ecosystem because that is what most people claim to use, but for me the most reliable and most used by me distribution is Fedora. I am probably a bad case, but all Ubuntu based distros have some weird bugs on my setup.

When I use Fedora 34 Gnome personally then the script within crossover makes Office 365 and office 2007(which I both use on a daily basis) work flawless almost like a native.

Fedora 34 Gnome + Crossover for games and msoffice + some open source tools + Gnome Boxes with win10 installed within(perfect gnome integration of virtual machine) for a few apps that do not work within crossover under any circumstances is what makes my workflow perfect. I really love and use crossover daily, and it does not break my job tasks :) .

To be honest; like it or hate it there is almost zero possibility to have 100% compatibility with ms word/excell within other suites. They can be great, but never perfect. To make it clear; not even MS office is always perfectly compatible among all of its versions. Some mso 2007 documents got screwed within mso 365 and vice versa.

My additional protip is to use libreoffice + convert to pdf function for perfect compatibility ( use it when you give a doc to someone and you know they will not need to edit it, they will only read it).

I got this response today from CodeWeavers on the ticket I opened. This suggests that when I upgraded from Office 2010 to 2016 is when it began.

Hi Mary

Sorry about the late reply. This is a known issue with Office 365 and Office 2016 and I have had it happen with Gnome and Cinnamon as well here so I don't think it is related to xfce. The ghost windows stuff has always been annoying but difficult to really track down. The workaround that have been using it to minimize or close any Office windows when I'm not using them, though I do forget sometimes and it bugs me as well.

Thanks
Vince