all programs crash when they attempt to save a new file

[dalinux_n00bie]

In all my programs, gedit, openoffice, GIMP, anything that can save to my harddrive, crashes when ever I try to save a newly created file with them.

When I open an exsisting file and save it, it works fine, no problems.

I'm running ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-23-generic.

[jmadero]

this sounds very bad....I'd start from scratch and install Intrepid. Backup your home directory and any other directories you might want. I've never heard of this before but it sounds like and I/O problem. It might be a bug for Hardy or maybe just a bad install or a corrupted file....also might be something wrong with your hard drive but you wouldn't know that unless you try a fresh install and the problem persists

[dalinux_n00bie]

I really can't to a fresh install because I need all this data for a class i'm taking.... It would be hard to back it all up, and I really really REALLY don't want to re-set up a XP virtual machine and IIS....

[devils casper]

Check how much free space left in your hard disk.

df -h

Post output here.

[dalinux_n00bie]

here it is:

Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3              28G   15G   13G  54% /
varrun                1.4G  128K  1.4G   1% /var/run
varlock               1.4G  4.0K  1.4G   1% /var/lock
udev                  1.4G   60K  1.4G   1% /dev
devshm                1.4G   12K  1.4G   1% /dev/shm
lrm                   1.4G   39M  1.4G   3% /lib/modules/2.6.24-23-generic/volatile
gvfs-fuse-daemon       28G   15G   13G  54% /home/silver/.gvfs

[devils casper]

There is enough free space. I think problem is with your Hard disk only. Execute this

dmesg | grep sda

Does it list any warning or error message?

[dalinux_n00bie]

 dmesg | grep sda
[   31.715812] sd 3:0:0:0: [sda] 312581808 512-byte hardware sectors (160042 MB)
[   31.715824] sd 3:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[   31.715826] sd 3:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[   31.715843] sd 3:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[   31.715889] sd 3:0:0:0: [sda] 312581808 512-byte hardware sectors (160042 MB)
[   31.715898] sd 3:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[   31.715900] sd 3:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[   31.715914] sd 3:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[   31.715917]  sda:<5>sr 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 5
[   31.759879]  sda1 sda2 sda3 sda4 < sda5 >
[   31.783736] sd 3:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk
[   44.280909] Adding 1421712k swap on /dev/sda5.  Priority:-1 extents:1 across:1421712k
[   43.736271] EXT3 FS on sda3, internal journal

doesn't look like it...

[jmadero]

have you tried booting in the safe mode from Grub and saving that way?

Also, try the following

terminal
gedit /home/"USER"/Desktop/Something.txt

it'll open a blank document, make it so that you can see the terminal while you type something in the blank document. Then save

If it locks see if the terminal spits out errors before locking, write them down and post.

Then try same thing as su

you can also try doing this with OpenOffice...I use openoffice 3 so I'm not positive about the command in OO2.4 which is probably what you are using. If you go to application, office, right click on writer and add it to your taskbar. Right click new icon and go to properties. Copy the command and paste that into terminal. Do the same thing where you can see the terminal while you type/save and see if it spits out errors

Lastly, have you considered just an upgrade to 8.10? I wouldn't necessarily recommend it (fresh installs are just so much better) but...it might be a possibility for you. To do this (since it's not a LTS release) you follow these instructions:

Upgrade any version of Ubuntu Desktop

[dalinux_n00bie]

have you tried booting in the safe mode from Grub and saving that way?

Also, try the following

terminal
gedit /home/"USER"/Desktop/Something.txt

it'll open a blank document, make it so that you can see the terminal while you type something in the blank document. Then save

If it locks see if the terminal spits out errors before locking, write them down and post.

Then try same thing as su

you can also try doing this with OpenOffice...I use openoffice 3 so I'm not positive about the command in OO2.4 which is probably what you are using. If you go to application, office, right click on writer and add it to your taskbar. Right click new icon and go to properties. Copy the command and paste that into terminal. Do the same thing where you can see the terminal while you type/save and see if it spits out errors

Lastly, have you considered just an upgrade to 8.10? I wouldn't necessarily recommend it (fresh installs are just so much better) but...it might be a possibility for you. To do this (since it's not a LTS release) you follow these instructions:

Upgrade any version of Ubuntu Desktop

I can't upgrade to the latest version of ubuntu because the WPA2 enterprise wireless moduals are broken, and I need those for a class.

When I do the gedit command, it works fine, as though I had open an existing file. when I open an existing file, I can save just fine.

[jmadero]

so you can save from text editor (gedit)? I thought all saving caused freezes. Did you try open office from terminal?

Another option, try installing OO3 and see if that works:
download: OpenOffice.org Download

just download the .deb file

also, not sure what you are talking about broken WPA2, I use WPA2 on my wireless (multiple locations) and I've never had an issue. Where did you read that there was a problem and when? Maybe it's been solved since you last read/used it