Gnucash doesn't open in High Sierra

[Adrien Monteleone]

Peter,

While you won’t need the fix if you install a newer version, here’s what that instruction means for your future reference:

the “/“ separates folders(directories) in a file path. So “/usr/lib/libz.1.dylib” is identifying a file named “lib.1.dylib” in the folder “lib” which is in the folder “usr”. Since “usr” is preceded by a “/“ this means you will find “usr” at the base level or root of the filesystem.(drive in your case)

The instruction is telling you to copy this file and place the copy in the folder ‘lib’ which is in the folder ‘Resources’ which is in the folder ‘Contents’ which is in the folder ‘Gnucash.app’. (which is in the folder ‘Applications’ - applications on a Mac are essentially folders with a special .app extension and are conventionally stored in the Applications folder)

If you open Finder and click on the shortcut for your HD (probably labeled ‘Macintosh HD’ if you used the defaults when installing) you will see several folders, most likely:

Applications
Library
opt
System
Users (not the same as ‘usr’)

The ‘usr’ folder is hidden normally because it contains important system files that you don’t want to delete. There is a way to make it visible to perform the fix, but as noted, you won’t need this, just install the most recent version of Gnucash. I’ve been updating Gnucash each release for several years and I’ve never had a data problem, but I  always have a backup (using TimeMachine) just in case.

Your files will reside in a folder with your name which lies in the folder ‘Users.’ This ‘home folder’ is what will usually display initially when you open Finder. (you can change this in Preferences located in the Finder menu)

You can search in Finder (top right of the window) for “.gnucash” which is the Gnucash file extension and you should see your data file appear. You may see lots of .gnucash.log files as well. The data file will be the one with a Gnucash icon. You have several options here if you want to copy it.

You can left click the data file to select it and then from the Edit menu choose “copy”, you can use the keyboard shortcut ⌘-C (that’s command-C), or you can right click the data file and choose the “copy” entry.

You can also go to the containing folder itself and perform the copy there. From the search window, left click the data file and you’ll see the file path appear at the bottom of the Finder window. You can also right click the data file and choose ‘Show in enclosing folder’ which will open another Finder window straight to that folder which contains your data file.

Once you have it copied, you can then ‘paste’ it wherever you like. You can do this again, from the Edit menu, by using the keyboard shortcut ⌘-V (that’s command-V), or by right-clicking on an empty space in the target Finder window and choosing the “paste item” entry.

You can also copy and paste in one move using a thumb drive. Open two finder windows, one set to the location of your data file and the other to the thumb drive. Drag the data file from the first window to the second. This will copy the file to the thumb drive. Plug the thumb drive into the other Mac, open two finder windows, one for the thumb drive containing your data file copy and the other to a location of your choice inside your home folder. (I store mine in Documents/Personal/Finances) Drag the file again, this time from the thumb drive Finder window to the other one and the Mac will copy the file to that location. You can then delete the copy on the thumb drive if you like as well as on the original Mac if you choose. I would be sure to open the copied file in Gnucash and make sure everything looks like it is still there before deleting those copies.

If both computers are running, have wifi and are on the same network, you can likely see the ‘other’ machine from Finder. Open two Finder windows as above but this time have one open to the location of your data file and the other to the intended target folder on the other Mac. You can then drag the file and it will be copied.

You can also find the exact location of your data file from within Gnucash. With the file open in Gnucash choose “open” from the File menu. Gnucash will display a window for you to choose a new file to open. (you won’t be doing that though) Look near the top of this window and you’ll see a series of rectangle buttons in a row. This is the file path where the currently open file is stored. Click the cancel button to close this window. This method is very helpful if you have multiple ‘books’ or data files, store them in different places, and want to know where a particular currently open file is located.

All of that may sound very involved, but computers give you lots of methods to achieve the same result. Just use the one you are most comfortable with. Hope that helps.


Regards,
Adrien

> On Nov 16, 2017, at 9:36 AM, Peter Schoonmaker <petermschoonmaker at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I’ve used Gnucash for several years and I love it. But, I’m a complete novice about the technical side of Gnucash and I need very basic help. I understand that the following is a fix or work around my recent problem:
> 
> copy /usr/lib/libz.1.dylib to Gnucash.app/Contents/Resources/lib
> 
> However, I don’t know what the above line means nor how to implement it. In other words, how do I copy /usr/lib/libz.1.dylib to Gnucash.app/Contents/Resources/lib?
> 
> I’m embarrassed to admit my lack of knowledge, but I would need a step by step description in order to fix this problem on my MacBook Pro.
> 
> I don’t even know the version of Gnucash that I’m running. I don’t want to lose my data from the last few years. Is it safe to try to reinstall Gnucash with the latest version? 
> 
> I’ve thought about moving my Gnucash data from my current computer to another Mac that’s running an older operating system than High Sierra, but I don’t even know how to begin to do that.
> 
> Thanks, in advance, for any assistance you can give me. I’ve copied this message to my regular email address so I won’t miss any replies. Thanks again.
> 
> Peter
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