[GNC] could not obtain lock message when opening GnuCash

[John Ralls]

Another possibility is that you’re being impatient. Dropbox sync isn’t instantaneous and it needs your computer to keep running while it completes. If the lockfile deletion hasn’t synched maybe the latest save of the file hasn’t either, and if you open the unsynched one anyway you’ll lose your updates from the other machine.

Regards,
John Ralls


> On 15 Apr 2025, at 16:46, Tommy Trussell <tommy.trussell at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On Tue, Apr 15, 2025 at 2:18 PM David Long <davidvernonlong at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> I am using GNucash on 3 machines, who share the file on Dropbox. I make
>> sure only one version is open at any one time. When opening GnuCash, I get
>> the message * GnuCash could not obtain the lock to( folder\filename). That
>> database may be in use by another user, in which case you should not open
>> it."  I always ignore the message and open it anyway, as the backups give
>> me the same message. I am worried that this might give me problems at some
>> stage. What should I do?
>> 
> 
> 
> Have you read the FAQ?
> 
> https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/FAQ#Q:_GnuCash_says_that_it_can.27t_obtain_the_lock_for_my_file._What_should_I_do.3F
> 
> The lock file (or flag?) gets reset when GnuCash closes PROPERLY.
> 
> Are you closing GnuCash with the File--> Quit command (or the keyboard
> equivalent)?
> 
> Is it possible GnuCash is crashing for some reason?
> 
> Dropbox should be deleting the .LCK file when you quit, but check your
> Dropbox settings -- there may be a reason it isn't removing that file when
> GnuCash removes it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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