[GNC] longtime user suddenly unable to open gnucash

[Sherlock Holmes]

Jacob,

If you're able to open a backup file, you should save it to a different 
name.

https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v5/C/gnucash-guide/basics-backup1.html

Regards,

Sherlock


On 8/4/25 7:45 PM, Jacob Wegelin wrote:
> Sherlock,
>
> Thank you for your reply.
>
> The latest backup is JAW.gnucash.20250803224255.gnucash, do I just 
> open it or do I first get rid of the current
> JAW.gnucash and rename JAW.gnucash.20250803224255.gnucash
> to that name?
>
> Jacob
>
> On 2025-08-04 Mon 19:36, Sherlock wrote:
>> Jacob,
>>
>> Have you tried opening recent backups saved of the gnucash file saved 
>> before the issue appeared?
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Sherlock
>>
>>
>> On 8/4/25 7:19 PM, Jacob Wegelin wrote:
>>> I have been using gnucash for about 20 years on macos for personal
>>> bookkeeping.
>>> Suddenly today, it refuses to open with the following message:
>>>
>>>      GnuCash could not obtain the lock for /Users/qg/u/Household/ 
>>> GnuCash/wip/JAW.gnucash (which is my file which it also opens).
>>>
>>>      The database may be in use by another user, in which case you 
>>> should not open the database.  What would you like to do?
>>>
>>> When I clicked "open anyway," the application looked like it was 
>>> loading
>>> and then it went away---the application was not open.
>>>
>>> I tried deleting gnucash.LCK and it just made another one.
>>>
>>> I reinstalled gnucash, updated my macos and rebooted the computer.
>>>
>>> I changed the permissions on JAW.gnucash so it is readable and
>>> writeable by everybody. Exactly the same message.
>>>
>>> I tried reinstalling it again after the macos reboot, as follows:
>>>
>>> https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Installation
>>>
>>> https://sourceforge.net/projects/gnucash/files/gnucash%20%28stable%29/
>>> click: download latest version Gnucash-Arm-5.12-1.dmg (184.3 MB)
>>>
>>> I made gnucash.LCK read,write,execute by everybody, but the same 
>>> result.
>>>
>>> How do I get GnuCash working again? I use it every day.
>>>
>>> Thank you
>>>
>>> Jacob Wegelin
>>
>>
>>
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