[GNC] longtime user suddenly unable to open gnucash

[R Losey]

That's why I suggested shutting down GnuCash and then renaming the files
before starting it.


On Mon, Aug 4, 2025 at 10:38 PM sunfish62 at yahoo.com <sunfish62 at yahoo.com>
wrote:

> R,
>
> Your instructions are thorough, but do not make clear that on Macs,
> GnuCash always opens the last file it had open--even if you double click a
> different GnuCash file in Finder. Or at least, that's always how it used to
> work. And if the file is corrupt, then OP will have a difficult time
> opening GnuCash up to find an earlier good file. That's why I suggested
> opening GnuCash without a file.
>
> Of course, by renaming the original file, you force GnuCash to open
> without the file it can no longer find, but it would be clearer to note
> that it will then be necessary to File->Open the backup.
>
> David T.
> On Aug 4, 2025, at 11:20 PM, R Losey <rlosey at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I run GnuCash on my Mac as well; I have an M1 Mac running Sequoia 15.5 -
>> there was a discussion here about some people having problems with 15.6 --
>> what are you running?
>>
>> When GnuCash starts, it first looks for a .LCK file; if one exists, you get
>> the error message; otherwise, GnuCash creates the .LCK file and opens your
>> data file.  When you shut down GnuCash, it closes your data file, and
>> deletes the .LCK.
>>
>> So, when GnuCash is running, there should always be a .LCK file. If GnuCash
>> is shut down, there should be no .LCK file.
>>
>> If GnuCash crashes, it doesn't go through the normal exit process, and the
>> .LCK file can stick around. The choice to "Open Anyway" is the right choice
>> when you only and always use GnuCash from one computer. (I have my data
>> files stored on a network storage device, and I can access it from multiple
>> computers, so I have to make sure that if I get the error message that I
>> really don't have it running elsewhere).
>>
>> From what you wrote, it sounds as if your data file has something in it
>> that is causing a crash.  To verify this,
>> 1) Shut down GnuCash
>> 2) Delete the .LCK file
>> 3) Open GnuCash; you shouldn't get a warning, but Gnucash will probably go
>> away (that is, "crash").
>>
>> This is almost certainly an issue with your data file. So...
>> 1) Delete the .LCK file
>> 2) Rename your existing data file to something - perhaps
>> JAW.gnucash-CORRUPT and then create a copy of the most recent backup file
>> and rename it to JAW.gnucash
>> 3) Open GnuCash - you should not get any warning; if GnuCash opens, you're
>> good. If it crashes, delete the lock file, and try the next oldest backup
>> file.  Repeat this until GnuCash opens without crashing. If you get to a
>> file that you KNOW was good, then there is something else going on - the
>> log files may be able to help you.
>>
>> Best wishes!
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 4, 2025 at 9:20 PM Jacob Wegelin <jacobwegelin at fastmail.fm>
>> 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
>>> ------------------------------
>>>
>>>  gnucash-user mailing list
>>>  gnucash-user at gnucash.org
>>>  To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>>>  https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>  -----
>>>  Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>>  You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>
>>
>>
>>

-- 
_________________________________
Richard Losey
rlosey at gmail.com
Micah 6:8