[GNC] longtime user suddenly unable to open gnucash

Thu Aug 7 19:00:52 EDT 2025

John,

Here are 2 files, zipped up to preserve timestamps, on dropbox.

It had been a couple days since I tried to run GnuCash. The 
"ralloldtrace", I got first. It has at least something in it.

I think I tried to find the 2nd file, i.e., the Crash Report, and found
none.

Then I again tried to open GnuCash.
Subsequently, the trace file was empty, i.e., zero bytes.

But I got a crash report. But it seemed to have too early of a
timestamp; I attempted to open GnuCash within the past hour and the
crash report seems to be from 25-Aug-07 12:27.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ngg75sp4ezqolklrrvhau/rall.zip?rlkey=cuwi3jcffu2vf4zjlnq5ko6zx&st=x9k2ny6y&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6gkueee1qdfz87sedb94b/ralloldtrace.zip?rlkey=m1910nx2f763ds3qb66gydsu3&st=rtaqg3ox&dl=0

Do these files look like I found the right files?

Thank you again. Let me know what next I should do.

Jacob Wegelin

On 2025-08-05 Tue 10:07, John Ralls wrote:
> Let’s find out where it’s crashing. Please open a bug report at https://bugs.gnucash.org/enter_bug.cgi and attach (as files using the attach box, don’t paste them in to the description) the trace file (https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Tracefile) and macOS Crash Report (https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Stack_Trace#macOS).
>
> Regards,
> John Ralls
>
>
>> On Aug 5, 2025, at 8:34 AM, Jacob Wegelin <jacobwegelin at fastmail.fm> wrote:
>>
>> My computer is MacBook Pro. Chip Apple M4 Pro. MacOs Sequoia 15.6
>>
>> I have now done the following:
>>
>> rm JAW.gnucash *LCK
>>
>> open /Applications/Gnucash.app
>>
>> dialogue box says
>>
>> The file/URI /Users/qg/u/Household/GnuCash/wip/JAW.gnucash could not be found.
>> The file is in the history list, do you want to remove it?
>>
>> click yes
>>
>> then I get "Unsaved Book -- GnuCash" with nothing in it.
>>
>> File, Open and I get a dialogue box with nothing in it. It does not show the backup files, although they all end in *.gnucash.
>>
>> Then I try an earlier backup than the most recent:
>>
>> cp -p JAW.gnucash.20250803162946.gnucash JAW.gnucash
>>
>> and we see it now in the dialogue box. The type is listed as "unknown,"
>> size 2.1MB. I click that file in the dialogue box, click open, and
>> GnuCash goes away. The application is no longer open.
>>
>> Repeat the procedure, this time using JAW.gnucash.20250802200000.gnucash
>> from 1st August. Again, GnuCash goes away as soon as I try to open the
>> file.
>>
>> Repeat using JAW.gnucash.20250730234537.gnucash, from 30 July, same
>> result.  GnuCash was working just fine back then.
>>
>> How can I fix this?
>>
>> Jacob Wegelin
>>
>> On 2025-08-05 Tue 01:55, pete hopkins wrote:
>>> What type of MAC do you have - is it running an ARM chip or an Intel chip as you have installed the ARM version.
>>>
>>> I am  running v5.12 on MACos 15.5.  I run the ARM version as my MAC has an M1 chip.  I don’t see the problems you are reporting?
>>>
>>> Pete
>>>
>>>> On 5 Aug 2025, at 05:19, R Losey <rlosey at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> 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
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> 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.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> 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.
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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.
>
>