[GNC] longtime user suddenly unable to open gnucash

Thu Aug 7 22:22:18 EDT 2025

John,

Here is what I find (no file):

> find  ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ -iname '*gn*'
/Users/qg/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/
> find  ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ -iname '*gn*' -type f
> find  ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ -iname '*ips'
>

What else can I do?

Jacob

On 2025-08-07 Thu 17:22, John Ralls wrote:
> Jacob,
>
> Unfortunately neither is useful. The trace file has only the notice from the DBI backend that the file isn’t a SQLite one (because GnuCash checks for that before checking if it’s an XML file). No indication of any error.
>
> The diagnostic file you shared isn’t a crash report: A crash report will be named gnucash-<timestamp>.ips. “gnucash” may be capitalized and it might be in ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Retiired/.
>
> Regards,
> John Ralls
>
>
>> On Aug 7, 2025, at 16:00, Jacob Wegelin <jacobwegelin at fastmail.fm> wrote:
>>
>> 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
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>>>>>>>>> -----
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>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> _________________________________
>>>>>> Richard Losey
>>>>>> rlosey at gmail.com
>>>>>> Micah 6:8
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>
>