[GNC] Process payment shuts down program

Wed Nov 26 20:29:07 EST 2025

John,

5.13-1 from Flathub is still GnuCash 5.13, I had to repackage it because I’d forgotten to update the Gnome Runtime and Flathub expired the version that was in the original 5.13 flatpak. The GnuCash code is the 5.13 release code from Sept. 27; in addition to a new runtime it has F::Q 1.67 and updated pgsql and mariadb client libraries

There are two key commands in https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Flatpak#Nightly_Test_Versions_at_gnucash.org for installing nightly builds: You have to install code.gnucash.org <http://code.gnucash.org/> as a repository:
    sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists gnucash https://code.gnucash.org/builds/flatpak/gnucash-nightlies.flatpakrepo
You need do that only once, but the —if-not-exists option means that doing it again will do no harm. Then to install a new version:
    sudo flatpak --arch=x86_64 install gnucash org.gnucash.GnuCash//stable-C5.13-75-g04af7b5fa6-D5.13-1-g285f67b7 <https://code.gnucash.org/builds/flatpak/stable/gnucash-stable-C5.13-75-g04af7b5fa6-D5.13-1-g285f67b7.flatpakref>
You get the  stable-C5.13-75-g04af7b5fa6-D5.13-1-g285f67b7 <https://code.gnucash.org/builds/flatpak/stable/gnucash-stable-C5.13-75-g04af7b5fa6-D5.13-1-g285f67b7.flatpakref> by visiting https://code.gnucash.org/builds/flatpak/stable/ and copying one of the filenames (this one is today’s nightly build) and trimming off “gnucash-“ from the beginning and “.flatpakref” at the end (that’s in the Tip just above the example.

The parts of that version string are: stable is the version control branch. C5.13-75 means the 75th commit to the 5.13 release for the code and g04af7b5fa6 is a hash of the commit. D5.13-1 means the first commit after 5.13 for the documentation and g285f67b7 is a hash of the documentation commit.

Regards,
John Ralls

> On Nov 26, 2025, at 11:36, John Zupancic <jwzedd at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi John 
> Thanks for your help. I tried several approaches and it seems that I somehow corrupted the file - maybe by using it on another computer?? I used the terminal command ( flatpak info org.gnucash.GnuCash) on my older POP_OS 22.04 PC to investigate which version I was using and got the following back.
> Version: 5.13-unknown-commit (Flathub 5.13-1)
> Commit: 9769dffea79e987d342928827f02c8ae2ead97835dc809e329e36772fbc22218
> Parent: 041ba7f6890e085c40a375d072d99e143c18ce88efba5bdbf785b114bde60489
> Subject: Package GnuCash 5.13-1 (af570598fa5a)
> Date: 2025-10-21 15:33:21 +0000
> That seems pretty recent but I still tried to upgrade to the latest version but could not figure out how to get the commit value correct from the link https://code.gnucash.org/builds/flatpak/stable/?C=M;O=D. I tried to use $ flatpak update --commit <commit-hash> org.gnucash.GnuCash but could not figure out where to get the correct commit code.
> So I uninstalled the Flatpak version and reinstalled it only to get the same crash when processing a payment. Then I loaded the snap version which was v4.8 and got the same message when opening the file that the database was being used elsewhere etc. Opened anyway and got the same crash when trying to process the payment.
> In the end I reverted back to an earlier version of the file and re-entered the lost data. Now it runs just fine on either the snap 4.8 version or the flatpak 5.13-1. The only difference in the two PCs is the POP_OS version 22.04 vs 24.04.3 - however the newer PC with 24.04 uses  Cosmic and Wayland desktop. Not sure if that made a difference or not.
> Again thanks for your input.
> Cheers
> John Zupancic
> 
> 
> On Tue, Nov 25, 2025 at 9:12 PM John Ralls <jralls at ceridwen.us <mailto:jralls at ceridwen.us>> wrote:
>> That’s a widely reported and already fixed bug in GnuCash 5.13. Try a recent nightly build, instructions at https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Flatpak#Nightly_Test_Versions_at_gnucash.org.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> John Ralls
>> 
>> > On Nov 25, 2025, at 13:01, John Zupancic <jwzedd at gmail.com <mailto:jwzedd at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> > 
>> > Hello All
>> > I am using GnuCash version 5.13 Build ID Flathub 5.13-1 with Linux POP_OS
>> > 22.04 as my desktop. Am getting the message "could not obtain the lock for
>> > .....database may be in use by another user" I can view "read only" and
>> > when using the "open anyway" option I can enter most data but when I try to
>> > process a payment the program closes. The only thing that I have done
>> > differently is that while traveling I created an invoice with the same
>> > version of GnuCash on my travel laptop which uses POP_OS 24.04.3.
>> > The gnucash files are kept in a Dropbox folder that is synced and mutually
>> > available to both PCs.
>> > Now if I open GnuCash on the laptop I get the same "could not obtain lock"
>> > message and the program crashes when I try to process a payment.
>> > Is there some way to let the program know that the file is not in use by
>> > another user? Is there a workaround?
>> > Any advice is appreciated.
>> > 
>> > John Zupancic
>> > _______________________________________________
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