[GNC] longtime user suddenly unable to open gnucash
Jacob Wegelin
jacobwegelin at fastmail.fm
Fri Sep 5 17:31:14 EDT 2025
Thank you! to all who helped. I renamed the Gnucash directory under
~/Library, deleted the JAW.gnucash.LCK file, doubleclicked Gnucash in
the Applications directory, and then GnuCash opened.
It appears that my data are all there.
*Is there anything else I should be careful of as I start to use GnuCash again?*
so as not to foul things up again?
My layman's guess is that I copied and pasted some non-unicode character
into the Memo field of a transaction and that this fouled up the code.
Thank you again,
Jacob Wegelin
On 2025-09-01 Mon 16:59, Sherlock wrote:
> Jacob,
>
> It appears you did not search for the Gnucash directory correctly. If
> you want to use the find command, try:
>
> find -s $HOME/Library/Application\ Support -maxdepth 1 -iname '*gnu*'
>
> but you could just a easily confirm the directory's existence by issuing:
>
> ls -d ~/Library/Application\ Support/Gnucash
>
> or you could use the Finder app.
>
>
> The trace file you provided indicates the directory exists and there
> appears to be a problem in the metadata file. Reinstalling will not
> correct the metafile.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Sherlock
>
>
> On 9/1/25 4:02 PM, Jacob Wegelin wrote:
>> I do not find that directory. I do not find GnuCash under /Library, nor
>> do I find it under $HOME/Library:
>>
>>> date
>> Mon Sep 1 15:42:33 PDT 2025
>>> find -s /Library/Application\ Support/ -maxdepth 1
>> /Library/Application Support/
>> /Library/Application Support/App Store
>> /Library/Application Support/Apple
>> /Library/Application Support/BTServer
>> /Library/Application Support/Carbonite
>> /Library/Application Support/com.apple.backgroundassets.user
>> /Library/Application Support/com.apple.idleassetsd
>> /Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC
>> /Library/Application Support/com.apple.TVIdleScreen
>> /Library/Application Support/CrashReporter
>> /Library/Application Support/GarageBand
>> /Library/Application Support/iLifeMediaBrowser
>> /Library/Application Support/livefsd
>> /Library/Application Support/Logic
>> /Library/Application Support/Malwarebytes
>> /Library/Application Support/Mozilla
>> /Library/Application Support/ProApps
>> /Library/Application Support/Script Editor
>>>
>>> find -s $HOME/Library -maxdepth 1 -iname '*gnu*'
>>>
>>
>> And in case it is elsewhere under /Library:
>>
>>> find -s /Library/ -iname '*gnuc*'
>> find: /Library/Application Support/Apple/AssetCache/Data: Permission denied
>> find: /Library/Application Support/Apple/ParentalControls/Users:
>> Permission denied
>> find: /Library/Application Support/Malwarebytes/MBAM/Settings/1:
>> Permission denied
>> find: /Library/Application Support/Malwarebytes/MBAM/Settings/501:
>> Permission denied
>> find: /Library/Caches/com.apple.amsengagementd.classicdatavault:
>> Operation not permitted
>> find: /Library/Caches/com.apple.aned: Operation not permitted
>> find: /Library/Caches/com.apple.aneuserd: Operation not permitted
>> find: /Library/Caches/com.apple.iconservices.store: Permission denied
>> /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/Library/PrivateFrameworks/
>> LLDB.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Clang/include/__stdarg___gnuc_va_list.h
>> /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/lib/clang/17/include/
>> __stdarg___gnuc_va_list.h
>> /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/lib/tapi/17/include/
>> __stdarg___gnuc_va_list.h
>>>
>>
>> I installed GnuCash on this brand-new computer in January 2025. I tried
>> to use homebrew for this; could that have changed the directory? But
>> "brew" objected:
>>
>> Error: It seems there is already an App at '/Applications/Gnucash.app'.
>>
>> At that point in the process, I found the file, and a popup stated:
>>
>> Chrome downloaded this file on January 25, 2025. Apple checked it for
>> malicious software and none was detected.
>>
>> At any rate, I do not find the stated directory under /Library. Is
>> there a further step I can take to try to fix this?
>>
>> Am I correct that deleting /Applications/Gnucash.app and reinstalling is
>> not the way to go?
>>
>> Thank you for any insight.
>>
>> Jacob Wegelin
>>
>> On 2025-08-15 Fri 14:33, R Losey wrote:
>>> No, it IS blank on my macOS. That's why he gave you the path to it (~/
>>> Library/Application\ Support/GnuCash). Rename the
>>> directory, and then try launching GnuCash.
>>>
>>> On Fri, Aug 15, 2025 at 4:27 PM Jacob Wegelin
>>> <jacobwegelin at fastmail.fm> wrote:
>>> When I do
>>>
>>> > echo $GNC_CONFIG_HOME
>>>
>>> I get a blank. Is this not supposed to be a system variable in
>>> macos on
>>> the command line?
>>>
>>> On 2025-08-11 Mon 13:12, Sherlock wrote:
>>> > Jacob,
>>> >
>>> > I suspect there may be a configuration issue.
>>> >
>>> > A quick check is to rename the GNC_CONFIG_HOME directory and
>>> the try
>>> > launching GnuCash:
>>> >
>>> > mv ~/Library/Application\ Support/Gnucash ~/Library/Application\
>>> > Support/Gnucash.sav
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > If GnuCash able to launch successfully, you can try restoring
>>> a backup of the
>>> > GNC_CONFIG_HOME directory saved before you experienced the issue.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Regards,
>>> >
>>> > Sherlock
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On 8/11/25 11:48 AM, Jacob Wegelin wrote:
>>> >> At
>>> >>
>>> >> https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ii1dswyfptx5gvz9bx6sl/
>>> gnucash1.zip?
>>> >> rlkey=a7f1y4v91ebztkurwspuiwegw&st=hfkg9pzz&dl=0
>>> >>
>>> >> are 2 files:
>>> >> gnucash.trace
>>> >> the stderr from the command line.
>>> >>
>>> >> Thank you again
>>> >>
>>> >> Jacob Wegelin
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>> --
>>> _________________________________
>>> Richard Losey
>>> rlosey at gmail.com
>>> Micah 6:8
>>>
>>>
>
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