2019.1 (1855) Not Syncing with Dropbox properly
On the 2019.1 (1855) build of Moneydance i have found that it only syncs with Dropbox when the application is closed and reopened. If left open updates made on the desktop are not reflected in the mobile app, and updates made in the mobile app are not reflected at the desktop, even though they are seen on other mobile devices.
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1 Posted by derekkent23 on 23 Feb, 2019 10:12 PM
I am not support, just a user.
Strange, I am running 2019 al be it 2019.2(1857) on a windows 7 and 10 computers as well as a Android phone and all three are syncing correctly using Dropbox Folder.
2 Posted by a575606 on 25 Feb, 2019 03:47 PM
I just posted the same problem before I saw your post. I concur, it's a super annoying problem. But it happens both ways, desktop and from mobile in my case.
3 Posted by Rutkowski Famil... on 26 Feb, 2019 02:19 AM
Agreed,
Mobile to mobile doesn’t seem to be a problem, but mobile to desktop OR desktop to mobile only syncs if i close the desktop app and restart it.
------ Original Message ------
4 Posted by Rick Rutkowski on 03 Mar, 2019 03:07 AM
Just following up to see if anyone might actually have worked on this at Moneydance. The issue is still occuring. Let me repeat the problem. I leave MD running on my desktop almost 24/7. I make an update in the Desktop application and it is not reflected on any of my mobile devices. I make an update on one my mobile devices and all the ot other mobile devices show he update, BUT the update is not on my desktop version.
I close the desktop application and restart, the previous udates from the desktp are now synced with all the mobile devices, and the updates made on the mobile device appear at the desktop.
OBVIOUSLY MD 2019.1 (1855) IS NOT SYNCING WITH DROPBOX WHILE IT IS RUNNING, BUT ONLY WHEN IT FIRST STARTS UP.
ANY ETA ON WHEN THIS MIGHT BE FIXED? THIS ABILITY TO SYNC BETWEEN MOBILE AND DESKTOP WAS THE PRIMARY REASON I SWITCHED FROM QUICKEN TO MD BACK IN 2010
5 Posted by Rick Rutkowski on 03 Mar, 2019 03:12 AM
Just following up to see if anyone might actually have worked on this at Moneydance. The issue is still occuring. Let me repeat the problem. I leave MD running on my desktop almost 24/7. I make an update in the Desktop application and it is not reflected on any of my mobile devices. I make an update on one of my mobile devices and all the of other mobile devices show the update, BUT the update is not on my desktop version.
I close the desktop application and restart, the previous updates from the desktop are now synced with all the mobile devices, and the updates made on the mobile device appear at the desktop.
OBVIOUSLY MD 2019.1 (1855) IS NOT SYNCING WITH DROPBOX WHILE IT IS RUNNING, BUT ONLY WHEN IT FIRST STARTS UP.
ANY ETA ON WHEN THIS MIGHT BE FIXED? THIS ABILITY TO SYNC BETWEEN MOBILE AND DESKTOP WAS THE PRIMARY REASON I SWITCHED FROM QUICKEN TO MD BACK IN 2010
6 Posted by derekkent23 on 03 Mar, 2019 10:36 AM
I am not support staff, just a user.
Perhaps it would help support staff or others if you listed the devices you are syncing.
Computer and mobile device operating systems. Windows, Mac, Linux, Android phones etc.
Also what syncing method are you using Dropbox folder, Dropbox connection.
My setup is two computers windows 7 and windows 10 running 2019.2(1859) plus an Android phone. Preview build at https://infinitekind.com/preview
I am using Dropbox Folder.
All three device can be open and I can add a transaction to one of them and within 30 seconds it will appear on the other two. No need to close or reopen any Apps. The only restriction is on the phone, you must exist an account screen to the main window within the App before you see the syncing message, but that’s always been the case going back to 2017.
Hope this helps
7 Posted by Rutkowski Famil... on 03 Mar, 2019 02:19 PM
Well that is possible:
Desktop - Windows 10 Home Build 1809 using Dropbox Connection
Mobile Devices: 1 iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 12.1.4, 1 iPhone 7 running iOS 12.1.4, 1 iPad 9.7 5th Gen runnning iOS 12.1.4, 1 iPad 9.7 6th Gen running iOS 12.1.4
I note that you are running Moneydance 2019.2 (1859) and specify it is a preview build, which is NOT generally available. I am curious what issue you were having that had that release made
availble.
Of course none of this was an issue when i was running Moneydance 2017.10 thus my conclusion that it is an issue with 2019.1 (1855).
Hopefully with all this additional information and the fact that the preview build you are running will cause someone from MD to respond.
Thank you for your interest though
Rutkowski
M 714.350.3549 (Rick)
M 714.785.5514 (Michele)
E [email blocked]<mailto:[email blocked]>
1729 W. Beacon Avenue
Anaheim, CA 92804-4514 - USA
________________________________
8 Posted by Dan P on 03 Mar, 2019 03:02 PM
Just FYI. I tried this with my Windows 10 PC running 2019.1(1855) and the mobile app on android (Samsung S9). Changes both ways sync within 30-60 seconds with both apps open.
Edit: Just saw the OP is using Dropbox Connection. I am using Dropbox Folder. Perhaps that is a clue to the problem.
9 Posted by derekkent23 on 03 Mar, 2019 04:07 PM
I am not support staff, just a user.
Hi Rutkowski
I tend to run the latest preview build and have done so since first purchase back in 2016.
If you click on “TEXT” on the linked page I provided it list the bug fixes for each build. Between 1855 and 1859 none relate to syncing. The one I was pleased with was colour and layout improvements to ..... downloaded transaction match/merge/confirm panel.
One important difference in our setups as Don comments is, we are using Dropbox Folder, you are using Dropbox connection on your computer.
Perhaps there is a bug in Dropbox connection, I have not tested that method since I used 2017.
With Dropbox Connection Moneydance uses the Dropbox API to talk to the Dropbox service directly. So, you don't need to have Dropbox client actually installed on your computer, but you do need to be online when Moneydance is running in order for changes to be synced. With Drobox Folder Moneydance will just read and write files to your Dropbox folder on your computer, which means that you need to have Dropbox client installed and running, but you don't need to be online in order for Moneydance to read and write the changes. Syncing will occur when you go online.
Hope this helps
10 Posted by a575606 on 05 Mar, 2019 09:06 AM
Perhaps dropbox folder works better, but dropbox connection should work and I feel it's a bit more secure, so I prefer using that method. I just don't have the impression that anything is being done about these bugs, that's what's frustrating. Also the state of the android app is really bad for commercial software.
11 Posted by derekkent23 on 05 Mar, 2019 03:39 PM
I am not support staff, just a user.
Hi Rutkowski
My setup is two computers windows 7 and windows 10 running 2019.2(1860) plus an Android phone. Preview build at https://infinitekind.com/preview
I am using Dropbox Folder.
As a test I tried Dropbox Connection.
Primary computer, did a FILE – EXPORT BACKUP, then a FILE – RESTORE FROM BACKUP to give me a data set with a different name.
Set this data set to sync via Dropbox Connection. Waited until Dropbox folder “.moneydancesync” was up to date.
Synced my second computer to this data set using Dropbox Connection. Synced my Android phone.
With all three devices open, adding a transaction to one resulted after the normal delay in it appearing in the other two devices. Tried adding/deleting in the different devices all worked. No need to close and open the Apps. The only restriction is on the phone and other mobile devices, you must exist an account screen to the main window within the App before you see the syncing message Test took about 15 minutes. Not sure why you are having problems unless its something to do with your mobile devices being Apple, although this seems unlikely.
Your concerns about Dropbox Folder being less secure. Both methods encrypt your data using end to end symmetric AES256 encryption with the password only stored on your devices, so one method is just as secure as the other.
If I were you, I would try Dropbox Folder, or if you really don’t want to do that start again with Dropbox Connection. In either case, set your computer to don’t sync, disconnect your mobile devices, delete Dropbox folder “.moneydancesync” and set up syncing from the start.
Hope this helps.
12 Posted by a575606 on 05 Mar, 2019 05:56 PM
Thanks for going out of your way to do some testing. I guess I wish I didn't have to use dropbox at all, as I run my own cloud server from home, but that's another discussion.
In my case syncing works, for the most part, but occasionally found the balances of certain accounts didn't match. Sync didn't show any error, and other transactions would appear as you described, but the balance continued not to match. After going through the transactions I could locate where the balance went out of sync and found a transaction that was duplicated in the mobile app but showed only once in the desktop app. This has happened a couple times now, and I've mentioned it to support directly, so hopefully it'll get worked out.
Still would like them to make a priority of updating the android app though. Thanks again anyway.
13 Posted by dwg on 05 Mar, 2019 08:59 PM
I'm a fellow user.
FWIW there is no difference in security between the Folder and connect methods, the only technical difference in is how the data gets moved.
In both cases Moneydance encrypts the data and only Moneydance has the encryption key. With the connection method Moneydance writes the data directly to the dropbox server. With the folder method Moneydance writes the data to the dropbox folder and the dropbox client handles the movement to the dropbox server.
14 Posted by Jothebeachcombe... on 27 May, 2019 10:51 PM
I too am having this sync problem since the 2019 update. Anything I update on my IOS app, gets overwritten when I go to my desk and open Dropbox on PC. Nothing from PC seems to load to app to update unless I physically log on to my computer. This is crazy. This all used to work seamlessly, now I am constantly updating both sides - wasting a lot of time cleaning things up and worse, I cannot count on my account balances being correct when on the road. I use Dropbox Connnection to sync
15 Posted by sprimost on 27 May, 2019 11:32 PM
I'm a fellow user.
I'm not sure that this will help, but you might tyr this line of discovery.
My experience is that there _is_ a difference between folder and connect
methods. I have had problems with the connect method that only the
folder method can solved. It was a mis-match between the folder that the
PC (master) was writing into, and the folder that the iPad was looking
at. I solved my problem by using the folder method becuase it was the
easiest to do with a LINUX PC (and I can understand how lINUX variants
and Dropbox fights with each other (grumble, grumble)
However, be it as it may, and not worth debating, here are a few things
you might look for, since I did have a similar issue when I bought my
wife a new iPad.
(1) From the _iPad_, go to the Dropbox site and log in with your Dropbox
ID and password. Under the ".moneydancesync" folder, are all of the
files that are being used. One (or both) of them) are small files. Look
at (display or edit) mdsyncinfo.txt. It has the name of the MD
transaction files; on the third line is the latest date that it had
sync. Note the time.
(2) If you are like me, and use the folder method, then your file
manager on the PC should have a folder in the home (or root/user
directory as "Dropbox". Take a look at the contents within that folder
for the same file (mdsyncinfo.txt. It should show the same data. If it
does not, the PC is _NOT_ using the correct Dropbox folder (or, to put
it differently, not the one that the iOS is using) and might just be an
old copy of a Dropbox folder that is never re-synchronized.)
(3) If the information is different, you are not syncing to the same
Dropbox folder.
(4) if you are using the connect method, not having the date and time
you think you sysnc'ed, you have the same issue.
A couple of things may have happened. When you started up the iOS app,
you should have been given a choice of which folder should be the file
for sync. You might have choisen the wrong folder. Going into the
Dropbox web site will shown a number of folders, one of which is the one
you are going to for the iOS app and one which the PC is writing to.
With a little bit of discovery, you should be able to determine the
mismatch, by the dates in mdsyncinfo.txt.
Iyt might alo be that your PC is not communicating with Dropbox, but has
a replica copy of an old sync. (This was my issue; I had to re-install
the dropbox application, in order for anyting to work. And no, I did not
re-test to see if the conenctin method would then work.
If this is the case, then you will need to reset the whole sync process,
as outlined in one of the knowledge base articles, and repeated a number
of times on this forum. What to watch for is that you log into the
_same_ dropbox folder. You might, also, need to install some part of the
Dropbox application also.
Hope this helps.
Steve Primost
16 Posted by Rutkowski Famil... on 28 May, 2019 01:24 AM
Thank you for your insights.
I have been using Moneydance with Dropbox sync now for several years and this problem only started after the upgrade to version 2019.1. I am currently upgraded to 2019.3 and the problem persists. What I have discovered is after I close and re-start Moneydance the sync occurs without issue, so I now that my iPad/iPhone are syncing with the same location. As a result, I simply have modified my usage to always close the program on my PC and restart it before I do any other work there. Fortunately, the sync between my iOS devices doesn’t seem to be impacted thus my wife and I get each others updates when we make them on our portable devices.
Rick
17 Posted by dwg on 28 May, 2019 03:10 AM
i'm a fellow user.
I do not believe that upgrading the software will resolve a syncing problem that is already present - it could prevent a situation from evolving to be a problem if there are changes in the software.
Conceptually the syncing model is pretty straightforward but there are a lot of moving parts - multiple systems, multiple operating systems, a shared location, multiple networks. There is no inter-system communications, I suspect someone could make a lot of money if they could come up with that, and especially where you have multi-directional syncing as with Moneydance. So each system maintains its own data based on the transaction files that are being exchanged.
What I think could be happening is that something has gone wrong during the file transfer or in applying them to the local data, thus the syncing status on the machine is not what it should be. Depending on what has happened one or more systems could be affected. This is consistent with what has been seen when sometimes one system is affected and sometimes multiple machines are affected.
To correct any problems, I believe we need to recreate the syncing relationship on one or more systems. Unfortunately we cannot see exactly where the problem is, all that can be seen are the symptoms which may tell us nothing. The simplest fix would be to stop and delete all the data on an affected machine and recreate the relationship on that machine, this would be most likely to work where problems are isolated to a single system.
Where multiple systems are affected or the master system is affected then I think that the whole syncing relationship will need to be recreated, so stopping syncing on the master, deleting all data on the shared location. making sure that the data on the master is correct and up-to-date and then recreating the syncing setup.
18 Posted by JoAnn account on 28 May, 2019 03:27 AM
I am a Fellow user - not a programmer - just frustrated.
1. It used to work <2019 version, so what changed
2. Syncing complicated stuff works on a multi-device platform like OneNote
just fine
3. You would think the ‘date’ of a changed record would give it overwriting
priority when syncing. Not happening. The desktop seems to overwrite
earlier app data.
4. It would help if there was a ‘sync’ refresh icon on the program, but at
least the app, so you could ensure your changes were saved and you could
manually push a sync.
I cannot fix this - their programmers should
SIgh, j
19 Posted by derekkent23 on 28 May, 2019 08:04 AM
I am not support staff, just a user.
For those who have had a syncing error after upgrading to 2019 the reason could be debated forever.
The best way forward is to update your computers to the latest preview build at https://infinitekind.com/preview then just reset syncing and move on.
Sync resetting
Any data not on your primary computer will be lost after following these steps. Manually update your primary computer from your other devices if required. There is a process for recovering data from other devices if manual update of the primary computer is not practical, just post a request.
You may find a lot of old, maybe closed accounts or other accounts you have removed from the side bar reappearing in the second computers side bar. Use the “+” sign at bottom of side bar then ADVANCED to tidy up the side bar.
Hope this helps.
20 Posted by sprimost on 28 May, 2019 12:44 PM
From: sprimost
I am a user, not support staff.
Just as an aside, one indication that things have gone bad with your
sync is that Step 14 and 15 do not appear or done incorrectly. Also,
multiple datasets appear whenever you restore from backup. If you are
going to do that, my experience has been to restart the sync process,
just as described (brilliantly) below. [Hint....maybe we can get the
knowledge base updated to show _all_ of the steps]
Steve
System closed this discussion on 27 Aug, 2019 12:50 PM.