lost main Moneydance file, now desktop won't sync back from phone or iPad
Hi, I have Moneydance desktop on Linux. I also have it on my Google Pixel 7 and on my iPad. I synced all three through Dropbox. Up until now, anything I entered on any of the three would soon show up in the others. Today, I had a disaster on my desktop and lost all my Moneydance files, and I didn't have an external backup. (Yeah, I know, I know....) I had to do a clean install of Linux. When I reinstalled Moneydance, i assumed it would "take in" all the info I still had on my phone and/or my iPad, through Dropbox, but it's not doing that. I have everything set up correctly as far as I can tell. My phone and my iPad are still talking to each other, and syncing correctly, but my desktop can't seem to get any information from them. It just stays totally blank, even after I've told it to sync and authorized it through Dropbox. Is there a way to fix this?
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1 Posted by derekkent23 on 06 Aug, 2024 07:18 AM
I am not support staff, not support staff.
Hi Richard
Did you do this.
On the computer start syncing by clicking FILE – NEW – select OPEN SYNCED FILES etc.
Once you have successfully synced open the extension TOOLBOX and note the Secondary mode message and follow the process to convert to Primary.
Hope this help.
2 Posted by Richard Lindsey on 06 Aug, 2024 01:57 PM
I tried that, but it only located several "Personal Finances" files that
are far too old and not the right one. None of them is dated later than
2021. I do not want to lose 3 years of data. Right now, my phone and iPad
are updating correctly. I do not want old data from my computer to override
them. I suppose one solution might be just to stop using the computer, but
that seems wasteful and inconvenient.
If I could export a backup file from either my phone or my iPad and then
somehow get that to my computer, maybe that could work, but I don't see any
way to do that from the Android app or the iOS app.
On Tue, Aug 6, 2024 at 12:18 AM derekkent23 <[email blocked]>
wrote:
3 Posted by derekkent23 on 06 Aug, 2024 04:08 PM
I am not support staff, not support staff.
Hi Richard
As a double check on how old the syncing data is on in Dropbox, in Dropbox navigate to the .moneydance sync folder on your hard drive. In this folder there will be one or more alphanumeric folders one for each Data Set that has synced. In each you will find a file called mdsyncinfo.txt. Open the file in a text editor. The first line is the name of your Data Set. The second line includes the date and time the data was last synced. At least you will know how old the sync information really is.
Also open your Dropbox in the cloud not on your hard drive and check the data is the same. Its just possible when you set up your Linux after your disaster you have set up a different Dropbox account and that’s why your current Data Set does not show up when you try to FILE – NEW – select OPEN SYNCED FILES etc.
Hope this helps.
4 Posted by Richard Lindsey on 06 Aug, 2024 09:30 PM
My Dropbox on the computer is the same as the one on the web. I found the
alphanumeric folder that has what I think is the right sync time--about
1:30 PM on Aug 5--but I don't know what to do with it. It now also contains
several alphanumeric .TXN files that are LATER than that time, as well as a
folder called v3 that contains more than 9000 alphanumeric .TXN files. I
don't know what to do with these either.
On Tue, Aug 6, 2024 at 9:08 AM derekkent23 <[email blocked]>
wrote:
5 Posted by derekkent23 on 07 Aug, 2024 06:31 AM
I am not support staff, not support staff.
Hi Richard
The fact that you have an alphanumeric folder whose mdsyncinfo.txt file that contains a date of Aug 5 suggest that its available and waiting for you to do a FILE – NEW – select OPEN SYNCED FILES etc on your computer. The .txn file of a later date are individual transaction file created by your mobile devices waiting to be synced to your computer. The other files/folders are normal.
I am not aware of any way other than FILE – NEW – select OPEN SYNCED FILES etc on your computer that these files can be used to recover data.
The Data Set name as shown in the mdsyncinfo.txt file should appear in the window when you do a FILE – NEW – select OPEN SYNCED FILES etc on your computer.
You could copy all the alphanumeric file to another location outside the .moneydancesync folder and then in the .moneydanceync folder delete all but the alphanumeric folder that has the up to date mdsyncinfo.txt file. This way when you do a FILE – NEW – select OPEN SYNCED FILES etc on your computer only the latest data Set will be listed.
If you do a FILE – NEW – select OPEN SYNCED FILES its at you own risk but without a Moneydance backup I am not sure if you have any other options if you want to attempt to recover your data to your computer. You could wait to see if other users or support have a better solution.
Good luck.
6 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 07 Aug, 2024 07:15 AM
What version of MD? I’m assuming 2024.2?
Try this.
7 Posted by Richard Lindsey on 07 Aug, 2024 04:32 PM
Thank you, I'll try this after work when I have time to sit down and do it
carefully.
8 Posted by Richard Lindsey on 07 Aug, 2024 11:52 PM
No, I'm on 2024.1. That's the latest version available for Linux, according
to the website.
Unfortunately, that didn't work. When I create a new data set and then try
to open a synced file, I don't see any alphanumeric files, I only see named
datasets (see the attachment), none of which are the right ones. The
dataset I would want is called Personal Finances 2018-08-04, and as you see
that's not available.
I also tried deleting all the other folders in the .moneydancesync folder
in my Dropbox folder. That didn't work either. MD keeps creating another
alphanumeric folder every time I open it, and apparently still not going
to, or even seeing, the one I want it to go to.
So there's no way of "pushing" all my data back from the mobile apps to my
desktop app?
9 Posted by derekkent23 on 08 Aug, 2024 07:16 AM
I am not support staff, not support staff.
Hi Richard
To follow Stuarts suggestion:
• now you will see a list and the long alpha name will be shown in grey. Is the folder listed that you said above was the one with all the files? Assuming so, select it.
you need to instal Preview build 2024.2(5152) which I am using and it safe to use from https://infinitekind.com/preview
then post the following screen shots of.
Contents of the .moneydancesync folder on your computer hard drive indicating the alphanumeric folder your believe is up to date. Then a screen shot of the contents of its mdsyncinfo.text file.
Do the same as above but using the .moneydancesync folder found in Dropbox on the web (cloud)
Lastly a screen shot of the window that opens when you do a FILE – NEW – select OPEN SYNCED FILES – DROPBOX FOLDER using 2024.2(5152)
I wont to confirm that what you are seeing all match up and that your reinstall of Linux has not resulted if something pointing to the wrong location.
10 Posted by Richard Lindsey on 08 Aug, 2024 02:13 PM
Thanks for the suggestion.
Strangely, although I couldn't follow the original suggestion exactly as
provided, not having 2024.2, I seem to have solved the problem almost
accidentally without going to 2024.2. Out of desperation, I created a new
data set one last time, then I went to "Open Synced Files" and opened one
of the apparently "wrong" files (meaning wrong title and wrong date).
Within scarcely a minute, I had all of my data back, from 2018 all the way
up to the point of my computer disaster. All I had to do next was add the
few transactions I had made since the disaster, and I'm now fully current.
All my preferences and reminders are intact, and my three devices (Linux
computer, Android phone, and iPad) all seem to be syncing correctly.
I don't quite know why this worked. Maybe my new instance of Moneydance
just needed to be reminded where the Dropbox folder was, and that it was
supposed to be syncing, and it then found the latest available syncing
info. I have no idea! I'm just happy to get all my data back.
Thanks again for your help.
Richard Lindsey
On Thu, Aug 8, 2024 at 12:16 AM derekkent23 <[email blocked]>
wrote:
11 Posted by derekkent23 on 08 Aug, 2024 04:35 PM
I am not support staff, not support staff.
Hi Richard
Glad FILE – NEW – select OPEN SYNCED FILE worked in the end.
All’s well that ends well.
Have Fun, Stay Safe.