MoneyDance repeatedly crashing and losing all accounts
Hello,
I'm having issues with MoneyDance freezing, and then when I try to close it, it hangs, requiring that I force quit. I thought maybe the issue was that I was using an older version, so I paid for the upgrade, and it continues to happen. When this occurs, it wipes all the account data, so the application is unusable at this point. Do you have any suggestions? I've lost all of my financial data (I've been using Moneydance for maybe 10 years) and I'm trying to rebuild at least the last few months so I can budget, but even creating a new account or attempting to import transitions kills all of my previous work about 1 out of every 5 times I try. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Running on a MacBook Pro with OS 13.4.1.
Thanks!
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1 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 19 Jul, 2024 06:20 PM
I’m sure your data is ok. Can you locate errlog.txt file on disk after the crash and upload that here? Also try renaming config.dict before launch.
2 Posted by Chris dutcher on 29 Jul, 2024 02:38 AM
Can you tell me where to find those files? I cleaned up my computer and upgraded to the lates Mac OS hoping that’d fix it. It seemed to be running a little better--still crashing but not wiping the file. However, it just crashed again while I was trying to import transaction from a CSV file, and this time it deleted all the work I’ve done for the last week. I’ve tried pulling up archived backups and they’re all blank. I’m at a loss at this point and pressed for time to get finances in order for a divorce that needs to be finalized in the next few days. Would it be possible to get a refund for the latest version and kill the license? Unless you know of a quick fix, I think I might just need to find another more reliable application. I’m also really nervous to dump any more time into it at this point. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!
3 Posted by dwg on 29 Jul, 2024 03:34 AM
On a Mac, the error log should be located at one of these locations within your Home folder:
macOS Big Sur and later:
~/Library/Containers/Moneydance/Data/Library/Application Support/Moneydance/errlog.txt
macOS X Lion until macOS X Catalina:
~/Library/Containers/com.infinitekind.MoneydanceOSX/Data/Library/Application Support/Moneydance/errlog.txt
macOS X Snow Leopard and earlier:
~/Library/Application Support/Moneydance/errlog.txt
If you have any trouble finding your Home Library folder you can open Finder and hold down the option key while selecting the Go menu and the Library folder option should occur or you can open Finder and select Go -> Go to Folder and copy and paste in the following:
~/Library
This should pull up your local Library folder.
Some Moneydance files/folders on macOS are likely to be hidden, on macOS to show hidden files the key sequence CMD-SHIFT-DOT (that’s a period or ‘.’) will show them.
Also config.dict should be in the same location as errlog.txt
4 Posted by Chris dutcher on 29 Jul, 2024 03:39 AM
Thanks, I found the file and included it above. I also renamed the config.dict file, and ensured that syncing was off per a support discussion post. In case it helps, this is exactly the issue I’m having, except that it’s very frequent, an I’m using a Mac:
https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/discussions/problems/36157-moneydance-file-gets-wiped-out-when-closing/page/1
5 Posted by dtd on 29 Jul, 2024 04:16 AM
Given your reference to a 2017 post, I notice you have not stated what version of Moneydance you are using. Apple, on performing Mac updates, often breaks old software. Not saying this is the case here, but nothing in this thread indicates what version of MD you are using.
You are using Ventura 13.4.1, is there a reason you haven't updated to 13.6.7?
6 Posted by dwg on 29 Jul, 2024 04:17 AM
It looks like you have an outdated extension so I would be updating your extension but with a renamed config.dict extensions will not load in an case and without any extensions you can see if the issue persists.
7 Posted by dwg on 29 Jul, 2024 04:18 AM
The log shows Moneydance 2024.1 (5118)
8 Posted by Chris dutcher on 29 Jul, 2024 04:24 AM
I upgraded to macOS 14.5 last night. Also, as mentioned a little earlier, I’ve renamed the config.dict file and verified that syncing is off. It might also be worth noting that this was happening both with MoneyDance version 2020.1 and with 2024.1.
I tried a little experimenting. I found one backup from yesterday that worked. I still lost about four hours of work from today, but at least I’m not at zero. The discussion thread that I linked to previously suggested that the file might be getting wiped while syncing, so I moved it to a location that is not backed up to iCloud and made sure my TimeMachine backup disc was disconnected. I could open the file, but as soon as I tried to import from a CSV file, the application froze again just like before. Instead of quitting normally at that point, which triggers the backup process, I forced it to quit. This seems to have prevented the file from being completely wiped, but the application is still essentially unusable since I can’t trust that it won’t erase my work. Here’s a more recent copy of the error file:

9 Posted by Chris dutcher on 29 Jul, 2024 04:31 AM
Progress! I just went in and deleted all the extensions (at this point, all I need to do is created a comprehensive budget, so I don’t need anything fancy). It did allow me to import from a CSV file without crashing, so I’m hopeful that that was the cause of the issue. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks!
10 Posted by dtd on 29 Jul, 2024 05:32 AM
You might have had an abandoned extension (it happens) which mucked things up.
Again, don't know, but get your work done, and then slowly add back extensions you really do use one by one.
11 Posted by dwg on 29 Jul, 2024 06:03 AM
You should never locate you local Moneydance data files on any location that is being access or backed up by a service like iCloud, Dropbox etc, that can well cause data corruption.
It is quite permissible to point auto on exit backups to such a location or even a manually created backup, but do not open your Moneydance files from such a location.
12 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 29 Jul, 2024 06:46 AM
You had an old version of the Ratios extension and this was crashing your system. In addition Moneyforesight wasn’t helping. I would also suggest you upgrade to the latest 514x build from here.
https://infinitekind.com/preview