macOS sync requires quitting and relaunching app
I'm running Moneydance on four macOS systems (Mac Studio, MacBook Pro (intel), iMac Pro, and 27-inch iMac), and one iOS device and one iPad OS device. In order for sync to occur on the macOS systems (whether syncing changes made on that device to other devices, or changes made on other devices to the device in question) I have to quit and relaunch Moneydance. Initially, this only affected one system: the iMac Pro. But now it affects all four Macs (the iPadOS and iOS devices sync fine). The problem initially seemed to arise, on just the iMac Pro, around the time that Moneydance 2022 came out. Sync on the other three Macs worked normally. That started maybe two or three weeks ago, but then today it started to affect all four Macs. Any change I make on any device means I have to quit and relaunch Moneydance on all four Macs to get them all to sync.
I've been using Moneydance sync on all four systems (other than the Mac Studio, on which I installed Moneydance about a week ago) for several years without any issues. Then the iMac Pro ran into problems, and now (as of just today) it seems that it affects all four Macs.
All four Macs are running macOS 12.4, and they're all using the Mac App Store version of Moneydance, v. 2022.3 (4084). Sync is via Dropbox Connection.
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Support Staff 1 Posted by Maddy on 21 Jun, 2022 10:11 AM
Hi Eric,
We are sorry to hear about the problem you have encountered.
Please note: if you are syncing your data with a mobile device, or another system - you should NOT move your data file to a shared folder location, like Dropbox. The file should remain on your local system if your data is being synced or shared, as outlined here.
--
Maddy, Infinite Kind Support
2 Posted by eric on 21 Jun, 2022 02:54 PM
Yes, the data on all four computers is in the default location ~/library/containers/moneydance/Data/Documents.
All four computers maintain a local copy of the data file in the location noted above.
Recent data will show on whatever computer I entered it on. It seems to propagate normally to iOS/iPadOS devices, but to propagate it to other macOS devices, I first have to quit Moneydance on that computer to sync the data, and then quit moneydance and relaunch on the other computers to get them to sync with the new data.
In other words, it appears that Moneydance only syncs data in either direction when the app is quit and then relaunched.
Support Staff 3 Posted by Maddy on 21 Jun, 2022 02:58 PM
Please can you send us your Moneydance error logs? The logs should include information about what might be causing the problem. You should do this on the computer (the primary) where your data is stored and where you set up sync initially.
They are saved on your computer as an errlog.txt file.
You can get to your error logs as follow:
1) navigate to Help->Console Window to show the console log in a window
or
2) in the Finder, press ⌘⇧G and then copy and paste
~/Library/Containers/com.infinitekind.MoneydanceOSX/Data/Library/Application Supportinto the field and press enter/return.At that point the finder will show an internal folder which contains the errlog.txt file which contains the log.
Finally you can paste the full content to your next reply.
To add an attachment to this thread, please click on the "Browse" button.
Thank you
--
Maddy, Infinite Kind Support
4 Posted by eric on 22 Jun, 2022 05:55 PM
The way I have Moneydance set up now, there is no "master" system. Each computer has its own local copy of the data file which is synced via Dropbox Connection. The system on which I originally set up Moneydance sync was decommissioned several years ago (I've been using Moneydance sync since whenever it became available on macOS which as I recall was around five years ago).
In any case, here's the error log from the computer I have access to now. I can provide error logs on other systems when I have access to them:
5 Posted by eric on 27 Jun, 2022 03:21 PM
One other thing I've noted: of the four Macs I use Moneydance on, two of them—the Mac Studio and the 27-inch iMac, don't go to sleep. The other two—my MacBook Pro and my iMac Pro, do go to sleep. Moneydance sync seems least reliable on the two systems that sleep. That suggests an issue with sync not happening when systems go to sleep, even after they wake back up. They never seem to sync until I quit and relaunch Moneydance.
Support Staff 6 Posted by Maddy on 28 Jun, 2022 08:32 AM
As stated in this article, if you obtained Moneydance from the Mac Apple Store, unfortunately you cannot move your data file due to limitations imposed by Apple regarding the 'sandboxing' of Apps.
If you are syncing your data with a mobile device, or another system - you should NOT move your data file to a shared folder location, like Dropbox. The file should remain on your local system if your data is being synced or shared.).
In order to resolve the problem, we would recommend moving your data file to the default location in one of your computers first, then make that computer "primary" and re-establish the syncing relationship between computers. To achieve this, please follow the steps below:
On the computer where this file is stored in the default location, launch Moneydance and take a manual back up of the file you consider to be the most up-to date. Choose File --> Export Backup and save the file to e.g.your desktop (just in case).
Navigate to this page and install the Toolbox (at the very bottom of the page)
Launch Toolbox and from Toolbox Options (on top left corner) choose "Advanced Mode".
Click Advanced mode - red tab (on the right).
Choose the option: Force a reset/Push of your dataset to Sync. Wait a few mins. This will reset and update sync with a new consolidated dataset.
Launch Moneydance again on the same computer and navigate to File->Syncing and choose a sync method.
Preferably, Dropbox Folder (it's faster!)
- Set or take note of your existing "Passphrase".
On any secondary computer
Navigate to File->New->Open synced file.
Choose the same sync method as the primary computer
Enter the same Passphrase to match
Please keep us posted on your progress, Thank you!
--
Maddy, Infinite Kind Support
7 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 28 Jun, 2022 08:44 AM
… Note. It’s toolbox. Toolbox options: enable advanced mode for this.
8 Posted by eric on 29 Jun, 2022 02:52 PM
The data file is in the default location on every Mac running Moneydance: ~/library/containers/moneydance/data/documents. I've never moved the data files on any of these computers from their default location.
9 Posted by eric on 29 Jun, 2022 08:05 PM
So is the notion that I run this fix on the two systems which are having sync issues? I would be surprised if this fix remedied the situation, since the underlying issue appears related to sleep settings on the systems in question. The two systems which do not actually sleep (my 27-inch iMac and my M1 Ultra Mac Studio) do not have any difficulties with sync. Nor do my iOS or iPadOS systems. The only systems which need to relaunch Moneydance in order to properly sync are the two which are set to sleep, my iMac Pro and my MacBook Pro.
10 Posted by eric on 23 Jul, 2022 12:42 AM
One thing I tried on one computer was to delete the data file entirely from the default Moneydance folder. I think launched Moneydance, created a new datafile via Dropbox sync (using Dropbox connection), and then allowed Moneydance to download and sync the data from Dropbox. This took a few hours, but eventually my datafile was complete and up to date.
However, in order to sync changes to or from this file, I still have to quit and relaunch Moneydance.
Support Staff 11 Posted by Maddy on 25 Jul, 2022 03:59 PM
Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay getting back to you. I’m afraid that your request for assistance was missed by the support team, and it’s only now we’ve been able to work through the backlog of older discussions. I must apologise again for the poor level of service and lack of support you have received. I’d like to provide assistance if you’re still in a position to work through these issues.
Have you tried changing the sync method to Dropbox Folder or Share Folder instead?
--
Maddy, Infinite Kind Support
12 Posted by sth on 27 Jul, 2022 12:14 PM
As Maddy says there are difference between Dropbox sync and Dropbox Folder. The former will miss transactions if there is a network interruption (or maybe sleeping systems). Dropbox folder will manage to sync eventually when the network is restored.
HOWEVER you should have a "master" version instead of secondary copies only, Maddy outlined the procedure above.
System closed this discussion on 26 Oct, 2022 12:20 PM.