New computer and phone : can't sync
Good afternoon. I am a long time user onf Moneydance. In the past two weeks both my computer and phone died. so I downloaded the app but it won't let my repopulate the app from Dropbox. It seems like it wants a password from the desktop app. I have not gotten my new computer yes, so there is no way to get anything from a desktop. Please help. Thanks.
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1 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 10 Jan, 2021 07:18 PM
You need the Sync Encryption passphrase you set when you setup dropbox Sync in MD. If you don't have this and you don't have a working Sync'd Phone, then it's not possible (unless you have a working second Sync'd computer?). If you have a working Sync'd phone then it is possible. Let us know?
(not support)
2 Posted by Jim Macdonald on 10 Jan, 2021 07:44 PM
Hi Stuart
My old phone still works and is able to sync with Moneydance. My only computer went down and will not come up. What is my next step? I able to log into Dropbox and I can see that the backup is there. I just will need to be able to bring it down to the phone and later on to my new computer when it arrives tomorrow and I begin setting it up. Thanks for your help and response.
Jim.
On January 10, 2021, at 2:18 PM, Stuart Beesley - JUST A FELLOW USER <[email blocked]> wrote:
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3 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 10 Jan, 2021 07:53 PM
Without a working computer I can’t help you get the iOS Sync password. I think you are going to have to wait until you have the new computer (unless u can remember it?).
Do you have a backup of the data somewhere?
... and what version of MD are you on..?
(Not support)
4 Posted by Jim Macdonald on 12 Jan, 2021 01:28 PM
Hi Stuart
This conversation is not very helpful. I really need to talk to the people at Moneydance. It is working on my computer, and I have the 2017.5 version, or so it says. I did buy it but don't have the key, so I am not allowed to enter anything in. They must have records of me since I have been a user for over 10 years. I just want the version on my phone installed on my computer, and don't have a lot of information. If I can't get any help I might just have to look for something else. So I would rather talk to someone who works for moneydance.
5 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 12 Jan, 2021 01:53 PM
You can try to retrieve your MD 2017 registered license key here:
https://infinitekind.com/purchase
(I'm just trying to help you out of a hole)...:
NOTE: Your Dropbox Sync key is very secure, encrypted and is not normally accessible - i.e. most people will consider it lost (if you don't have a working MD dataset to open on any computer)....
I have a way to guide you to try to retrieve your Encryption Sync key from your working iOS device; but I do need information before I give you the tailored, and specific (technical) guidance. E.g. you have now told me you are on 2017. I'm guessing you don't have any backups ? I don't know if you are on Windows or Mac (this is important for the specific guidance)?
Anyway, if you do want me to send you the guidance, let me know the answers, and whether you are willing to follow a list of technical steps..?
In the mean-time, I will stand-down, not reply any further, and let you wait for MD Support to help you out....
(just a fellow user)
6 Posted by Jim Macdonald on 12 Jan, 2021 05:50 PM
Hi Stuart
Sorry for my last response. I think I have an idea that you might be able
to help me with. If I could get a file from the bank with all of my
transactions for last year, or make one myself in a necessary format, I
might be able to import it somehow into Moneydance. Is there a way that
this can be done? And what would be the best format for the bank to send
me the list so that I could bring it back into Moneydance? I would rather
import the file than type everything all over again by myself. Thanks for
all of your help. It has been a very frustrating week.
Jim
7 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 12 Jan, 2021 06:43 PM
Depends on your bank and country as to what they can provide, but yes Moneydance can import various formats (e.g. qif, ofx). I am not the expert on imports and I am sure others will jump in...
8 Posted by Jim Macdonald on 12 Jan, 2021 09:43 PM
HI Stuart
I found an easy workaround. I put the listing from the on-line bank
statements into a .xls file and then saved it as a .csv. I then did an
import from Moneydance and voila, there it was. So now I will just keep
the .xls file if I need it for reference and start a New year and go on
from there. Thanks for the help. Sorry for my attitude. It has been a
long and miserable month, even here in beautiful Florida. I need a break.
Thanks again.
Jim
9 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 12 Jan, 2021 09:49 PM
Great!!
Support Staff 10 Posted by Sean Reilly on 14 Jan, 2021 07:53 AM
Hi Jim,
If I'm not mistaken it sounds like you just need to recover the password used for encrypting the sync data from your iPhone? If so, I've made a test/beta build of the iOS app which has a "show passphrase" button. I've invited you to the moneydance-iOS testflight and will upload a build today which allows you to see your encryption passphrase from the settings app on the test build. Once you install that version of moneydance from testflight on your phone then you can go to the settings and tap on "show password" and it will show you the password that you can use on the desktop to create a new local file from that synced data.
Thanks,
Sean
--
Sean Reilly
Developer, The Infinite Kind
https://infinitekind.com
11 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 14 Jan, 2021 08:25 AM
That a fantastic improvement! Thanks Sean!!
12 Posted by Jim Macdonald on 14 Jan, 2021 12:48 PM
Hi Sean
The only problem is that I don't have an iPhone. I have a Moto G power for
my new phone. My wife has an iPhone. If we installed the app on my wife's
phone, could I use the beta to get the passphrase somehow and use it to
download the backup for my computer? Thanks.
Jim
Support Staff 13 Posted by Sean Reilly on 15 Jan, 2021 10:34 AM
Hi Jim,
Oops, my mistake. Well, the testflight link is there if you'd like to run it on your wife's iPhone, but it will only work if the syncing has already been configured. I've also got an update to the Android app which will add the same setting... as soon as it's ready I'll send you a link to it.
Pulling all of your information from the sync folder is definitely the way to go. In fact, if you haven't already made a backup copy of your
Dropbox/.moneydancesyncfolder I would recommend doing that, just to be extra safe.Thanks,
Sean
--
Sean Reilly
Developer, The Infinite Kind
https://infinitekind.com
14 Posted by Jim Macdonald on 15 Jan, 2021 11:19 AM
Hi Sean
That would be great. I will wait for the android upgrade and then we can
work from there. I have Moneydance on my phone, it just can't get to the
dropbox folder on the web because it needs the sync code.
JIm
Support Staff 15 Posted by Sean Reilly on 15 Jan, 2021 11:21 AM
OK, I was assuming that you had the app already syncing on your phone. If not, then the sync password won't exist on your phone and this won't work.
Do you have any devices (computers, phones, or tablets) that do have moneydance set up with syncing to this file?
Thanks,
Sean
16 Posted by Jim Macdonald on 15 Jan, 2021 11:26 AM
Hi Sean
I had it able to sync on my old phone, but I stopped the syncing because I
didn't want to lose the data that I had on it. Well when I did that, I
lost all of the data. It is still out on the web and I can see it in
dropbox. I just can't get it down. Well, we tried. I still have it on my
new phone and it can see the sync folder on dropbox, I just can't get to
it. Thanks.
Jim
17 Posted by Jim Macdonald on 20 Jan, 2021 10:48 PM
Hi Sean
Well yesterday I decided to sync my new Moneydance that I have started with
January 2021 on my computer. When I did that, I had to put in a password
and it synced up to dropbox. I went up to dropbox and looked at it and
thought about what I had just done. So then I eliminated my Moneydance on
my phone, reinstalled it and then tried to set up syncing. I was able to
see and sync the 2021 data to my phone and it worked. Then I thought of
something and entered a special password that I rarely used and it worked
! So I have all of my previous data on my phone, which is synced up to
dropbox. Now I need to get in synced to my computer. I named my new
account Ameris Bank 2021. One the phone the name of the old account is
Ameris Bank. I need to add the Ameris Bank account to my accounts list in
Moneydance. Then I would have all of my old stuff. I tried uninstalling
and reinstalling Moneydance, but was unable to get to the dropbox location
to bring down the Ameris Bank account. Any help would be much
appreciated. Thanks.
JIm Macdonald.
18 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 20 Jan, 2021 10:57 PM
I think you need to do the following in moneydance
File / new / open sync’d data
Select Dropbox
If you’re lucky it will show you some datasets and one of them should be your old one.
19 Posted by Jim Macdonald on 20 Jan, 2021 11:04 PM
Hi Stuart
I tried that but it didn't work. I might have an old version of
Moneydance. Mine says in the about box Moneydance (#531) Java Version
11.0.9.1 Copyright 2006 Reilly Technologies. Is that the correct version?
If not, I would need a .deb file to install it on Linux. Do you know where
I would get that? I will take a look on the website until I get another
email from you. Thanks for all of your help, Stuart.
Jim
20 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 20 Jan, 2021 11:12 PM
I don’t understand those versions. It should say something like version 2017 or 2019 or 2020 or 2021. The latest is 2021 build 3034. You download from their site. What version did you buy a license for?
21 Posted by Jim Macdonald on 20 Jan, 2021 11:17 PM
Hi Stuart
I got my original one on 2006. I then upgraded in 2017. I have my license
for that one. I did find one on the website, downloaded it and installed
it. I tried to sync, but it just froze. I will try it again.
Jim
22 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 20 Jan, 2021 11:20 PM
Ok. So you will have to pay for 2021. Also for Mac you should use the preview version 2021 build 3034 and also if using big sur, change Mac settings / general / prefer tabs to never or full screen.
23 Posted by Jim Macdonald on 20 Jan, 2021 11:36 PM
Hi Stuart
Ok, I just bought it, installed it and am trying to sync it now. The last
time I tried this, it just sat and just froze. This time it looks like it
is doing the same thing. Could the problem be that I am trying to sync
with an old version? It has been sitting there without doing anything for
about 5 minutes now. It looks like it just froze again. Any idea of what
I should do now? Thanks.
Jim.
24 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 21 Jan, 2021 08:21 AM
Assuming you are on build 3034..? I would exit MD, Restart MD. Open the console viewer (Help/Console)... LEAVE THIS WINDOW OPEN and whilst it's open, try the sync again.... Then copy / paste the console output and post back here so we can see what's occurring.....
The other thing I would do is find your dropbox folder, ensure you are viewing hidden files, (on a Mac you can CMD-SHIFT-. (that's a dot) and you should see .moneydancesync look in there and advise how many subfolders (with loooong numbers) you see.
25 Posted by derekkent23 on 21 Jan, 2021 09:18 AM
I am not support staff, just a user.
Hi Jim
You asked the question “Could the problem be that I am trying to sync
with an old version?” If you mean by that you have not upgraded all your computers to 2021.1(3034) as indicated under HELP – ABOUT MONEYDANCE, then yes this is an issue. You must always run the same version and builds on all computers. you will probably need to start syncing setup again from scratch.
Hope this helps.
Support Staff 26 Posted by Sean Reilly on 26 Jan, 2021 07:34 AM
Hi Jim,
I'm sorry if this is asking you to repeat yourself, but I'm unclear on whether you still have the data opened and synced on any device, Android or iOS. Do you still have the file openable and synced on any of your devices or phones?
Thanks,
Sean
--
Sean Reilly
Developer, The Infinite Kind
https://infinitekind.com
27 Posted by Jim Macdonald on 26 Jan, 2021 02:04 PM
Hi Sean
No problem. I am always glad to hear from you. I am basically running two
Moneydance's now. I have the newest one on my computer without 2020 entries
synced in Dropbox. Then I have the old version, with all of the 2020 data
running on my cellphone, also synced in Dropbox. There are 2 different
directories on Dropbox, one for the old, one for the new. I am trying to
keep both versions updated. I was hoping to get the old data on my
computer, but from what I understand, that can't be done. Any help you
could offer would be very much appreciated. Thanks.
Jim
Melissa closed this discussion on 23 Feb, 2021 11:06 PM.