MoneyDance sync failure and data loss.
Bruce Board
Today my MoneyDance (v 2017.3) lost all my entered data for the past 12 days.
Syncing with Dropbox appears to have been corrupted.
None of my backup copies will display the lost entries for this period.
I have tried your web suggestions - turn off sync, delete the sync folder from Dropbox, restart MD and re-enable dropbox syncing - all to no avail.
This is a major problem for me as I rely on my MD app all day every day, and reconstructing even 12 days of enties is a mammoth task, and one I should not have to make.
MD should be rock solid, not flaky like this. I am SO angry about this corruption or bug that has destroyed my records and all synced backups.
Please advise the fix.
Bruce Board
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1 Posted by derekkent23 on Jan 19, 2018 @ 07:23 PM
I am not support staff, just a user.
Just two points can you confirm your data set is stored in the default location on your computer’s hard drive not in Dropbox. Storing data sets in Dropbox will lead to data corruption. You don’t state if you are syncing between two computers or between one computer and a mobile device such as a phone. If two computers, does your data look OK on your second computer as it is possible to use that data or its backups to fix the data on the primary computer. Are you using Dropbox Connectin or Dropbox Folder as the syncing method.
The other important issue is the build you are running of 2017 is old as the released build is now 2017.6(1656). The developer has done a lot of work to make syncing reliable so you need to take advantage of this work. Its good practice to make sure your software is up to date. Download and install this build on your computers from https://infinitekind.com/download-moneydance-personal-finance-software
2 Posted by Bruce Board on Jan 19, 2018 @ 09:04 PM
Hi Derek,
Thanks for the response.
Re your questions:
- my default location was & is on my MacBook, not Dropbox.
- between my MacBook and my iPad & iPhone.
- the preferences were and are set to Backup 3 times a day. Yet the data set that replaced all my data was 10-12 days old, not 1 day old. And it appeared to overwrite all backup copies etc.
- old data was on all devices
- using Dropbox Connection. The developer states on their website that v 2017 must use Connection, not Folder, for syncing
- my settings are for auto update. But the version being used was 2017.3, not .6. Not sure why it didn’t update automatically for .4, .5, .6 progressively.
I’ve got nothing from Infinite Kind other than an auto message saying they will respond in due course.
I couldn’t afford to wait for them, especially as their published ‘fix’ didn’t work.
So yesterday I spent several hours recreating the missing data entries, and it’s now all done. Before I did that I updated to 2017.6.
And I made several backups of the data, erased the sync folder in Dropbox, and resolved to make offline backups on several storage devices every few days.
But I shouldn’t have to do this; MoneyDance should be reliable and rock solid, but the fact is that I now don’t trust it not to corrupt. Or maybe it is Dropbox I shouldn't trust. Yet if you need syncing across devices, you have to use Dropbox. It’s now a lingering concern.
Fortunately there was only 12 days of data lost and I could recover all my missing entries and add them. But if there had been several months of data lost, this would be virtually impossible and would be a huge challenge.
But my thanks to you for taking the time to help. It’s much appreciated.
Bruce
3 Posted by dwg on Jan 19, 2018 @ 09:27 PM
A couple of points
Moneydance cannot be set to make 3 backups a day. It takes backups on exit if the preference is set and the number indicates how many backups to keep. It will not take an auto backup while it is running.
The dropbox connection is the only method you can use if you purchase moneydance from the app store if you purchase it directly all options are available
The updater extension is currently broken as it can cause some performance issues so I do not envisage they are updating the information that is being fed to it,
4 Posted by Bruce Board on Jan 19, 2018 @ 11:13 PM
Re (1): correct.
Re (2): I thought you HAD to buy from the App Store. I’m sure Infinite Kind told me that 2-3 years ago when I updated from v 2014.
Re (3): thanks for this.
Cheers,
B
5 Posted by dwg on Jan 19, 2018 @ 11:25 PM
If you want an incremental upgrade (i.e. going from a point release to another point release e.g upgrading from 2017.3 to 2017.6) you would need to get it from the App Store as the two versions are not interchangeable, but I know of no compulsion to buy a new version from Apple when a major release comes out.
6 Posted by derekkent23 on Jan 20, 2018 @ 08:26 AM
I am not support staff, just a user.
I concur with dwg. I have never read support suggest Mac user should purchase from Apply. I understand they can’t advise not to buy from Apply but there are a number of reasons to purchase direct. For example, from Apply you can’t use Dropbox folder, you have to use Dropbox connection. Dropbox Folder is more flexible, you don’t have to be online. This is the comparison the lead software developer Sean makes.
“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.”
I would recommend not having more than two devices running Moneydance at one time. My set up is two computers and one phone. I found if I have all three devices running Moneydance at the same time I could occasionally get syncing errors, be warned. I reported this the Sean the lead software developer but as far as I know, no fix yet.
You can set up as many devices as you like for syncing, but only run Moneydance on two devices at a time. For, example if you have Moneydance running on one computer and a phone shut down Moneydance on one of these before opening Moneydance on another device.
Unlike Apple Moneydance offers the next major upgrade free and a 50% discount after that. So when a new version of Moneydance is released buy from Moneydance. It won’t save you money at first, but it will in the long run. Buying direct also allows you access to preview builds which can give you early access to bug fixes plus some feature updates.
Just one thing on auto backups. The backup that is kept is the backup of the last session of the day. Earlier backups on the same day are deleted. Some people leave Moneydance running 24/7 and wonder why they don’t get any auto backups.
Hope this helps.
7 Posted by Bruce Board on Jan 20, 2018 @ 12:29 PM
Hi Derek,
All good stuff.
Many thanks for taking the time to put all this info on an email.
And especially the difference between DB Connection and DB Folder. I wish I had understood that issue before buying from Apple.
It’s what MD should be putting on their website as basic support info.
That would be my criticism of MD.
While I have MD installed on two devices as well as my computer, to my knowledge I have never had it running on all three at one. Rarely on two at once.
Best wishes,
Bruce
8 Posted by Icey on Feb 11, 2018 @ 02:57 PM
Found a solution. The corruption renames all the files and creates those directories. The file that is named:
Root.mdinternal
Add
.md
To the end of it open it and you have everything back.
Will be sending the medical bills for my ulcer to moneydance.
9 Posted by Bruce Board on Feb 11, 2018 @ 07:35 PM
Many, many thanks for this, Icey.
The things we do for software companies. And they still charge us for updates!
Bruce
10 Posted by dwg on Feb 11, 2018 @ 08:07 PM
A file named root.mdinternal holds Moneydance data for a data set created in Moneydance 2012/2014.
A file with the ,md extension, if memory serves, is data from Moneydance 2010/2011
System closed this discussion on May 13, 2018 @ 08:10 PM.