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MD 2011, Dropbox sync does not appear to be working for desktop app

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1. 1 rsdundon on 30 Sep, 2012 06:28 PM

   Ethan,

   Thanks for the follow up.

   However, my issue is NOT with MD 2012, but MD 2011. Having a Mac and
   seeing the issues with MD2012 and Mac's, I've held off upgrading.

   That said, I'm looking for ideas how I can clear all traces of the
   Network Sync extension away so I can reinstall "clean" and hopefully
   have it recreate the .moneydancesync folder in Dropbox

   Thanks!

   Bob

   Ethan Tupelo wrote:

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2. 2 Scott Meehan on 30 Sep, 2012 11:59 PM

   Hi Bob,

   First, just to make sure, your Dropbox folder is located at /Users/yourusername/Dropbox, correct? If not, it needs to be for 2011 syncing to work. If it's not there, you can change it using this guide:

   https://www.dropbox.com/help/89/en

   It may be helpful too to use those directions to change the location of the Dropbox folder to somewhere else temporarily, then if there's a Dropbox folder in /Users/yourusername/Dropbox (which is in your Home folder in Finder), delete it, and then change the location back to it being in /Users/yourusername/Dropbox

   From there, I would then suggest uninstalling the Network Sync extension, uninstalling the iOS app, then using either the iOS Dropbox app or Dropbox web interface to delete the .moneydancesync folder in your Dropbox folder (it's a hidden folder, so it won't show up in Finder), then reinstall the Network Sync extension and the iOS app.

   If those steps don't work, please let us know and we'll continue diagnosing the issue!

   Scott Meehan
   Moneydance Support

3. 3 rsdundon on 01 Oct, 2012 12:47 AM

   Hi Scott!

   My Dropbox is indeed installed in the default location of
   Users/bob/Dropbox on my iMac.

   I moved it to the Documents folder temporarily. There was no Dropbox
   folder left in Users/bob after that, so I then moved it back.

   While I had done all this before multiple times, I again removed the
   Network Sync extension. I went as far as shutting down the iMac and then
   rebooting (Windows habits die hard).

   I then uninstalled the Moneydance app from the iPhone 4S (iOS5), and
   shut down and restarted the iPhone.

   I had already deleted the .moneydancesync folder using the Dropbox web
   interface yesterday before I posted my support request.

   I then reinstalled the Network Sync extension in Moneydance. As before,
   it (oddly I think) already knew my previous encryption password
   (deleting the extension did not seem to remove a config file, the
   extension read my previous encryption password from somewhere as soon as
   I enabled the extension).

   I closed Moneydance after saving the file and then reopened Moneydance.
   I did notice a message at the bottom of the Home window "Finished
   syncing with"...that's all it said, just "Finished syncing with."

   I checked the Dropbox folder and, as before, enabling the extension
   and/or closing and reopening Moneydance did not cause a new
   .moneydancesync folder to be created.

   I reinstalled the Moneydance app on the iPhone and connected to Dropbox.
   I get an error message on the iPhone that "No Moneydance data files were
   found that have been configured to sync using this Dropbox account.
   Please make sure you have installed the Network Synchronizer extension
   and configued it to sync using Dropbox." Not surprising since the
   .moneydancesync folder is missing.

   I appreciate the help and look forward to getting the Dropbox sync with
   my iPhone back.

   Best regards,

   Bob

   Scott Meehan wrote:

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4. 4 Scott Meehan on 01 Oct, 2012 01:15 AM

   Hi Bob,

   I'm sorry to hear that didn't work. The next thing I would try would be to disable and re-enable Dropbox syncing in the Network Sync extension to see if that fixes the issue.

   If that doesn't work, there's a method to reset all your Moneydance settings that may fix it if there's a configuration issue. This won't effect your data, but it will function the same as if you had just installed Moneydance for the first time (so you'll have to re-enter your license key, find and open your .md data file, and change any configuration settings that you might have set). Using my directions will create a backup of your settings in case something goes wrong. To do this, please do the following:

   1. Open a terminal by going to Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal in Finder
   2. Run the following command by copying and pasting it into the terminal and then pressing enter:

   mv .moneydance .moneydance2

   1. Launch Moneydance, open your data file, install the Network Sync extension, and try to sync again.

   That's a complete settings reset, so if there's a setting problem that's breaking your Dropbox syncing, hopefully that will fix it.

   Scott Meehan
   Moneydance Support

5. 5 rsdundon on 01 Oct, 2012 09:36 PM

   Scott,

   This is getting odder by the minute. Short version, moving the
   .moneydance file did NOT reenable my ability to sync to Dropbox from my
   iMac. However, it did lead me down another path.

   As I was doing all this, I seem to recall that I first installed the
   Network Sync extension on my Mac Air. It was working, I gave it some
   more thought, and disabled it so I could install on the iMac copy of MD.
   I swear it was syncing from the iMac, but now I'm beginning to wonder.

   As a test, I disabled and removed the Network Sync ext from the iMac
   (the Mac Air did not have the extension installed on its copy of MD).

   I then moved the .moneydance file on both computers as per your
   instructions.

   I launched Moneydance on the iMac, opened the data file, activated the
   license, added the Network Sync extension. When I enabled the extension,
   much to my surprise, the extension again loaded my old encryption
   password. Now we just recreated the app prefs folder, so the encryption
   password is either written into the data file itself or yet another
   prefs folder.

   When I checked Dropbox using the website I could see that the
   .moneydancesync folder had NOT been created.

   On a whim, I deactivated the extension in MD on the iMac, but before
   doing so I changed the encryption password to nothing. I uninstalled and
   reinstalled the extension. When I enabled the extension this time I got
   the popup window asking me to create an encryption password. I did,
   using a different password this time.

   When I went to look at the Dropbox folder again, still no
   .moneydancesync folder.

   I then disabled the ext on the iMac, making the password nothing as
   before. Then I removed the ext and saved and closed MD on the iMac.

   I then reopened the SAME datafile on the Mac Air, activated the license,
   and added and enabled the sync ext. I then created a new encryption
   password.

   I then checked the Dropbox folder in my browser. Lo and behold, the
   .moneydancesync folder created in Dropbox!!

   I installed the app on my iPhone and I am now able to sync back and
   forth to my data file!

   THEROY: I'm wondering if because I installed the Network Sync ext on the
   Mac Air first, it somehow "fingerprinted" that computer in the data file
   as the only one the data file can sync with? Since deleting the
   .moneydance preference file did NOT also delete the old encryption
   password, this kinda seems reasonable to me.

   I'm going though the same router, same type of firewall on each
   computer. The iMac was connected to the router with a cable, so I
   disconnected the cable and turned on the wireless to see if that made a
   difference. Still would not create the .moneydancesync folder in Dropbox.

   I'm working now, though I'd prefer to be using the iMac copy of MD for
   the Dropbox syncing. I'm thinking this is a real corner case and since
   I'm working, we should close this issue.

   My hope is that when MD 2012 on the Mac can share a data file with 2
   computers through Dropbox that its new syncing mechanism will allow me
   to activate sync on the iMac instead of my Mac Air.

   Bob

   Scott Meehan wrote:

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6. rsdundon closed this discussion on 04 Oct, 2012 04:20 AM.