"unable to Save" files in Mac Mojave OS all of a sudden?

janfinnell

I have been using Quicken 2007 since 1999 on several computers. I upgraded to Mojave OS a couple of months ago on my iMac and today all of a sudden am unable to save any new data since the 10/26 file, even though I had backed up on 11/9. All of that info is gone and I'd have to re-enter.all of it My desktop and laptop both run Mojave. Not sure what to do now. This comes at a really bad time to have to research new finance software for my small business. I'm not that tech savvy either. Can I downgrade to Sierra, where i was able to use it, ti buy myself some time to figure this out? Truly perplexed and aggravated here. 

smayer97

The simply answer is that QM2007 automatic backups do not work with the new APFS drive format that was introduced with High Sierra. 

The simple solution is to turn off automatic backups in your preferences, then depend solely on Time Machine or other backups approaches. If you really want to keep using automatic backups, you have to have or create a HFS+ (Mac OS Extended) drive/partition, then store BOTH the data file and the backups there.

You can read all about this here:
Is Quicken for Mac 2007 Compatible with Mojave (macOS 10.14)?
and here:
Is Quicken for Mac 2007 Compatible with High Sierra (macOS 10.13)?

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janfinnell

Thank you. Would the easiest fix be to buy an external HFS drive and keep my Quicken file on that? I'd open, use and back up to that drive only. 

I have a Time machine but am not sure how I can use it with my info. Do I just go back in time to 11/9. select the file and use it that way? I've never tried it with anything but my Mail program.

I am looking into another personal finance program for the New Year. I just want to get through the end of the year with what I have if I can't find a reliable work-around. 

jacobs

@smayer97, you answered a question about backups, but I'm not sure that's what the original poster was talking about.

@janfinnell, can you provide some additional information to clarify what problem you're having. Are you unable to add a transaction to Quicken, or are you getting an error message about Quicken being unable to perform an automatic backup? The latter is what is discussed in the two links @smayer97 provided above; it's only a minor annoyance that can pretty easily be worked around.

But you said a few things that have me puzzled, and more information would help assess what's going on and what you might do next.

1) If you open Quicken, are you able to enter new transactions? You said you are unable to enter any new data. Are you getting any sort of error message, like the transaction file being full? what happens when you enter a transaction?

2) You said you backed up on 11/9. Can you explain exactly how you backed up? Did you manually create a backup in Quicken? Did you make a copy of your data file in the Mac Finder? Or are you referring to Quicken creating an automated backup file? (The latter is likely not to be working for you.) 

3) You said you've lost data since 10/26. Are you always opening the same data file, or are you opening backup files? I'm wondering because you mention "the 10/26 file" and most Quicken users simply have a single data file with various backups that are never used except in case of a problem.

You also asked about downgrading to Sierra. That's maybe possible, but it's not easy. It basically entails backup up your entire Mac, wiping its hard drive, installing Sierra, and then recovering your data from the backup -- not an easy process. I'd suggest we pursue other remedies, especially because upgrading to Mojave shouldn't have impacted your Quicken 2007 except for the known problem with automated backups not working.

jacobs

@janfinnell, per your reply which crossed in time with my list of additional questions, it sounds like you are experiencing the problem that Quicken 2007 can't make automatic backups on hard drives formatted using Apple's new-ish APFS file system.

There are a number of ways to work around that. Yes, you could buy an inexpensive expernal hard drive, format it as HFS+, put your Quicen data file on that drive, and point your Quicken backups folder to that same drive.

But if you just need a solution to last until the end of the year, I wouldn't spend money on a hard drive. I would go into Quicken preferences and turn OFF automated backups -- so you don't get the annoying messages about it being unable to save -- and then make your backups manually. Simply quit Quicken, open the folder with your Quicken data file, and duplicate (Command-D) it in the Finder. I like to then change the name of the data file to add a date, so it isn't "My Data copy 4" but "2018-11-20 My Data". A manual copy of your data file is as good as the backups Quicken used to make -- you just have to remember to do it regularly.

Additionally, if you're using Time Machine, it is making regular backups of your data file. Should you need to access a backup, you would be looking in Time Machine for your data file on a specific date, not your backup data file.

I should note that any Quicken automatically-generated backup files you see since you updated to Mojave are no good. If you check them in the Finder, you'll see they are very small in size. Quicken's automated backup creates the file, but then can't complete the backup because it's not compatible with the file system of the new operating system. So you may see a file on a certain date, but it isn't a valid backup; you can't double-click it and run it in Quicken.

Now, I'm still confused about what data you lost, and why you're trying to go back to 11/9. (You should be able to do so in Time Machine, but before going into that, I'd like to be sure I understand what you're trying to go back to.)

janfinnell

Thanks for really trying to help!

I upgraded to Mojave from High Sierra a few weeks ago and I think I was able to use Quicken after that. The app was open today when I needed to note that I paid a credit card bill. I added the entry and saved it to a file on my desktop, and it told me that it was unable to save my file. I chose Back up to disc and it created a file folder called Backup (date). qdfm. Inside the folder is a folder called Contents and inside that is a folder called Messages, which contains nothing. There is nothing to open.

What is the extension of the actual data file? Is there one? I've never looked for my Quicken files anywhere but in my desktop folder.

I thought that I was doing a manual backup. Not sure what an automatic backup is.

The backup files that I can open have the yellow dollar sign inside a white page with the date of the backup. I drag this folder to a little red Toshiba external hard drive that is always connected to the iMac. Im not sure what the formatting is on it.

If I click on the last backup on my desktop that is an actual file, (10-26-18) the app does not open as it should. I get a little window now that asks "enter the name of your backup data file. In the Save As field, it has inserted "Backup-Backup-Backup-11-20.qdfm" and Where: Toshiba External Drive. I did change the location of the drive to that instead of the desktop. I never had that window upon opening before. I clicked SKIP. The app opens and did save the one entry I made yesterday and saved to THE EXT DRIVE but all of the other transactions I entered on 11-9 are lost. Only the ones up to the backup before that, 10-26, re available. I will have to find and re-enter all of that crap. Thankfully I don't throw out my receipts after I enter them!

I just tried to quit out of Quicken and it tells me that it was unable to back up my file to the external drive. I clicked OK and it now says that it was not able to back up "automatically". I quit out.

Now I reopen Quicken from the Toshiba external drive, clicking on the Backup-Backup-11-20 that I made this morning on my second attempt to add the credit card payment - that payment was saved. I quit and the format to save is what I usually see - with the yellow dollar sign on the white page. Saved successfully. I enter a taxi receipt and it saves successfully.

So I seem to be able to work from the external drive that I already have that either is just a data drive or has the older format. Now I just have to re-enter 3 weeks of receipts and payments. 

I guess I can either continue like this using the ext HD or find another program that doesn't have so much agony involved. I suppose that they will not be supporting the new drive update, period. ??

janfinnell

Is it possible to use the Time Machine to get to the 11-9 backup and save that to the External drive?

jacobs

Yes. But you still haven't explained what went wrong after 11/9. I'm just trying to understand why you want to go back in time to then. You said that after 11/9, "all the info is gone". That's possible, but doesn't seem likely.

Perhaps you have opened a backup data file instead of your most recent data file?

Or perhaps your Quicken data file is exhibiting some not-uncommon signs of corruption. The first thing I'd try is to rebuild your indexes: open the Accounts window, then simultaneously press the Command, Option and B keys on the keyboard. It will re-index, and often this makes transactions that seem to have disappeared magically re-appear.

If you do want to go back in time to 11/9, the key is that you need to know where your Quicken 2007 data file is. Not the automatically-generated backup, but the live data file you are using. Because you need to restore THAT data file, not the backup. If you navigate in the Finder to where your data file lives, then pull down the Time Machine menu icon to Enter Time machine, you'll see that folder as it exists right now. On the right side, there's a timeline; run your mouse up slightly until you get to 11/9, or the closest before or after that you'd want. (You can Google something like "how to use mac time machine" and pick a video tutorial to watch if you'd like to see it in action before you try it.)  Before you restore anything from Time Machine, please, please first make a backup copy (in Finder) of your current data file, so you can go back to it if you accidentally restore the wrong old version and wipe out your current data file.

janfinnell

I don't know what os hard to understand. I can't find my last backup of 11-9 because it didn't save. The last saved backup is 10-26, which might have been before I upgraded to Mojave - I didn't write the date down and would have to call Apple. The entire file is missing every entry from 10-26 thru today except for the entry that I made today while working from the external drive rather than the iMac desktop.

I think that the program is corrupted, as the balances and dates from the last reconciliation (credit card closing statement dates) do not always match what I last entered.

I will attempt the re-indexing and report back. BUT the program seems unusable when working from my iMac desktop or HD. It seems to work from the Toshiba external drive. When I say work, I mean entering information and saving it successfully. It will not save otherwise.

jacobs

[email protected] said:

I don't know what os hard to understand. I can't find my last backup of 11-9 because it didn't save. The last saved backup is 10-26, which might have been before I upgraded to Mojave - I didn't write the date down and would have to call Apple. The entire file is missing every entry from 10-26 thru today except for the entry that I made today while working from the external drive rather than the iMac desktop.

I think that the program is corrupted, as the balances and dates from the last reconciliation (credit card closing statement dates) do not always match what I last entered.

I will attempt the re-indexing and report back. BUT the program seems unusable when working from my iMac desktop or HD. It seems to work from the Toshiba external drive. When I say work, I mean entering information and saving it successfully. It will not save otherwise.

Quicken saves data every time you press enter. So from what you are saying, it is saving data. What it is not doing is making an automated backup -- which really shouldn't be a big deal, especially since you have Time Machine making backups for you.

I understand that the last backup you can find is 10/26. Did you open the backup, or you're just saying that there is one?

There are two likely reasons you would be looking at a data file with no transactions past 10/26:

(1) Your database indexes are mese dup, which makes it appear transactions are missing, when they're actually just not showing up in the right place. the re-indexing I mentioned above would solve that problem, if that is indeed the problem.

(2) You opened a backup of your data file made on 10/26, so of course it doesn't have data you entered after that. If this is the case, then it's possible that your most recent data file still exists with the data you entered after 10/26.

Unfortunately, it's impossible for me to know about the latter without looking at your drive. You could try searching for all files with ".qdfm" extensions, but not all Quicken 2007 data files end with the extension. You could also do Command-F in the Finder and set the Find window to look for "Kind is Other "and type in "Quicken data file", like this:


That should show you all your Quicken data files, which you can sort by Date Modified, and perhaps figure out if there's a different data file you should be opening. (Keep in mind that if you open any Quicken data file, it will update the Date Modified to today, so you may want to duplicate any files before you open them, and open only the copies, in order to preserve the original date last modified date.)

I'm sorry if this sounds complex; I'm trying to make it as straightforward as possible.  

At some point, after trying what's suggested above, you can assess how much time you think it will take to re-enter your data from the past few weeks; ultimately, that may be faster than continuing a long hunt for another file which may or may not exist.

janfinnell

Thank you. I'm a little overwhelmed just now - have a lot on my plate, am sick at the moment and didn't need this. I will report back. 

smayer97

Not sure what kind of iMac you have but the clues around this issue are as you said "...I upgraded to Mojave from High Sierra a few weeks ago...". When combined with your trouble creating backups, this is what I suspect. 

High Sierra only automatically converted your drive to APFS format IF it was an SSD but NOT if it was a hard drive or Fusion drive. But with Mojave, ALL drives are updated to APFS format. So, when you did upgrade to Mojave, your drive likely got converted then. And that is when your troubles started, whether you were fully aware of it or not. 

As pointed out, you need to track down the original data file and NOT a backup (at least track down one created BEFORE you upgraded to Mojave). That file should be ok. Then pick up from there.


BTW, to turn off automatic backups, go to your Quicken Preferences and uncheck the box as shown:



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