I was rebuilding my database and files were being imported back in the database when DTPO crashed. I reopened DTPO and my database shows, but there are no files/groups. It is empty! I’ve got thousands of files, indexed and otherwise. So I thought, no problem, I’ve use Time Machine. So I did a Time machine restore of the database. During the restore, I get a notice that the operation could not be completed because some data was missing. So I open up DTPO again and there is my database with all of its groups. Only problem is that the only files I get are the indexed ones. None of my thousands of files of other files are there. They show up by name but when I click on them I get a file is missing message!
Select the database in the Finder, choose “Show Package Contents” in the contextual menu
Copy (!) the most recent Backup folder to the desktop
Copy (!) the Files.noindex folder into the copied (!) Backup folder
Add the file extension .dtBase2 to the Backup folder
Now you should be able to open the copied Backup folder by double-clicking on it. Afterwards use Tools > Verify & Repair to ensure that everything’s fine.
There’s no Files.noindex folder inside the database package? There should be always one, assuming that Time Machine didn’t corrupt the database completely.
There was no such file in the database package on my harddrive, however there was one in my Time Machine. Is it okay to copy that into the copied backup folder on my desktop?
Sure. Just copy it into the copied Backup folder, append the .dtBase2 extension and choose Tools > Verify & Repair after opening the database. If the verification is successful, then the Files.noindex folder is complete.
Ok. So I did copy that Files.noindex folder in my Time Machine Backup into the Backup Folder on my desktop. I double clicked to open it and voila! there is everything!. Did the Verify and Repair and only four files are missing [out of thousands, I guess that’s pretty good.]
So my guess now is that I move that into my Devonthink Folder. And I am assuming that I can delete the old database which was corrupted and then rename its new twin?
Yes, you can delete the old database. However, I’d suggest to zip both the old and new database and to keep the zip archives for a while. Just in case that you should discover any issues within the next few days.
So one last question. I’ve been syncing to Dropbox and have DTTG on my iPad. I assume that I delete the offending database and then make sure it is removed [cleaned?] from my sync store before syncing the new version? Sorry to seem like a luddit on this, but I really haven’t much experience with databases, and even though I’ve been using DTPO for years, I’ve never run into this issue before.
Cleaning shouldn’t be necessary, both the old and the new database use the same internal identifier and therefore the same sync status. Any differences caused by restoring the backup should be synchronized.
But if you should notice any discrepancies, then just clean the sync store and upload the database again.
So that’s if I rename the restored database the same as the old one? Is that right?
Also. I was unable to make a zipped archive of the old/corrupt database because it didn’t pass verification and was unable to be verified and repaired. I did make a backup of the restored one.
Another dumb question: I deleted the offending database from DTPO, but it is still in my Devonthink folder on my hard drive. I cannot rename the restored database until after that has been deleted altogether, right. And, do I need to manually delete the offending database?
Sorry but I’ve a new problem. I am unable to move the restored database into my DevonThink folder on my harddrive. It is still on my desktop. When I try to move it or copy it, I get a warning that backup items cannot be modified! I’ve added the .dtBase2 t the end of the backup file name! And I can open it as a database.
Restarting the Mac cleared things up. The old database is fine and the rebuilt one now resides cozily in my DT folder on my hard drive. Now I just need to work out the sync thing and I should all set.
Thanks for the help. If you’re ever in the States, look me up. I owe you dinner!
I had an issue where Devonthink would crash while rebuilding the database (towards the end of the import process). As a result, the Devonthink package ended up having a ‘Rebuild’ folder inside that continuously kept growing with every failed rebuild, and was never purged. The 10 GB devonthink database grew to aprox. 100 GB in size, and this was the only way to get it back to normal size.
