I was just working on my project and it auto backs up. But I closed the program and reopened it maybe ten minutes after it closed and now it refuses to open and says it’s read only. I went to ‘get info’ (I’m on a macbook) but nothing there said read only. I’m not sure what to do. Please help.
We have an article on fixing Read Only projects here. Sometimes the project will appear to be set to Read & Write, but one of the files inside the project folder will be set to Read Only, throwing the entire project’s permissions off. I’d suggest going through the steps outlined in the linked article to make sure all of the project’s internal files are set to Read & Write as well.
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I have an 11 mb file created using Scrivener 3 on my old Macbook. I copied the file to a USB, connected the USB to the new Mac and copied the file to the
new Mac. When I try to open the file…cryptic messages are generated. How can I access my project?
(ps a file management tag would be helpful)
The file isn’t “read only.” I don’t remember the terminal command to change permissions. I could move the file to a Unix laptop but I’m afraid that would create more mischief. Changing permissions on Unix is easy.
Tried again with v.3.5. Apparently fixing this problem wasn’t one of the bug fixes or enhancements.
The error messag suggests the macOS “package” (it is not a file) did not get copied fully from source on old Mac to USB, or USB to your new Mac. Still have the old Mac to check that and try again? Also, is there an up to date Zip backup file (a file, not a macOS “package”) on the old Mac? If so, might be something more reliable to copy and unzip into a production location.
I’m puzzled why you have such a “buried” location for this file.
/users/mok/Desktop/64_rec/Assets2/Andrea/andrea_bak/andy_version-1-1.scriv
Perhaps put the *.scriv package in /users/mok/Desktop
Also, is there an up to date Zip backup file (a file, not a macOS “package”) on the old Mac? If so, might be something more reliable to copy and unzip into a production location.
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I note that you have andrea-1.scriv on one hand and andy_version-1.scriv.
The problem would appear to lie in having renamed the scriv package sometime, and it now being unable to reconcile with the actual project name and content.
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The “buried” location is due to having to back up to a USB and then copy the files to the new laptop.
One of Scrivener’s error message recommended renaming the file.
Interesting. Can’t think why that would be the case, but whatever. Perhaps a root cause …
My hunch still is that the backup to the USB from the old machine, and/or the copy by to the [buried] location on the new machine–is incomplete. If possible, re-do the copy. And, if possible run Scrivener on the old machine and create a ZIP file backup then copy/unzip to the new machine. Less likely to be an incomplete copy.
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I’m no Mac expert, I’m on Windows.
However, since you’re sitting with a strange dilemma, it can’t destroy anything if you take a copy of the file, place it in a different location on your new Mac to other Scrivener projects, rename it it’s old name (if it’s not under that name), and then try to open it. You’d then at least have tried. That’s one test I would run in your situation. I emphasise again, it can’t destroy anything—you’d be experimenting with a copy, so where’s the harm in trying?
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Yes. Could happen if the project was open on the source machine when copying.
I went back to the old machine and backed up the project as zip files. When brought to the new machine, they opened normally. This solution assumes the old (source)machine is still around. In the backup context, this isn’t always the case.
A strange anomaly: the two projects–I assume that there was once a single project that was duplicated when Scrivener required a renaming–have very different zip file sizes. One is roughly 10 mb, the other is 788 kb. When expanded, the contents appear to be exactly the same. Emptying the trash has no effect on sizes; both Scrivener projects list the Trash folder as empty.
Obviously, you would think that you would have very different versions of a project with such a divergence in project sizes.
Another vote for a Scrivener file management section.
Snapshots are a common cause of unexpectedly large projects. In particular, there’s a “snapshot on manual save” option that can really pile them up. (It’s in the General → Saving pane under Settings.)
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Actually, no. The solution you did is the correct resolution since you what you first did was incorrect.
Best practice is to make routine and automatic backups, monitor that they are happening, and even better to use Zip format. Then when time to move to a new machine, move the ONE zip file, and don’t rely on whatever you did.
Glad you had the old machine and glad you back in operation.
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For future reference, I’ve never had any problems migrating my user folder in bulk to a new partition, when using this command:
sudo chown -R username /Users/username
It will take a while, but this is almost always caused by ownership mismatches, and with a folder-based format those ownership issues can be inside of the project “package” rather than on the surface folder you see in Finder.
For those that are nervous with commands, there is a somewhat convoluted method one must take to fix permissions on package folders.
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