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Release 6.9.1 Warning


JCD

Idea

Anyone else have your Evernote application rendered unusable when updating to the newest version (October 2, 2016)?

Error message result: 

Screen Shot 2016-10-02 at 3.09.09 PM.png
 
It took quite a while to download all existing data (i have about 1,200 notes) and then even longer to migrate notes from an old version to the new.  I would suggest not doing the update during a busy work day, or it may seriously impact your productivity.  Save it for the weekend!

After finally updating/migrating/synching, I got the following additional error:
Screen Shot 2016-10-02 at 3.43.25 PM.png

Unfortunately, after following the "To resolve this error..." instructions, I lost critical data which was neither saved on my MAC nor saved on Evernote servers.  The critical data was regarding bank account transfers--lost forever--something that should never happen with a personal data base backed up by the Cloud, and supposedly syncs everything as you work with it.  

Warning:  Before updating to the new version, be sure to save all notes in process, and even safer--also back up data on your computer.

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I didn't get either of those warnings but I did have to uninstall and reinstall Evernote when I installed the last macOS Sierra update (public beta). The update disabled quite a few of my applications though so I'm not sure if my issues were Evernote itself of the beta update.

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Just a few days before my Evernote update, I had to update my current OSX software as well (OS X El Capitan, 10.11.6 (15G1004).  

Maybe there's an incompatibility issue between both updated software versions of OSX and Evernote.  Thanks for your feedback.  

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  • Level 5*

Hi.  A problem with the Evernote app does not necessarily mean the database needs to be re-downloaded.  It's possible to uninstall and reinstall Evernote without affecting your local copy of the database.  If you do replace the database it's essential to ensure that the local database is fully synced,  because any notes not yet sent to the server will be lost

It's also a very good idea not to rely on the server copy of the database for backup,  but to keep your own.  A web search for "evernote backup database" will always get you a lot of useful hits,  and the ever-esteemable @GrumpyMonkey has some detailed advice about backups (and Zombies) here...

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A problem I noticed with the above advice is that, upon reinstalling the new Evernote application, it does not give you a choice about what to do with the current data base.  It automatically starts copying and migrating the data.  Thus, there is no chance to check about whether the data has been fully synced or not.  

Another thing I noticed is that several notes created AFTER the lost data, had been already synced.  The lost data had not been synced even though the sync function had been activated.  Scary stuff.  

Thanks for the heads up about not relying on Evernote's servers only, but to keep your own backup of the data base.  Noted!   

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  • Level 5*

I'm pretty touchy about backups. I appreciate that Evernote takes data integrity seriously, but I've had plenty of notes corrupted over the years, and data lost (the most recent one just a few weeks ago a PDF with 6.9 -- reported). I figure the ephemeral nature of our data (bits and bytes somewhere out there) is something we have to live with -- a constant reminder about how important it is to recognize and accept impermanence as a fact of life (at least, life as we know it). Evernote is playing a losing game if it is going for 100%, but I don't think a few more layers of backup would go amiss. For example, updating note histories every few hours instead of seconds has been a gaping loophole that my data has slipped through for years. And, without a way to do even rudimentary diagnostics on our databases (a kind of data verification check), there is no way to know when really nasty stuff (some of it reported recently) is happening. 

All of this is just to say that, for the moment, it's a good idea to have at least one backup of your own, in your hand, ready to use if the need arises. So many companies are eager to make things convenient by relieving us of the burden of holding our data, but it seems to me that we still ought to just keep taking responsibility for our stuff, because when things go wrong, we're the one's that will get hit the hardest.

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I didn't realize that note histories were updated every few hours by Evernote.  I'm sure that's where I lost my data.   It was about the time of my attempted update of Evernote and the problem with the corrupted app file, that I had revised my note several times.  It was that note which went to cyber wherever, and could not be retrieved.  

Am I correct that 100% (hopefully) of our Evernote data automatically resides on our PC or Mac hard drive as well as the Evernote servers?  And the backing up we need to do is to a THIRD destination (external hard drive, Dropbox, etc.)?  

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  • Level 5*

If you have any local notebooks,  your desktop storage is the only place your data resides,  so even more reasons for keeping backups.  For the rest,  the desktop has a copy of the information stored on the web.  If you have edited notes on a mobile device,  or on the web itself,  your desktop won't be fully up to date until the next successful sync;  but a copy of what is stored (edit: and synced) on the desktop should normally backup all of your data. 

Depending on the size of that database you might want to keep the backup on a thumb drive or an external drive.  'Normal' backup considerations apply - keep several copies (at least grandfather,  father,  son) and more than instance - keep one offsite if you can.  The Chinese space station is due to come down in 2017 for what Elon Musk calls "rapid unscheduled disassembly" and it would be just my luck to have a substantial bit take out my desk...

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