"EMFILE: Too many open files" error, then my entire story vanished. HTML file shows 0kb. Help!

Question

Hello,

I was typing away in Twine when I received a popup error that said, "Too many open files." I have only 1 story with about 400 sections in it, but the error wouldn't clear. It popped up every time I clicked in the Twine text box or tried to do anything in Twine.

I print-screened what I'd done (a snapshot of the main screen showing just the links, but representing 2 hours' work), and restarted my PC.

Disaster! Twine reported 0 stories, the html file in the storage folder was named correctly but showed 0kb and was blank when opened in Notepad, and ALL my text had vanished.

I had Opera open in the background when the error occurred, and I was browsing now and then, but I didn't touch the cache or clear the history (both of which are still present). If I hadn't backed up yesterday by sheer chance, everything would have gone. Literally weeks of work.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? Can anything be done to stop it happening again? Were my 2 hours of work in vain?

I'm using Twine 2.3.0 and Windows 10. I have located several files below, and highlighted one which is large and from before the crash, but I can't open any of them.

The error message is here: https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/49751740/56365716-6f0e6780-61e9-11e9-915d-3e037df58808.PNG

The file I have located is here: https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/49751740/56365834-af6de580-61e9-11e9-86e5-1a4c602c8b5e.PNG

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I'm having the very same problem!!!

Comments

Twine is great, but it has its flaws! Hopefully, this will be one that the devs can fix quickly.

Answer 2

I suggest reporting this on the issue tracker: https://github.com/klembot/twinejs/issues

This isn't the first time I've heard of this issue, so it's probably a good idea to let the devs know.

Comments

Thank you. I reported it on github yesterday. Hopefully, someone will be able to fix it soon.

Answer 3

If you published the file to HTML at any point, you can import it back into Twine and pick up working on it from that save point.  (Note: If the imported version doesn't want to play then you may have to set the Story Format again.)

Hope that helps!  :-)

Comments

FYI - Twine v2.3.1 was just released:

https://github.com/klembot/twinejs/releases/2.3.1

It includes more frequent backups so you shouldn't lose data anymore.

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Thanks very much!