Multiple SaveChanges without transaction
Power BIPower BI Desktop stopped while it loaded the semantic model of a PBIP project and showed no file or line. The details the dialog lets you copy list the code DataModelLoadFailed.
How the message appears
Copied exactly from each source. A name in square brackets replaced one from someone else's project.
There's a problem with the definition content in your Power BI Project. Multiple SaveChanges without transaction
In general form, with the parts that change in brackets:
There's a problem with the definition content in your Power BI Project. Multiple SaveChanges without transaction
The fix
Close Power BI Desktop. Delete cache.abf from the semantic model's .pbi folder, open the project again and refresh the report from scratch, as the marked answer says. If that does not help, compare model.tmdl with a copy saved by the Power BI Desktop you use, as the poster did.
In model.tmdl:
annotation PBIDesktopVersion = 2.139.2054.0 (24.12)annotation PBIDesktopVersion = 2.140.1078.0 (25.02)What causes it
A stale cache file under .pbi
The reply marked as the solution says the cache.abf file in the semantic model's .pbi folder stores the local cache and may also hold metadata tied to a Power BI Desktop version. The reply calls this an assumption. Deleting the file and opening the project again worked.
Source: Cannot open PBIP in latest release Feb 2025.
The Report Doctor can't detect this, because the file is under .pbi/, which the Report Doctor never reads, by design.
The version annotation in model.tmdl is older
The poster compared the project with a new copy saved from Power BI Desktop. The only difference in model.tmdl was annotation PBIDesktopVersion. Setting the old project to the newer value let it open, and other projects with the older value still opened. The poster says this is a guess that the February 2025 release broke something in TMDL.
Source: Cannot open PBIP in latest release Feb 2025.
The Report Doctor can't detect this, because whether a release accepts the file depends on which Power BI Desktop opens it, and the files do not say.
Worth knowing
- The Report Doctor never reads
cache.abfor anything under.pbi/. That is deliberate, so it cannot help with this one.
Check a project in your browser
The Power BI Report Doctor reads a PBIP folder or .zip and lists the file and line to fix. Nothing is uploaded.
Sources
- Microsoft forum: Cannot open PBIP in latest release Feb 2025. The original post, and the reply marked as the solution. Read 2026-10-04.
Written by Vishnu Shankar.