Firefox Sync Version 29
You may have noticed an increase of Sync questions this week. On Wed and Thursday last week there was an announcement on the site that Sync was undergoing maintenance. This completed successfully, however if there are questions about any complications after that window please get the attention of an Administrator or Moderator. The dates were: May 28 and 29th 16:00 Pacific Time unti 23:00 Pacific Time. Leading up to the maintenance window you may experience a delay in syncing between clients.
Below are a few examples of questions frequently asked in the past week. Please also add the tag "sync" to these questions to help track these questions.
*After I synced Firefox I cannot find any of my bookmarks, history or passwords, what happened?
Firefox Sync does not delete anything from a device unless one of two things is true:
There are records on the server with the same ID, marked as deleted. This only happens if you have a client that deletes a record and then syncs. This is the flow that's happening when you've deleted a bookmark on one machine and it disappears on the others. Or, one of the devices has sent a wipe command to the others, or in Sync 1.1 you chose to wipe the local device during setup. This shouldn't be possible at all in the Firefox Account-based Sync.
*Nothing is syncing I set up the new sync right what is going on?
Continuous syncing on the sync page will be fixed in version 30.
Bug 1006360
* There is no error message and nothing is syncing, what do I do?
See how to turn on logs or Helpful Tips for QA of Sync and how to file a good sync bug How to File a Good Sync Bug
* My device is not working with the previous one?
The new Firefox Accounts-based Sync isn’t compatible with the old Firefox Sync. Each device has all of your data, though, so you can just sign out of the old Sync and sign in with a new Firefox Account, and everything should just work.
This issue is documented here too: Firefox Troubleshooting and Tips: Disconnect When I update Firefox
More info on how to update old Sync to new Sync: How to Update to the New Firefox Sync
* Where are my synced tabs?
Please ask the user to click on the History and Select Tabs from other devices.
If they’re not there, then perhaps the other device hasn’t synced them, doesn’t have any tabs open, or the user has Sync 1.5 set up on one device and Old Sync on another.
On the Firefox for Android they are listed by device in the sync tab. To get to this menu:
- Swipe down from the address bar
- Swipe to the side until you see the orange bar underneath the sync icon
* Firefox 29 does not recognize my username and password
Most likely options: they entered the wrong username or password (typos do happen), or they’re trying to enter their old Sync username. If they don’t remember receiving a verification email, or going through a setup flow with a big blue cloud, then that’s probably what’s happening.
* My master password is not working
In current versions of Firefox with the current version of Sync, master password and password sync are mutually exclusive. Work is underway to change this, but in the mean time you should consider whether using a whole-disk encryption solution (FileVault, Bitlocker, etc.) would meet your needs better than master password.
You can also check out: Why can't I sync my Passwords
* How do I organize my sync account?
Sync transparently moves data between your Firefoxes to make your data available everywhere you browse. You can organize bookmarks exactly the way you always have.
* How do I turn on sync logs:
- Open about:config and turn on: services.sync.log.appender.file.logOnSuccess and services.sync.log.logger.engine.bookmarks
- Restart Firefox and look at: about:sync-log
- Logs and error messages will be located here
see how to turn on logs or Helpful Tips for QA of Sync
Authored by: Rnewman, jsavage, rmcguigan
Minor edits, e.g. added link to Bug 1006360 -m
<h1>Firefox Sync Version 29</h1>
You may have noticed an increase of Sync questions this week. On Wed and Thursday last week there was an announcement on the site that Sync was undergoing maintenance. This completed successfully, however if there are questions about any complications after that window please get the attention of an Administrator or Moderator. The dates were: May 28 and 29th 16:00 Pacific Time unti 23:00 Pacific Time. Leading up to the maintenance window you may experience a delay in syncing between clients.
Below are a few examples of questions frequently asked in the past week. Please also add the tag "sync" to these questions to help track these questions.
'''*After I synced Firefox I cannot find any of my bookmarks, history or passwords, what happened? '''
Firefox Sync does not delete anything from a device unless one of two things is true:
There are records on the server with the same ID, marked as deleted. This only happens if you have a client that deletes a record and then syncs. This is the flow that's happening when you've deleted a bookmark on one machine and it disappears on the others. Or, one of the devices has sent a wipe command to the others, or in Sync 1.1 you chose to wipe the local device during setup. This shouldn't be possible at all in the Firefox Account-based Sync.
'''*Nothing is syncing I set up the new sync right what is going on?'''
Continuous syncing on the sync page will be fixed in version 30.
[https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1006360 Bug 1006360]
<b>* There is no error message and nothing is syncing, what do I do?</b>
See how to turn on logs or [https://quality.mozilla.org/helpful-tips-for-qa-of-sync/ Helpful Tips for QA of Sync] and how to file a good sync bug [https://philikon.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/how-to-file-a-good-sync-bug/ How to File a Good Sync Bug]
'''* My device is not working with the previous one?'''
The new Firefox Accounts-based Sync isn’t compatible with the old Firefox Sync. Each device has all of your data, though, so you can just sign out of the old Sync and sign in with a new Firefox Account, and everything should just work.
This issue is documented here too: [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-sync-troubleshooting-and-tips#w_other-devices-disconnect-when-i-update-firefox Firefox Troubleshooting and Tips: Disconnect When I update Firefox]
More info on how to update old Sync to new Sync: [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-to-update-to-the-new-firefox-sync How to Update to the New Firefox Sync]
'''* Where are my synced tabs?'''
Please ask the user to click on the History and Select Tabs from other devices.
If they’re not there, then perhaps the other device hasn’t synced them, doesn’t have any tabs open, or the user has Sync 1.5 set up on one device and Old Sync on another.
On the Firefox for Android they are listed by device in the sync tab. To get to this menu:
# Swipe down from the address bar
# Swipe to the side until you see the orange bar underneath the sync icon
'''* Firefox 29 does not recognize my username and password'''
Most likely options: they entered the wrong username or password (typos do happen), or they’re trying to enter their old Sync username. If they don’t remember receiving a verification email, or going through a setup flow with a big blue cloud, then that’s probably what’s happening.
'''* My master password is not working'''
In current versions of Firefox with the current version of Sync, master password and password sync are mutually exclusive. Work is underway to change this, but in the mean time you should consider whether using a whole-disk encryption solution (FileVault, Bitlocker, etc.) would meet your needs better than master password.
You can also check out: [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/why-cant-i-sync-my-passwords Why can't I sync my Passwords]
'''* How do I organize my sync account? '''
Sync transparently moves data between your Firefoxes to make your data available everywhere you browse. You can organize bookmarks exactly the way you always have.
'''* How do I turn on sync logs:'''
# Open '''about:config''' and turn on: ''services.sync.log.appender.file.logOnSuccess'' and ''services.sync.log.logger.engine.bookmarks''
# Restart Firefox and look at:''' about:sync-log'''
# Logs and error messages will be located here
see how to turn on logs or [https://quality.mozilla.org/helpful-tips-for-qa-of-sync/ Helpful Tips for QA of Sync]
Authored by: Rnewman, jsavage, rmcguigan
<sup>Minor edits, e.g. added link to Bug 1006360 -m</sup>
