Unknown sync error -- Tried everything (?)
I've recently switched from Chrome to Firefox to try and get as far away from Google as possible. There, I never had any issues with syncing across devices and platforms.
On my Windows desktop, syncing never fails. On my MacBook Air, it always says, along the bottom of the window, that an unknown error has occurred.
I did have the Keychain Services Integration add-on installed, but removed it because I thought that that might be why. Still, I get an unknown error. I removed *every* Firefox-related file on my MBA and got everything going again (minus that add-on), and it still throws an error. I also tried deleting the profile and creating a new one, resulting in the same error. Lastly, I tried the PlacesCleaner add-on, also with the same results.
I'd attach a sync log, but it seems like some of what's in it might be private.
Any ideas?
Todas as respostas (6)
You could Unlink that MBA from Sync, then restart Firefox on the MBA and then re-connect to your Sync account, to see if that helps.
There's no private information in Sync error logs, but most of those logs contain more characters that these "Post a Reply" boxes can handle and the formatting might not carry thru when posted.
In the second column of the Error log look thru the Sync.Status items for the first listed ERROR; subsequent ERROR listings might be of interest. Also, any Sync.ErrorHandler lines might have information we can use.
I didn't state the obvious thing (unlinking), though I did do that several times.
In that case, here's the latest log: http://pastebin.com/wuYXXM94
Sorry, I don't see an "unknown error" anywhere in that report. The only "Failed" i see is for one add-on -- firefoxdav@icloud.com
That appears to be the first or initial Sync on that device (1168 lines and very verbose DEBUG record of bookmarks and other Types of data) - any problems with subsequent sync events?
What wasn't synchronized?
When I had the keychain add-on installed, nothing appeared to sync itself. Between then and when I sent the log, it looked like it was syncing, but it would still throw an error towards the end of the sync (which took upwards of 90 seconds).
This morning, I'm not getting any sync errors, and it takes just a few seconds (as it should, I think).
Other observations: 1) Tools > Sync Now doesn't work when I tell it to, but only when I first open up Firefox after completely closing out of it. So, it'll work the first time, but never afterwards (unless I close out of FF). 2) If I make a bookmark on my Windows machine, it'll sync over to my MacBook Air as expected. However, if I delete it from my MacBook Air, it won't get deleted from my Windows machine... So there is still an inconsistency somewhere.
The only questionable add-on on my Windows machine is the iCloud Bookmarks add-on (which works extremely well BTW, to sync bookmarks with Safari on my iPhone 5s). Disabling that on Windows and syncing still didn't remove the bookmark that my MacBook Air deleted, so I'm not sure where the problem is there.
If Firefox had a Chrome-like browser for iOS, I don't think I'd need any of those add-ons to handle bookmark and password syncing. Maybe one day...
"If Firefox had a Chrome-like browser for iOS, ..." Never happen. Mozilla would have to completely re-write Firefox to meet Apple's requirements - and then it wouldn't be "Firefox" anymore. Mozilla did have an App for iOS to be able to connect with the Sync service, but that was discontinued awhile ago. After that one of the Mozilla developers took over that code and created an iOS App called Bookmarks on the Go, but that wasn't updated for the new version of Sync that came with Firefox 29.
Are you sure Sync Now isn't working? If you put the Sync toolbar button where you can see it, when you have the cursor over that button a tooltip should appear with Last sync: day time That is the only visible indicator that I can recall seeing as to if Sync is working or not.
Beyond that, all I can think of is to Unlink both and create s new Sync account with a different email address and try it again - but with anything like Keychain Services and iCloud extensions disabled, for at least the setup and initial Sync on both devices.
My complete experience is with WinXP only and nothing else that "syncs", shares, or backs-up any Firefox user data with anything else.
Alright. It just seems as though Firefox should have the resources to be able to get even basic syncing going since Google can with Chrome across all platforms. There are small apps that do still work with Firefox bookmark syncing, but that's it.
It does appear that sync is working. It's much faster than I thought when there are no real changes to even sync. I usually click on Sync Now from Tools and then go to Open Menu to see if the sync arrows are blue and moving. Adding the sync button to my toolbar, it does turn blue every time I try Sync Now.
As long as I can add new bookmarks and passwords across devices (which all works now), then that's fine.