2-Factor Authentication not matching on my devices

JC54

I've got 3 computers here on my desktop, all with 1Password 7 and logged into the same 1Password account. On 2 of them, the 2-Factor Authentication codes match and are in sync as the time expires and regenerates. The 3rd computer does not match, and using it to log in to an online account fails. Of course all 3 are syncing to the 1P account, so I assume the link that generates the 2FA is the same for that site. It was created on one computer and populated to the others. I have looked at 4 or 5 logins protected with 2FA and all are similarly out of sync on the same computer

Do you have any idea how this happened and how I can correct it without messing it up on all devices?

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1Password Version: 7.4.3
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Mac OS 10.14.6
Sync Type: 1Password account

Ben

Hi @JC54

TOTP is highly reliant on time (time being the 'T' in 'TOTP'). If the codes are correctly generated on some devices but not others this would indicate the date, time, or timezone on the inaccurate devices is inaccurate. Please double check these settings, and compare with the information provided at https://time.is/. It is possible that the displayed time is correct, but the system time is actually off because the timezone is wrong.

Thanks!

Ben

JC54

Ben, you're right! One computer was 2.5 minutes off despite being set the same as others in the Date & Time section of System Preferences (using the automatic time setting). I could not figure out why this was happening. At first I couldn't believe they weren't matching, but the URL you provided confirmed it. Eventually it took a restart of the computer to get it corrected. I've never seen anything like this (time being off) before.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction so promptly!

Ben

You're very welcome @JC54. :)

Ben

danco

For anyone else facing this problem, it is not usually necessary to restart the computer to solve it. Turning automatic time setting off and then on again usually works.

ag_ana

@danco:

Yes, that is another possible solution :+1:

JC54

I did try turning the automatic time setting off/on. But didn't change anything, at least not immediately. A restart worked soon after the Finder came up. But thanks for the suggestion. I'll give that more time if I ever see this again.

ag_ana

:+1: :)