Looking for the 1Password App

byronfunk

I've been a happy 1Password user for a long time. It has worked flawless for me until the past few days. When trying to use 1Password, I am sent to a webpage that says it has started 1Password Mini and then the screen says it's looking for the 1Password App. I searched your forums and found the issue with making sure 1Password Mini is kept running in preferences. And, it IS checked. I've un-installed and re-installed the 1Password Mini extension to no avail. I've restarted Safari and even restarted my computer. I have a mid 2012 15" MBP with a OWC SSD running 10.10.3 and 16gb of RAM. Thanks!

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1Password Version: 5.3.2
Extension Version: 4.3.1
OS Version: 10.10.3
Sync Type: local

littlebobbytables

Hi @byronfunk,

I'm wondering, it might be our choice of words here causing a little confusion.

1Password mini is a helper application that is contained within the main 1Password application bundle. The term helper is a bit of a misnomer as both the main 1Password window and the 1Password Browser Extension communicate with it - it's more the hub. I mention this as you can't just uninstall 1Password mini without dragging the entire application to your trash. Now I could be wrong but I suspect you've been more interacting with the browser extension, would I be right with that at all?

So I would be curious about the following:

1. Do you have the 1Password icon in your OS X menu bar and does it respond if you click on it? 1Password mini should also react to the keyboard shortcut ⌥⌘\ no matter what is happening in the browser.
2. If 1Password mini isn't accessible in 1., if you launch 1Password and enter the preferences, what is the state of the of the 1Password mini settings in the General tab?
3. If the top option, Always keep 1Password mini running is ticked, does the following menu option in 1Password help? Help > Troubleshooting > Restart 1Password mini. If that does help I would recommend a reboot just to make sure it isn't a temporary measure.

If the problem is 1Password mini isn't starting on boot up even if it should be always running then there is something we can try.

If 1Password mini is accessible in 1. but your browser is claiming 1Password mini isn't running then that could be something like a proxy, software firewall, anti-virus or parental controls causing interference. All of those groups of software do one thing in common which is monitor network communication and potentially block. The extension uses a web socket to communicate with 1Password mini but only over what we call localhost - what is being communicated never leaves the machine. Is it possible you have something like that and maybe it has updated recently?

So we've got a couple of options to explore. Hopefully the results of above will narrow down the cause and we can get you up and running again :smile:

byronfunk

The 1Password Icon is showing in my OS X Menu bar. When I click on it, it opens (after password is input). The first item on the drop down menu is "Add Safari Extension..."

The state is both boxes are checked, "Always keep..." and "Show mini app icon..."

Finally, I tried your third option and it worked!

Not sure what was going on... I can send you the 1Password Mini Log if needed.

Thanks for the help!

Drew_AG

Hi @byronfunk,

I'm glad that suggestion helped! If restarting 1Password mini seems to have fixed the problem, you might be all set - that is, unless the problem happens again (possibly after restarting your Mac or Safari). If so, there's a good chance you can solve that by following our troubleshooting guide here: Troubleshooting communication issues between 1Password and the extension

That article covers a few things you've already checked, but goes into more depth on things like firewalls, anti-virus software, network proxies, other browser extensions, and more. If the problem returns and you try the suggestions there, please let us know how it goes, or if you have any questions about that. Thanks!

mort

I do have the same problem and it keeps reoccuring. 1P works fine for some days and then it stops working again.
Usually I need to "let it look" two or more times, then I have to confirm the mini app and then it finally works again.

This issue is not repeatable in a certain way but it does happen again and again every couple of days.
The mentioned checkbox to have it continuously running is active.

1Password 4
Version 4.4.3 (443000)
Agile Web Store

FF 38.0.5 (but has been like this before as well)
FF Addon: 1Password 4.3.1

Drew_AG

Hi @mort,

I'm sorry you're also having trouble with this!

1P works fine for some days and then it stops working again.

Is there any chance this seems to happen the first time you use a browser after restarting your Mac? If so, the problem could be that 1Password mini isn't starting up automatically when you start your Mac.

Usually I need to "let it look" two or more times, then I have to confirm the mini app and then it finally works again.

Can you describe the steps you take to "let it look"? Do you mean you click on the 1Password extension icon in Firefox, or use one of the keyboard shortcuts?

Also, I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you say you "confirm the mini app", could you please elaborate on that? What exactly do you need to do in order to get it to work again"?

Finally, what version of Mac OS X are you using?

Thanks in advance!

mort

The situation in a chronological order.

1. I hit my keyboard shortcut '⌘+#'
2. what should happen, is either the password to be filled in or the request to authenticate. What does happen in fact is the message 'Looking for the 1Password app' (see 2nd screen above)
3. After a while I regularly get the 'Try again' since it failed to do its job. (see 1st screen above)
4. Hitting 'Try again' gets us back to step 2.
5. The second time it might work and the result is the request to confirm the usage of the 1Password mini addon for Firefox (see 3rd screen)
6. When confiorm this in time I get a message that welcomes me to using 1Password as if it would have been the first time (see last screen)
7. Hitting the shortcut to fill in passwords works again for some days.

I will try to see if it is based on the first start of a browser session or even the first start after rebooting my notebook.

mort

OS X version is 10.9.5

Drew_AG

Thanks @mort! If you haven't already done so, you should go through our troubleshooting guide here: Troubleshooting communication issues between 1Password and the extension

Now, if that doesn't help, then the next time the problem happens, I'd like to ask you to create a Diagnostics Report from your Mac:
https://support.1password.com/diagnostics/mac.html

Then attach the entire file to an email to us: support+forum@agilebits.com

Please do not post your Diagnostics Report in the forums, but please do include a link to this thread in your email, along with your forum handle so that we can "connect the dots" when we see your Diagnostics Report in our inbox. You should receive an automated reply with a ticket ID number. Please post that number here so we can track down the report and make sure you receive a reply as quickly as possible. Once we see the report we should be able to better assist you. Thanks in advance!

mort

Thank you for your reply. I did check the troubleshooting guide but there is nothing I should do I haven't done or checked before already.

Shutting my macbook down and restarting it does not reproduce this problem which makes it probably more difficult to find a repeatable process. I will post again once I see any regularity or create this report when it will happen again.

Drew_AG

Thanks @mort, if you can send us a diagnostics report the next time the problem happens, that should hopefully help us to figure out what's going on. Strange (but good) that it works correctly after a reboot!

mort

Quite some days and many reboots later, even a OSX upgrade in between the problem happened again. Not even directly after booting up but after a relogin somewhen later. I created the diagnostic file and sent it in.
In the meantime I am using the version 5 but did use it successfully for some days already without any issues.

Megan

Hi @mort,

Thanks for sending that Report in! I took a quick look in our system, but I was unable to find an email from the address you have listed in your forum profile. You should have received an automated email response when you sent the Report in. If you could let me know the Support ID that you received from our BitBot assistant, I'd be happy to track it down and ensure that it gets answered quickly. :)

mort

It was #KDJ-51692-741
Sorry, I did not think about checking the used mail address.

Megan

Hi @mort,

Thanks for sending that Ticket ID along! It looks like you've already received a reply from our team. Please check your inbox, and if you don't see it, let me know. We will keep this conversation going directly via email to avoid confusing things between here and there.

ref: #KDJ-51692-741

kinz888

I just solved my "Looking for the 1Password App" problem.
When +\ stopped working in Firefox, I thought for some random reason that I should visit https://agilebits.com/browsers/welcome.html. This is where I hit the "problem" I couldn't get past.

1Password Mini was always running, and +\ was working fine in Chrome. I followed a couple of troubleshooters at agilebits.com and read a few ticket threads with no success. I thought I would disable all my Firefox extensions except for 1Password Extension, but alas, it was not installed! Installing the Firefox 1Password extension afresh bruised my ego, but fixed my issue.

1 possible help for this user "problem"

• Update this troubleshooting guide: https://support.1password.com/extension-troubleshooting/
• After having the user confirm that 1Password Mini is running, have the user explicitly check that the Firefox 1Password Extension is installed in Firefox.

2 possible help for this user "problem"

• Have https://agilebits.com/browsers/welcome.html be smarter about the error message it provides.

AGAlumB

@kinz888: Thanks for the feedback!

1. Done (though it will take a few days for it to go live on the site).
2. I'm not sure exactly what you're asking for here, but it sounds like it might not be possible. 1Password just tries to connect, but unfortunately there are a lot of things that can prevent it from doing so, and it really has no way of knowing which one. That's my first thought, but if you can elaborate maybe we can find another solution. :)

kinz888

I don't have the technical chops to elaborate. I just couldn't fathom how "Looking for the 1Password App" is an indicator that I no longer had the extension installed. No biggie. Thanks for heeding the feedback. I hope it helps somebody. You guys do a fantastic job with your articles, and I'm loving me some 1Password more and more every day.

Jacob

@kinz888 Thanks so much. :) We're always here if you need anything.

mort

I decided that I should reinstall the FF addon as well and then got indeed the impression that the problem was gone. Well… it was until, it was back. The Extension and the app can communicate perfectly fine for days or even weeks, and at some point they don't anymore and I have to try reconnecting them a couple of time. Guess I just have to live with it. Anyway… Merry christmas. :)

Jacob

@mort We'd love to help make sure things are a bit more smooth. It's worth a try at least! Could you send us another Diagnostic Report using the same instructions Drew mentioned? Hopefully we can find the culprit and put it to rest. :)

AGAlumB

@mort: That sounds like you may be having issues with memory in the browser. Also keep in mind that we won't be able to maintain backward compatibility indefinitely. If we need to make changes in newer versions of the extension to support new versions of Firefox and OS X, for example, that break compatibility with older versions, we will do so without hesitation. You can always use an older version of the extension with Firefox 38 if needed, since it doesn't require extension signing, but neither Firefox 38 nor 1Password 4 will be receiving updates, so that's something to consider.

mort

@brenty These version facts you found somewhere are outdated. The system with these 1Password issues is a OSX Yosemite 10.10.5 Macbook and the current FF 43 with the newest 4.5.1 browser addon. A different Windows setting I am using never had a single problem with 1Password, if it happens it is always on this macbook. Thank you for your help and advices. I will try to create such a new report once I stumble over that issue again.

AGAlumB

@mort: You're absolutely right! My mistake. We went from July in one post to December in the next, and I got mixed up. Thanks for setting the record straight! Be sure to let us know if you run into any more issues. :)