1Password5 / Dropbox Syncing Seem to be Stuck in a Loop

rkeefer
rkeefer
Community Member

I've got two OS X computers -- my home iMac and work MacBook Pro, both running 10.10 and 1Password 5.0.2.
Also have 1Password on my iPhone 6, but my issue is with the desktop clients.

I am constantly getting a dropbox notifications that contents.js was updated to a newest version. Occasionally, there's a separate notification about a conflict with the home file or that contents.js was added.

I saw a similar post about this with 1Password 4 and tried to follow that procedure:

Backed up local copies.
Turned off syncing (on both home and work machines)
Rebooted.
Deleted files in Dropbox folder.
Re-enabled syncing.

It immediately has issues with contents.js again. Is there somwhere where I need to tell one copy (home or work) to delete its local repository and start fresh with what's on dropbox?

What else am I missing? As it is now, the notifications are beyond annoying, and I'm worried I'm liable to lose some password data/updates.

Comments

  • Stacey
    Stacey
    Community Member

    Syncing with dropbox as always been in issue. In 1PW4 they moved to iCloud syncing which seemed to work much better. In 1PW5 you need to own the MAS version for the iCloud syncing to work. If you own the Webstore version you are S.O.L. the iCloud syncing will not work, syncing with dropbox is the option - unless you dole out more money any buy the MAS version. AgileBits is forcing your hand to do this.

  • Stephen_C
    Stephen_C
    Community Member

    AgileBits is forcing your hand to do this.

    That is incorrect. Many people have Dropbox syncing working without any problem. I don't use with Dropbox or iCloud to sync—but wifi sync works perfectly for me. One of the big advantages of 1P is the sync options it offers. Of course, it's true that, following changes made by Apple, if you want to use iCloud to sync you have to use the Mac App Store version of 1P. However, there's no question of AgileBits "forcing" that,

    Stephen

  • rkeefer
    rkeefer
    Community Member

    Dropbox syncing has always worked for me until recently. Was hoping it was a matter of a bug introduced in 5.x.

  • Hi @rkeefer,

    I wouldn't rule out a bug (I'm going on the assumption that it's in fact a bug). I'm currently doing a big push to make sync better, and would love to get more information out of this.

    For starters I'd try to figure out what combination of devices is required for this problem to happen to you. You're likely feeling it more on the desktop because Dropbox will show up the little notifications there, whereas on iOS it updates files silently. So start by turning the phone completely off (powered off, not sleep, let's take background tasks out of the picture). If the problem continues, then we know that the two desktops by themselves will do this.

    If the problem goes away, then shut down both 1Password and 1Password mini on one of the desktops, and restart the phone. See if the bouncing (what I like to call sync that doesn't converge to a final state) comes back.

    It's possible that the problem only shows itself with all 3 devices in operation. Hopefully not though, as that'll make chasing it a little more difficult.

    Once we know which devices are causing us grief, I would really appreciate Diagnostics Reports from these devices. It doesn't take long to do, and will give me additional information about what's going on under the hood. All you need to do is follow the short instructions on this page.

    When you email in, please either link to this thread, or mention OPM-2541 which is the bug identifier for the bug I just opened to try to trace this down. That'll make sure that I get notified and will be able to start investigating what's going on.

    Thanks

    Rick

    ref: OPM-2541

  • randy_va
    randy_va
    Community Member
    edited November 2014

    @rkeefer - I don't know if this is applicable to your situation, but just maybe ...

    I had a situation with 2 Macs, one an older Mac and the other a new iMac intended to replace the older one. The new Mac was set up, then had documents, data and settings "migrated" from a Time Machine backup of the older Mac. Then, while both of these Macs were running, there was constant syncing activity - Dropbox notifications that 2 files were updated. It turns out that these constantly-updating files were 1Password files.

    I made a post in this forum, and MikeT from Agilebits provided the clue that led to the solution. Here is an excerpt from MikeT's post:


    _I've seen this before and it often is an issue with the Dropbox app. You said you used the migration process, I believe that might cause the problem with Dropbox thinking it's the same iMacs.

    Can you try reinstalling Dropbox on both Macs to see if that'll solve the problem?_


    I subsequently contacted Dropbox support, and additional info regarding uninstalling/reinstalling Dropbox was provided.

    Your issue sounds similar to the one that I had, so you might try this - uninstall, then reinstall Dropbox on both machines. Contact Dropbox directly if you have questions or concerns. I have found that the Dropbox support (just like Agilebits' support) is excellent.

    (Forgot to mention - 1PW works perfectly now, syncing with Dropbox. I can see how the Dropbox sync could get "confused" when I copied the app from one Mac to another. I should have thought ahead to install a "fresh" copy of Dropbox - and 1PW, for that matter - instead of migrating from one computer to another)

    Hope this helps ...

  • @randy_va : huh... that's super interesting. I hadn't heard of that issue before, but that would make sense. I can't say I've ever thought that I might have to install Dropbox from scratch on a machine after migrating from another. Will keep this in mind for the future. Thanks.

    Rick

  • rkeefer
    rkeefer
    Community Member

    @rickfillion‌ Anecdotally this morning, it seems the iPhone 6 is culpable. I've had it off since getting to work, and content.js has not been updated since.

  • @rkeefer‌ : well that's interesting. 1Password for iOS actually treats dropbox sync considerably differently than the Mac does, so I'm not entirely surprised to hear that it's the one being bizarre in this case. Would it be possible for you to send us a Diagnostics Report for that iPhone? It'd be best to do it right after you've seen it misbehave. This way there's a chance that there's some information about what it's doing still in the logs for us. You can find the instructions for how to send us a Diagnostics Report on this page.

    If you could send that report, and include either a link to this forum thread, or a reference to OPM-2541 so that we can associate everything together that'd be great (it also makes sure I get notified and can start digging into it).

    Thanks

    Rick

  • rkeefer
    rkeefer
    Community Member

    @rickfillion, this morning I sent diagnostics from all three instances with OPM-2541 in the email body.

    I'm not entirely convinced that the iOS client is to blame. I've had it up and running for most of the morning, and the contents.js hasn't been synced as often... 35 mins ago was the last sync.

  • @rkeefer : Thanks. I'll take a look at them and see if I can find anything in there that could help you out (or help us pinpoint a bug).

    Rick

  • Hi @rkeefer,

    The DR you sent us does indeed show that it's syncing very often. There's a few things in it that I'll want to investigate to see if I can trigger similar results here. I've created a bug on our side (OPM-2610) so that I can dive in and investigate some more.

    Rick

  • randy_va
    randy_va
    Community Member
    edited November 2014

    @rickfillion and @rkeefer,
    Please excuse this intrusion into your discussion. I am providing some information sent to me by Dropbox support, in case this may help in your case. This involves detailed instructions on COMPLETELY un-installing all Dropbox installation files (not data files) from a Mac. This will allow a fresh installation of Dropbox. Your Dropbox data folder on the Mac will be recognized and will be linked to your "new" Dropbox installation. I followed this procedure and it completely resolved my problem (that sounds similar to rkeefer's issue, even though I was seeing the constant activity on 2 Macs instead of a Mac and and IOS device).

    Again, sorry to intrude. If this is not applicable in your case, feel free to ignore. The instructions from Dropbox support follows. This is a little hard to read since I could not make the formatting work properly in this post. The sequence is correct, however. I can send these instructions separately as an email upon request.


    Instructions for complete uninstall, then re-install of Dropbox on a Mac:

    Reinstalling Dropbox does not modify your Dropbox folder or the files inside, so doing a straight reinstall is safe.
    First, make sure you save and quit ALL programs that access files in the Dropbox folder.
    Here are the steps:

    1. Download the newest version:
      www.dropbox.com/install
    2. Stop Dropbox (If needed):
    • Click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar at the top of your screen
    • Click on the gear icon in the Notifications panel and select 'Quit Dropbox'
    1. Delete Dropbox meta-data folder:
    • To delete this folder open a Terminal (Located at /Applications/Utilities/Terminal for Mac OS) - Copy and paste the following lines into the Terminal and press RETURN:
      mv ~/.dropbox ~/.Trash/dropbox.old
      mv ~/.dropbox-master ~/.Trash/dropbox-master.old

    • This will move the folder to the Trash and make it visible. Please note that you could see an error message regarding the existence of the folder ".dropbox-master" when you run the last of the lines above. This is completely normal and you can go on with the next step.

    1. Delete the Dropbox Contextual Menu Item Plugin
    • Open the Finder and select Go to folder... from the Go menu (or press Shift-Command-G)

    • A dialog box should appear. Now copy and paste the following line into the box and press the return key:
      /Library/

    • Finally drag the DropboxHelperTools folder to the Trash and enter your Administrator password if prompted to complete this action.

    1. Reinstall the Dropbox desktop application
    • Open the Dropbox .dmg file and double click the Dropbox icon. - Dropbox should appear in your menu bar.
    • Relink your account.

  • Megan
    Megan
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @randy_va,

    Thanks so much for including those steps here! I've attempted to make them slightly more legible ... but couldn't quite get the forum's unique brand of Markdown formatting to play nice with those step numbers. I hope that they're still useful for anyone who needs to update Dropbox in this manner. :)

  • Thanks @randy_va. Great to hear that resolved your issues. It's possible that @rkeefer‌ is running into the same issues, it may be worth trying the same thing. I can't think of any negative repercussions as far as 1Password is concerned.

    Rick

  • rkeefer
    rkeefer
    Community Member

    Just got this message from Dropbox as well FYI:

    We’re reaching out to let you know about an issue in Apple’s new OS X Yosemite that causes problems with Dropbox. You can resolve this issue by installing the latest Software Update for OS X Yosemite.

    OS X Yosemite may occasionally cause some programs to crash when you open, save-as, or first save a file. These crashes are rare but happen when an application, such as Dropbox, uses Yosemite’s official Finder integration — and if that program crashes because of this interaction, unsaved changes may be lost.

    To fix this issue, Apple has released OS X Update 10.10.1. This update is available for free in the Mac App Store. Details on how to update your Mac are available on Apple’s support site.

    • The Dropbox Team
  • Megan
    Megan
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @rkeefer‌

    Thanks for sharing that here! It's great to know that Dropbox is on this. :)

This discussion has been closed.