iPads stopped syncing

bokarmic

My wife and I have for the past year been using 1Password on 2 iPads, an iPhone and an Android tablet (1Password Reader)--and my wife will be purchasing 1Password for Mac today. All these devices sync only through Dropbox, all are updated to 1Password 4.2.1, and all had been syncing without any problem. For some unknown reason, however, a week or so ago Dropbox stopped syncing 1Password to and from my iPad and my wife's iPad.

Oddly, however, Dropbox still syncs my iPad with my Android tablet and Dropbox still syncs my wife's iPad with her iPhone. But as of a few days ago Dropbox for some reason suddenly stopped syncing 1Password between the two iPads. I tried turning Dropbox sync off and then on again in 1Password on both iPads. But after 1Password relinked with Dropbox on both iPads they still won't sync.

Your help would be appreciated.

khad

Hi @bokarmic,

Thanks for taking the time to contact us. I'm sorry that you are having some trouble.

1. It sounds like you and your wife are syncing one shared data file in one Dropbox account between all of your devices. Is that correct?
2. Or do you each have your own data file?
3. If you each have your own data file, are the two data files located in different Dropbox accounts? Or are they in the same Dropbox account?
4. Have you already purchased 1Password for Mac, or were you waiting to get this resolved before doing so?

Your answers to the above questions will allow me to better assist you. I'm sure we can get this resolved for you pretty quickly.

Thanks!

bokarmic

Hi khad,

My wife and I have always had different Dropbox accounts with our own separate 1Password data folders. We share, however, the same 1Password Master Password. Until a few days ago Dropbox synced any changes made to 1Password data on either of our iPads (new logins, new credit cards etc.) to the other iPad (and Dropbox likewise synced the same changes to my wife's iPhone and my Android tablet).

My wife purchased and installed 1Password for Mac for her MacBook Pro today. Dropbox seems to be syncing her 1Password data between her Mac, her iPad and her iPhone without problems. But none of her devices is able to sync with my iPad.

A message appeared today in 1Password on my wife's iOS devices saying the 1Password data on her iPad and iPhone didn't match the 1Password data in her Dropbox folder. She clicked a link asking her to merge the two data files both on her iPad and on her iPhone, and her iOS devices resumed syncing through Dropbox with each other and with her Mac.

But since all of my wife's devices have stopped syncing with my iPad via Dropbox, should I consider uninstalling 1Password from my iPad and reinstalling it with a new link to Dropbox using the same 1Password Master Password as my wife's?

Regards, Michael

bokarmic

Hi Khad,

I wanted to add one brief comment to my reply to you from 01:28 AM today. To resolve the problem of my devices no longer syncing with my wife's devices through Dropbox, would it be safe for me to delete the 1Password folder in my Dropbox account and just share the 1Password folder in my wife's different Dropbox account? Or would the fact that we have both been using the same 1Password Master Password create a problem if I now try to delete my 1Password Dropbox folder and share hers?

khad

My wife and I have always had different Dropbox accounts with our own separate 1Password data folders. We share, however, the same 1Password Master Password.

I think this is confusing me quite a bit. Do you mean that you have separate data files that happen to have the same Master Password? I think it is your use of the phrase "share the same 1Password Master Password" is throwing me off. I would only use that phrase if the data file was actually the same. I don't mean to be pedantic, but it really makes a big difference in troubleshooting this situation.

Until a few days ago Dropbox synced any changes made to 1Password data on either of our iPads (new logins, new credit cards etc.) to the other iPad (and Dropbox likewise synced the same changes to my wife's iPhone and my Android tablet).

Yeah, this makes it sound like any item either you or your wife added to 1Password synced to the other's device(s) as well which means you were sharing the same data file.

My wife purchased and installed 1Password for Mac for her MacBook Pro today. Dropbox seems to be syncing her 1Password data between her Mac, her iPad and her iPhone without problems. But none of her devices is able to sync with my iPad.

So you want to share the same data file everywhere?

I wanted to add one brief comment to my reply to you from 01:28 AM today. To resolve the problem of my devices no longer syncing with my wife's devices through Dropbox, would it be safe for me to delete the 1Password folder in my Dropbox account and just share the 1Password folder in my wife's different Dropbox account? Or would the fact that we have both been using the same 1Password Master Password create a problem if I now try to delete my 1Password Dropbox folder and share hers?

I just want to make sure I understand your end goal so that we can take steps to get you there. Do you intend to share a single data file with your wife so that all of your data and all of her data is accessible on your devices and her devices via the same shared Master Password? It really sounds like it, but your first sentence above seems to contradict that. Please let me know.

Thanks for hanging in there. :)

bokarmic

Sorry for the confusion, khad. The answer to your last question asked in bold print is yes. Alternatively, would the slightly different method of achieving the same result mentioned in the last sentence of my June 16, 01:28 AM post also work as a way to get my iPad and Android tablet to resume syncing via Dropbox with all of my wife's devices?

I think you're saying in your replies, if I understand correctly, that when my wife and I first set up 1Password syncing through Dropbox using different Dropbox accounts but the same 1Password Master Password, we must have been sharing a single Dropbox 1Password Data file in order to successfully sync all our devices. My wife and I don't recall ever having set up sharing of a single 1Password data file from either of our Dropbox accounts. That's why I was assuming in these posts that, until the recent sync problem occurred, our devices were being successfully synced via separate 1Password data files in our separate Dropbox accounts using the same 1Password Master Password.

I think what you are now saying, khad, is that this assumption on my part is incorrect because my wife and I had to have been sharing a single 1Password data file from one or the other of our different Dropbox accounts in order for syncing to work. If that's the case, I apologize for the confusion created by my faulty assumption.

Be that as it may, which of the two alternative means referred to in the first paragraph above for restoring Dropbox syncing of my wife's devices with my devices would you recommend as preferable?

khad

Yeah, I think there was a bit of confusion, but it helps tremendously to know what your end goal is. Thanks for following up! :)

Can you verify for me that you have at least one complete copy of your combined 1Password data on one of your computers or devices? We can go from there to propagate it to your other computers and devices. Just to be clear, I'm referring to the data that you want to share with your wife across all of your devices. If you could give me a list of the computers and devices that have the complete data that would be really helpful. Then let me know which computers and devices you want to get that data onto.

It doesn't sound like you do, but if you have two different data sets between you and your wife we will need to merge them first. Please let me know if that is the case, so we can get that taken care of first.

bokarmic

Thanks khad. My wife's devices (iPad, iPhone and Mac) have the complete 1Password data and with minor exceptions my devices (iPad and Asus Nexus 7 tablet) do also since I manually synced my data with hers. So if you recommend sharing the 1Password data file from one of our separate Dropbox accounts, it really shouldn't make any difference which account we share from. We do want to share the data file across all our devices, however.

By the way, khad, could you confirm that my assumption as described in my previous reply was in fact erroneous and that you were in fact saying that syncing of 1Password data to and from different Dropbox accounts can only occur with a single shared 1Password data file?

khad

I'm still trying to make sure I understand your setup before commenting on your previous post. I just don't want you to lose any data, so I am trying to take things very slowly. I do appreciate your patience as we work to resolve things.

Is it possible that you had shared a single data file between two different Dropbox accounts using Dropbox's "shared folder" feature? If so, you should be able to see the shared folder on this page while you are logged in to your Dropbox account on the web:

https://www.dropbox.com/share

bokarmic

I checked both Dropbox accounts at the Share location. No shared folder or file of any kind appears in either account. If I now understand correctly how this is supposed to work, there had to be a single shared 1Password data file in order for Dropbox to sync our data between our two different Dropbox accounts. So can I assume that when 1Password data syncing between the two accounts stopped a week ago, a shared 1Password folder that must have existed in one or the other of our Dropbox accounts somehow became unshared?

khad

In order for data to sync, you either need to be syncing via (1) the same Dropbox account to the same data file or (2) a shared folder available to both/all Dropbox accounts.

I can't tell from your situation which is the more likely, but my guess is that creating a shared folder and then having it become spontaneously unshared is much less likely than logging in to the same Dropbox account on some devices where you thought you were using a different one.

So, if you do have separate Dropbox accounts, what you could do at this stage is to set aside your 1Password.agilekeychain data file from your own account and then share her "1Password" folder that contains her 1Password.agilekeychain data file with your own Dropbox account. Then you should be using the same data file (thus with one Master Password) in both of your Dropbox accounts.

Please let me know if you need more specific instructions than that. I would be happy to provide them.

bokarmic

Thanks, khan, and sorry this went on so long. Two last little things before I set up a shared folder in my wife's account: (1) Should the shared folder be my wife's entire agilekeychain folder (including the html file) or just the data file?; (2) When you suggest I > set aside> the data file in my Dropbox account, do you mean I should delete it, and should I leave the html file undisturbed in my account?

khad

Your data file (called 1Password.agilekeychain) is actually a file bundle which is displayed as a folder in Dropbox's web interface. So via the Dropbox website 1Password.agilekeychain looks like a folder while viewing it in Finder on your Mac will show it as a file. Don't disturb anything inside of your data file. Nothing inside 1Password.agilekeychain should be altered in any way.

By "set aside" I just mean that you should move your own 1Password.agilekeychain from your Dropbox folder to a different location (such as your Desktop). Just as long as it isn't in your Dropbox folder it won't get in the way or confuse the 1Password app. :) I recommend not deleting it, though, in case you need it for any reason later. "Archive" might be a good word.

Then you want to make sure that 1Password.agilekeychain in your wife's Dropbox account is located inside a subfolder. If it isn't already in a subfolder, you can create one called "1Password", place 1Password.agilekeychain in that "1Password" folder, and then share the "1Password" folder using Dropbox's shared folder feature.