1Password not syncing between Macs (Dropbox, Mavericks)

geezjan

OK, I finally got it syncing properly across all three Macs. I removed 1Password from each computer and then I went through every subdirectory in my Library directory and removed every file that looked like it was related to 1Password or AgileBits, and then reinstalled. Now it seems to be working the way it's supposed to.

sjk

That's great you've got it working now, @geezjan. Thanks for the followup.

We don't generally suggest removing every 1Password-related file, which could include data intended to be kept. Starting over instructions instead suggest renaming certain files/folders.

lenzb

Hi @sjk,

Sadly, it didn't take long for Dropbox syncing to stop working again (even on v4.0.8). Same exact behavior as previously. I added a new item to 1Password. That item is not being saved to the file system in the ~/Dropbox/1Password.agilekeychain/data/default directory where it is supposed to go. I added a new item just now, but the last file modified in that directory is from 3 hours ago. No sign of the new item.

This is really frustrating. I'm guessing that if I unlink and re-link Dropbox that it will magically start working again (probably for another day or two before it breaks again). I obviously shouldn't have to do that every few days. It would be nice if the root of the issue was fixed and we could reliably count on this syncing working.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help troubleshoot this issue. It's definitely still a very real problem, and 1P MAS v4.0.8 seems to have done nothing to address the issue.

Thanks,

Brian

lenzb

Sure enough: the ~/Dropbox/1Password.agilekeychain/data/default gets updated with my latest changes only after I disable Dropbox sync and then re-enable it (and have it "merge" my current data with the Dropbox data). Where is my vault data being stored after disabling Dropbox sync? That is clearly the issue: it's being stored somewhere outside of the Dropbox directory and re-enabling Dropbox sync is the only way to get the data synced back (across my local file system) to the Dropbox directory.

geezjan

Brian:

I was seeing behavior similar to yours. For what it's worth, this is what I did to start over and get syncing finally working. First I made sure that the state of my 1Password vault in Dropbox was OK: I have a Windows PC with 1Password and it looked correct there. You can also log into Dropbox on the web and click on the 1Password.html file to check the vault. Once I was comfortable that the vault was correct in Dropbox, to completely remove 1Password on each Mac I did the following:

1. Quit 1Password and 1Password mini
2. Removed 1Password extension in Safari
3. Deleted 1Password from /Applications
4. I found nothing for 1Password in /Library, ~/Library/Application Support, or ~/Library/Preferences
5. I found files with "1Password" and/or "agilebits" in their names here and deleted them:
   ~/Library/Containers
   ~/Library/Group Containers
   ~/Library/Mobile Documents [iCloud]
6. Emptied the trash and rebooted just for good measure

I did this on all three of my Macs and then I reinstalled 1Password from MAS and that seems to have done the trick. 1Password is again syncing in real-time across all my Macs. I have no idea how or when it got hosed before.

lenzb

Thanks for the tips, @geezjan. The issue isn't getting the syncing to function. I actually can get it to work (by disabling and re-enabling Dropbox sync). The issue is that it just stops working eventually (after a few days). I wouldn't be surprised if even after following the steps that you did that the Dropbox sync will stop working again at some point. There's a definite bug in the software that needs to be fixed to ensure that syncing continues to work over time.

sjk

Hi, @geezjan.

Thanks for the additional details about how you've resolved your Dropbox syncing issue. Although you confirmed being satisfied with restoring from your 1Password data in Dropbox that might not be true, or possible, in other situations. So a few words about these two steps from your post #36:

• I found nothing for 1Password in /Library, ~/Library/Application Support, or ~/Library/Preferences
• I found files with "1Password" and/or "agilebits" in their names here and deleted them: ~/Library/Containers ~/Library/Group Containers ~/Library/Mobile Documents [iCloud]

For anyone reading this it's important to know that 1Password may be storing and actively using data in those locations. Removing them can result in permanent data loss, including 1Password automatic backups.

Be safe with your 1Password data, folks. :)

geezjan

Just for my own understanding... If I remove 1Password from one machine and if on my other machines it looks like my 1Password vault looks OK, then what difference does it make what I delete on the machine where I removed 1Password? That was my rationale: If my vault in Dropbox looks good, then I should be able to swipe any one of my machines and be OK. Is that not accurate? I assume that deleting files from a machine that still has 1Password on it might be bad, but that's not what I did.

sjk

Sorry to hear your Dropbox syncing is failing again, Brian (@lenzb).

Let's clarify a couple things:

I added a new item to 1Password. That item is not being saved to the file system in the ~/Dropbox/1Password.agilekeychain/data/default directory where it is supposed to go.

And shortly after adding the item in 1P4 on a Mac you'll see something Last synced: 30 second ago for Dropbox Sync if opening Preferences… > Sync, while the Dropbox menu bar icon/menu shows no activity/updates for that 1Password.agilekeychain?

Where is my vault data being stored after disabling Dropbox sync?

1Password 4 is using its own SQLite database under the hood where it stores the vault data, which is the OnePassword.sqlite file located in:

• ~/Library/Containers/2BUA8C4S2C.com.agilebits.onepassword-osx-helper/Data/Library/Data (Mac App Store version)

• ~/Library/Application Support/1Password 4/Data (Agile Web Store version)

Content in those Data folders being required for 1P4 to function properly is the main reason for caution in my previously reply about removing certain 1Password files/folders. Sync sources like Dropbox and iCloud are optional for 1P4.

That is clearly the issue: it's being stored somewhere outside of the Dropbox directory and re-enabling Dropbox sync is the only way to get the data synced back (across my local file system) to the Dropbox directory.

As long as Dropbox Sync is enabled in 1P4 it shouldn't be losing the syncing connection between its local data and the Dropbox data.

I'd like to continue this in email now to isolate the cause and get it resolved, starting with you sending us a Diagnostics Report from one of your Macs that's having this sync problem; instructions are here:

Sending us your Diagnostics Report to help us help you!

Please do not post your Diagnostics Report in the forum, but do include a link to this topic and your forum username in the email so we can "connect the dots" when we receive it. Thanks!

sjk

Hi again, @geezjan. You just snuck in there between my two replies. :)

If I remove 1Password from one machine and if on my other machines it looks like my 1Password vault looks OK, then what difference does it make what I delete on the machine where I removed 1Password?

In others cases, even if not yours, it can make a difference depending on what "1Password vault looks OK" and "removed 1Password" specifically mean, especially with multiple systems/devices/versions and syncing involved.

Having at least one authoritative copy of your 1Password data can serve for recovery purposes anywhere else (with sufficient access/resources). I never want to suggest types of 1Password removal with assumptions that could unknowingly jeopardize users' data, certainly not if that also happens to be the only remaining copy.

When 1P4 can't locate primary vault data it normally treats that as a starting over condition, taking you through the setup process again and ideally detecting 1Password data you want it to use. Presumably 1P4 detected your Dropbox keychain and used that to restore primary 1P4 data that you'd previously removed.

lenzb

Hi @sjk,

The Dropbox sync is currently working since yesterday I disabled and re-enabled Dropbox sync (which always seems to fix it).

As long as Dropbox Sync is enabled in 1P4 it shouldn't be losing the syncing connection between its local data and the Dropbox data.

I agree it shouldn't be losing sync. ;) It seems to lose sync after a couple of days (and then won't be corrected until I disable/re-enable Dropbox sync). So, I'm assuming the Diagnostics Report won't be too valuable right now (since syncing is working), but I just sent it now nonetheless. I'll do it again if/when Dropbox sync stops working again.

Thanks!

sjk

Got your report, Brian (@lenzb) -- thanks.

That's actually valuable now because logfile history reveals some suspicious activity likely correlated with when Dropbox Sync went awry. I'll have someone with a sharper eye for analyzing the details take a look and we'll let you know if anything more fruitful is discovered.

If/when it happens again one thing you might consider doing is moving your 1Password.agilekeychain into a 1Password subfolder of your root Dropbox folder, i.e. Dropbox/1Password/1Password.agilekeychain, which is currently the default and preferred location.

One immediate suggestion is to remove the 1Password 3 extension from Safari.

I'm sure we'd both prefer to be saying "it mustn't be losing sync". :)

lenzb

I uninstalled the 1P 3 extension in Safari. I don't ever use Safari, so that's why it was still there. I'll try the sub-directory approach the next time I run into the sync issue.

sjk

Thanks, Brian aka @lenzb. :)

lenzb

Hi @sjk,

Well, another couple of days have passed, so I checked my 1Password sync again. Sure enough, it's broken again. So, I submitted another diagnostic report via the same support email thread.

I'm going to go switch to using the 1Password directory approach for my 1Password.agilekeychain in Dropbox now, as you suggested previously, to see if that makes any difference.

Brian

sjk

Sorry it's failed on you again, Brian ( @lenzb ).

Let me know if you'd like assistance with moving 1Password.agilekeychain to the 1Password subdirectory. Main thing is to make sure you first disable 1Password syncing with it everywhere, then reenable it after making sure Dropbox has finished its post-move syncing.

And if Dropbox syncing with 1Password is still troublesome after this then you might want to consider rebuilding 1Password.agilekeychain if we don't have other suggestions after checking the new Diagnostics Report.

lenzb

Thanks. I've got it switched over to the 1Password sub-directory. I also removed the .ws.agile.1Password.settings file in my Dropbox as part of that. Sync is working once again (of course).

sjk

Sounds good, Brian. I think you'll be satisfied with the results of doing that; see Chris' email for more details. :)

lenzb

Much appreciated, @sjk! I hope so :D Thanks for all of your help. Now, to go fix it on my wife's laptop, too ;)

sjk

If I can help with anything else please let me know. Have fun. :)

roustem

Thank you very much for the diagnostics, Brian!

I see many error messages in the system log that look like this:

    Nov 19 13:55:57 brian.home secd[17147]:  securityd_xpc_dictionary_handler SystemUIServer[18794] copy_matching The operation couldn’t be completed. (OSStatus error -34018 - client has neither application-identifier nor keychain-access-groups entitlements)
    Nov 19 13:55:57 brian.home SystemUIServer[18794]:  SecOSStatusWith error:[-34018] The operation couldn’t be completed. (OSStatus error -34018 - Remote error : The operation couldn‚Äôt be completed. (OSStatus error -34018 - client has neither application-identifier nor keychain-access-groups entitlements))
    Nov 19 13:55:57 brian.home secd[17147]:  securityd_xpc_dictionary_handler SystemUIServer[18794] copy_matching The operation couldn’t be completed. (OSStatus error -34018 - client has neither application-identifier nor keychain-access-groups entitlements)
    Nov 19 13:55:57 brian.home SystemUIServer[18794]:  SecOSStatusWith error:[-34018] The operation couldn’t be completed. (OSStatus error -34018 - Remote error : The operation couldn‚Äôt be completed. (OSStatus error -34018 - client has neither application-identifier nor keychain-access-groups entitlements))
    Nov 19 13:55:57 brian.home secd[17147]:  securityd_xpc_dictionary_handler SystemUIServer[18794] copy_matching The operation couldn’t be completed. (OSStatus error -34018 - client has neither application-identifier nor keychain-access-groups entitlements)

I am not sure what could be causing these errors. I wonder if there is something with the keychain that might be causing them.

A few other errors that probably could be fixed by a reboot:

    Nov 19 13:56:05 brian.home SystemUIServer[18794]: Unknown error calling sqlite3_step (11: database disk image is malformed) eu
    Nov 19 13:56:05 brian.home SystemUIServer[18794]: DB Query: BEGIN EXCLUSIVE TRANSACTION;
    Nov 19 13:56:05 brian.home SystemUIServer[18794]: Error calling sqlite3_step (1: cannot commit - no transaction is active) SQLITE_ERROR
    Nov 19 13:56:05 brian.home SystemUIServer[18794]: DB Query: COMMIT TRANSACTION;
    Nov 19 13:56:05 brian.home SystemUIServer[18794]: Unknown error calling sqlite3_step (11: database disk image is malformed) eu
    Nov 19 13:56:05 brian.home SystemUIServer[18794]: DB Query: BEGIN EXCLUSIVE TRANSACTION;
    Nov 19 13:56:05 brian.home SystemUIServer[18794]: Error calling sqlite3_step (1: cannot commit - no transaction is active) SQLITE_ERROR

lenzb

Thanks, @roustem. I have rebooted a couple of times now, so we'll see if those errors go away. I also am not sure what those keychain errors could be. I'm not experiencing any other issues on my system, so that's odd...

kirbysdl

It just happened again to me in Mavericks + 1PW v1.0.8. This time it wasn't seeing changes initiated on an external 1PW client (changes weren't being synced "in"). As before, disabling and re-enabling the sync made it work again.

I guess something changed in Mavericks to throw 1PW syncing off? This hasn't been a problem on my Mountain Lion machines.

sjk

Hey guys,

We are working hard on this, as also mentioned in email correspondence with Brian ( @lenzb ).

Thanks for letting us know only your Mavericks Mac is having an issue, @kirbysdl. Have you updated 1P4 to 4.0.8 on all your Macs and has Dropbox Sync been reconfigured on any/all that have been updated?

klein81

Hi,

I think (I'm no expert) that I do have the same problem.

My main PC is a Windows-Machine, running 1password for Windows 1.0.9.3.3.8.

It syncs perfectly with my iphone und my ipad (both using the latest Version of 1password for iOS). No problem here, ever. :>

Then there is my new* mac-mini, running OS-X 10.9 (all updates) und 1password4 (4.0.9). After switching dropbox-sync on&off, this machine does sync properly again, but I also had to do this last week (and it worked a few days, until today)

*I'm a total mac-noob, just switching from my Windows machine to mac-OS, so, if I've understood this discussion correctly, I will have to change things on my mac.

Do you need any more information?

How do I proceed from here?

sjk

Welcome, @klein81.

I'm sorry you're also having trouble keeping Dropbox syncing working with 1Password 4 on your Mac mini. We're still working on a permanent solution for this.

The best way to proceed from here and get us more information would be to start with emailing us a Diagnostics Report, as described earlier in the last couple paragraphs of post #40. The logs from the report are especially useful for this type of problem. Thank you!

tseager

@klein81. Was AgileBits able to solve your problem? I'm seeing the same thing. I've chosen to use Bittorrent Sync to sync the files. As far as I can tell, 1Password is not writing much to the file to be synced, to BT Sync doesn't detect, and doesn't update the other side. I'm running OS X 10.8.5 and 1PW 4.0.8.

sjk

Hi, @tseager.

It sounds like you have a different issue with BitTorrent syncing than the primary one here about Dropbox syncing. Could you create a separate new topic about that and/or email us a Diagnostics Report? Thanks!

scidoc

Joining this thread, I too now have 1PW 4.08 failing to sync across 3 macs. It stopped a few days back and now I can't even get it to resync with dropbox. I dread uninstalling and reinstalling on three computers. This was supposed to save time, not waste it.

sjk

Hi, @scidoc.

As suggested to @klein81 in post #57 above, emailing us a Diagnostics Report is the best way we can help you more directly and specifically resolve this type of Dropbox syncing issue. You can start by sending the report from any of your Macs that are currently having the problem. After receiving it we'll help you get this sorted out as quickly as possible. Thanks!