Folder sync issues with removable drive [Confirmed, will be improved]

till213

Uh and yes, I just noticed this as well: once 1Password complains about a "sync error" (in my case it is because my Network Attached Storage (NAS) is "sleeping" at the time when I login into my Mac) then the Sync settings (the folder) are reset and I have to re-set the path.

till213

Off course the issue is not only with a "sleeping NAS": as is described in the above linked thread the issue arises even in a much more common situation: when you take your laptop with you and your NAS is not accessible at all when you login. 1Password should then just "temporarily disable syncing" (maybe by noting that the file is really located on a network share and stuff like this is expected to happen) and resume syncing as soon as the network share becomes available again.

till213

Just to bump this thread here: I ran into similar problems after upgrading to 4.3 (Mac App Store version). Maybe my conclusion that 1Password would lose its Folder Sync settings after pressing "Ignore" were a little bit too quick (I got the impression from another thread really, and after my own Sync Settings they were indeed empty - but maybe that was because I clicked on "Fix" in the Notification, cannot remember right now).

My wish was that the OS X message "Connection not available" message would not appear (I cannot remember seeing that one in 4.2 - or maybe it appeared, but just once. In 4.3 it appears like half a dozen+ times after login), and that the follow-up 1Password Notification would also appear just once (without sound!), and when I would click on "Ignore" I would let 1Password know that "I am aware of the problem and don't care right now - please keep on polling and resume as soon as the network share becomes available again".

But most importantly, I want to emphasise the importance of having the possibility to sync without any "cloud service"! Especially in those "Goto Error" days of recent ;)

So the ultimate solution would off course be to have Wi-Fi sync between desktops (and I am absolutely fine to trigger this process manually and only when needed, as I don't really need a "constant sync process").

Thanks for your great support!

till213

Just as cross-reference to my own thread: http://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/24034/1pw-4-3-folder-sync-via-sleeping-nas#latest

till213

Two more findings:

• This morning when I booted my iMac (running OS X 10.8.5) I paid attention whether my NAS would "wake up" or not - and this time it did! It appears that the request coming from the OS to mount my network share /sync sometimes wakes up my NAS, sometimes not (*) (this is off course totally out of control of 1Password and not the point of discussion)

• Most importantly, it seems that I can disable sound for notificications, see attachment ;)

Still, if 1Password could handle the situation more gracefully when the folder is not readable at any given time (maybe by remembering that the given location is a network drive, if there's an OS API for that, and then be more forgiving than when knowing that the folder is on a local drive), and only show a Notificication once instead of N times, that would still be very helpful for the "login experience".

(*) I did not yet do exhaustive tests, yesterday I mainly tried with my MacBook Pro 2010 running 10.9.2, so the fact that the network packets sometimes do wake up the NAS and sometimes not could also be related to the network stack in those OSes. However I seem to remember that yesterday I also got the "Connection failed" OS messages on my iMac (10.8.5) earlier in the day (yesterday).

But againg, whether my NAS wakes up or not is not the matter - the question is really how 1Password reacts (should react) to unreachable folders on network shares in the general sense.

somainer

update

Argh... the honeymoon is over! Although it appears that additions to either vault (on MacMini or MacBook Air) are reflected in the other vault once a re-connection is made on my home network, as are deletions of items, or changes to passwords of items... if I change ONLY the name of an item in one vault (e.g., from "Andrew Passport" to "Andrew - Passport" on the MacBook Air) then that change is NOT updated in the other vault (i.e, on the MacMin is still appears at "Andrew Passport").

Support folks indicated to me in a email that this had been fixed recently. And I can confirm that, using BETA-7, name changes of items are now being handled just fine when using folder sync between 2 macs. Thanks AgileBits developers!

FWIW, in some limited experimenting with wifi sync between my MBA and my iPhone I have observed the same problem - that changes to passwords are synced correctly between the two devices, but simple changes in names often is not.

HOWEVER, the problem is still occuring when using wifi sync betwenn Mac and iPhone

Megan

Hi @shesmer‌,

I would like to apologize for the delay in responding to you here but we experienced a surge in support requests recently. We're doing the best we can to get back to our usual speedy replies as soon as possible.

I've merged your post with an existing discussion on Folder Sync in 4.3. We are currently investigating a few anomalies here, and we'll be sure to update as soon as we have something further.

Thanks so much for your patience, we'll do what we can to have this sorted out as soon as possible!

shesmer

Thanks for getting back, even though late.

somainer

update

In some limited experimenting with wifi sync between my MBA and my iPhone I have observed the same problem - that changes to passwords are synced correctly between the two devices, but simple changes in names often is not.

This has been fixed too - since updating today to iOS Version 4.5.1 & Mac Version 4.4 (440002) Agile Web Store, simple changes in names are now being synced. Thanks for the quick fix AgileBits team!

Meek

Hi @somainer,

Awesome, thanks for letting us know this is working better for you!

MikeT

Hi @kuba and/or @till213‌,

I have a Synology NAS that I'm currently testing the Folder sync with. I haven't been able to reproduce the problem yet, OS X is remounting the drive each time 1Password syncs.

I just installed the latest DSM 5.0 update on my Synology NAS, which took the device off. OS X didn't whine yet, all I see right now is a notification prompt:

I clicked on Ignore, which disable the sync for now. As soon as my NAS is back on and the volume is reconnected, the sync is then automatically enabled for me in 1Password app when I checked the Sync Preferences. I made some changes and it shows up.

Rebooting didn't bring up any connection errors either.

Is your Synology set to sleep the drive(s) aggressively? If so, what is it set to?

somainer

@MikeT, thank you for taking the time to look into the issue... To clarify, I am syncing to a TimeCapsule, NOT a Synology NAS - see my original post here. But I am guessing that whether one is using a Synology NAS or a TimeCapsule that the issues are likely the same, and that you can test them by temporarily disabling access to your network (e.g., by turning ethernet and/or or wifi access off)

ISSUE #1 - if 1Password is open when I disconnect from my home network, then "Ignore" doesn't work (i.e., the sync folder info is NOT retained),
per my post here,

ISSUE #2 - when using 1Password (with more than one vault) whilst disconnected from my home network, there is an unacceptably long delay when switching to vaults which have previously been configured for folder sync, per my post here

MikeT

Hi @somainer,

I'm sorry, I meant @kuba and/or @til213, the folks reporting with Synology NAS. I updated my post to correct that.

ISSUE #1 - if 1Password is open when I disconnect from my home network, then "Ignore" doesn't work (i.e., the sync folder info is NOT retained), per my post here,

It's not meant to, the sync will be disabled until the drive is mounted again, once it is, the sync is automatically re-enabled. I'm guessing what we need to do here is add some kind of text to the Sync preferences to indicate the previous Folder used for syncing is not found.

ISSUE #2 - when using 1Password (with more than one vault) whilst disconnected from my home network, there is an unacceptably long delay when switching to vaults which have previously been configured for folder sync, per my post here

Confirmed now. Here's the video that I recorded to show the hanging issue and also that 1Password does re-enable the sync once the folder is mounted.

I'll file the bug report for the hanging issue and also for adding text to the Sync Preferences about the inaccessible Folder sync.

shesmer

I also updated to 4.4 and it kind of works as long as you click IGNORE in that notification, but that notification is very annoying as it pops up every time. Is there a way to Ignore for good so that it doesn't come up again ?

sjk

Hi @shesmer,

We'll look to improve this so you're not repeated pestered by 1Password Sync - Problem detected notifications and selecting Ignore to retain sync configurations with resources expected/intended to be temporarily unavailable relatively frequently. I'm sure at least @till213 would appreciate that, too. :)

shesmer

awesome. thanks for the quick answer.

sjk

You're welcome, @shesmer. It's also tempting to select Fix… instead of Ignore in the notification, which isn't the ideal response for cases like this.

cytotoxic

I have been experiencing a similar issue I believe. I have a USB stick inserted into my Airport Extreme, to which I would like to sync my 1Password key file. It works fine after setting it up, but after putting the computer to sleep and waking it, 1Password will popup a message saying there is a problem with my preferences and I can either ignore or fix it. When I go into the preferences panel of 1Password the sync settings are reset (i.e. the folder location is gone).
If I select ignore, and manually reconnect the Airport drive, then go back into the preferences panel the sync settings are not preserved. It is very frustrating.
Ideally the settings should be saved and sync delayed until the drive is accessible later on, although I am not sure why the drive isn't accessible immediately because it mounts automatically at logon and wake from sleep.

sjk

Hi @cytotoxic,

Which version of 1Password are you running now? With 4.4, the syncing configuration should be reenabling in a scenario like you've described (after selecting Ignore in the notification) once the folder where the keychain data is stored is available again, even when connecting through an AirPort Extreme.

Has 1Password been left running when this problem occurs after sleeping and waking your Mac? Could you try quitting 1Password before sleeping, opening it fresh waking, and see if that makes any difference? Thanks!

cytotoxic

Hi, I am running 1Password Version 4.4 (440001) from the Mac App Store
I have the 1Password mini app running at all times, I'll see if quitting it makes a difference and report back

sjk

Hi @cytotoxic,

If you've only been leaving 1Password mini running, not the main application, it'll be interesting to know the results of it being quit before system sleeping and restarted after system waking. Thanks for your help with testing and feedback.

cytotoxic

Hmm it seems that the gremlins have gone away and everything seems to be working as it should now, even with 1Password mini running which is awesome. I'll keep an eye on it and report back if anything resurfaces. Thanks guys!

sjk

I'm glad to hear them gremlins be gone now, @cytotoxic, and hope they stay wherever they went. :)

till213

Hi folks,

sorry, haven't watched this issue for a long time. But I can confirm that with version 4.4.1 (from MAS) I still get the notification when I boot my iMac (and the NAS is "sleeping" at that time), but when I click ignore, do some other stuff, wake up my NAS (as others have pointed out, it can really be any media which is "temporarily not available", even an external hard disk which is switched off), and when I check the Preferences Sync settings then they are still there!

Issue fixed - thanks!

till213

By the way: in case you are really using a NAS which "sleeps" (by the way only a few Synology models do that "Deep Sleep": they really go into "hibernate mode" and shut down pretty much everything, except for listening on the network interface whether they receive network packets targeted at them) and you want to "wake it up" whenever you boot your Mac and 1password wants to sync with a network folder:

Create "dynamic mount points" with "automount" - this requires some knowledge on the command line and fiddling around with /etc/auto_master (administrator rights required, off course). I won't go into details, but here are just my config files:

bash-3.2$ more auto_master 
#
# Automounter master map
#
+auto_master            # Use directory service
/net                    -hosts          -nobrowse,hidefromfinder,nosuid
/home                   auto_home       -nobrowse,hidefromfinder
/Network/Servers        -fstab
/-                      -static
# DiskStation
/Network/DiskStation    auto_diskstation

and

bash-3.2$ sudo more auto_diskstation 
Lightroom       -fstype=afp afp://my_user_name:my_password@192.168.x.y/Lightroom
iTunes          -fstype=afp afp://my_user_name:my_password@192.168.x.y/iTunes

Now if you cd into /Network/DiskStation/Lightroom that will automagically mount the "Lightroom" share on the NAS! Create a symlink like ~/Pictures/Lightroom -> /Network/DiskStation/Lightroom and here you go, you have a "folder" at ~/Pictures/Lightroom which is mounted whenever you access it.

In the same way you can auto-mount your "Sync" (any shared folder name) folder and make 1password synchronise with that folder.

I tried it and it works, however I stopped doing so, since I don't want to "wake up" my NAS each time I boot either my iMac or MacBook - only if I really need access to important data, such as my "Lightroom" photos, iTunes media etc.

HTH someone

till213

Oh, and yes, unfortunatelly you really need to specifiy your NAS user name and password (really the ones that you setup on your NAS to access those shared folders, not your OS X user/password) in clear-text in the /etc/auto_diskstation file! So make sure only administrators can read that file (hence the "sudo more auto_diskstation" command above, in case you wondered already).

till213

And one last thing: /etc/auto_diskstation can really be any name, as long as it matches with the configuration name set in the /etc/auto_master configuration (which exists on every OS X installation - just add the corresponding lines as indicated above).

sjk

Welcome back, @till213‌. :)

It's really good to hear that your folder sync issue has been resolved with version 4.4.1 - hurray!

Thanks a lot for posting those details about your setup with the Synology NAS. I also hope that's helpful for someone. :)

And if there's ever anything we can assist you with please don't hesitate to ask. Cheers!

somainer

@MikeT‌

Have issues you discussed in your 3 May 2014 post been fixed in v5?

MikeT

Hi @somainer,

Unfortunately, no, we haven't gotten to this yet. The bug (OPM-1814) is still a major open bug in our tracker and we do want to fix this in the near future.