Complicated Setup, iOS Stopped Syncing

Japester

I have friends who are a couple who have the following setup:

• Location 1: 1 Mac each
• Location 2: 1 Mac each
• 1 iPhone, 1 iPad each

That makes a total of 8 devices, all using the one 1Password vault.

They are not very computer literate. I have not used iCloud syncing, with one vault each, because the complexity and even the concept of multiple vaults is not something they could deal with. They are concerned about not being able to access each other's passwords, thus they share the same vault, shared through Dropbox. The initial location for the vault file was the default ~/Dropbox/1Password/1Password.agilekeychain. Every device was configured with the same Dropbox account, which belongs to her, so his computer and iOS devices were using her Dropbox.

This was all working until iOS 8. The Macs in Location 2, whch I've had access to, both had no problem syncing between them through Dropbox. I haven't verified the Macs in Location 2, but they never had a problem in the past. The four iOS devices can't be configured for Dropbox sync. The process fails after specifying Dropbox sync, then the vault, which it finds with no trouble. At the point of reading the vault, I get the error:

"The 1Password.agilekeychain file cannot be found in Dropbox. Syncing has been disabled.
"1Password encountered a problem."

I have deleted the app from the test iOS device and reinstalled the latest, 5.1.2. The Macs are using the latest, 5.0.2 (Mac App Store).

I reconfigured Dropbox a little as a test. I logged into his account on his Mac and hers on her Mac. I moved the vault file to ~/Dropbox/Share/1Password/1Password.agilekeychain, where Share is a shared folder between them. This works just as well on the Macs but made no difference to the iOS devices.

This is understandably a complicated setup. I'd rather use iCloud, but you can't share the vault in that configuration. Please advise.

Drew_AG

Hi @Japester,

That's very nice of you to help your friends with this issue! It can certainly seem complicated with all the Macs, iOS devices, and a shared vault in Dropbox, but hopefully it will be fairly easy to get the sync working again.

First, to make sure I understand - 1Password syncs correctly with Dropbox on all 4 Macs, but gets the error when trying to re-enable Dropbox sync on all 4 iOS devices. The couple is sharing the same Primary vault, so there are no secondary vaults involved. They are now using separate Dropbox accounts, but the Share/1Password/ folder in her Dropbox account is being shared with his Dropbox account, so they both have access to the same 1Password.agilekeychain file. Is that all correct?

If so, is the Dropbox app installed on each iOS device? If not, please install it and make sure they can each sign into their Dropbox accounts in the Dropbox app.

Next, please try this on each iOS device:

• Open the 1Password app and go to Settings > Sync.
• If it shows the Sync Service is set to Dropbox, tap that option, then tap Disable Sync and confirm you want to do that.
• Once the sync is disabled (or if it already was disabled), double-click the Home button and swipe up on 1Password to close it.
• Restart the iOS device (hold down the power button for a few seconds and "slide to power off", then turn it back on again).
• After restarting, open 1Password and go to Settings > Sync > Start Syncing.
• Choose Sync with Dropbox.
• When you see the Dropbox account name, tap on the name (do not tap on the 'i' icon).
• When asked to choose a vault, choose Share/1Password/1Password.agilekeychain.

Does that make any difference, or do you still get the same error message? If it's still a problem, let us know and we'll take it from there. Thanks!

Japester

Dear Drew;

Thanks very much for getting back to me on this.

Your assumptions about the configuration are correct. Both Dropbox and 1Password apps are installed on all 4 iOS devices. 1Password, when told to look at Dropbox for the vault, launched Dropbox and I authenticated, so that integration works.

When I get a chance, I will go through those steps and let you know what happens.

littlebobbytables

Fingers crossed @Japester‌ Let us know either way though.

Japester

1. Here's how it goes wrong.
2. Settings > Sync > Start Syncing > Sync with Dropbox.
3. The Dropbox account appears.
4. Tap Dropbox name, message:

"Searching for 1Password data in Dropbox."

5. Vault name appears:

"Share/1Password/1Password.agilekeychain

6. Tap vault name.
7. Message: "Please wait. Downloading encryption keys."
8. Message:

"Vault Mismatch
"It appears that the data in the Primary vault is different from the vault you selected in Dropbox. We recommend that you do not merge these vaults."

9. Tap "More Info".
10. Comparison page opens, tap "Merge These Vaults Anyway", confirm.
11. Enter Dropbox vault password.
12. Page changes, looks like it's going to load, then get the error:

"The 1Password.agilekeychain file cannot be found in Dropbox. Syncing has been disabled. 1Password encountered a problem."

Drew_AG

Hi @Japester,

I'm sorry that didn't work, but thank you for the exact details on what happened when you tried - it's very helpful for us! :)

Does the same thing happen on all four iOS devices? If so, one possibility would be a problem with the .agilekeychain file - however, you said the sync is working between all four Macs, so it seems like the .agilekeychain file is fine. Just to make sure, please try using the 1PasswordAnywhere feature to view the 1Password vault from a web browser on one of the Macs. Does that work?

Also, if possible, can you try using 1PasswordAnywhere from both of their Dropbox accounts? Let us know if that works or if it's a problem thanks!

Japester

It's been a long while, but I got back to them and resolved it.

I updated both Macs that I had access to and all iOS devices so they're all running the latest 1Password version. The iOS devices still failed at the same point.

Reasoning that perhaps there was something wrong with the keychain file itself, I created a new keychain and copied all items to it. The Macs and all the iOS devices had no trouble in connecting to and using the new keychain file in the shared Dropbox.

To clean up, I wanted to delete the original keychain file so that it wasn't present in the Mac 1Password interface and wouldn't appear in Dropbox. I've archived it in case it's needed in the future. These people seem to stumble over the most obscure issue possible, so I want to prevent them from ever seeing that keychain file. I was not able to delete it in 1PasswordMac, however, because it appears to be the default. How can I do this so it's gone and the new keychain is the default?

littlebobbytables

Hi @Japseter,

I might need your assistance in clarifying some details. You said your friends are running 1Password 5 everywhere. That would mean that each machine has a local vault in the form of an encrypted .sqlite database file which nobody ever sees. When we set up syncing we create an .agilekeychain.

So when you say.

I created a new keychain and copied all items to it.

Do you mean you created a secondary vault inside of 1Password? and that what you need assistance in doing is removing the original primary vault and using just this secondary one?

Certainly that is possible but I want to confirm before I set you off with a series of steps to do that. The steps essentially involve starting over and then pointing a blank copy of 1Password to the new (and working) .agilekeychain. So as you can see only if we need to.

Japester

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, I created a new vault on one of the Macs.

As I said, these people seem to complicate everything, so I would prefer it if I could set up the new vault as the default and only vault, and delete the original vault. Thanks.

littlebobbytables

Hi @Japester,

So basically once Mac has a Primary and Secondary vault which for the moment are identical as the secondary had everything from the primary copied over to it and that this new Secondary vault is now definitely being synced properly in Dropbox.

If that sounds like an accurate recap then here is what we're going to do on this final machine to get everything working the way you believe it should.

Primary vaults are special so we don't easily allow you to dispose of them but that isn't to say it isn't doable. What I would like you to do is to follow our Starting Over guide on this Mac. This will return the 1Password on this Mac to a point where it believes it hasn't been run before with no memory of any vaults. When you start it you can say you're an existing user and point it to the working .agilekeychain in their Dropbox.

That should hopefully be the end of your/their syncing woes with all the machines now working off the same .agilekeychain.

Please do let us know if you have any questions or even better if you're reporting success :smile:

ohaiyoo

I'm having this exact same issue on my iOS devices. I'm not quite following how I should resolve it.

Do I create a new vault or just start over on my Mac and point it to my existing vault?

ag_kevin

Hi @ohaiyoo,

You are not creating a new vault, just turning off sync on all of them, quitting and restarting the 1Password apps, and setting up sync again. To be safe, go into the Backup Preferences on your Mac and make a backup before proceeding. If you have any trouble using the steps above, please let us know.