Error message suggesting I have multiple copies of 1Password on my computer

ronaercc

I get the following error message when I launch 1Password 5: The system launched an incorrect version of 1Password mini. Instead of '/Applications/1Password 5.app/Contents/LoginItems' it started '~/Downloads/1Password 5.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems’.
I clicked on “Learn more…” icon and was taken to a 1Password support article telling how to remove multiple copies of the app. I do not have any other copies of 1Password (I did a Spotlight search to be sure), and my backup drive is not connected. However, I DID just update my OS X Yosemite, and this error cropped up immediately after restarting my computer, and that error message (a different one than when launching the app afterward) said that this version of 1Password 5 is not compatible with my operating system. I checked, and my 1Password version is up-to-date.

---

1Password Version: 5.3.2
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: 10.10.4
Sync Type: iCloud

Stephen_C

Are you sure you don't have a copy of 1Password in your Downloads folder? That's what the error message is telling you and if you do have a copy there and drag it to the trash your problem will be solved. If you don't in fact have a copy there just try rebooting your Mac and see if that solves the problem.

Stephen

AGAlumB

@ronaercc: Indeed. Stephen_C is correct: the best thing to do is to make sure you don't have any extra copies of 1Password hanging around, and then restart your Mac to make sure that they aren't hanging around in memory as well. Please let us know how it turns out! :)

WDC

I have had this happen several times when I have updated 1PW 5... the most recent is V 5.4 BETA 22 ... Two additional copies (one each) of 1PW were located on my daily clone and weekly clone drives. After updating, I had to restart and then delete both those copies. (It would not let me delete them without restarting the machine.) This never used to be a problem when updating. I am not sure why it is now a problem, but it makes the update process very cumbersome. I think it is something that needs to be addressed. Updating used to be a matter of hitting update, then update and relaunch. When my next clones were created, the new version would be copied. I think that is a much better solution, especially since if there is some kind of glitch, I have a backup ready and waiting.

ronaercc

Nope, I’m sure. I looked in Downloads, I looked in Applications, and then I did a Spotlight search to make sure there wasn’t something I was overlooking, and nothing. I even resorted my Downloads folder alphabetically to check. Just minutes before I did my OS X update, it worked fine, and then quit working after I restarted the machine. I don’t know where to look for the BETA copies. I only recently upgraded to V 5, and I’m on V 5.3.2 now. Since my initial post, I can now open the application (after restarting again). I still get the error message, and it won’t work within Safari or Firefox…. but I can at least manually go get passwords.

Drew_AG

Hi @WDC,

I'm sorry you're been running into this problem! This is actually due to a strange issue in Yosemite which causes it to open the wrong copy of 1Password mini. It can happen when Yosemite finds multiple copies of the 1Password app - in your case, it sounds like it's finding the other copy (or copies) in your backup/clone drives.

I agree this is something that needs to be addressed, but unfortunately there's not much we can do because this is actually a Yosemite issue that must be fixed by Apple on the OS level. This doesn't affect many apps because not many apps are running two separate components at the same time.

For now, the workaround is to delete copies of the 1Password app from your backup drive(s), and if possible, exclude the 1Password app from future backups. The 1Password app is just the app - your 1Password data is stored elsewhere on your Mac and will still be backed up. You can always re-download the 1Password app again if necessary.

I hope this helps avoid the problem, but please let us know if you have more questions about that! :)

---

Hi @ronaercc,

I would normally recommend the steps in this knowledgebase article for helping to find and remove extra copies of the 1Password app, but it sounds like you've tried those suggestions already. One idea I had is that if you only did a Spotlight search for the specific app name (i.e. 1Password 5.app), you should try searching for simply 1Password as different versions may have slightly different app names. (It's possible you already did that, but I thought it was worth mentioning, just in case.)

Something strange definitely seems to be happening on your Mac, as it isn't normally possible to open the app at all when that error appears. To help us figure out what's going on, I'd like to ask you to create a Diagnostics Report from your Mac: https://support.1password.com/diagnostics/mac.html

Attach the Diagnostics Report to an email message addressed to support+forum@agilebits.com.

Please do not post your Diagnostics Report in the forums, but please do include a link to this thread in your email, along with your forum username so that we can "connect the dots" when we see your Diagnostics Report in our inbox.

You should receive an automated reply from our BitBot assistant with a Support ID number. Please post that number here so we can track down the reports and make sure you receive a reply as quickly as possible.

Once we see the reports we should be able to better assist you. Thanks in advance! :)

ronaercc

Hmmm, interesting because I haven’t even had my backup drive plugged in when I’ve tried it… so there’s nothing to delete. In fact, I haven’t once had my backup drive plugged in since I did the OS X update. I guess I’ll just wait until the next update...

ronaercc

Also, when I have done the Spotlight search, all I put in the search is “1Password” with no additional words.

Drew_AG

Hi @ronaercc,

I had a feeling you had tried searching for just "1Password" but thought I'd mention it just in case. :)

Have you sent in a diagnostics report? We might find something in there that will help us figure out why this is happening.

ronaercc

Yeah, I sent a diagnostic report yesterday. Sent it twice, actually, because I forgot to attach the link to this thread the first time.

Megan

Hi @ronaercc,

Thanks for sending that Report in! I took a quick look in our system, but I was unable to find an email from the address you have listed in your forum profile. You should have received an automated email response when you sent the Report in. If you could let me know the Support ID that you received from our BitBot assistant, I'd be happy to track it down and ensure that it gets answered quickly. :)

WDC

Interesting. I just did the update today to:
1Password 5
Version 5.4.BETA-26 (540026)
Agile Beta

And it restarted fine. Version 5.4 BETA-25 resides on my daily clone and 5.4 BETA-24 on my weekly clone... None of the above occurred ... either y'all fixed the problem, or perhaps Yosemite is possessed. In any event. All is well on this end now ... wonder if anyone else has noticed this "fix."

littlebobbytables

Hi @WDC,

If the post is regarding control over which copy of 1Password mini is launched then we've made no chances because for the moment our hands are tied. We can't control which copy of 1Password mini Spotlight launches which is why we recommend ensuring no other copies are continuously accessible. We tend to recommend either excluding 1Password from the backup or clone or the more drastic approach of disabling Spotlight on the external drives. Spotlight simply launches the first one it finds although I am a little surprised that it doesn't somehow check /Applications/ first as a default. So as long as you keep multiple versions accessible I would expect you may see the error message.

Now if I've misunderstood the post at all I do apologise.

WDC

"I" have not seen the error message, and the correct copy is launching. Go figure...

AGAlumB

And it restarted fine. Version 5.4 BETA-25 resides on my daily clone and 5.4 BETA-24 on my weekly clone... None of the above occurred ... either y'all fixed the problem, or perhaps Yosemite is possessed. In any event. All is well on this end now ... wonder if anyone else has noticed this "fix."

@WDC: Indeed! It's pretty crazy. Anecdotally, I've got at least 4 copies of 1Password that I can think of (and possibly more on other volumes) and I've only run into this problem a handful of times over the years.

We don't have any insight into the why or how OS X sometimes plays 'musical minis', but since this problem seems to have gotten worse with 10.10 and then slowly better with subsequent updates (fingers crossed), I'm hopeful that we see this go away with 10.11.

sstrum

This issue of disconnecting backup drives truly needs to be addressed. I have used 1Password from the early days of this app and never have I had a request to disconnect backup drives. For many of us, this means disconnect Time Machine backups, and disconnect external drives if a user is routinely backing up and creating a bootable backup with an app like SuperDuper. This is ridiculous to have to do this and a workaround should be found. I agree that a large part of these problems stems from Apple's so-called "updates" and for me the OS went to pot after Snow Leopard. I wonder if El Capitan will be any improvement after Yosemite.

littlebobbytables

Hi @sstrum,

El Capitan does not work any differently I'm afraid. 1Password mini is still controlled by launchd and that means successful launching is dependent on OS X launching the correct copy. The code we use to register 1Password mini is sandboxed so we have only one call we can make and it does not allow for a path to be supplied. As such we're at the whim of launchd. If it finds more than one copy it can and does launch the incorrect version. I'm surprised it doesn't favour /Applications/ for anything that is executed but that's just me. For now we have to work within this environment. Sorry.

danco

Hi @sstrum

It seems clear from what the AgileBits people have said that there isn't a technical solution to the problem.

Disconnecting other drives is a bad idea, as you say.

But there are the options of removing the drives from Spotlight (may or may not work, people's experience seems to differ), or of finding a way of not copying 1PW onto the other drives (will work, is a slight effort but only has to be done once).

AGAlumB

@sstrum: Well, you can always go through, open each copy of 1Password, verify that 1Password Preferences > General > Always keep 1Password mini running is unchecked, ⌘ ⌃ Q the app, and repeat until at last you're running the copy you want to be running (this is what I do, since I necessarily have multiple copies for testing).

Alternatively, simply not having multiple copies (after all, you don' need to back up the app — it can be re-downloaded at any time) will ensure that OS X isn't launching the wrong one.