Duplicate entries appear in Windows vault only [Potential issue with Cloud Station, investigating]

GadgetComa

I'm see duplicate entries in 1Password for Windows that don't appear on my Mac or iOS devices. Some of the entries are actual duplicates while others have slight differences. I am using a folder on my Synology NAS server to store the vault and sync that to my Mac and Windows using Synology's Cloud Station sync software. My iOS devices sync via WiFi to my Mac. I did not have this duplicate problem previously. Unfortunately, there are a "few" extra variables - I've upgraded to Windows 10 (although I don't recall seeing the problem with Windows 7) and have upgraded 1Password beta recently. The Mac version of 1Password is 5.4.BETA-32, running on El Capitan Beta 15A262e (I don't remember if this is public beta 3 or 4. I've lost track. It's the latest beta.) Aside from the support nightmare of so many betas, any suggestions? :)

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1Password Version: 4.6.0.585
Extension Version: 4.4.3.2
OS Version: Windows 10
Sync Type: folder

MikeT

Hi @GadgetComa,

I've moved this to our general Windows forum as this is not related to our beta version of Windows and we don't have a beta right now anyway.

I would recommend not using Cloud Station for now, we just got a report that Cloud Station were causing some kind of issues with not syncing all items. Please disable the sync with Cloud Station for now.

@AlexHoffmann on our team has a Synology NAS that he will test soon with 1Password and we'll find out what's going on.

I did use Cloud Station in the past and it wasn't causing any issues but it is possible a recent update has changed this.

Can you tell me if you're using the agilekeychain or the opvault format for your 1Password data file?

GadgetComa

I'm using the opvault format.

I guess the only option for syncing between Windows and Mac is Dropbox then, correct? (Until the issues with Synology are resolved.)

MikeT

Hi @GadgetComa,

Correct, you can also use different local sync tool for now. We'll follow up as soon as we know more about Cloud Station.

GadgetComa

Thanks, Mike. Let me know if I can help troubleshoot and/or beta test Cloud Station. Do you know if BitTorrent Sync has similar issues? Is there any other local sync tool you suggest I try?

MikeT

Hi @GadgetComa,

We will, we just need to test it ourselves first and if we can't reproduce it, we will start asking you questions.

BitTorrent Sync, we have quite a bit of users using that with no issues. It seems to work more reliable than Cloud Station for sure.

I'd strongly recommend backing up your data before trying BitTorrent Sync and keep an eye out for data integrity issues.

In addition, if you have a lot of duplicates that you don't see from the Mac and iOS devices, we can help you push a fresh file from the Mac to your Windows without having to manually fix the ones in your Windows program. If you'd like that, please email us at support+windows@agilebits.com with the link to this thread.

GadgetComa

Awesome. Thanks so much for you support!

MikeT

You're welcome!

AlexHoffmann

@GadgetComa

While investigating this issue more closely, we've found a possible source for these issues.
We were able to reporduce sync issues (like your's where items were duplicated) when the client and the server were tought they were in different time zones or had different times set.

Can you please compare the time and date on your server and your client devices?

GadgetComa

I've confirmed that all devices are in the same timezone and the time is in sync. In fact, they all sync to the same ntp server.

MikeT

Hi @GadgetComa,

Is the NTP server hosted on the NAS or you're using an external one that the NAS is syncing from? Is this a time server that Synology is hosting?

When we have everything including the NAS, the server, and the clients in sync, it works just fine. Synology's team also mentioned that one of their time servers did get out of sync recently and they're currently investigating more reports that is related to this issue.

Unfortunately, this does mean that the issue is in Cloud Station, not 1Password.

GadgetComa

I'm syncing the NAS and Mac to pool.ntp.org. I just realized I didn't check the Windows settings. It's set to update time automatically, but doesn't say what NTP server. I'm guessing it's Microsoft. I also have the setting in Parallels to sync Windows time to the Mac. Are there better settings for any of this?

The time and timezone settings in Windows are in sync with the Mac.

MikeT

Hi @GadgetComa,

Can you tell me your Synology's DSM version? There was an update released a few weeks ago that had some changes for NTP and I'm wondering if you have it installed.

GadgetComa

I'm using DSM 5.2-5592 Update 3 with a date of 8/14/2015.

MikeT

Hi @GadgetComa,

Any chance you can recall having this issue before 8/14? Maybe try to sort the data by date in 1Password and look at the oldest duplicate to see if it was created before 8/14 or after.

GadgetComa

I've already switched to Dropbox and the duplicates are gone. If the problem predates the DSM release, then I should be able to go back to Cloud Station sync and not see duplicates, correct? If so, I can try that tomorrow and report back.

GadgetComa

I just realized that I didn't specify one detail that may be key: when I saw duplicates, it was only in the vault on Windows. Even when there were duplicates there, I didn't see duplicates on the Mac or iOS.

MikeT

Hi @GadgetComa,

Be sure to back up your 1Password vault first before trying this, so that if the problem reappears, you should be able to quickly revert to the previous backup.

Please keep an eye out on the date/timestamps as well, to make sure Cloud Station is writing dates correctly.

I just realized that I didn't specify one detail that may be key: when I saw duplicates, it was only in the vault on Windows.

We saw this on all platforms, not just Windows when we tested with out of sync time service. It is possible your Windows PC was out of sync at that time but corrected itself later but it's hard to confirm that.

GadgetComa

I just switched back to Cloud Station and there are no duplicates. The item counts match exactly. I'll play around with adding and removing entries and report back.

MikeT

That's great to hear. Please do keep us informed if anything changes. We'll let Synology know about your progress here.

GadgetComa

Thanks again for your help. Please thank the Synology folks too.

MikeT

You're welcome and we'll let them know.

Thanks again.