Fail to connect to mini happens now much more than before [App Store update issue]

Ambis

I have three Mac I use frequently. I'm getting the "Connecting to Password Mini..." very often nowadays.

Also all the help at https://support.1password.com/error-connect-to-mini/ is outdated. First, the path to 1Password app is incorrect, it's not "1Password 6.app" but "1Password.app" and using the xattr command gives me a ton of Permission denied errors.

Fix your app please.

Otherwise it works just great.

I also want to add that I have absolutely no idea whether this post is public or not. There's your team member's faces above but the page title is Support Forum so I'm guessing this post might be public?

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1Password Version: 6.2.1
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: osx 10.11.4
Sync Type: icloud
Referrer: kb:error-connect-to-mini

Ambis

I don't like this how when I ask the team for help, my question is actually posted publicly when everything implies I'm asking the team only. I'm glad I didn't provide any personal information :|

danco

Hmm, I would consider a support FORUM to be public, I've never known one that is not. I agree with you about personal information, that's why community moderators like myself (who are volunteers who like 1PW, not AgileBits staff) and staff remove personal information as soon as we see it. There are ways we can provide such information to the staff.

AGAlumB

I don't like this how when I ask the team for help, my question is actually posted publicly when everything implies I'm asking the team only. I'm glad I didn't provide any personal information :|

@Ambis: Indeed, that's why we link to both the forums and email on our support site. In most cases there's no need to provide personal information to find a resolution, with the exception of licensing and payment issues. Also, having these discussion forums often allow people to find answers to common questions faster, as something that helps one person can often help many others.

In that spirit, I'll respond here so that others can also benefit, but feel free to email us at support+forums@agilebits.com if you have any other questions and would prefer to ask them privately.

I have three Mac I use frequently. I'm getting the "Connecting to Password Mini..." very often nowadays.

Me too! This particular problem is related to the App Store update process, and from your description, it sounds like that's the version you're using. I'll go into more detail below.

Also all the help at https://support.1password.com/error-connect-to-mini/ is outdated. First, the path to 1Password app is incorrect, it's not "1Password 6.app" but "1Password.app" and using the xattr command gives me a ton of Permission denied errors.

The knowledgebase article you mentioned refers only to "1Password 6.app", which is the version from from the AgileBits Store, because it only applies to that version.

Quarantining happens when an app is downloaded from the internet. It's flagged so that you get the "are you sure you want to open this?" prompt when running it the first time, since it's important to be careful about opening anything you download from a website. But of course if someone knows they got it from agilebits.com, it's safe for them to open it. But the problem is that OS X sometimes fails to remove the "quarantine" flag from the app when the user does this. That's what the Terminal command is for.

"1Password.app", on the other hand, is the Mac App Store version, and since it's downloaded directly from Apple, there's no need for a warning or quarantine procedures. So that's where this other issue comes in.

When the Mac App Store runs an update, it quits the main 1Password app, but does not touch 1Password mini (which is part of the app bundle). Then when 1Password starts up after the update, the old mini (instead of the updated one) is still running, and then it cannot connect. Our devs are working to see if there’s anything we can do here, but given that the App Store handles the update process (and 1Password has no control or notice for this), it likely can’t be fixed programmatically. The workaround is to simply use ⌘ ⌃ Q (Command Control Q) to fully kill 1Password before running a Mac App Store update. Alternatively, simply restarting the app completely afterward (or restarting the Mac, is OS X is stubbornly not releasing the lock) will resolve the issue.

Anecdotally, I wonder if something changed with the App Store this past year. I don't remember having this problem before except occasionally, but lately nearly any app that is running has a similar issue during the update process:

1. App Store complains that app is running and needs to be closed before updating
2. App Store offers to close the app before continuing, agree
3. App Store starts updating the app
4. App Store relaunches the app before update is complete
5. App Store complains again about the app is running
6. Repeat, until the app is launched after update is complete

Usually I have to tell the App Store to close it 2-3 times during this process. If there are multiple running apps that need updating, as annoying as this process is, it's still faster than individually closing multiple apps manually before updating them, so I just deal with it. But if you don't want to have to quit the app yourself or wait for a solution to this App Store idiosyncrasy, you can alway use the AgileBits Store version instead. Since it manages it's own update process, it can (and does) terminate itself properly before launching the new version. Any Mac App Store customer of 1Password can email us a copy of their receipt at support+licenses@agilebits.com and we'll happily generate a permanent AgileBits Store license for them. Cheers! :)