Several times now I have had multiple lengthy copies of datasets in Secure notes

hdrasin

It's as if it is copying all of the data in the file and duplicating it five times. Some of these files are fairly large and it ends up creating huge, difficult to work with entries. I do go back and prune all of the duplicates, but then at some point they appear again. I'm not sure why this is happening but please make it stop. Thank you.

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1Password Version: 6.3.1
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: 10.11.5
Sync Type: dropbox
Referrer: forum-search:Multiple copies of data sets in secure notes

rickfillion

Hi @hdrasin,

This can happen if you edited the secure note on multiple devices without the changes propagating everywhere first. When 1Password syncs the secure note, it sees that there are edits on both sides of the fence and there isn't enough information to know which are the ones you'd like to keep. So it does the conservative approach: keep both, but separate them with a marker. This is great for making sure that data isn't lost, but can make for a bit of a mess as you've seen.

I hope that this explanation helps.

Rick

hdrasin

Thank you for your reply.
While I sync 1Password on my phone, my iPod, and my laptop and do sync my primary vault with dropbox, I only ever edit Secure notes on my laptop, never anywhere else. I assume when it syncs it knows which is the most current file that it should keep and that it should discard the older file.
Harry

Megan

Hi Harry ( @hdrasin ),

If you're only editing on one device, you should see this less ... However, are you saving and editing the same note multiple times in a short span of time? Is this happening with all your Notes or only a select few?

hdrasin

Hello.
I only edit and save the note when there are password or information changes–anywhere from once a day to once a month, but certainly not frequently and rarely more than once a day. It happens with many of the notes–but not all. Those that are rarely changed seem not to be duplicated.
Thanks,
Harry

ag_kevin

Hi @hdrasin ,

I'd love it if we could capture some information from you. The next time you edit a note, please take note of the date and time edited the note. Then keep an eye on it. When you see the contents duplicate, take note of the date and time then as well. Following that, please generate and send a diagnostic report using the instructions below:

Sending Diagnostics Reports (Mac)

Attach the Diagnostics Report(s) to an email message addressed to support+forum@agilebits.com. Please include the dates and times when you edited the note and saw the contents duplicate.

Please do not post your Diagnostics Report(s) in the forums, but please do include a link to this thread in your email, along with your forum handle so that we can "connect the dots" when we see your Diagnostics Report(s) 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 report(s) and ensure that this issue is dealt with quickly. :)

Once we see the report and the dates we should be able to find where the problem occurred and see what happened.

Cheers,
Kevin

fourwheelcycle

I have had the same Secure Notes "fenced entries" problem in the past, but it has been infrequent and the fenced entries have always been duplicates of each other. Today however, I came across a major problem in my Secure Note that contains the Recovery Keys Mac gives me when I encrypt my computers using FileVault.

About a month ago I had to un-encrypt, then re-encrypt one of my Macs. After I finished the re-encryption I edited my 1P6 Secure Note to put in the new Recovery Key. Today I was reviewing my Secure Notes and I realized I had a fenced entry in my FileVault note that contained a different Recovery Key for that Mac. Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing which Recovery Key is the correct one. For now, I am keeping both entries. I had added a note to include the date for any future new edits so that I can always identify the most recent, correct, version of the info.

Does AgileBits know what makes this problem occur? Can AgileBits tell me, with confidence, whether the most recent entry is higher up or lower down in the sequence of fenced entries?

My problem does not involve editing in iOS, or editing the Secure Note on multiple devices without the changes propagating everywhere first. I only entered the new Recovery Key once and I entered it from the Mac which I had just re-encrypted.

khad

@fourwheelcycle,

I'm sorry for the trouble here.

Since conflicted copies are appended (i.e. to the end of the Secure Note), the older content should be at the top. For something as important as a FileVault recovery key, I can't in good conscience recommend deleting either one. The new one absolutely should be at the bottom. But if there is a strange bug that we don't know about yet… it's not a risk I would take if the same thing happened to a Secure Note of mine with my FileVault recovery key in it.

I don't know that it would help very much without knowing the exact time/date when the modification was made, but you could email us a Diagnostics Report. (Follow the steps above.) There is a chance that we may find a clue in the report.

The best thing would be if you can reproduce it (preferably with a test Secure Note and not any of your important data). Then, with the time/date known, we can narrow down our search in a Diagnostics Report generated as close as possible to the time the conflicted copy of the Secure Note was appended.

fourwheelcycle

khad,

I have backups in my hidden Library that go back to 2015, long before I made the Secure Note change. I certainly don't want to restore from these old backups, but is there a way to view or print them w/o overwriting my current vault? If so, I could just go to a previous backup and see which recovery key existed before the current double (fenced) recovery keys.

khad

@fourwheelcycle,

Restoring a backup will restore all the items in that backup. However, you can do something like this:

1. Create a new backup of your current data.
2. Restore the old backup.
3. Copy the recovery key.
4. Restore the backup you created in step 1.
5. Paste the recovery key.

fourwheelcycle

khad,

It worked. I figured out which Recovery Key was the earlier one and it turned out to be the one at the bottom of my two fenced "almost identical" Secure Notes. I changed my Sync to None before I did this scary exercise. While my Sync was set to None I edited my top Secure Note (above the fence) to indicate the lower Note (below the fence) contained the older Recovery Key. Then I set my Sync back to Folder (which for me is a network drive on my Time Capsule) and it said it had found new data that would be merged with my existing data. I clicked OK and when it synced it gave me a third fenced Secure Note, with my most recent edited Note located at the top of the three fenced Notes.

Thanks for helping me do this. Based on my experience, my version of 1P6 for Mac appears to put the most recently edited Secure Note in the top position when new, apparently conflicting, info is found upon syncing.

In case this additional information is helpful to you, all of my other Macs have been turned off all day, so the Mac that I recently re-encrypted is the only one that has been turned on, with its 1P installation actively syncing, during this whole exercise.

Ben

Thanks so much for the update, @fourwheelcycle!

I assume you've read the warning about folder sync?

Folder Sync · 1Password 6 for Mac

WARNING: The following guide features stunts performed either by professionals or under the supervision of professionals. Accordingly, AgileBits and your tech-savvy friends must insist that no one attempt to recreate or re-enact any stunt or activity performed in this guide without proper protection (i.e. backups). Folder Sync should only be configured with a folder on a local or removable drive (e.g. external hard drive or USB flash drive). Configuring it with a network volume (e.g. Time Capsule or other NAS) may cause problems if the device goes offline.

Just making sure. :)

Ben