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Firefox not syncing

  • 15 cavab
  • 7 have this problem
  • 15 views
  • Last reply by KyleM

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Just installed firefox on a new computer and imported all my bookmarks from chrome. Created a mozilla account to setup sync.

My work computer already had mozilla on it, so I made sure it was updated to 40.0.3, then logged into sync. I got the little bubble message that said that Sync was enabled and would begin shortly, however nothing is syncing. I've verified the settings in my account to make sure that all boxes for sync are checked, and even tried uninstalling and re-install firefox on the work computer. Still no sync. Additionally, I tried going to "history>tabs from other devices", but this opens up a page with nothing on it.

I'm not sure if there is a problem with the sync settings themselves, or if everything is correct, but it just won't begin the sync process.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Just installed firefox on a new computer and imported all my bookmarks from chrome. Created a mozilla account to setup sync. My work computer already had mozilla on it, so I made sure it was updated to 40.0.3, then logged into sync. I got the little bubble message that said that Sync was enabled and would begin shortly, however nothing is syncing. I've verified the settings in my account to make sure that all boxes for sync are checked, and even tried uninstalling and re-install firefox on the work computer. Still no sync. Additionally, I tried going to "history>tabs from other devices", but this opens up a page with nothing on it. I'm not sure if there is a problem with the sync settings themselves, or if everything is correct, but it just won't begin the sync process. Thanks for any help you can provide!

All Replies (15)

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I forgot to mention, I did receive emails from firefox sync saying that a new device was added, but again, nothing is actually syncing.

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You can check the about:sync-log page via the location/address bar to see if there are error logs available. You can temporarily set the services.sync.log.appender.file.logOnSuccess pref to true on the about:config page to also get a log of a successful Sync.

Do not forget to reset the services.sync.log.appender.file.logOnSuccess pref to false after you have finished testing Sync or you will end up with a lot of unnecessary log files once the issue is resolved.

You can upload a recent log if the log is too big to put in a reply.

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I'll be careful" to continue.

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Here is the first error log:

1442847044099 Sync.Service INFO Loading Weave 1.42.0 1442847044101 Sync.Engine.Clients DEBUG Engine initialized 1442847044101 Sync.Engine.Clients DEBUG Resetting clients last sync time 1442847044106 Sync.Engine.Bookmarks DEBUG Engine initialized 1442847044109 Sync.Engine.Forms DEBUG Engine initialized 1442847044112 Sync.Engine.History DEBUG Engine initialized 1442847044114 Sync.Engine.Passwords DEBUG Engine initialized 1442847044117 Sync.Engine.Prefs DEBUG Engine initialized 1442847044119 Sync.Engine.Tabs DEBUG Engine initialized 1442847044120 Sync.Engine.Tabs DEBUG Resetting tabs last sync time 1442847044123 Sync.Engine.Addons DEBUG Engine initialized 1442847044124 Sync.Service INFO Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:40.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/40.0 1442847044126 Sync.SyncScheduler DEBUG Clearing sync triggers and the global score. 1442847044127 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442847044127 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442847044127 Sync.AddonsReconciler INFO Registering as Add-on Manager listener. 1442847044127 Sync.AddonsReconciler DEBUG Adding change listener. 1442847044128 Sync.Tracker.History INFO Adding Places observer. 1442847044139 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442847044180 FirefoxAccounts INFO Can't find the rest of the credentials in the login manager 1442847049140 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442847049143 Sync.Service DEBUG User-Agent: Firefox/40.0.3 FxSync/1.42.0.20150826023504. 1442847049144 Sync.Service INFO Starting sync at 2015-09-21 10:50:49 1442847049144 Sync.Service DEBUG In sync: should login. 1442847049144 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442847049145 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442847049147 FirefoxAccounts INFO Can't find the rest of the credentials in the login manager 1442847049149 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Waiting for user to be verified. 1442847049149 FirefoxAccounts DEBUG already verified 1442847049149 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Starting fetch for key bundle. 1442847049150 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Unable to fetch keys (master-password locked?), so aborting token fetch 1442847049150 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Background fetch for key bundle done 1442847049150 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.login: success.login => success.login 1442847049150 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442847049150 Sync.Service INFO Logging in the user. 1442847049152 FirefoxAccounts INFO Can't find the rest of the credentials in the login manager 1442847049153 Sync.BrowserIDManager DEBUG unlockAndVerifyAuthState re-fetched credentials and is returning: error.login.reason.account 1442847049153 Sync.Service DEBUG Fetching unlocked auth state returned error.login.reason.account 1442847049153 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.login: success.login => error.login.reason.account 1442847049153 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => error.login.failed 1442847049154 Sync.SyncScheduler DEBUG Clearing sync triggers and the global score.

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2nd error log below. Thanks again for your help!

1442850768185 Sync.Service INFO Loading Weave 1.42.0 1442850768186 Sync.Engine.Clients DEBUG Engine initialized 1442850768187 Sync.Engine.Clients DEBUG Resetting clients last sync time 1442850768191 Sync.Engine.Bookmarks DEBUG Engine initialized 1442850768193 Sync.Engine.Forms DEBUG Engine initialized 1442850768196 Sync.Engine.History DEBUG Engine initialized 1442850768198 Sync.Engine.Passwords DEBUG Engine initialized 1442850768200 Sync.Engine.Prefs DEBUG Engine initialized 1442850768202 Sync.Engine.Tabs DEBUG Engine initialized 1442850768203 Sync.Engine.Tabs DEBUG Resetting tabs last sync time 1442850768206 Sync.Engine.Addons DEBUG Engine initialized 1442850768207 Sync.Service INFO Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:40.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/40.0 1442850768209 Sync.SyncScheduler DEBUG Clearing sync triggers and the global score. 1442850768210 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442850768210 Sync.Service DEBUG Caching URLs under storage user base: https://sync-256-us-west-2.sync.services.mozilla.com/1.5/30181541/ 1442850768210 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442850768210 Sync.AddonsReconciler INFO Registering as Add-on Manager listener. 1442850768210 Sync.AddonsReconciler DEBUG Adding change listener. 1442850768211 Sync.Tracker.History INFO Adding Places observer. 1442850768262 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442850768336 FirefoxAccounts INFO Can't find the rest of the credentials in the login manager 1442850768460 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442850773263 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442850773263 Sync.Service DEBUG User-Agent: Firefox/40.0.3 FxSync/1.42.0.20150826023504. 1442850773263 Sync.Service INFO Starting sync at 2015-09-21 11:52:53 1442850773264 Sync.Service DEBUG In sync: should login. 1442850773264 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442850773264 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442850773267 FirefoxAccounts INFO Can't find the rest of the credentials in the login manager 1442850773269 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Waiting for user to be verified. 1442850773269 FirefoxAccounts DEBUG already verified 1442850773269 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Starting fetch for key bundle. 1442850773269 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Unable to fetch keys (master-password locked?), so aborting token fetch 1442850773269 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Background fetch for key bundle done 1442850773269 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.login: success.login => success.login 1442850773269 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442850773270 Sync.Service INFO Logging in the user. 1442850773270 Sync.Service DEBUG Caching URLs under storage user base: https://sync-256-us-west-2.sync.services.mozilla.com/1.5/30181541/ 1442850773272 FirefoxAccounts INFO Can't find the rest of the credentials in the login manager 1442850773274 Sync.BrowserIDManager DEBUG unlockAndVerifyAuthState re-fetched credentials and is returning: error.login.reason.account 1442850773274 Sync.Service DEBUG Fetching unlocked auth state returned error.login.reason.account 1442850773274 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.login: success.login => error.login.reason.account 1442850773274 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => error.login.failed 1442850773276 Sync.SyncScheduler DEBUG Clearing sync triggers and the global score.

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I forgot to mention, those logs are from the 2nd computer that isn't updating with any of the sync data. The main computer that has all my bookmarks does not have any error logs at about:sync-log.

Also - I'm starting to notice another quirk. In the startup options, I have "show my windows and tabs from last time" selected. However, whenever i restart firefox it starts up with just the single tab start page. I then go to options to verify that the setting has not been changed and it still says "show my windows and tabs from last time". Very strange...

Thanks again!

Modified by KyleM

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I see a lot of these DEBUG messages:

  • FirefoxAccounts INFO Can't find the rest of the credentials in the login manager

The Sync version used in Firefox 34 and later uses the password manager to store the name (e-mail) and password to be used to connect to the Sync server. The chrome://FirefoxAccounts entry in the password manager stores the authentication data (kA and kB) in JSON format.

Disconnect from Sync and Reconnect to Sync again. You can disconnect from Sync by clicking the e-mail address in the "3-bar" Firefox menu button drop-down list or go to "Options/Preferences > Sync".

Delete the signedInUser.json file in the Firefox profile folder and delete the Weave folder (Sync was formerly named Weave). If that isn't enough then delete the prefs.js files to reset all prefs and maybe also delete the compatibility.ini file to reinitialize the profile.

You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

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Thanks for your response cor-el. I went ahead and deleted singedInUser.json, Weave folder, prefs.js, and the compatibility.ini files.

Unfortunately, it still does not appear to be syncing correctly. Additionally, when going to the "tabs from other devices", it is still pulling up a blank page.

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I am also getting an error when closing firefox and re-opening it: "Sync encountered an error while syncing: Incorrect account name or password. Syn will automatically retry this action."

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One last thing - I tried uninstalling and reinstalling a second time on the computer giving me problems. After uninstalling, I also tried deleting every mozilla program folder and user folder I could find to delete before reinstalling. Still doesn't seem to want to sync...

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Can you log in here to the Sync account?

Do you see chrome://FirefoxAccounts in the Password Manager?

  • Tools > Options > Security: Passwords: "Saved Passwords" > "Show Passwords"

It's password value should be Sync data credentials in JSON format.

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cor-el said

Can you log in here to the Sync account? Do you see chrome://FirefoxAccounts in the Password Manager?
  • Tools > Options > Security: Passwords: "Saved Passwords" > "Show Passwords"
It's password value should be Sync data credentials in JSON format.

ANSWER: yes to both. But i am not sure what JSON format is. The password listed appears to be a long list of characters that don't really mean anything to me...

Modified by KyleM

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Also, I just installed firefox for android on my phone and it appears to be syncing correctly, so it looks like the problem may be confined to just the second PC.

Edit: I'm now intermittently receiving login errors when I first start up firefox on my primary PC... I click the button to go to the login page and am able to login successfully, but perhaps there is a problem with my account on the server end of things that's adding to the confusion?

Modified by KyleM

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Error Log from primary PC (the new computer where I first created the sync account):

1442892456791 Sync.Service INFO Loading Weave 1.42.0 1442892456793 Sync.Engine.Clients DEBUG Engine initialized 1442892456794 Sync.Engine.Clients DEBUG Resetting clients last sync time 1442892456797 Sync.Engine.Bookmarks DEBUG Engine initialized 1442892456800 Sync.Engine.Forms DEBUG Engine initialized 1442892456802 Sync.Engine.History DEBUG Engine initialized 1442892456805 Sync.Engine.Passwords DEBUG Engine initialized 1442892456807 Sync.Engine.Prefs DEBUG Engine initialized 1442892456809 Sync.Engine.Tabs DEBUG Engine initialized 1442892456810 Sync.Engine.Tabs DEBUG Resetting tabs last sync time 1442892456814 Sync.Engine.Addons DEBUG Engine initialized 1442892456815 Sync.Service INFO Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:40.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/40.0 1442892456817 Sync.SyncScheduler DEBUG Clearing sync triggers and the global score. 1442892456817 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442892456817 Sync.Service DEBUG Caching URLs under storage user base: https://sync-256-us-west-2.sync.services.mozilla.com/1.5/30181541/ 1442892456818 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442892456818 Sync.AddonsReconciler INFO Registering as Add-on Manager listener. 1442892456818 Sync.AddonsReconciler DEBUG Adding change listener. 1442892456818 Sync.Tracker.History INFO Adding Places observer. 1442892456869 Sync.Engine.AdblockPlus DEBUG Engine initialized 1442892456870 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442892457011 FirefoxAccounts INFO Can't find the rest of the credentials in the login manager 1442892460870 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442892460875 Sync.Service DEBUG User-Agent: Firefox/40.0.3 FxSync/1.42.0.20150826023504. 1442892460876 Sync.Service INFO Starting sync at 2015-09-21 23:27:40 1442892460876 Sync.Service DEBUG In sync: should login. 1442892460876 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442892460877 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442892460880 FirefoxAccounts INFO Can't find the rest of the credentials in the login manager 1442892460883 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Waiting for user to be verified. 1442892460883 FirefoxAccounts DEBUG already verified 1442892460884 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Starting fetch for key bundle. 1442892460884 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Unable to fetch keys (master-password locked?), so aborting token fetch 1442892460884 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Background fetch for key bundle done 1442892460884 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.login: success.login => success.login 1442892460884 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442892460884 Sync.Service INFO Logging in the user. 1442892460884 Sync.Service DEBUG Caching URLs under storage user base: https://sync-256-us-west-2.sync.services.mozilla.com/1.5/30181541/ 1442892460890 FirefoxAccounts INFO Can't find the rest of the credentials in the login manager 1442892460894 Sync.BrowserIDManager DEBUG unlockAndVerifyAuthState re-fetched credentials and is returning: error.login.reason.account 1442892460895 Sync.Service DEBUG Fetching unlocked auth state returned error.login.reason.account 1442892460895 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.login: success.login => error.login.reason.account 1442892460895 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => error.login.failed 1442892460895 Sync.SyncScheduler DEBUG Clearing sync triggers and the global score.

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2nd error log from primary PC:

1442894013749 Sync.Service INFO Loading Weave 1.42.0 1442894013752 Sync.Engine.Clients DEBUG Engine initialized 1442894013753 Sync.Engine.Clients DEBUG Resetting clients last sync time 1442894013757 Sync.Engine.Bookmarks DEBUG Engine initialized 1442894013760 Sync.Engine.Forms DEBUG Engine initialized 1442894013762 Sync.Engine.History DEBUG Engine initialized 1442894013765 Sync.Engine.Passwords DEBUG Engine initialized 1442894013767 Sync.Engine.Prefs DEBUG Engine initialized 1442894013770 Sync.Engine.Tabs DEBUG Engine initialized 1442894013770 Sync.Engine.Tabs DEBUG Resetting tabs last sync time 1442894013775 Sync.Engine.Addons DEBUG Engine initialized 1442894013776 Sync.Service INFO Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:40.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/40.0 1442894013779 Sync.SyncScheduler DEBUG Clearing sync triggers and the global score. 1442894013779 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442894013779 Sync.Service DEBUG Caching URLs under storage user base: https://sync-256-us-west-2.sync.services.mozilla.com/1.5/30181541/ 1442894013779 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442894013780 Sync.AddonsReconciler INFO Registering as Add-on Manager listener. 1442894013780 Sync.AddonsReconciler DEBUG Adding change listener. 1442894013780 Sync.Tracker.History INFO Adding Places observer. 1442894013864 Sync.Engine.AdblockPlus DEBUG Engine initialized 1442894013864 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442894014122 FirefoxAccounts INFO Can't find the rest of the credentials in the login manager 1442894018003 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442894018073 Sync.SyncScheduler DEBUG Next sync in 600000 ms. 1442894018085 Sync.Service DEBUG User-Agent: Firefox/40.0.3 FxSync/1.42.0.20150826023504. 1442894018085 Sync.Service INFO Starting sync at 2015-09-21 23:53:38 1442894018086 Sync.Service DEBUG In sync: should login. 1442894018086 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442894018087 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442894018144 FirefoxAccounts INFO Can't find the rest of the credentials in the login manager 1442894018192 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Waiting for user to be verified. 1442894018192 FirefoxAccounts DEBUG already verified 1442894018193 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Starting fetch for key bundle. 1442894018193 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Unable to fetch keys (master-password locked?), so aborting token fetch 1442894018193 Sync.BrowserIDManager INFO Background fetch for key bundle done 1442894018193 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.login: success.login => success.login 1442894018193 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok 1442894018193 Sync.Service INFO Logging in the user. 1442894018194 Sync.Service DEBUG Caching URLs under storage user base: https://sync-256-us-west-2.sync.services.mozilla.com/1.5/30181541/ 1442894018221 FirefoxAccounts INFO Can't find the rest of the credentials in the login manager 1442894018232 Sync.BrowserIDManager DEBUG unlockAndVerifyAuthState re-fetched credentials and is returning: error.login.reason.account 1442894018232 Sync.Service DEBUG Fetching unlocked auth state returned error.login.reason.account 1442894018232 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.login: success.login => error.login.reason.account 1442894018232 Sync.Status DEBUG Status.service: success.status_ok => error.login.failed 1442894018233 Sync.SyncScheduler DEBUG Clearing sync triggers and the global score.

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OK - this problem seems to be evolving...

I was able to successfully sync both PCs. However, they won't seem to hold the login credentials upon exiting firefox. What this means is that every time I log back in on either PC, I see a sync error at the bottom of the screen. If I click the link to manage settings, I'm able to successfully enter my login info.

However, it's like every time I restart firefox, I'm starting from scratch. Extensions like last-pass also don't appear to save any login information and require I re-enter all credentials. In addition, tabs left open from my previous browsing section are never restored (even though the option is selected when I go to settings).

Any thoughts on what could be causing this?

Thanks again for the help!!