I can't unlink my old devices from the old sync because they're broken, but I need to sync my account on a new device. What to do?
I have two laptops that use the same old sync account. One broke down ages ago and the other broke down recently, and it's impossible to start them up and unlink them from the old sync again. But I still need to sync the data (especially the passwords and bookmarks) onto my new laptop with the new version of Firefox, which supposedly uses the new sync and refuses to sync because there are still old devices linked to the old account! What to do?
All Replies (5)
You can try to change the password of the Syn account. That will reset all data stored on the server and other devices won't be able to connect.
cor-el said
You can try to change the password of the Syn account. That will reset all data stored on the server and other devices won't be able to connect.
Thanks for the reply, but nope, I changed the password and nothing's been synced...
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. You can upload the log to this website if the log is too big to put in a reply (quite likely it is).
cor-el said
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. You can upload the log to this website if the log is too big to put in a reply (quite likely it is).
I posted the newest error log (there are three, but no successful sync log) here: https://pastebin.mozilla.org/8831440 Have no idea what it means...
Non-working devices wouldn't have any effect upon the Sync service. The only effect they might have is if they were running [and connected to the Sync server] when you tried to connect a new device to your Sync account; and even then the impact would be very minor. BTW, the change to a new version of Sync happened a year ago, with the update from Firefox 28.0 to Firefox 29.0. Firefox 29.0 and later all use the "new" Sync version. And if you were using Firefox 28 or older on those other 2 devices (now inoperative) all you needed to do was to "upgrade" your Sync account as outlined here: Sync your Firefox bookmarks, history, passwords and more
musewire said
... But I still need to sync the data (especially the passwords and bookmarks) onto my new laptop with the new version of Firefox, which supposedly uses the new sync and refuses to sync because there are still old devices linked to the old account! What to do?
Sorry, changing the Sync account password wiped your data on the Sync server. There's nothing to Sync to that device.