first device to be logged in gets something like that but any other device that gets logged in will not connect to sync. pay attention to that part of the screen that says download firefox to complete the sync setup. everything stops there. all the other devices seem to be waiting for something before they connect. I think it's the phone and that isn't happening.

need at least two devices to sync anything. if only one will connect what'sbthe point?

need at least two devices to sync anything. if only one will connect what'sbthe point?

should point out that the only step in initial setup I have not done is to download and install firefox on the phone and use it to log on to sync.

You haven't selected to use two factor authentication for the Firefox account as that wil require set have a mobile device?

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/secure-firefox-account-two-step-authentication

No, unless it's set by default. reading the article shows no mention of Linux, firefox on Linux. just 2 step setup in windows, mac, ios and android. computers are linux. phone is android. I agree looks like it's defaulting to a 2 step authentication by insisting I log in to sync from FF on phone just doesn't make it clear why I need to do that to complete sync setup. the first device logged in shows connected but nothing else connects and logging into sync brings up setup and takes me to the page with a link and message to install etc.. at that point everything just stalls. so far in 2 days nothing at all sync'd. back to my early question, what am I missing? In case anybody missed it I don't use windows! right now latest stable version of Mint with FF's latest update or android 7.

You do not need to login on a mobile device to use two factor authentication. The mobile device is only needed to generate a special code (e.g. via Google Authenticator) that you need to enter on other devices to be able to login as an extra security step.

Can't you close the tab(s) that ask to setup a mobile device?

You would only have to enter the email address and password for the Firefox Account to connect to this account.

In case of issues try to log in to the Firefox Account via this website.

• https://accounts.firefox.com/signin
• https://accounts.firefox.com/settings

the problem all along is that I can not close that window. i can get off that site but there is no way to close the window. when i try to connect another device other than phone it will not get connected. i know the download link is just a convenience but the line 'log into sync' from the mobile 'to complete sync setup' is a good indicator that I'm expected to do that. i should add that I've never set up sync before the last firefox update that rolled out about a week ago. maybe the team at mozilla took a page from the google playbook and set it up to require that step initially for added security. afterwards I can probably turn it off but I really don't see any reason to go through that. I already said I tried logging in a couple of devices. left them on all night and nothing connected or sync'd. I can bite the bullet and try that step but I already know firefox on the smartphone runs like crap. A lot of trouble and wasted bandwidth to install it for a single login knowing it will probably crash before I can finish and just get deleted immediately afterwards. I'm also not sure if deleting it will cause issues later.

Hi desertmouse, I wouldn't bother installing on your phone. In my test, it wasn't needed, and I think it is referring to completing setup on your phone, not on your desktop. The language is confusing.

When you check the Devices list, do you see any?

https://accounts.firefox.com/settings/clients

I'm going back to the original post. tried everything suggested, nothing worked. "Deleted the old acct" and created a new one. same results then posted in forum. rechecking, never got a confirmation email on new. been too busy afterwards trying to find out problem by fielding these messsages to determine why keep being asked to complete setup via mobile to recheck acct.. just discovered the new acct never took. can't log into sync, just into support. confirmation mail got lost someplace so will withdraw question and try this again later this week after trying to setup this up from scratch again. but! if this continues to keep going the same way will just give up on sync entirely and go back to the tedious method of finding a diff/merge app to make a composite of all the profile files from every copy of the browser if that is still possible. if not, use sharing to send book marks etc to one machine and try to manually merge then send merged file back to everything else. At this point I can asume that the problem has been the email confirmation is what this has been waiting for not the annoying request to download the browser to phone. still, that wording needs to looked into since it doe's make it appear that it's required.

BTW how do I close this thread without checking solved since it really isn't solved until sync is actually working which hasn't been determined as yet.

Threads stay open for 6 months, but a moderator can lock it to prevent further replies if you like.

This support site uses a completely separate account system from the Firefox Account system. Someday we can hope for unification...