Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Why do I need to continue to enter the Sync password after each Firefox restart?

  • 7 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by Robert

more options

I sync 2 desktop installations. One is on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, the other on Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. Both use the same latest Firefox version 16.0.2. The former syncs properly, the latter does not (also in older versions).

Although the 10.8 computer appears to be syncing properly, I keep getting this error message after each restart of Firefox:

"Sync encountered an error while connecting: Incorrect name or password. Please try again."

I have tried these options: - cancel the message by clicking the cross "x" - re-enter the password (http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-sync-troubleshooting-and-tips#w_how-do-i-resolve-an-incorrect-name-or-password-error - unlink the device and link it again - remove any Firefox setting in ~/Application Support (as if I did a clean install)

None of these seem to fix the problem. It is persistent.

What options do I have left?

I sync 2 desktop installations. One is on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, the other on Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. Both use the same latest Firefox version 16.0.2. The former syncs properly, the latter does not (also in older versions). Although the 10.8 computer appears to be syncing properly, I keep getting this error message after each restart of Firefox: "Sync encountered an error while connecting: Incorrect name or password. Please try again." I have tried these options: - cancel the message by clicking the cross "x" - re-enter the password (http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-sync-troubleshooting-and-tips#w_how-do-i-resolve-an-incorrect-name-or-password-error - unlink the device and link it again - remove any Firefox setting in ~/Application Support (as if I did a clean install) None of these seem to fix the problem. It is persistent. What options do I have left?

All Replies (7)

more options

I found an article that said how to see the sync log:

http://philikon.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/how-to-file-a-good-sync-bug/

So I opened about:sync-log

This is the result:

1351573725121	Sync.Service	INFO	Loading Weave 1.18.0
1351573725135	Sync.Engine.Bookmarks	DEBUG	Engine initialized
1351573725136	Sync.Engine.Forms	DEBUG	Engine initialized
1351573725137	Sync.Engine.History	DEBUG	Engine initialized
1351573725138	Sync.Engine.Passwords	DEBUG	Engine initialized
1351573725139	Sync.Engine.Prefs	DEBUG	Engine initialized
1351573725140	Sync.Engine.Tabs	DEBUG	Engine initialized
1351573725140	Sync.Engine.Tabs	DEBUG	Resetting tabs last sync time
1351573725141	Sync.Engine.Addons	DEBUG	Engine initialized
1351573725142	Sync.Service	INFO	Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.8; rv:16.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/16.0
1351573725145	Sync.SyncScheduler	DEBUG	Clearing sync triggers and the global score.
1351573725146	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351573725146	Sync.Service	DEBUG	Caching URLs under storage user base: https://scl2-sync768.services.mozilla.com/1.1/cw744z4b7kibz3qw7rt354ogwkp6odev/
1351573725146	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351573725146	Sync.AddonsReconciler	INFO	Registering as Add-on Manager listener.
1351573725147	Sync.AddonsReconciler	DEBUG	Adding change listener.
1351573725163	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351573725164	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351573725165	Sync.Engine.AdblockPlus	DEBUG	Engine initialized
1351573725166	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351573729168	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351573729169	Sync.Service	DEBUG	User-Agent: Firefox/16.0.2 FxSync/1.18.0.20121024073032.
1351573729169	Sync.Service	INFO	Starting sync at 2012-10-30 06:08:49
1351573729169	Sync.Service	DEBUG	In sync: should login.
1351573729170	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351573729170	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351573729170	Sync.Service	INFO	Logging in user cw744z4b7kibz3qw7rt354ogwkp6odev
1351573729170	Sync.Service	DEBUG	Caching URLs under storage user base: https://scl2-sync768.services.mozilla.com/1.1/cw744z4b7kibz3qw7rt354ogwkp6odev/
1351573729948	Sync.Resource	DEBUG	mesg: GET fail 401 https://scl2-sync768.services.mozilla.com/1.1/cw744z4b7kibz3qw7rt354ogwkp6odev/info/collections
1351573729948	Sync.Resource	DEBUG	GET fail 401 https://scl2-sync768.services.mozilla.com/1.1/cw744z4b7kibz3qw7rt354ogwkp6odev/info/collections
1351573729949	Sync.Service	WARN	401: login failed.
1351573729949	Sync.Service	DEBUG	Finding cluster for user cw744z4b7kibz3qw7rt354ogwkp6odev
1351573730676	Sync.Resource	DEBUG	mesg: GET success 200 https://auth.services.mozilla.com/user/1.0/cw744z4b7kibz3qw7rt354ogwkp6odev/node/weave
1351573730676	Sync.Resource	DEBUG	GET success 200 https://auth.services.mozilla.com/user/1.0/cw744z4b7kibz3qw7rt354ogwkp6odev/node/weave
1351573730677	Sync.Service	DEBUG	Cluster value = https://scl2-sync768.services.mozilla.com/
1351573730677	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.login: success.login => error.login.reason.account
1351573730677	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => error.login.failed
1351573730677	Sync.SyncScheduler	DEBUG	Clearing sync triggers and the global score.

Modified by cor-el

more options

I canceled the error message and forced a sync. These are the log results:

1351574048417	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351574048417	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351574048418	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351574057246	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351574138426	Sync.Service	DEBUG	User-Agent: Firefox/16.0.2 FxSync/1.18.0.20121024073032.
1351574138426	Sync.Service	INFO	Starting sync at 2012-10-30 06:15:38
1351574138427	Sync.SyncScheduler	DEBUG	Clearing sync triggers and the global score.
1351574138428	Sync.Service	INFO	In sync().
1351574138428	Sync.Status	INFO	Resetting Status.
1351574138428	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351574139920	Sync.Resource	DEBUG	mesg: GET fail 401 https://scl2-sync768.services.mozilla.com/1.1/cw744z4b7kibz3qw7rt354ogwkp6odev/info/collections
1351574139920	Sync.Resource	DEBUG	GET fail 401 https://scl2-sync768.services.mozilla.com/1.1/cw744z4b7kibz3qw7rt354ogwkp6odev/info/collections
1351574139921	Sync.Service	INFO	Logging out
1351574139921	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351574139921	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351574139922	Sync.Status	DEBUG	Status.service: success.status_ok => success.status_ok
1351574139922	Sync.SyncScheduler	DEBUG	Next sync in 90000 ms.
1351574139922	Sync.ErrorHandler	INFO	Got 401 response; resetting clusterURL.
1351574139922	Sync.ErrorHandler	DEBUG	New mid-sync 401 failure. Making a note.
1351574139922	Sync.ErrorHandler	INFO	Attempting to schedule another sync.
1351574139924	Sync.SyncScheduler	DEBUG	Next sync in 600000 ms.

Modified by cor-el

more options

I have even tried to delete my Sync data and to reset my key. Both did not have any success.

more options

Do you see any entries for the Sync service in the Password Manager?

  • Firefox > Preferences > Security: Passwords: "Saved Passwords" > "Show Passwords"

You can find the sync password and the sync key in the password manager on the computer where you originally created that sync account (email). Look for:

  • chrome://weave (Mozilla Services Password)
  • chrome://weave (Mozilla Services Encryption Passphrase)

If those entries do not have the correct values then delete them.

Do you otherwise have problems with signing in to websites?

more options

Thanks for your help.

Yes, both entries are available. I had already checked this. I do not have any other problems with signin in to websites.

As mentioned before, I have completely deleted my profile (and any other configuration item) by deleting any Firefox related file and folder in ~/Application Support

I am not sure if this problem is Mac OS X related since I have read a similar post: https://support.mozilla.org/nl/questions/940524

more options

I have completely removed Firefox from my system and reinstalled it. Immediately after initialising Sync, I get the error message again. Something is definitely wrong with Sync.

I have tried to use a simple unsafe password (only 9 random characters from a-z). This did not solve the problem either.

I have noticed something else. After the error message "Sync encountered an error while connecting: Incorrect name or password. Please try again." I click the Preferences button and try to enter the password. Clicking the button will show an error message "Wrong password. Please try again.". When I enter click the button a few seconds later, the password is accepted.

Weird. :(

more options