Firefox Sync appears to act normally but doesn't connect or function
Firefox 77.0.1 / Windows 10 Firefox 68.9.0 / Android 10
These are not syncing. I realized it a couple days ago when tabs I sent to my Windows laptop from my Android phone did not go through.
On Friday (2 days ago) I installed Tab Stash in my Firefox browser, to see if I liked it. It's a tab manager/offloader that works with Firefox's bookmark interface. I don't know if it caused the problem, but it roughly with the timing so I wanted to mention it. It's the only thing that has changed lately on either installation of Firefox. I have disabled the extension during all of the troubleshooting I've done.
Each device shows as signed in on my Firefox account. However, in the settings of the Android Firefox app, while it shows me as signed in to my Firefox account, most of the sync options (like whether to sync bookmarks, history, open tabs, or logins - and the "device name") are all grayed out. The "sync now" option is available, but when I press it it seems to "sync" for a second and nothing happens. When I disconnect and reconnect Firefox sync in Android, I get the notification on Firefox in Windows that they are connected.
Despite this, I am unable to share/send links or tabs between devices; neither device shows up as an option for the other device to send to.
Among the troubleshooting steps I've taken: logging out of both and clearing caches, uninstalling/reinstalling the Android app, disconnecting both devices (numerous times) from my Firefox account.
(As an aside, I also tried to installed Android Firefox Preview to see if that would break through, and it wasn't working either. A purple notification kept floating up from the bottom of the app (repeatedly/non-stop) saying that sync was on. This repeated notification made the app unusable because it blocked my from accessing anything else. This was among the last steps I took and all the problems existed before this and persisted after.)
I don't know how to interpret the about:sync-log information, and it seems each new text file it produces is different in some way. I'm happy to post if it will help. Thank you.
All Replies (7)
Firefox 77.0.1 / Windows 10 Firefox 68.9.0 / Android 10
Where are you getting Firefox 68.9.0 from?
A 2nd Firefox on Win10? Or a 3rd device?
Firefox 77.0.1 and Firefox 68.9.0 (Extended Support Release) have some major differences on the desktop version and they are separate Releases.
As far as about:sync-log information goes, this forum software makes posting the sync-log information very hard to read without specific coding that is a bit unique for the software used here. Best to use PasteBin https://pastebin.com/ and post the resulting URL for your "paste" here in the Post a Reply box so we can see that information. And yes, the sync-log info will vary some of the time.
Can't comment about Tabs thru Sync, don't use that feature. Similar for Android builds of Firefox, no smart phone. But with "Options" being grayed out, that could be part or all of the problem; doesn't bode well.
My apologies, @the-edmister. There should be a line break after "Firefox 77.0.1 / Windows 10". Firefox 68.9.0 is the version of the Firefox app on my Android 10 phone.
Here is a PasteBin link to a sync log from an attempted sync I just ran.
I think the tabs syncing issue is just a function of the different devices not being able to communicate through Sync. I'm hopeful that if I can get one to break through it will solve the issue.
My apologies for the confusion. FF 77.0.1 is on a Windows 10 laptop. FF 68.9.0 is the version of the FF app on my Android 10 phone. These are the devices that aren't working with sync.
Here is the PasteBin link to a sync log of a failed sync attempt I just ran.
I am far from being an expert, but Line 21 - 1593482507469 Sync.Resource DEBUG GET fail 401 https://sync-733-us-west-2.sync.services.mozilla.com/1.5/121492125/info/collections - appears to me to where Sync came to a grinding halt. I believe that is for Add-ons "collections".
And sync-733-us-west-2.sync.services.mozilla.com/ seems to cause a good number of problems from time to time; at least the -us-west-2 part of that URL / server cluster and only because I have seen that many times. That could be due to its proximity to US users or possibly a temporary overload, or maybe server maintenance slowdown.
Perhaps disconnecting from Sync on both devices may "slap the Sync server on the backside of its head to straighten it up". In Options on Desktop Firefox; not sure how that is done on Android.
Beyond that, the best I can offer is to try it again later in the day; although it seems that the issue has been happening for a few days already.
Unfortunately that didn't solve the problem.
Interestingly, today is the day of the Firefox 78 release, and despite numerous attempts to upgrade via the Help > About Firefox menu, it tells me I'm current with 77.0.1. I wonder if that's related.
Came Down Crashing said
Unfortunately that didn't solve the problem. Interestingly, today is the day of the Firefox 78 release, and despite numerous attempts to upgrade via the Help > About Firefox menu, it tells me I'm current with 77.0.1. I wonder if that's related.
I doubt it. The first day of a new version update Mozilla spreads out updates for a few reasons, but usually 'forcing' the new version via Help > About Firefox works to "get it now", but I haven't used that for quite awhile now. I wait until the update happens and avoid the issues that cause a #.#.1 'chem spill' version to be necessary within the week that follows the normal Release date. That has become to norm rather than an exception, IMO. Slips thru "beta" and then too damn many users experience (in the first days of the new Release version comes out) whatever the fault turns out to be. Releases are too fast, and too many problems slip thru the Beta phase now-a-days.
This is the original poster. I wanted to report that my solution to the problem was to delete my Firefox account entirely and create a new one. It was fairly easy to do, and I was even able to use the same email address for my new account immediately after deleting the old. And both devices synced immediately without issue.
One unintended consequence is that it turned my earlier username into user2712876 as shown above.
Thanks for the help.