Sync resetting after 28.9.0.2 64-bit update Topic is solved

[tijara]

I thought I had messed around with the settings and broke it, but it seems to be related to the update itself.
When the browser restarts, Sync is no longer active. It's back to "Set up Sync".
I have tried making a new profile and forcing Sync to overwrite all other profiles, deleting prefs.js on all other machines before setting up the service, but it inevitably resets on every device I add.

The only error in about:sync-log is

Code: Select all

1585449848592	Sync.Synchronizer	ERROR	Unable to upload meta/global. Leaving marked as new.

Not sure if Sync related since the Sync service itself works flawlessly. It just resets, so I filed it as a browser problem.

[Moonchild]

I use sync on a daily basis myself and don't encounter any issues (although I'm on not on Linux, the front-end code and Sync code shouldn't care).

Please check the browser console and/or error console for any related errors, too

[tijara]

I use sync on a daily basis myself and don't encounter any issues (although I'm on not on Linux, the front-end code and Sync code shouldn't care).

Please check the browser console and/or error console for any related errors, too

Turns out that this morning I can't even register to Sync using password and recovery key.
It says

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TypeError: element is undefined[Learn More]  setup.js:998:33

[tijara]

Refreshed browser settings via safe mode on a new profile, it's now saying it's unable to connect to the server.

[karlchen]

Hi, tijara. Hi, Moonchild.

This is the message, which Pale Moon 28.9.0.2 64-bit on Linux Mint 19.3 64-bit Cinnamon returns here today as well, if I click on "Sync now".

Sync - Error when synchronizing: The Pale Moon Sync Server is in maintenance mode right now, the sync-process will be resumed later on. Sync will automatically retry.

(Translated from German into English by me, hence the genuine English text will be a bit different.)
So I assume, though the Pale Moon announcement box in the Pale Moon start screen does not tell so, that the Sync server is undergoing some maintenance work and will be available again some time later.
Am I right?

Best regards,
Karl

[tijara]

Sync - Error when synchronizing: The Pale Moon Sync Server is in maintenance mode right now, the sync-process will be resumed later on. Sync will automatically retry.

(Translated from German into English by me, hence the genuine English text will be a bit different.)

Thanks for the heads up. I'll try again when Sync is back online to see if the resets still happen.

[karlchen]

Hi, tijara.

Unless the Sync server has returned from maintenance within the past 5 minutes - and we do not even have a confirmation that a maintenance happened at all -, then the root cause may really be in Pale Moon 28.9.0.2 64-bit for Linux.
In the past 5 minutes I have reverted it all, (application folders , profile folders, cache folders (emptied really)), back to my most recent backup of Pale Moon 28.8.4 64-bit for Linux.
And Sync worked immediately.
Plus, a weird display problem disappeared, which I had not mentioned, because this thread is about Sync. (The weird display problem is that the application window resizes itself unexpectedly and moves its position on the screen, no matter whether it is maximized or not.)
I suspect that we may have to get into contact with Trava about the problems.

Best regards,
Karl

[karlchen]

Hi, tijara.

5 minutes later again. Back on Pale Moon 28.9.0.2 64-bit for Linux. Clicked "Sync". No complaint.
Will watch out for the mentioned weird moves that the PM application had done unexpectedly when first updated from 28.8.4 to 28.9.0.2.

Difference this time:
+ before upgrading the application in /opt/palemoon from 28.8.4 to 28.9.0.2
+ the complete content of ~/.cache/moonchild productions/pale moon/ has been dropped

Maybe the whole issue was really just caused, because PM 28.9.0.2 may stumble across stuff which 28.8.4 has left behind in ~/.cache/moonchild productions/pale moon/. Clearing that folder mysteriously fixes the weird issues. Will keep an eye on it and report back.

Best regards,
Karl

[Moonchild]

Sync was down for about 4 hours for database maintenance today. We do not always announce Sync maintenance, also since the Sync client itself will inform users that maintenance is underway.
It is back to normal operation now.

[karlchen]

Hi, Moonchild.

Now this is really funny.
This means that the Sync Server really came back during the few minutes, which it took me to completely roll back PM 28.9.0.2 64-bit for Linux to PM 28.8.4, including rolling back the profile and clearing the ~/.cache/moonchild productions/pale moon/ folder.
Who would have suspected so?!

Cheers,
Karl

[tijara]

Could this issue be related to some of the "clear history on exit" settings such as "site connectivity data" and "offline website data"? I always had these on to only backup bookmarks and ublock settings across Sync.

I made a fresh profile again but I kept having the problem upon restarting. I eventually fixed it by making a new profile and adding Sync again without syncing preferences, rewriting the sync data from this fresh device and forcing override on the other devices when I set up Sync. It must have been something in the preferences that kept resetting it every time. I'll repeat this on the other devices I have and report back.

EDIT: Nope, still resetting on every machine despite having overwritten all data, made new profiles on all machines and made sure that they would be overwritten with the Sync data. Even without prefs being synced it still resets.
Syncing without installing any extensions also yields the same results. I'm at a loss.

[Moonchild]

I'm sorry but I'm kind of at a loss, too. It should just work, especially with a new profile, unless some third-party program is interfering and preventing the browser from being able to properly save its preferences file.
Are you using any antivirus or 'endpoint security" that might be interfering with Pale Moon?

What happens in a new profile when you don't explicitly tell it to let remote overwrite local?

[tijara]

Are you using any antivirus or 'endpoint security" that might be interfering with Pale Moon?

It's a very standard Linux Mint 19.3 installation. It's also happening on a portable slackware distro. I had only a couple about:config settings changed by hand, but Sync must have overwritten them, so it's not something on the cloud.

What happens in a new profile when you don't explicitly tell it to let remote overwrite local?

Same thing, it will sync but when I close the browser and reopen it, it's back to "Set up Sync". I thought I had fixed it on Mint as restarting the browser seemed to hold the sync settings, but when I rebooted the computer it would reset. Note that all other options, bookmarks, extension settings etc. all work perfectly fine, and once I connect to the server the data is all there, it downloads and writes without issues and if I set up sync on two machines they will sync as expected. The only hiccup I'm noticing is that ublock will show a blank icon in the hosts tab as if the cloud were not present, while other tabs show the saves. I know for sure that my hosts list is there.

CopyQ.nS1690.png

There are no console errors either.
I might start another account and see if it's something about the account? If it works I can get the old one deleted.

EDIT: Made a new account (it's very little data), same situation. This also survives a full uninstall.

[Moonchild]

Well the only thing that might cause this is if the browser can't write its settings to disk. If it can't store the necessary preferences that contain values for sync use, then it will revert to a non-set-up state upon restart.
Pale Moon has to be installed in a writeable location, and it must have full write access to its profile directory. Please double-check locations, ownership and filesystem permissions.

[tijara]

Well the only thing that might cause this is if the browser can't write its settings to disk. If it can't store the necessary preferences that contain values for sync use, then it will revert to a non-set-up state upon restart.
Pale Moon has to be installed in a writeable location, and it must have full write access to its profile directory. Please double-check locations, ownership and filesystem permissions.

It doesn't have issues with any other settings but Sync, so unless the Sync settings are stored in another location I would rule that out (though I'm not sure). Should it give an error if that were the case?
I know little about permissions but the /usr/lib/palemoon location is owned by root, the .moonchild productions folder is in my home folder. I wouldn't know how to check if permissions are correct. I have installed Pale Moon by adding the Ubuntu repo and running the installation from the package manager. I didn't install it as AppImage because I had issue integrating it on the desktop, default browser etc.
As I said the rest of the browser works fine.

[Moonchild]

Maybe someone more familiar with the intricacies of Linux can help - I'm probably out of my depth here.

[New Tobin Paradigm]

Wait, someone is using linux and doesn't know how to check permissions?!

[tijara]

Wait, someone is using linux and doesn't know how to check permissions?!

Someone just switched
Anyway I installed via package manager so I assume I didn't mess up as far as installation directories are concerned. Also in my Porteus installation Pale Moon was installed via its own browser selector/updater as it ships with the distro out of the box, and has the same problem.

[tijara]

A small update in case anybody ends up with a similar problem: this seems to have been fixed after removing Pale Moon from Mint, this time with --purge AND doing a complete reinstall on Porteus. There must've been something left over from the config files in the previous version that kept messing up Sync.

[tijara]

I'm... embarrassed to admit that this was caused simply by "remove saved passwords" in the "clear history on exit" menu. It does in fact remove Sync access as well.