Error setting up a new Sync account
As an old user of firefox I have recently tried to use the Sync function in order to easilly manage the bookmarks and preferences between my computers.
So I created a Sync account on my laptop, but the sync never worked. Instead my browser displayed an error message saying that the sync process encountered an "unknown error".
When I tried to synchronize my other computer with this newlly created Sync account, I only obtained error messages either saying "no account name" (that was yesterday) or "server badly configured" (today).
I also tried to reinitialize the Sync settings on the "main" computer (the one used to create the account in the beginning) but I could never reconnect again to the account using the account name, password and sync key. All I could obtain was the same error messages as those I got when try to synchronize other computers.
If i try to recreate an account using a different email adress, I also get an error message saying "unknown error" when I try to enter the new email adress to be used.
If I try to delete the first account I created on the account management webpage, I only get another type of error message saying "Oh dear. Looks like one of the dinosaurs escaped again. We keep them away from the data, so that should be safe. Please try again later when we've wrestled him back onto the treadmill".
I am surprised to observe that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL seems to be working with Firefox Sync for me so far. I was used to much more reliability on Mozilla products and services. I just hope that someone has a solution to this issue, but I can see on this forum that many people seem to have unsolved problem of the same type recently...
Modified by GuigZ0110
Chosen solution
Hi!
It seems that your account is completely corrupted and because of the bug affecting the account deletion you are in a dead end. Hopefully the bug that is linked about should be fixed soon.
In the meantime, I will encourage you to fill another bug to help developers understand what's happening to your account and fix it. Take a look to this blogpost: https://philikon.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/how-to-file-a-good-sync-bug/
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Sorry,I do not use it myself, but it is a relatively new feature seems to be having some teething problems. Developers are looking into some of these problems, see for instance this bug https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=680861
{edited to point to the bug and not the contributors forum}
Is it appropriate to try:
the easiest way is to generate a new Sync Key as explained here: https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/how-do-i-manage-my-firefox-sync-account#w_how-do-i-generate-a-new-sync-key
This solves the majority of unknown errors
Modified by Ibai
Thanks for the quick reply !
Unfortunately I cannot try the solution you propose since it requires to have your browser connected to your Sync account, which is precisely what I cannot do (even with my "main" computer, i.e. the computer I used in the beginning to create the account and on which I re-initialized the Sync settings).
I guess I'll just have to wait until the developpers fix the different bugs of this feature...
thanks anyway !
I suggest you post directly in the thread I mentioned earlier, hopefully Mozilla Firefox staff will help you, they certainly will be interested to know exactly what problems are occurring and need fixing. They will post a bug, or assist you in posting a bug for developers that fix such problems.
I have other things to do at present, but someone else will continue to assit.
Chosen Solution
Hi!
It seems that your account is completely corrupted and because of the bug affecting the account deletion you are in a dead end. Hopefully the bug that is linked about should be fixed soon.
In the meantime, I will encourage you to fill another bug to help developers understand what's happening to your account and fix it. Take a look to this blogpost: https://philikon.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/how-to-file-a-good-sync-bug/
OK, well I was trying to follow the procedure mentioned in your link in order to correctly file the bug, but when I tried to reproduce the error I get when trying to synchronize my laptop, this damn machine actually did it ! (tell me about Murphy's law ^^)
So now the computer is synchronized with my Sync account and the process seems to work, I don't get errors any more during synchronization. I checked on the management web page and there seems to be data stored in my Sync account now (which wasn't the case after my first failed attempt).
I will try to synchronize my other computer this evening, but things look fine now.
I don't know what happened and who made it happen, but thanks a lot !
Looks like all is working out. If you have problems again please post. I am sure Ibai or others will try to help when appropriate.
Most problems are something where the user's set-up is a critical factor, sometimes it is a one off problem with the user set-up, very occasionally it is a problem with Firefox. Some sync problems could be down to problems with Firefox and I am sure reports of problems are welcomed.
Must admit I personally do not yet use sync, I have other methods, partly because I do not think sync is yet IMHO stable and reliable.