[GH-ISSUE #234] Sync errors and network errors #224

Closed
opened 2026-02-25 22:36:31 +03:00 by kerem · 17 comments
Owner

Originally created by @a575606 on GitHub (Feb 18, 2019).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/floccusaddon/floccus/issues/234

Software versions

  • Browser: Chrome / Firefox latest, Windows 10 64bit
  • Nextcloud: 15.0.2
  • Nextcloud Bookmarks app: 0.16.1 (just updated to .2, but haven't checked if that fixed the issue)
  • Floccus: 3.2.6
  • Floccus sync method: nextcloud-folders

Steps to reproduce

First of all, thank you for creating this software, it is just what I needed. And it nearly works perfectly, I just have a couple issues.

  1. Network error. Whenever I launch Chrome or Firefox, usually after not using for some time, or waking the pc from sleep, often Floccus has an error icon and the error is a Network Error, unable to connect to the server (or similar wording, sorry I forgot to copy it last time it happened). The network is connected, internet working, and if I click sync now it usually syncs successfully without issue. Otherwise, it doesn't seem to go away or try to reconnect throughout the browsing session.

  2. Sync issues. In some ways not having too many options to worry about is nice. However, sync doesn't always work as expected. I use a desktop pc and a laptop and alternate between chrome and firefox on each. Usually I use firefox on my home pc, and only use my laptop when traveling. So I might make a lot of changes to the bookmarks on my desktop firefox since the last time I ran a sync from my laptop running Chrome, for example. Running sync in those instances often creates errors, explained below.

Expected outcome

  1. Would only expect an error icon to show up in the event there's an actual problem connecting to the server. I.e. after retrying every set number of minutes for a few times, or when manually running sync and it failing. Or, increase the frequency of retrying sync when there's a connection error.
  1. I expect, on opening a new browser, bookmarks to be synced exactly to the state of the last browser that was closed, or the state on the server if the most recently modified bookmark is on the server. If I delete a bookmark anywhere, I expect it would be deleted everywhere.
    ...

Actual outcome

  1. If the browser is running, it seems to sync before the network is ready immediately on wake. Then generates the error. I assume eventually it will try again, but have waited as long as 20 min and always get impatient and manually click sync to clear the error.

  2. Especially when opening a browser that hasn't been synced in a while, often duplicate bookmarks get created. For example two identical bookmarks, one with www.domain.com as the link, the other with domain.com. Or if the title has changed, I'll have two bookmarks, one with the old and one with the new title. Sometimes bookmarks I deleted on get recreated. Usually Floccus will show a sync error when this happens, and if I manually click sync afterwards, that's when the errors appear. Sometimes I have to backup the set of bookmarks that's most current, completely clear bookmarks on all devices, then re-import and re-sync to fix the issue.

...

Debug log

Can I send by email?

Originally created by @a575606 on GitHub (Feb 18, 2019). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/floccusaddon/floccus/issues/234 <!-- Hello there! Thank you for providing feedback! Please answer the below questions to allow for as smooth a process of tackling the issue as possible :) (Note: Everything surrounded by arrows, like this text for example, will not be visible.) --> ### Software versions <!-- Please provide the versions of the following software products in your set up --> - Browser: Chrome / Firefox latest, Windows 10 64bit - Nextcloud: 15.0.2 - Nextcloud Bookmarks app: 0.16.1 (just updated to .2, but haven't checked if that fixed the issue) - Floccus: 3.2.6 - Floccus sync method: nextcloud-folders ### Steps to reproduce First of all, thank you for creating this software, it is just what I needed. And it nearly works perfectly, I just have a couple issues. 1. Network error. Whenever I launch Chrome or Firefox, usually after not using for some time, or waking the pc from sleep, often Floccus has an error icon and the error is a Network Error, unable to connect to the server (or similar wording, sorry I forgot to copy it last time it happened). The network is connected, internet working, and if I click sync now it usually syncs successfully without issue. Otherwise, it doesn't seem to go away or try to reconnect throughout the browsing session. 2. Sync issues. In some ways not having too many options to worry about is nice. However, sync doesn't always work as expected. I use a desktop pc and a laptop and alternate between chrome and firefox on each. Usually I use firefox on my home pc, and only use my laptop when traveling. So I might make a lot of changes to the bookmarks on my desktop firefox since the last time I ran a sync from my laptop running Chrome, for example. Running sync in those instances often creates errors, explained below. ### Expected outcome 1. Would only expect an error icon to show up in the event there's an actual problem connecting to the server. I.e. after retrying every set number of minutes for a few times, or when manually running sync and it failing. Or, increase the frequency of retrying sync when there's a connection error. <!-- What did you think was going to happen or what do you think should have happened? --> 2. I expect, on opening a new browser, bookmarks to be synced exactly to the state of the last browser that was closed, or the state on the server if the most recently modified bookmark is on the server. If I delete a bookmark anywhere, I expect it would be deleted everywhere. ... ### Actual outcome 1. If the browser is running, it seems to sync before the network is ready immediately on wake. Then generates the error. I assume eventually it will try again, but have waited as long as 20 min and always get impatient and manually click sync to clear the error. 2. Especially when opening a browser that hasn't been synced in a while, often duplicate bookmarks get created. For example two identical bookmarks, one with www.domain.com as the link, the other with domain.com. Or if the title has changed, I'll have two bookmarks, one with the old and one with the new title. Sometimes bookmarks I deleted on get recreated. Usually Floccus will show a sync error when this happens, and if I manually click sync afterwards, that's when the errors appear. Sometimes I have to backup the set of bookmarks that's most current, completely clear bookmarks on all devices, then re-import and re-sync to fix the issue. ... ### Debug log Can I send by email? <!-- It is useful to attach a debug log file to the issue. You can obtain a debug log of the most recent sync runs by clicking 'Debug log' in the bottom right corner of the floccus panel in your browser. If you don't want your bookmarks to be public, you can send the log file to me via mail --> <!-- Thanks! Now, hit Submit and wait for a reply :) -->
Author
Owner

@marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Feb 18, 2019):

Would only expect an error icon to show up in the event there's an actual problem connecting to the server. I.e. after retrying every set number of minutes for a few times, or when manually running sync and it failing. Or, increase the frequency of retrying sync when there's a connection error.

This is an interesting idea. I'll think about this.

For example two identical bookmarks, one with www.domain.com as the link, the other with domain.com.

This is an issue that was introduced only recently and should since have been fixed with v3.2.6 (see #231 )

Can I send by email?

Sure :)

<!-- gh-comment-id:464758104 --> @marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Feb 18, 2019): > Would only expect an error icon to show up in the event there's an actual problem connecting to the server. I.e. after retrying every set number of minutes for a few times, or when manually running sync and it failing. Or, increase the frequency of retrying sync when there's a connection error. This is an interesting idea. I'll think about this. > For example two identical bookmarks, one with www.domain.com as the link, the other with domain.com. This is an issue that was introduced only recently and should since have been fixed with v3.2.6 (see #231 ) > Can I send by email? Sure :)
Author
Owner

@a575606 commented on GitHub (Feb 18, 2019):

Thanks and glad you like the idea about the network error. Any thoughts on the second issue? Glad to hear the www/domain problem was fixed. I'm not sure when 3.2.6 came out, but I'll keep an eye out if it still happens. Probably the bigger issue for me is the changed title duplicates and the restoring deleted bookmarks issue. Were those also fixed?

Where can I find your email address to send the log to?

thanks

<!-- gh-comment-id:464868155 --> @a575606 commented on GitHub (Feb 18, 2019): Thanks and glad you like the idea about the network error. Any thoughts on the second issue? Glad to hear the www/domain problem was fixed. I'm not sure when 3.2.6 came out, but I'll keep an eye out if it still happens. Probably the bigger issue for me is the changed title duplicates and the restoring deleted bookmarks issue. Were those also fixed? Where can I find your email address to send the log to? thanks
Author
Owner

@marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Feb 18, 2019):

I can't think of a reason for the changed title duplicates, except that it might be caused by native browser sync interfering. Do you have that turned on?

Restored deleted bookmarks has been a known issue that I've been trying to fix for some time. In this matter the logs will be most helpful. you can find my mail address on my profile page: https://github.com/marcelklehr

<!-- gh-comment-id:464876884 --> @marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Feb 18, 2019): I can't think of a reason for the changed title duplicates, except that it might be caused by native browser sync interfering. Do you have that turned on? Restored deleted bookmarks has been a known issue that I've been trying to fix for some time. In this matter the logs will be most helpful. you can find my mail address on my profile page: https://github.com/marcelklehr
Author
Owner

@a575606 commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2019):

For the title duplicates, maybe it's related to the www/domain duplicate problem and I just noticed the titles were different. I'll keep checking.

Good to know you're aware of the restored deleted issue. I'm not sure how your sync algorithm works. Are comparisons done individually per bookmark? I guess for me, the expected behavior would be the bookmarks would be considered more of a set, i.e. when I open a browser, I'd expect the bookmarks to sync to exactly match the set I had on the last browser I closed.

I'm on my laptop, but thanks for the link. I'll send you the log when I'm on my desktop later.

<!-- gh-comment-id:464979085 --> @a575606 commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2019): For the title duplicates, maybe it's related to the www/domain duplicate problem and I just noticed the titles were different. I'll keep checking. Good to know you're aware of the restored deleted issue. I'm not sure how your sync algorithm works. Are comparisons done individually per bookmark? I guess for me, the expected behavior would be the bookmarks would be considered more of a set, i.e. when I open a browser, I'd expect the bookmarks to sync to exactly match the set I had on the last browser I closed. I'm on my laptop, but thanks for the link. I'll send you the log when I'm on my desktop later.
Author
Owner

@a575606 commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2019):

I just sent the logs. By the way today I recevied another www / domain duplicate running the latest version

<!-- gh-comment-id:465117332 --> @a575606 commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2019): I just sent the logs. By the way today I recevied another www / domain duplicate running the latest version
Author
Owner

@marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Feb 28, 2019):

By the way today I recevied another www / domain duplicate running the latest version

Note, that there's a difference between noticing a duplicate and it being created. I think it's quite likely the duplicate has been there since the faulty version was installed and was noticed only recently. (Note that floccus cannot weed out all duplicates it erroneously created, but may leave behind a few of them.)

<!-- gh-comment-id:468268025 --> @marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Feb 28, 2019): > By the way today I recevied another www / domain duplicate running the latest version Note, that there's a difference between noticing a duplicate and it being created. I think it's quite likely the duplicate has been there since the faulty version was installed and was noticed only recently. (Note that floccus cannot weed out all duplicates it erroneously created, but may leave behind a few of them.)
Author
Owner

@marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Feb 28, 2019):

I sadly cannot find any instance you described as a bookmark being deleted, causing a sync error and then being added back. Do you by any chance remember the error message?

<!-- gh-comment-id:468269397 --> @marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Feb 28, 2019): I sadly cannot find any instance you described as a bookmark being deleted, causing a sync error and then being added back. Do you by any chance remember the error message?
Author
Owner

@a575606 commented on GitHub (Mar 4, 2019):

Just wanted to send some follow up on this. I wanted to reorganize some bookmarks in a folder this morning and I was curious how floccus would handle the sync, so I paid attention to the order I did things in.

Just to make explaining this simple, here's a basic diagram

bookmarks
_
-folder 1
-folder 2
-folder 3 <---
--subfolder 1
---subfolder1bookmark 1
---subfolder1bookmark 2
--subfolder 2
--subfolder 3
--folder3bookmark 1
--folder3bookmark 2
etc.

The steps were, I opened Firefox and went to the bookmark manager. In folder3 I had several bookmarks directly in the folder and 3 subfolders, each containing a few bookmarks. I made a new subfolder (say subfolder4) with a new name and put the bookmarks that were in folder3's root to subfolder4. Then I moved the bookmarks in subfolder1 to the root of folder3. Finally I deleted subfolder 1, which was now empty.

I then clicked sync in firefox, waited until floccus synced successfully, opened chrome and clicked sync, which also showed success.

The result was, none of the changes were synced from Firefox to Nextcloud and therefore did not show up in Chrome. However both Firefox and Chrome showed success when manually synced.

Unfortunately I was heading out for a trip and will be away for 2 weeks, and didn't get a chance to copy the log before leaving. However, perhaps replicating the steps might help track down the error?

It seems to me the sync algorithm is missing something in the comparisons. I.e. it adds / deletes bookmarks but perhaps it's missing something when they've been modified or the location is moved? Or perhaps sync is comparing against a bookmark cache which isn't getting refreshed before syncing? i'm not sure. But there's clearly something not quite right. Let me know if I can help figure out what it is.

<!-- gh-comment-id:469272480 --> @a575606 commented on GitHub (Mar 4, 2019): Just wanted to send some follow up on this. I wanted to reorganize some bookmarks in a folder this morning and I was curious how floccus would handle the sync, so I paid attention to the order I did things in. Just to make explaining this simple, here's a basic diagram bookmarks _ -folder 1 -folder 2 -folder 3 <--- --subfolder 1 ---subfolder1bookmark 1 ---subfolder1bookmark 2 --subfolder 2 --subfolder 3 --folder3bookmark 1 --folder3bookmark 2 etc. The steps were, I opened Firefox and went to the bookmark manager. In folder3 I had several bookmarks directly in the folder and 3 subfolders, each containing a few bookmarks. I made a new subfolder (say subfolder4) with a new name and put the bookmarks that were in folder3's root to subfolder4. Then I moved the bookmarks in subfolder1 to the root of folder3. Finally I deleted subfolder 1, which was now empty. I then clicked sync in firefox, waited until floccus synced successfully, opened chrome and clicked sync, which also showed success. The result was, none of the changes were synced from Firefox to Nextcloud and therefore did not show up in Chrome. However both Firefox and Chrome showed success when manually synced. Unfortunately I was heading out for a trip and will be away for 2 weeks, and didn't get a chance to copy the log before leaving. However, perhaps replicating the steps might help track down the error? It seems to me the sync algorithm is missing something in the comparisons. I.e. it adds / deletes bookmarks but perhaps it's missing something when they've been modified or the location is moved? Or perhaps sync is comparing against a bookmark cache which isn't getting refreshed before syncing? i'm not sure. But there's clearly something not quite right. Let me know if I can help figure out what it is.
Author
Owner

@a575606 commented on GitHub (Mar 4, 2019):

By the way, here's a sample of what I mentioned before about duplicates, some with www and some without. Is there any way to force a download only sync? I saw in the options something about forcing a merge, but sometimes I want to replace the bookmarks in the browser with what's currently on nextcloud, and sync from there. I'm doing it manually at the moment but it's a multi step process.

For example, I'm afraid to run a sync from this browser because i'm afraid these duplicates will spread to all the other browsers

capture

<!-- gh-comment-id:469292367 --> @a575606 commented on GitHub (Mar 4, 2019): By the way, here's a sample of what I mentioned before about duplicates, some with www and some without. Is there any way to force a download only sync? I saw in the options something about forcing a merge, but sometimes I want to replace the bookmarks in the browser with what's currently on nextcloud, and sync from there. I'm doing it manually at the moment but it's a multi step process. For example, I'm afraid to run a sync from this browser because i'm afraid these duplicates will spread to all the other browsers ![capture](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/11908864/53742861-32eaa600-3ecc-11e9-85f5-c64ae9bb4b67.PNG)
Author
Owner

@marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Mar 4, 2019):

Are you sure that all your clients are up to date? I cannot replicate this with v3.2.7

<!-- gh-comment-id:469330206 --> @marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Mar 4, 2019): Are you sure that all your clients are up to date? I cannot replicate this with v3.2.7
Author
Owner

@a575606 commented on GitHub (Mar 4, 2019):

All clients are set to auto update and the ones on my laptop are definitely 3.2.7. Will check my home pc when I get home to make sure those are up to date, but assume so.

The problem is once things get out of sync, it's not always easy to track down where the problem originated. What I can say is, I've clearly seen the issue happen when reorganizing bookmarks yesterday, and today when syncing on a laptop I haven't used in a couple weeks.

If the expected behavior is your bookmarks are synced exactly to the last state they were in, there's definitely still an issue, even in 3.2.7.

<!-- gh-comment-id:469375749 --> @a575606 commented on GitHub (Mar 4, 2019): All clients are set to auto update and the ones on my laptop are definitely 3.2.7. Will check my home pc when I get home to make sure those are up to date, but assume so. The problem is once things get out of sync, it's not always easy to track down where the problem originated. What I can say is, I've clearly seen the issue happen when reorganizing bookmarks yesterday, and today when syncing on a laptop I haven't used in a couple weeks. If the expected behavior is your bookmarks are synced exactly to the last state they were in, there's definitely still an issue, even in 3.2.7.
Author
Owner

@marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Mar 4, 2019):

All clients are set to auto update and the ones on my laptop are definitely 3.2.7. Will check my home pc when I get home to make sure those are up to date, but assume so.

I see.

If the expected behavior is your bookmarks are synced exactly to the last state they were in, there's definitely still an issue, even in 3.2.7.

I suspect a part of the problem is to have longer periods without sync for some browsers. Making changes in a tree that hasn't been synced in a while causes the next sync to make potentially problematic decisions.

<!-- gh-comment-id:469419011 --> @marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Mar 4, 2019): > All clients are set to auto update and the ones on my laptop are definitely 3.2.7. Will check my home pc when I get home to make sure those are up to date, but assume so. I see. > If the expected behavior is your bookmarks are synced exactly to the last state they were in, there's definitely still an issue, even in 3.2.7. I suspect a part of the problem is to have longer periods without sync for some browsers. Making changes in a tree that hasn't been synced in a while causes the next sync to make potentially problematic decisions.
Author
Owner

@marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Mar 4, 2019):

For example, I'm afraid to run a sync from this browser because i'm afraid these duplicates will spread to all the other browsers

No express or implied warranty, but I'm confident those duplicates will be filtered out by floccus v3.2.6+ 😅

<!-- gh-comment-id:469420639 --> @marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Mar 4, 2019): > For example, I'm afraid to run a sync from this browser because i'm afraid these duplicates will spread to all the other browsers No express or implied warranty, but I'm confident those duplicates will be filtered out by floccus v3.2.6+ :sweat_smile:
Author
Owner

@a575606 commented on GitHub (Mar 5, 2019):

It just seems to me it would be a lot easier treating bookmarks as a set rather then comparing them individually 1 by 1

<!-- gh-comment-id:469644290 --> @a575606 commented on GitHub (Mar 5, 2019): It just seems to me it would be a lot easier treating bookmarks as a set rather then comparing them individually 1 by 1
Author
Owner

@marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Mar 5, 2019):

It just seems to me it would be a lot easier treating bookmarks as a set rather then comparing them individually 1 by 1

I understand where you're coming from and it would indeed be much easier. On the other hand, this would cause changes on one browser to override changes on a different browser, forcing either the developer or the user to utilize some kind of locking, which in my opinion is a terrible user experience.

I will do some fuzzy (wild move and deletion operations) testing soon to simulate difficult sync situations, which will likely reproduce some of the errors that you're facing.

<!-- gh-comment-id:469817701 --> @marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Mar 5, 2019): > It just seems to me it would be a lot easier treating bookmarks as a set rather then comparing them individually 1 by 1 I understand where you're coming from and it would indeed be much easier. On the other hand, this would cause changes on one browser to override changes on a different browser, forcing either the developer or the user to utilize some kind of locking, which in my opinion is a terrible user experience. I will do some fuzzy (wild move and deletion operations) testing soon to simulate difficult sync situations, which will likely reproduce some of the errors that you're facing.
Author
Owner

@marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Mar 23, 2019):

I've released another patch. Feedback is appreciated :)

<!-- gh-comment-id:475868867 --> @marcelklehr commented on GitHub (Mar 23, 2019): I've released another patch. Feedback is appreciated :)
Author
Owner

@github-actions[bot] commented on GitHub (Mar 21, 2023):

This issue has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. Please open a new issue for related bugs.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1477490446 --> @github-actions[bot] commented on GitHub (Mar 21, 2023): This issue has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. Please open a new issue for related bugs.
Sign in to join this conversation.
No milestone
No project
No assignees
1 participant
Notifications
Due date
The due date is invalid or out of range. Please use the format "yyyy-mm-dd".

No due date set.

Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference
starred/floccus#224
No description provided.