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Sync error (remote db reset, unable to reach tx identifiers) help? [Fixed in 1.7.3] Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Since upgrading to OmniFocus 1.7.1, I've started receiving the following error dialog every time I attempt to sync:

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Unable to synchronize database with server.

Cannot synchronize.

The remote database appears to have been reset and is no longer able to reach transaction identifiers ( jrUXMuzjXOt ).
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I'm configured to use a remote WebDAV server (my Mac Mini running Apache with mod_webdav). This setup has worked fine for me for several months, interoperating with OmniFocus on my iPhone.

For kicks, I moved what I thought was the sync directory (under /Library/WebServer/WebDAV) out of the way (an OmniFocus.ofocus directory). Then I manually forced a sync, and it "worked" and created this directory, but shortly thereafter I get the "Replace your database and start syncing?" dialog again. I thought "Ok, why not, I'm synced", told it to go ahead, and it reverted my database to something from at least two days ago!

I haven't done anything with OmniFocus on my iPhone this entire time, just to keep it simple and help isolate the problem.

Is anyone else seeing major WebDAV sync issues after upgrading to 1.7.1? Any suggestions for someone who is seeing these issues? For now I'm refusing to sync at all, making it useless on my iPhone, and could really use some help escaping from this sync hell. Thanks!
 
I've also seen and reported the situation where OmniFocus 1.7.1 "helpfully" offers to replace my database and start syncing, except it wants to replace the wrong database. In my case, I had replaced the local database by reverting to a backup from a day or two earlier, and it thought it was helping by offering to reinstall the copy from the webDAV server (MobileMe). Uh, no. I suspect this is intended as an improvement over the old "local or server?" question, but apparently there are a few bugs yet to be worked out!

Be sure to send in a report with Help->Send Feedback.
 
I'm having the same problem and am using MobileMe for my syncing. Help!
 
I have the same error message described above. I never saw this message before the 1.7.1 update. For now I'm just canceling the message box.
 
I tried deleting the instance of the syncing file on MobileMe using iDisk and then re-syncing. Same thing happened, so that didn't work. I email support ninjas this morning.
 
Sorry for the confusion and inconvenience here, folks. I just checked in with Ken about this. He's still investigating the problem, but here's his working theory:

In previous versions, folks sometimes needed to artifically force their database to compact. OmniFocus 1.7 introduced a change that should make it much less necessary to do that.

One way we've found to reliably cause the "Client with identifier <foo> only refers to identifiers that are not locally reachable" message is to turn off syncing on a Mac running 1.7.x, compact the database, then re-enable sync.

This creates a situation where there are client files on the server which refer to transactions which no longer exist on that Mac. That's what brings up the error message.

(Bill, we're going to look into the "restore from backup" angle and see if that can cause this, as well.)

Once this happens, there are 2 ways to restore sync. Which one you need to use will depend on which database contains the most up-to-date info.

If the database on the Mac that's showing the error is the most up to date, you want to cancel the sync, then select "Replace Server Database" from the File menu. This circumvents the sync process and just pushes the entire database on the Mac up to the server.

If the server database is most up to date, you want to cancel sync & quit OmniFocus, then open up ~/Library/Application Support/OmniFocus in the Finder. Rename "OmniFocus.ofocus" to "OLD-OmniFocus.ofocus". Restart OmniFocus; it will pull down the server database and replace the one you moved aside.

Once things are back up and running, the new best practice would be to let OmniFocus do the compacting for you. The change we made really should make it unnecessary to compact manually. Once all my Macs were running 1.7.x, the number of zip files in my database went from a hundred or so to less than 20...

In any case, that should prevent this from happening until we can research the problem more fully and make any necessary changes.

If folks are sure they haven't compacted their databases manually before seeing this, or if the steps above don't get things sorted out, it would be really helpful if they could send as much information as possible about their setup to the support ninjas so we can help.

Useful information includes things like the number of devices being synced, what version of OmniFocus is installed on each of them, and what OS each has installed.

Last edited by Brian; 2009-09-02 at 02:18 PM.. Reason: correct typo
 
Brian,

Thanks for your help with this. In preparing to do this I ran into a major problem. In order to work with my OF today, I disabled Sync and entered data into the program and completed a major review.

Later in the day I noticed your post and began this process. In order to not lose my data that I entered today, I first exported as an OmniFocus document and also backed up the database to a file in a separate folder as well. I then went back to Preferences and reenabled sync. This brought me back to the version I had earlier this morning (the one when I was having the sync issues) and discarded all of the changes I've made since that time.

When I try to open one of the aforementioned backups, it does not show any of the new data or changes. Any clues? I'd hate to have lost all of the changes to my system today.
 
I had this happen to me this afternoon on my work computer, and then just now on my home computer.

I've always wanted help getting things done more quickly--but this wasn't exactly what I had in mind. :)

I emailed the ninjas.

Last edited by peteypolo; 2009-09-02 at 07:03 PM..
 
Dear Ninja Brian,

Your posted workaround does not appear to resolve the issue. :( I have a MacBook (10.5.8), a MacPro (10.5.8), and an iPhone (OS 3.0.1). Ever since I've upgraded to OF v1.7.1, I've been unable to sync among my devices. I've tried creating a new folder on MobileMe, re-building, restoring, etc..., but nothing seems to work. Furthermore, I don't have iDisk syncing enabled on either computer.

If I only use my MacPro with OF v1.7.1, everything is fine. But when I add my MacBook, my MacBook gets this error on syncing:
The remote database appears to have been reset and is no longer able to reach transaction identifiers (some string)
Then when I add my iPhone, my MacPro gives me this error on syncing:
Unable to read document. No root transactions found in “https://idisk.me.com/USERNAME/Data/OmniFocus.ofocus/”
Then when I try to re-sync with my iPhone, my iPhone gets this error:
Unable to synchronize database with server. Unable to read document.
As you can see, syncing is now impossible among devices.

Please help.

Last edited by elitebox; 2009-09-03 at 01:36 PM..
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by elitebox View Post
Dear Ninja Brian,

Your posted workaround does not appear to resolve the issue. :( I have a MacBook (10.5.8), a MacPro (10.5.8), and an iPhone (OS 3.0.1). Ever since I've upgraded to OF v1.7.1, I've been unable to sync among my devices. I've tried creating a new folder on MobileMe, re-building, restoring, etc..., but nothing seems to work. Furthermore, I don't have iDisk syncing enabled on either computer.

If I only use my MacPro with OF v1.7.1, everything is fine. But when I add my MacBook, my MacBook gets this error on syncing:
The remote database appears to have been reset and is no longer able to reach transaction identifiers (some string)
Then when I add my iPhone, my MacPro gives me this error on syncing:
Unable to read document. No root transactions found in “https://idisk.me.com/USERNAME/Data/OmniFocus.ofocus/”
Then when I try to re-sync with my iPhone, my iPhone gets this error:
Unable to synchronize database with server. Unable to read document.
As you can see, syncing is now impossible among devices.

Please help.
I had exactly the same issue and error messages. Also emailed urgent support this morning.

One thing I discovered in the process is that the "Reset Database" function on the iPhone does not work -- its simply crashes the app and leaves the database intact.

I am running Snow Leopard on a MacbookPro and the latest iPhone OS on a 3GS.

This is wierd as syncing was working perfectly for me yesterday (I just bought the iPhone app yesterday and started the desktop trial). So I have no experience with earlier versions than 1.7.1.

I'll cross my fingers that someone figures this out quickly!

[edit]
Continuing weirdness. I reset my syncing options in the OF desktop preferences. Renamed and moved the OF database on Mobile Me. Did a fresh sync from the desktop. Deleted and reinstalled on the iPhone. Sent new sync settings to the iPhone. Synced the iPhone. Lo and behold, it synced to an old database (or at least that's what I'm assuming since it has outdated entries and missing entries that are now on the desktop)???? WTF????? Where did it get that from? It does not match what is sitting on the desktop version right now, which should be what is on Mobile Me considering I removed any old versions and resynced.

[edit #2]
Got the root transactions error message again while tryig to sync the desktop. Looked at the OF file on Mobile Me and noticed all the zip files were gone and there were just a few files now. So I deleted it and resynced. That worked. Synced again -- no error message. So I deleted iPhone app and tried to sync it -- got an error message -- tried again -- it synced but showed no data at all -- just the entries in a new database from OF (how to, etc.). Synced again and voila -- back to an old outdated database! No idea where that keeps coming from but I'm hoping these posts will help the ninjas.

Last edited by MileHiPhone; 2009-09-04 at 09:56 AM.. Reason: adding information
 
 


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