Synch Issues -- Status Update
Quick Summary...
1) We've discovered a bug
2) A fix will be coming out soon
3) We're also creating a diagnostic tool to help find future
issues.
The Bug
Elbert's going to be doing a technical blog post on this later
today, so I'm not going to get into it too much.
Basically, there is a weakness inherent in Javascript that we
didn't properly allow for.
We hope it's the bug - the only one
affecting the sync process - we'll squash this one and keep our
eyes open.
In theory is should happen about once in a zillion years, maybe that's true if you are on one or two computers, but with 10k+ users with multiple devices, theory falls apart.
In theory, theory and reality are the same - in reality they aren't
The Fix
I believe Elbert is close to completing the fix -- and then
after testing, we'll push out a new build.
Can't give you an exact timeframe at this point, but expect it in
the next day or two.
The Tool
Standard techniques for finding "bugs" in such a diverse set of
devices and browsers can be problematic to say the least.
Finding a pattern to what's going on from an external view takes
too long. Without seeing what's happening on your computer or
mobile device, we basically have to take educated guesses. Not
good.
We had planned on putting out a synch status box with the next
release anyway, but Elbert is taking it a bit further -- adding a
diagnostic tool as well.
If you should run into a problem and you want our help you can
start the diagnostic tool to capture information that we can use to
troubleshoot the issue. Since there are so many variations on what
info is available -- and how to get it on the plethora of devices
out there -- it will be a fairly simple tool to begin with as we're
also wanting to get it out there quickly.
For all the privacy freaks like me, no it won't be tracking what
you're doing all the time and sending us the info -- it's none of
our business for sure.
Turn it on when you think necessary, turn it off otherwise, we
don't get data unless you send it to us.
We'll let you know more later.
David
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2 Posted by david-drake on 07 Apr, 2011 08:14 PM
Wonderful -- thanks so much for the update....and dedicated work on this!
-David
3 Posted by John Crowell on 07 Apr, 2011 09:23 PM
Ditto!
Support Staff 4 Posted by Elbert McLaughlin on 07 Apr, 2011 09:27 PM
A word on the diagnostics panel/dialog...
it will probably be something along these lines. (see attached image below)
Image Credit http://osxdaily.com/2010/02/15/disable-the-crash-reporter-dialog-in...
Support Staff 5 Posted by Elbert McLaughlin on 07 Apr, 2011 09:27 PM
and this time with the image actually attached...
6 Posted by david-drake on 08 Apr, 2011 01:08 PM
Hi David,
Any news here?
-David
7 Posted by Proximo on 08 Apr, 2011 01:51 PM
Great news.
The Sync. issue is really messing me up at the house. I guess I won't be able to procrastinate on my home duties soon. :-(
8 Posted by david-drake on 08 Apr, 2011 09:23 PM
How are things going, guys....hopefully well. Anxious to hear... :)
-David
Support Staff 9 Posted by David McLaughlin on 09 Apr, 2011 11:30 PM
OK. Elbert will blog about it later, but there is a new build for N2 - 180.
DO NOT logout & back in if you had synch problems - Just do a refresh until you see Build 180 (Ctrl-F5, Ctrl-r, etc.)
Hovering over the "Synch Button" will give you a quick status.
David
10 Posted by jber on 10 Apr, 2011 08:40 PM
The sync issues are still a problem.
I set up my day on Safari on my iMac while in build 180. Later, I was using my MacBook Pro using Safari and found scheduled tasks (that weren't scheduled for today) showing up in Focus that were correctly not showing on my iMac earlier in the day. I then went back to the iMac and found those same items from the MacBook Pro are now on the iMac. By the way, I did follow directions above from David M not to logout.
Support Staff 11 Posted by David McLaughlin on 10 Apr, 2011 11:58 PM
@jber -- I suppose the good news is that you're synching otherwise the scheduled tasks wouldn't show in both devices, but I'm afraid I'm not following exactly what you mean becuase I need to know what you meany by ".... scheduled tasks (that weren't scheduled for today) showing up in Focus..." were and why you didn't expect them to show up.
I'm assuming you meant the spawned tasks from the schedule instance, but
- were they not scheduled until next week? or for some time in the past? - did they have a due day with a copy created x days before, and the x-days shouldn't have been effective yet?
I'm wondering fi this might not be a "synch" issue per se, because I think Elbert made a change that affected something in how the scheduled tasks worked internally -- and so I'm wondering if this might be related. If so it might be a case where this behavior shows up because of the build change, but may not thereafter -- please keep an eye out and let me know if it happens again.
I'll ping Elbert in the morning and let him know -- if he doesn't see this directly.
Thanks,
David
12 Posted by James on 11 Apr, 2011 09:35 AM
On one of the machines, I needed to log out and log back in again to see the changes, but touch wood, that seems to be working for me.
Nice work, thanks :)
13 Posted by John Crowell on 11 Apr, 2011 04:04 PM
After following instructions above I still had the sync issues... for a while. I'm happy to say that everything is in sync now for me.
Short version:
I think I had to sync, log out and back in to the main device I use (Chrome 12 on Windows) to get changes it had stored locally propagated to two other devices (FF4/WIndows and latest Mobile Safari/iPhone).
Long version (and apologies for the length, but I hope this helps):
It didn't work at first. I refreshed (on C12, since it had the most recent changes) to get build 180, and even though it wasn't needed, hit the Sync button manually, checked the status by hovering over Sync ("less than a minute ago"), then opened N2 on my iPhone. It opened to build 180 without me having to refresh, still logged in from previous use days ago. It still was showing old data despite hitting Sync several times, waiting for the iPhone data transfer spinner to stop, refreshing the page, syncing again, etc. However when I added a "Test Sync" task using C12/Windows, and repeated the above, I could see the new task on the iPhone after syncing there (but still along with a bunch of other tasks from a while back that did NOT show up in my C12 device). I logged out and back into the iPhone N2 several times, again synced, refreshed the page, etc. No dice.
Then I logged out of the C12 and back in, repeated the Sync manually, logged out of the iPhone, logged back in there and... almost everything was correct. What was wrong was that some Project adds, renames and task movement among the projects that I had done on C12 on Friday were not showing in the iPhone version. Focus, Waiting and Next tasks all looked correct and current (with the exception of the project changes from above). I synced the iPhone and the old set of project changes was pushed back to C12 (as you'd expect if N2 considered the iPhone the most current copy). So I just re-did the project changes from Friday on the C12 device, re-synced on both and... looks good so far.
I double-checked by using FF4 on Windows and everything was in sync. I think I'll still to using N2 on FF4 because I believe that's a supported browser and C12 (understandably) is not.
Thanks again to Elbert and David.
14 Posted by Proximo on 12 Apr, 2011 03:15 AM
I just don't want a "Total Recall" of my activities. This is a real problem because anyone can logout and loose their current information which is not good at all.
Support Staff 15 Posted by David McLaughlin on 20 Apr, 2011 01:56 AM
We believe we've got the synch issue under control with Build 189.
If you see that all your tasks are not synch'd up by seeing an orange status light (instead of green) and hovering over the synch button shows that "local changes pending sync...") please let us know by using the "private support" category, after you've tried to do the synch yourself.
If it appears that different devices have tasks in different states, even though the Synch Status indicates that everything has been synch'd for all the devices, there is the possibility of some tasks not being synch'd properly from previous builds -- it's an unusual situation, but there have been one or two cases we've run into -- and we have a utility in Build 189 to get you back in sync.
There may be something that appears to be a synch issue at first glance but isn't, so please take the time to verify the situation and help us avoid the "false positive" scenario.
Thanks for your patience,
David
16 Posted by Proximo on 21 Apr, 2011 12:53 AM
Sync is fixed on all my computers.
Take the day off.
Have a Beer.
Heck have two.
Support Staff 17 Posted by David McLaughlin on 21 Apr, 2011 08:44 PM
@Proximo, well if you insist.
Hmm - maybe I'll have a little tequila too.
18 Posted by jber on 23 Apr, 2011 04:13 PM
I hate to say this, but the sync problem still exists. I set up my day on my iMac at home earlier this morning. I started up on my MacBook Pro a short while later and found a slew of tasks in my Focus list that I did not have showing up on the iMac. Many of them were items with due dates that had passed and had been previously marked as completed (to the best of my recollection).
19 Posted by lran on 25 Apr, 2011 03:54 PM
Yes, I've had a similar problem in the last few weeks in build 189 I believe. Also, has anyone had problems with all their tasks just up and disappearing? I synced, logged out and restarted by computer, and then everything was gone.
20 Posted by jber on 25 Apr, 2011 04:43 PM
Sync continues to be a problem. I started off this morning with my iMac and iPhone versions of N2 perfectly in unison. I then came into my office and fired up Chrome on my PC. Instead of 15 Focus items that were set for today, I show 29 in my Chrome browser. The Next count went from 31 items to 42. My Someday items went from 228 to 218 and my Scheduled items went from 24 to 20.
I just hit the Sync button on my iPhone and it pulled the data from what was showing on Chrome. I guess I will be going back to the drawing board to reconfigure my action items.
21 Posted by Sami on 27 Apr, 2011 01:49 PM
Hi, sync doesn't seem to work on Chrome 10 (Win 7), but does work on Chromium (Ubuntu).
22 Posted by greggs on 27 Apr, 2011 05:37 PM
Glad to know it's not just me.
I'm a relative n00b here, but loving n2 lots and learning fast.
I've been emailing tasks for the past four days, but nary a one has shown up in any n2 section.
I'm on the cusp of making n2 my one-and-only gtd tool, so I'm quite eager to see this fixed.
23 Posted by Leon on 28 Apr, 2011 12:02 AM
I'm having the same problem. I'm too scared to fire up the mobile app as I know it will stuff up my tasks. It seems to be Chrome. I'm currently on Chrome Windows 7. I used to be on Chrome XP. It seems that Chrome Mac is ok.
24 Posted by Neil on 28 Apr, 2011 10:44 AM
@Greggs
Have you changed your account preferences to send email tasks to Nirvana 2 instead of Nirvana 1 via this link:
https://account.nirvanahq.com/dashboard
David McLaughlin closed this discussion on 06 May, 2011 11:48 PM.
jber re-opened this discussion on 29 Oct, 2011 07:20 PM
25 Posted by jber on 29 Oct, 2011 07:20 PM
This comment was split into a new private discussion: Synch Issues -- Status Update
CLOUD SYNCHING: THE ISSUE THAT NEVER SEEMS TO GET RESOLVED:
OK, so I spent considerable time with the latest Nirvana 2 build organizing my activities on my iMac at home using the latest version of Safari. Total Focus items = 13. Later that morning I get to work on my MacBook Pro using latest version of Safari. I open Nirvana 2 (the latest build) and I find 24 Focus items. Not happy having about this turn of events, I spend the time needed to clean up tasks. Immediately after synching this I go to the latest build of Nirvana 2 on my iPhone. AARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There's 27 Focus items!
Something needs to be done to create bullet proof, error proof, 100% infallible synching. Working in the cloud is a wonderful thing, but if it doesn't work, it's useless.
I love Nirvana, I am looking forward to becoming a paying customer, but I absolutely, positively need infallible, reliable synching. Please help.
David McLaughlin closed this discussion on 29 Oct, 2011 08:39 PM.