721110 - Hide Sync setup banner on about:home for devices that don't support sync

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Firefox for Android Graveyard :: General, defect, P2)

Description

[Tony Chung [:tchung]]

We've discovered that the current state of Nightly builds don't support Android 2.2 devices (soon to be fixed? bug 717691), and Kindle fire (bug 719714).   There may be others out there that we dont know about.

Wondering if there's a way to remove the Sync setup banner and any additional instructions anywhere if we had to turn it off per device or OS.   Can we add this fallback hook?

Comment 1

[Aaron Train [:aaronmt]]

Out of curiosity, if you tap the Sync banner on a non-supported device, does it crash right now?

Comment 2

[Richard Newman [:rnewman]]

(Hmm, wonder if I can find a magic way to get CCed on all Fennec bugs that mention sync…)

Comment 3

[Lucas Rocha (:lucasr)]

Richard, what are the Android releases that we should disable Sync for? Is there a simple call that I can make to check if the system supports Sync?

Comment 4

[Richard Newman [:rnewman]]

(In reply to Lucas Rocha (:lucasr) from comment #3)
> Richard, what are the Android releases that we should disable Sync for? Is
> there a simple call that I can make to check if the system supports Sync?

We don't really know yet. Certainly devices on which the account system is unavailable, such as the Fire. For these, getAccountsForType should fail, because the framework that provides it is unavailable. If it doesn't fail, that would be sad.

Comment 5

[Lucas Rocha (:lucasr)]

Tony, could you please run latest nightly on a, say, Kindle Fire, and let me know if you see any exception being thrown when using the AccountManager API? If it doesn't fail in any way, we will have to explicitly blacklist it somehow.

Comment 6

[Tony Chung [:tchung]]

(In reply to Lucas Rocha (:lucasr) from comment #5)
> Tony, could you please run latest nightly on a, say, Kindle Fire, and let me
> know if you see any exception being thrown when using the AccountManager
> API? If it doesn't fail in any way, we will have to explicitly blacklist it
> somehow.

01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190): error reading json file
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190): org.json.JSONException: No value for title
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at org.json.JSONObject.get(JSONObject.java:354)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at org.json.JSONObject.getString(JSONObject.java:510)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at org.mozilla.gecko.AboutHomeContent.readLastTabs(AboutHomeContent.java:506)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at org.mozilla.gecko.AboutHomeContent.access$400(AboutHomeContent.java:91)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at org.mozilla.gecko.AboutHomeContent$5$2.run(AboutHomeContent.java:294)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:587)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:130)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at org.mozilla.gecko.GeckoAppShell$LooperThread.run(GeckoAppShell.java:185)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190): error reading json file
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190): org.json.JSONException: No value for title
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at org.json.JSONObject.get(JSONObject.java:354)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at org.json.JSONObject.getString(JSONObject.java:510)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at org.mozilla.gecko.AboutHomeContent.readLastTabs(AboutHomeContent.java:506)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at org.mozilla.gecko.AboutHomeContent.access$400(AboutHomeContent.java:91)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at org.mozilla.gecko.AboutHomeContent$5$2.run(AboutHomeContent.java:294)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:587)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:130)
01-30 14:38:45.974: ERROR/GeckoAboutHome(27190):     at org.mozilla.gecko.GeckoAppShell$LooperThread.run(GeckoAppShell.java:185)

Comment 7

[Tony Chung [:tchung]]

Attachment: logcat

the full logcat on startup and pageload

Comment 8

[Lucas Rocha (:lucasr)]

Tony, this is an unrelated crash. I've just sent a patch for it on bug 722655 btw. Maybe you could test again once my fix lands. Or just make sure you don't have any tabs without a title.

Comment 9

[Tony Chung [:tchung]]

(In reply to Lucas Rocha (:lucasr) from comment #8)
> Tony, this is an unrelated crash. I've just sent a patch for it on bug
> 722655 btw. Maybe you could test again once my fix lands. Or just make sure
> you don't have any tabs without a title.

okay, i was just pasting what i saw during the startup operation.   didnt think it was that helpful, but thought you'd make more sense of it.

Sure, i'll watch bug 722655 and retest then.

Comment 10

[Lucas Rocha (:lucasr)]

(In reply to Tony Chung [:tchung] from comment #9)
> (In reply to Lucas Rocha (:lucasr) from comment #8)
> > Tony, this is an unrelated crash. I've just sent a patch for it on bug
> > 722655 btw. Maybe you could test again once my fix lands. Or just make sure
> > you don't have any tabs without a title.
> 
> okay, i was just pasting what i saw during the startup operation.   didnt
> think it was that helpful, but thought you'd make more sense of it.
> 
> Sure, i'll watch bug 722655 and retest then.

Tony, could you test this again now that bug 722655 has been fixed?

Comment 11

[Tony Chung [:tchung]]

Attachment: kindle sync banner screenshot

Still seeing the banner.  attaching logcat of home screen.

Tested on Kindle Fire - 2012-02-23 13.0a1 nightly build.

Comment 12

[Tony Chung [:tchung]]

Attachment: logcat 02-23-2012

Comment 13

[Lucas Rocha (:lucasr)]

You're seeing a StrictMode exception which is also unrelated to this bug :-/ I filed and fixed it in bug 729945. Let's get this landed first and then you can try it again.

Comment 14

[Lucas Rocha (:lucasr)]

Tony, could you try this again?

Comment 15

[Irina Sandu]

Do we know on which type of devices we wouldn't have Sync support? This affects marketing efforts and we would need to plan around it if it is still the case at launch.

Comment 16

[Richard Newman [:rnewman]]

(In reply to Irina Sandu from comment #15)
> Do we know on which type of devices we wouldn't have Sync support? This
> affects marketing efforts and we would need to plan around it if it is still
> the case at launch.

The Kindle Fire is the big one that I know of. Other devices that ship a stripped-down version of Android might also be unable to support Sync.

Comment 17

[Irina Sandu]

Those are not so many so it shouldn't be a problem. But if you find this issue on mainstream devices (Samsung, HTC, Sony etc.), please let us know.

Comment 18

[Richard Newman [:rnewman]]

(In reply to Irina Sandu from comment #17)
> Those are not so many so it shouldn't be a problem. But if you find this
> issue on mainstream devices (Samsung, HTC, Sony etc.), please let us know.

There were about 6 million Fires shipped in Q4, which is about half of the entire (US?) Android tablet market.

Comment 19

[Tony Chung [:tchung]]

(In reply to Lucas Rocha (:lucasr) from comment #14)
> Tony, could you try this again?

Still reproducible.  03-18-2012 nightly.

Comment 20

[Tony Chung [:tchung]]

(In reply to Tony Chung [:tchung] from comment #19)
> (In reply to Lucas Rocha (:lucasr) from comment #14)
> > Tony, could you try this again?
> 
> Still reproducible.  03-18-2012 nightly.

to clarify, the sync banner appearing is still reproducible.   I dont see the StrictMode exception anymore from bug 729945.

Comment 21

[Irina Sandu]

(In reply to Richard Newman [:rnewman] from comment #18)

> There were about 6 million Fires shipped in Q4, which is about half of the
> entire (US?) Android tablet market.

Relative to our addressable market and where we are being distributed this issue does not pose a communications challenge. The discussion on overall availability and support for the Kindle Fire is separate from this.

Comment 22

[Lucas Rocha (:lucasr)]

(In reply to Tony Chung [:tchung] from comment #20)
> (In reply to Tony Chung [:tchung] from comment #19)
> > (In reply to Lucas Rocha (:lucasr) from comment #14)
> > > Tony, could you try this again?
> > 
> > Still reproducible.  03-18-2012 nightly.
> 
> to clarify, the sync banner appearing is still reproducible.   I dont see
> the StrictMode exception anymore from bug 729945.

Ok, I was expecting the accounts manager to cause a crash or something when used on a device without sync support. I guess we can blacklist devices on a case-by-case basis but that's not optimal. Do we know the exact range of devices we want to disable sync on? Are we just talking about the Kindle Fire here?

Comment 23

[Mark Finkle (:mfinkle) (use needinfo?)]

Moving to Sriram. If we can't find a simple way to check for the "Accounts and Sync" applet, then let's just blacklist the kindle fire.

Comment 24

[Sriram Ramasubramanian [:sriram]]

W/AccountManagerService( 1374): caller uid 10041 is different than the authenticator's uid
F/FirefoxSync(23924): java.lang.SecurityException: caller uid 10041 is different than the authenticator's uid
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1322)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1276)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at android.accounts.IAccountManager$Stub$Proxy.addAccount(IAccountManager.java:547)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at android.accounts.AccountManager.addAccountExplicitly(AccountManager.java:507)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at org.mozilla.gecko.sync.setup.SyncAccounts.createAccount(SyncAccounts.java:75)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at org.mozilla.gecko.sync.setup.activities.SetupSyncActivity.onComplete(SetupSyncActivity.java:366)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at org.mozilla.gecko.sync.jpake.JPakeClient.complete(JPakeClient.java:333)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at org.mozilla.gecko.sync.jpake.stage.CompleteStage.execute(CompleteStage.java:12)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at org.mozilla.gecko.sync.jpake.JPakeClient.runNextStage(JPakeClient.java:225)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at org.mozilla.gecko.sync.jpake.stage.DecryptDataStage.execute(DecryptDataStage.java:72)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at org.mozilla.gecko.sync.jpake.JPakeClient.runNextStage(JPakeClient.java:225)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at org.mozilla.gecko.sync.jpake.stage.GetRequestStage$1.handleSuccess(GetRequestStage.java:71)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at org.mozilla.gecko.sync.jpake.stage.GetRequestStage$2.handleHttpResponse(GetRequestStage.java:120)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at org.mozilla.gecko.sync.net.BaseResource.execute(BaseResource.java:232)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at org.mozilla.gecko.sync.net.BaseResource.go(BaseResource.java:254)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at org.mozilla.gecko.sync.net.BaseResource.get(BaseResource.java:260)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at org.mozilla.gecko.sync.jpake.stage.GetRequestStage$GetStepTimerTask.run(GetRequestStage.java:194)
F/FirefoxSync(23924): 	at java.util.Timer$TimerImpl.run(Timer.java:284)
E/SyncAccounts(23924): Failed to add account!


This is the crash I get.

Comment 25

[Sriram Ramasubramanian [:sriram]]

http://cl.ly/3V0S0Y1o2h1i0h091y32 <-- I see sync working. Is the bug just for a lack of an interface to enable/disable sync? And I can see the screen too: http://cl.ly/051j392W2W3L2m0M0G1n

Comment 26

[Mark Finkle (:mfinkle) (use needinfo?)]

I saw that crash too, on MV wifi, but not when I got home (on my Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S)

Based on comment 25, is this still a bug?

Comment 27

[Sriram Ramasubramanian [:sriram]]

I just convinced tchung that everything works fine ;)
Waiting for him to close it. :)

Comment 28

[Tony Chung [:tchung]]

Okay i've started testing the Fire again, and a lot has changed since bug 719714 was filed.  In particular, it seems like AccountManager on the Fire is now exposed.   Fennec's Sync banner seems to skip directly to the Firefox Sync Manager screen now, and show the simple setup screen.   Given this experience, we have an exposed way to get into your sync account and do magical stuff.   The other change is Android Sync is no longer a separate apk like it was before.   

That said, i was able to run through a quick set of smoketests:
- setup Sync via Jpake with a desktop machine
- sync bookmarks, history, and tabs  (evidence!  http://i.imgur.com/WWfmH.png)
- pair another device from the UI
- remove the sync account.
- verify the sync banner (This bug!) shows and hides on about:home correctly based on account activation or not.

I still see issues in logcat that need reporting (eg.  http://pastebin.mozilla.org/1541667)  but for the most part, this is working, and we should resolve this and bug 719714 as magically fixed.  :)