1158105 - Firefox sync goes back to an old bookmark state

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Firefox :: Untriaged, defect)

Description

[João M. S. Silva]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:37.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/37.0
Build ID: 20150403141925

Steps to reproduce:

Nothing.


Actual results:

All my bookmarks got back to an old state (dated some weeks ago, when I reorganized them all).


Expected results:

Bookmarks should be kept, not reverted to an old state without any justification.

Comment 1

[Adrian Florinescu [:aflorinescu]]

Your initial report is dated a few months ago. Several versions of FF have been released meanwhile. With the  obvious apologies for the late response, can you tell us if the problem still persists?
Were you having similar issues on the latest Firefox releases?

Comment 2

[João M. S. Silva]

I've been using Xmarks as an alternative.

Would it be safe to try Firefox Sync again?

When I setup Firefox Sync on the 1st machine, I need to say "discard server bookmarks, upload local bookmarks to the server".

Then, when I setup Sync in the 2nd machine, I need to say "please discard all bookmarks in this machine and overwrite them with the ones from the server".

I cannot use a merge sync, since in that case I will get all bookmarks messed up. Xmarks allow for the described functionality.

Comment 3

[Adrian Florinescu [:aflorinescu]]

I don't think we identified the cause of the sync malfunction in the first place.
If you are happy using xmarks, by all means.

But you can also start using firefox sync again and if you are concerned about data loss you could  back up a version of the data in xmarks.

You can also test all this by using two (or more) firefox profiles: one for machine1 and one for machine 2. Here is a short description about how to use multiple profiles:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles

I will mark this ticket as resolved/worksforme and you can reopen if you decide to start using the firefox sync again and you run into any more problems.

Comment 4

[João M. S. Silva]

We didn't identity the cause for malfunction, but since you said there is a much more recent version available I was willing to try it and confirm if the problem persists.

What I asked was if Firefox Sync allows for unidirectional syncs, as opposed to bidirectional/merge syncs.

If it does now allow unidirectional syncs, then I won't be able to test it, since as soon as I would setup sync, I would get all my bookmarks messed up, because the version of bookmarks in FF Sync server is much older than the version that I have now. With a merge it would try to merge an old bookmark state with a current one, which is a recipe for disaster.

I have hundreds of bookmarks in dozens of folders and I think you agree with me that having them lost / messed up is the last thing anyone wants to do.

As for Xmarks, I'd prefer to use FF Sync, since it blends better with FF, I only use Xmarks because that's the most reasonable alternative.

I cannot understand how can anyone use a sync mechanism which always merges data between server and client. I mean, FF Sync makes sense in more than 1 machine, but as soon as you setup sync in the 2nd machine, it will merge server+client messing up your setup. Is this architecture useful for anyone?

Comment 5

[Adrian Florinescu [:aflorinescu]]

Sorry it took me a while to get back to you on this matter. I don't think the architecture is flawed and i personally find it useful as I'm sure most users that haven't got your particular issue are.

So for example as in your case, you have lots of bookmarks & folders, you sync, then go to another computer you sync again (getting the bookmarks and all on the 2nd machine), then delete all the bookmarks and sync again, the status QVO of your bookmarks is 0. That means that if you go back to the first machine and you sync, you will get 0 bookmarks, which is expected. 

However, you are able to save a copy of your profile, which enables you to restore them at your leisure. Note though that this option will also save all addons and profile data; in address bar type "about:support", then identify the Profile section and press Show Folder. That will lead you to the current profile location. You can choose to save all your profiles or just the one you wish.
To manage profiles, check this add/remove profile help: 
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles


I'd also suggest that before starting with any sync to get a backup onto your hard drive, then play around and see if the sync functionality suits you or not.