Phantom Peers

[LegacyCode]

Hello all. We're using Sync Pro v2.3.8. I recently had to restart a Mac and was not able to stop the BTSync service first. Upon reboot, I am now seeing what I can only describe as extra phantom peers—multiple instances of the same peer showing up. I only have two machines and so the Peers Online list should show 1 of 1, but on some of the shared folders, it shows 3 of 3. When I look at the Peers Online list, the phantom peers show 2 of the same machine name as the Mac and 1 valid peer.

When I go to the other valid machine (a Windows Server), the Peers Online list shows 1 of 2. Clicking on that list shows two instances of the Mac machine name with one green and the other gray.

Any ideas why this is happening. I'm worried that Sync will not be working properly because of this.

[mlwang]

I'm seeing this as well. I first noticed the phenomenon after upgrading to v.2.3.8. I cleaned out everything and started over (with a new identity) after v.2.4 RC1, and the phantoms disappeared for a while. Now I'm on RC2 and the ghosts have come back. Not sure when they started to appear again (RC1 or RC2) though.

Please see the attached screenshot below for an example. The screenshot was taken on my main desktop named carlo. It's the only computer named carlo in my possession. As shown in the screenshot, however, Resilio Sync insists it's synced to two other computers also named carlo.

Edit: forgot to mentioned that I'm on macOS 10.11.6, using Sync 2.4 RC2. So are all the other nodes sharing the same identity, as well as another desktop using a different identity (for I don't want it to have access to everything).

Edited September 11, 2016 by mlwang

[LegacyCode]

Thanks mlwang. That is exactly what we are experiencing. Thanks for the additional info and screenshots!

[Helen]

There were a few reports about this, and in those cases the problem was caused by same listening port being used twice  - on PC or on LAN. Please check that for your cases as well. 

[LegacyCode]

I may be misunderstanding, but we only have two machines in Sync and both of those are on distinctly separate networks. I have also confirmed they are both using different listening ports. That said, I do think when the Mac rebooted, the listening port changed from what it was previously. Could that be a factor?

[Helen]

@LegacyCode, can you please send full debug logs from these two peers to support? Instruction is here. A few screenshots would be much appreciated. 

 

@mlwang, In v2.4 updated listening port is not saved, will be fixed. on carlo peer, can you confirm that BitTorrent Sync is not running? Do you use Predefined hosts feature? 
Can you please also send debug logs to support from carlo and any other peer? thanks. Note, that the path for logs will be different for 2.4 - Resilio Sync instead of BitTorrent Sync
 

 

[mlwang]

@Helen, sorry, but I don't understand what you mean by confirming btsync is not running on carlo peer. As I said, the screenshot was taken on carlo, so of course btsync was running on carlo. The problem is, there is only one carlo I know of, so where do the other two carlos come from? Carlo should not be listed as a peer of itself, let alone twice.

All my devices (same identity or not) use a unique listening port (the one configurable in Advance Preferences, just to be sure we're talking about the same thing).

Yes, I do use predefined hosts on some of my devices, but not sure if carlo uses the feature. I'll check and get back to you when I get home (carlo is at home).

As to debug logs, there's none since turning off debug logging is the first thing I do when installing btsync. Will they still be useful if I turn debug logging on now? If so, for how long do I need to leave the logging on before collecting the logs?

[Helen]

@mlwang,

You say that you installed RC2 (Resilio Sync v.2.4), so I mean - are you sure that BitTorrent Sync (v.2.3.x) is not running anymore? It may happen that you have two instances - Resilio Sync and BitTorrent Sync running on same computer. 

With debug logging OFF, logs have very little info, so almost useless to debug your case. Enable logging, quit Sync, delete all sync.log and sync.log.####zip files from the storage (see step 3 in the instruction above). Start Sync. give it some 10-15 minutes, during which open
- the peer list  (that's on your screenshot)
- folder preferences to see the Predefined hosts. 
- Sync preferences. 
Collect fresh logs and send to support. Do that on carlo and on any other peer. 

[mlwang]

Ah, Ok. Then the answer is yes, I'm very sure btsync (2.3.8) is gone. And as I said, I started Resilio Sync (since RC1) with a new identity, and switch all devices sharing the same identity with carlo to the new identity after upgrading to  2.4 RC1. So even if btsync is still running secretly on carlo (or any other device, for that matter), the two should not talk to each other, right? I would be very worried if they do.

I'll do as you instruct and collect the logs tomorrow night (Taiwan time, +0800). I'm just home and it's a big day at work tomorrow, so I need the rest of the day to prepare for it. Sorry.

[mlwang]

@Helen, Got home early thanks to the Typhoon. The debug log has been sent to support as you instructed.

Turns out there's no predefined hosts for any folder on the device "carlo" (the mac desktop where the screenshot was taken). The "folder_defaults.known_hosts" setting in Power user preferences is empty, too. There are only 4 "Power user preferences" using non-default values:

folder_rescan_interval - 18000

send_statistics = false

enable_journaling = false

peer_expiration_days = 1

 

In the meantime, a new ghost has appeared, so now the device "carlo" is sync'ed to 3 other "carlos."