PLEASE keep Sync KISS

[David.P]

This morning, suddenly the below dialog comes up when starting Sync:

I have not the slightest idea what this dialog suggests me to do -- and there is also no explanation given about it whatsoever. Additionally, there is not even a possibility to dismiss this dialog! So what am I supposed to do? I can't even get to the main screen of Sync.

Please note that I'm as close to an software engineer as you get, being a power user with occasional programming experience.

Therefore, please try and use language that not only the developers but also your customers understand, when suddenly coming up with dialogs like the above.

Finally, please be as kind as to explain what the above dialog is about.

Thank you

David.P

 

Edited January 12, 2017 by David.P
changed the screenshot to English

[ultrakyo]

Not a solution but that the screen is in German and it is "Linking Device" prompt asking you to choose the default folder for sync and the default sync mode for new folders.

[David.P]

I've edited the original post to show the dialog in English.

I'd be glad if someone could explain the meaning of every one of the three paras. to be found in that dialog.

Further, this dialog comes up only about every second time I open Sync, which also is confusing.

Additionally, this dialog never came up during the first months of use of Sync.

I also already have certain folders that are synced, so it's not clear to me what "linking to [my] identity" means, nor what stuff is put in the "default folder" location, neither the reason why I have to specify what happens with "new folders".

David.P

[buffdownunder]

Hi David,

I assume that you are a using the Pro version. I got this screen too after entering the Pro-Trial.

I assume it's for devices that you are linking to an identity.

Because in Pro all folders get synced across all linked devices automatically you have to define how they are synced initially. You don't want new folders on your desktop to be synced to your Memory poor mobile. So you select Selective Sync on your mobile.

The location you select puts every new folder into that directory.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Edward

[Helen]

That's right.
That view means that your PC is being linked to another "pixelated" identity. That is why you're prompted to pick the linking mode (all three are explained here) and the default folder location - location where sync folders will be created by default (explained here).

The fact why you see that means that your current identity on this PC is not being saved properly. Perhaps, taking into account your other forum posts, Sync is not exited correctly.  

[David.P]

OK thanks, I understand now what the linking modes "Disconnected", "Selective Sync" and "Synced" mean.

However, what is a "pixelated identity"?

Additionally, I was of the opinion that Sync only syncs folders, not entire devices. At least I have set it up to sync only one folder at the moment. Therefore, I don't understand why Sync came up with that question about linking identities (= syncing devices?) in the first place.

Could you clarify this...?

[Helen]

14 hours ago, David.P said:

However, what is a "pixelated identity"?

well, this:

 

 

Sync mode indicates that every sync share will be downloaded. 

14 hours ago, David.P said:

I don't understand why Sync came up with that question about linking identities (= syncing devices?) in the first place.

Perhaps, because it was not quit correctly and was not able to save the previous configuration, or because you've actually linked the identities with M-key 

[David.P]

Sorry I still don't really get the full concept of this, and whether I need it at all. "It" meaning the linking modes "Disconnected", "Selective Sync" and "Synced".

What I have been doing successfully is sync ONE folder from the office PC to the home PC, via the Folders tab. Works like a charm.

However, I don't really understand the meaning of this in the My Devices Tab:

In the above settings in the My Devices Tab, do I need that "New folders from other devices will be..." -setting at all? There are no "New folders from other devices", only my standard sync folder in the Folders tab.

So should I "Unlink this device", or what should I do with the My Devices Tab, and why?

[David.P]

?

[Helen]

"My devices" tab shows the devices linked with one identity. You can link all or some of your devices with one identity. The main benefit of this is that if you add a folder to Sync on one of them, it'll automatically appear in Sync on all others. Same with removal. In other words, you don't have to share each folder manually with each of the devices send them key\link\QR code, etc. I mean you link the devices once and that's all - folders are shared automatically.
Each of the linked devices may have one of the three linking modes - Disconnected, Connected and Selective Sync. This mode determines how the folder, added to Sync on remote device, will behave on this local device. Each mode is described in UI and additionally in the user guide : https://help.resilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/205457775-Synchronization-Modes

Also, My devices are explained here: https://help.resilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/205457815-Sync-Private-Identity-Linking-My-Devices

 

On 10/9/2017 at 8:36 PM, David.P said:

In the above settings in the My Devices Tab, do I need that "New folders from other devices will be..." -setting at all?

..... it's always there, you cannot disable it. You will need to select one of the three if you link a few devices with one identity to tell Sync what to do with new folder which is added to sync. 

On 10/9/2017 at 8:36 PM, David.P said:

So should I "Unlink this device", or what should I do with the My Devices Tab, and why?

NO. Don't unlink. Each Sync instance needs to have an identity! Please read the guide. 

Else, if  the concept of "MY devices" is not clear, better not use it at all. Just add a folder to Sync and share with others using key or link. 

[David.P]

12 hours ago, Helen said:

"My devices" tab shows the devices linked with one identity. You can link all or some of your devices with one identity. The main benefit of this is that if you add a folder to Sync [?] on one of them, it'll automatically appear in Sync on all others. Same with removal. In other words, you don't have to share each folder manually with each of the devices send them key\link\QR code, etc. I mean you link the devices once and that's all - folders are shared automatically.
Each of the linked devices may have one of the three linking modes - Disconnected, Connected and Selective Sync.

Also, My devices are explained here: https://help.resilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/205457815-Sync-Private-Identity-Linking-My-Devices

Okay, there, I read:

Quote

Now that the identity is set and certificate is created, you can start linking all your devices to it. When your devices are linked, every time you add a folder [?] on one of your devices, it will AUTOMATICALLY be available on all the other devices, that is, ALL the folders will be visible and accessible on ALL linked devices and no additional links or keys will have to be sent.

However, it does not say where I "add a folder". Does that mean that I add a folder in Sync on the folder tab, or that I add a folder on the actual device at the default folder location as specified in the My Devices tab...?

Sorry, this is still very unclear!

12 hours ago, Helen said:

12 hours ago, Helen said:

  On 9.10.2017 at 7:36 PM, David.P said:

In the above settings in the My Devices Tab, do I need that "New folders from other devices will be..." -setting at all?

..... it's always there, you cannot disable it. You will need to select one of the three if you link a few devices with one identity to tell Sync what to do with new folder which is added to sync. 

No, there is no "New folders from other devices will be..."  setting on my laptop, see below:

What's more, from the screenshot it can be seen that my device "blurred laptop" is linked, but at the same time not linked, to my identity.

Sorry again, but this is still very confusing.

[Helen]

12 hours ago, David.P said:

However, it does not say where I "add a folder". Does that mean that I add a folder in Sync on the folder tab, or that I add a folder on the actual device at the default folder location as specified in the My Devices tab...?

to Sync apparently - the "Folders" tab. 

12 hours ago, David.P said:

or that I add a folder on the actual device at the default folder location as specified in the My Devices tab...?

It does not work this way!!  Sync is not Dropbox. This "default folder location" - is not working like dropbox. You don't put a folder to "default folder location" and get it synced. This ' default folder location' servers the other goal - it's the default folder location for the folder arriving from other linked devices. 

As for screenshot:
Your device "some LAPTOP" IS linked to your identity "somename". This is the only device  - as I previously said - each Sync installation IS TO HAVE ITS IDENTITY!  What you call "...ahm, not linked to my identity" means that there a no OTHER devices linked to it APART from your "some LAPTOP". 

I'm really sorry that it's that hard to understand! 

[David.P]

Thank you.

On 18.10.2017 at 6:38 PM, David.P said:

Okay, there [in the official sync guide], I read:

Quote

Now that the identity is set and certificate is created, you can start linking all your devices to it. When your devices are linked, every time you add a folder on one of your devices, it will AUTOMATICALLY be available on all the other devices, that is, ALL the folders will be visible and accessible on ALL linked devices and no additional links or keys will have to be sent.

However, it does not say where I "add a folder". Does that mean that I add a folder in Sync on the folder tab, or that I add a folder on the actual device at the default folder location as specified in the My Devices tab...?

On 19.10.2017 at 7:22 AM, Helen said:

to Sync apparently - the "Folders" tab.

Now that you are adding this information, it seems to be clear (whereas I still am somewhat confused by you adding "apparently").

However, please note that the official guide linked above does not state where you "add a folder". While for you and the developers who deal with Sync all day long, it seems to be self-evident and not worth mentioning that you "add a folder" to the "Folders" tab in the Sync application (and not to the default Sync folder location on your hard drive), please understand that this degree of self-evidence cannot be assumed for users who try to find their way around Sync and how everything works.

 

On 18.10.2017 at 6:38 PM, David.P said:

In the above settings in the My Devices Tab, do I need that "New folders from other devices will be..." -setting at all?

On 18.10.2017 at 6:40 AM, Helen said:

..... it's always there, you cannot disable it. You will need to select one of the three if you link a few devices with one identity to tell Sync what to do with new folder which is added to sync. 

On 18.10.2017 at 6:38 PM, David.P said:

No, there is no "New folders from other devices will be..."  setting on my laptop, see below:

 

So why is it that there is no such setting on my laptop?

 

On 19.10.2017 at 7:22 AM, Helen said:

As for screenshot:
Your device "some LAPTOP" IS linked to your identity "somename". This is the only device  - as I previously said - each Sync installation IS TO HAVE ITS IDENTITY!  What you call "...ahm, not linked to my identity" means that there a no OTHER devices linked to it APART from your "some LAPTOP". 

Sorry but it says verbatim in the above screenshot that I "don't have any linked devices". If this information actually should mean that I don't have any other linked devices, then it should say so. The wording "You don't have any linked devices" (when actually I have one linked device) is clearly wrong and therefore confusing.

What will happen if I click "unlink this device"?

[Helen]

13 minutes ago, David.P said:

So why is it that there is no such setting on my laptop?

cause you don't have any other devices linked to your identity. there's only the laptop.

13 minutes ago, David.P said:

What will happen if I click "unlink this device"?

this device will be unlinked from the current identity. Once each Sync installation is to have its identity, you'll be offered to either create the new identity for this device or link to any other identity. This is also described in the guide:
https://help.resilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/205457815-Sync-Private-Identity-Linking-My-Devices

[David.P]

Thank you Helen.

23 minutes ago, Helen said:

1 hour ago, David.P said:

So why is it that there is no such ["New folders from other devices will be..."] setting on my laptop?

cause you don't have any other devices linked to your identity. there's only the laptop.

But what about the PC -- the PC is also linked to my identity:

...as is the laptop:

So there are two devices linked to my identity, aren't they?

Therefore, the "New folders from other devices will be..." -setting should turn up on the laptop as well, shouldn't it?

[Helen]

do they have same fingerprint? 

[David.P]

Will have to check that and then come back, thank you.

[David.P]

OK so while the name of the identity on the laptop is the same as on the PC, the fingerprints are completely different.

Should the fingerprints be the same on both machines, provided I want to use only one Identity?

If yes, I wonder how the different identities came about in the first place. I remember that I set up Sync on both devices and then simply shared a folder from the PC to the laptop via the "Share Folder -> Copy Read & Write Key" function on the folders tab.

So somehow, the "Share Folder" approach seems not to be the proper way of setting up my private cloud, is it?

[Helen]

13 minutes ago, David.P said:

the fingerprints are completely different.

so these are not the same identities! They may be having the same name, but they are actually different. Have you read the article about the Identities? It explains fingerprint! 

If you link devices with ONE identity, they will have ONE common identity with the same fingerprint. 

15 minutes ago, David.P said:

how the different identities came about in the first place.

You've just created the identity for each device and didn't link them with one identity. that's it. 

15 minutes ago, David.P said:

the "Share Folder" approach seems not to be the proper way of setting up my private cloud, is it?

"Share folder" is not linking a device! it's simply sharing a folder! Please do read the article about linking devices with one identity. Thank you.

[David.P]

OK thanks Helen, will do so.

I guess the problem was that I started with Sync by following this guide:

• Quick guide to syncing

...because it says there: "This guide illustrates how to sync a folder between two computers in 5 easy steps", which exactly is what I had been after, but for a long time could not find a tool that would easily do it (until I found Sync).

However, I completely missed out on the Identity stuff that way, and therefore did not pay attention to it when setting up sync on the two devices.

Rather, I probably should have followed this guide from the start:

• Comprehensive guide to syncing (Desktop-Desktop)

[Edit: no, probably this is the best starting point for setting up Sync Pro: Sync Private Identity & Linking My Devices]

Thus, provided all of the above should be correct, I would like to suggest that the Quick guide should include a note saying that preferably the same identity should be used on both devices, because otherwise, advanced syncing will not work properly (as I had to learn the hard way).

I would also like to point out that it is not so easy to find your way around the fact that apparently, four or five different keys (with up to eight different names) can play a role when setting up a private cloud with Sync:

1. at least two device keys, or one device linking key (that also can be called "M-key")
2. a personal license key,
3. possibly some read and/or write keys for folders, and
4. a device fingerprint key (which is sometimes also called "certificate" and/or "identity" instead)

Thank you again and
Best regards
David

--

[edit: after further reading and still trying to figure out how to set up my three devices, it seems that "device linking key ", "M-key", "fingerprint", "certificate" and "identity"are all only different names for the very same entity. This is extremely confusing for the new user, and really should be consolidated.]

 

[David.P]

Hello Sync Support,

being a Sync User for a few years now, this issue keeps confusing me very much:

 

 

1

On 11/1/2017 at 3:22 PM, David.P said:

after further reading and still trying to figure out how to set up my three devices, it seems that "device linking key ", "M-key", "fingerprint", "certificate" and "identity"are all only different names for the very same entity. This is extremely confusing for the new user, and really should be consolidated.

Please comment on possibilities to consolidate this variety of terms which all seem to describe the same thing.

Best regards

David.P

[David.P]

Again, thank you for checking the wording of Sync's terminology and program messages for more clarity and conciseness.

From the above message's wording, I fear that the folder will be removed from ALL devices, since, after all, the device where this message is currently shown is a "linked device" as well, depending on the viewpoint.

See for example here: 

Quote

 

Linking Devices

Now that the identity is set and certificate is created, you can start linking all your devices to [the identity]. When your devices are linked, every time you add a folder on one of your devices, it will AUTOMATICALLY be available on all the other devices, that is, ALL the folders will be visible and accessible on ALL linked devices and no additional links or keys will have to be sent.

 

From this, I conclude that "removing a folder from all linked devices" means removing it from all devices, because according to the above, all devices are linked (e.g. to the identity).

So in case the above message actually should mean that the folder will be removed from "all devices but this device", please change the wording such that this is made clear.

Thank you

[David.P]

The list of confusing/contradictory and incomplete information goes on.

From here:

Quote

Licensed Sync version - Sync Home Pro, Sync family Pro and Sync Business - allow linking multiple devices with one identity uniting them into "My devices" list.

How come that in Sync, under "Preferences -> License" there is no (or incorrect) mention of the actual license that I own? I have a Sync Pro License, but it says "Personal License" there, whatever that may be.

And here:

Quote

The certificate helps to identify the peer when it connects to a share, and its fingerprint can be viewed in "My devices -> Identity details" menu.

There is no "My devices" tab, there is no "Identity details" menu. And the fingerprint can not be viewed.

I must say that the information you guys are presenting in the application and/vs. in the knowledgebase is awfully confusing and/or outdated and/or incorrect all over the place.

[David.P]

Also, the forum editor is broken.

I can only edit the second to last but not the last post; simple quotes go awry all the time, uploaded images can only be moved into the post after posting and then editing it (which doesn't work either... )

EDIT: still can only edit some posts including this, but not the broken one with the screenshot above.