Joplin uses sync locks to prevent multiple apps from using the sync target at the same time (in ways that might conflict).
If encountering a sync lock error for more than a few minutes, the following may be relevant:
This can happen if one Joplin client is still syncing (or was closed during a sync). Re-opening and re-syncing the client that was interrupted may fix the issue.
If this was caused by a Joplin client that no longer exists (e.g. was uninstalled), you can try the following:
Make a backup
Delete files from Apps/Joplin/locks on OneDrive
Originally posted here 4The above should also apply to DropBox.
According to @laurent,
To add up to this, the locks expire so if you wait a few minutes it should start working again
Originally posted here 6
As such, the bug referenced above may be related to sync lock expiration.
Thanks @personalizedrefriger !
This seemed to resolve my problem - its been happening to me for years
I thought I'd note down some diagnostic info for posterity.
My Setup:
- E2EE
- Dropbox sync
- Windows client (currently 2.14.20 though have had problem on and off for years)
- Android client (currently 2.14.9, though have had problem on and off for years)
Win Client never has any issues syncing, seems to be able to resolve issues with Sync lock.
Possibly something in it's code is able to handle these errors better?
Android client tends to take ages to sync or never does it, similar to the descriptions in this thread.
Going to my dropbox Apps\Joplin\Locks folder I found this:
I deleted all of these files (bravely / foolishly didn't backup), force close the android app, reopened app, therefore auto sync.
This seemed to immediately resolve the issue.
From watching this folder while sync occurs, it seems that a sync lock file gets created and then upon sync completion, the file gets deleted. Probably one should expect nothing to be permanently there?
Hopefully this fixes the problem long term.