Syncing Windows installation to iPad via OneDrive loses folders

[roygrubb]

Operating system

iOS

Joplin version

3.0.15

Desktop version info

Joplin 3.0.15 (prod, win32)

Client ID: 45a92abed37642f8b8784858d068e182
Sync Version: 3
Profile Version: 47
Keychain Supported: Yes

Revision: 598677b

Backup: 1.4.1

Sync target

OneDrive

What issue do you have?

I have been using joplin on windows 10 for a long time, after importing years-worth of items from Evernote. Highly appreciative of it.

The stats from the Windows installation are 10483 notes 170 folders and 78900 resources

I decided to sync it to my iPad and iPhone through OneDrive. Fail safe is on in all installations.

At first it didn't seem to be making much effort just a few entries made it across, but today after a couple of weeks, I looked at the iPad and find I have have many notes synced with the Windows PC. I can't tell you how many exactly, because unlike the Windows version there seems to be no option to see stats, but a sync message suggests it is 2449 so far.

The problem is, there are no folders on the iPad, it's one flat list. There are no note tags either (there should be 4882).

Is there any way of syncing so that all the information and organisation in the Windows installation appears in the iPad?

[JackGruber]

Take a look at these two FAQ entries.

• How can I check the sync status?
• Not all notes, folders, or tags are displayed on the mobile app

[roygrubb]

Thanks Jack, that moves me forward, and allows me to see that there is a deeper problem.

The iOS sync stats tells me that 2444 notes out of 2444 are synced, 1 folder of 1, and 3 resources of 3 are synced - so it thinks it's all done. Also at the foot of the main sidebar, this appears a short while after I open Joplin on iOS:
Completed: 21/10/2024 14:25 (17s)
Last error: Fail-safe: Sync was interrupted because 100% of the data (2449 items) is about to be deleted. To override this behaviour disable the fail-safe in the sync settings.

I don't want to override fail safe for fear of losing everything.

The Windows stats are 10483/10483 notes, 170/170 folders, 78900/78900 resources, 339/339 tags and 4882/4882 notes tags. And in the Windows version, the sidebar shows:
Completed: 21/10/2024 14:22 (12s)
Last error: Fail-safe: Sync was interrupted because 100% of the data (94799 items) is about to be deleted. To override this behaviour, disable the fail-safe in the sync settings.

Any suggestions on a safe way to proceed? I'm thinking of unlinking the iOS installation from OneDrive, deleting all the items in iOS Joplin, deleting iOS Joplin itself, re-installing it, linking it to OneDrive again and seeing if it will work second time round.

Or should I disable failsafe in iOS Joplin? I'm not clear if it will then delete items in iOS only or items in OneDrive.

[JackGruber]

@roygrubb

Fail-safe: Sync was interrupted because

For me it sounds like all your files are deleted on OneDrive and now the sync is interrupted, because through the fail save, otherwise all notes would be deleted locally.

1. Create a Backup of you notes
2. On your PC you can select in the the sync settings Re-upload local data to sync target, this this transfers all local notes back to OneDrive
3. After the Upload has finished, try to sync your iOS device, may then sync works work again

[roygrubb]

In OneDrive I have

My files
	Apps
		Graph
			.lock
			.resource  	9.16 GB
			.sync		483 bytes
			0001417580f50e2d99a7621563a8f588.md

		and many, many files like that - OneDrive is not helpful in seeing file numbers

In Windows, C:\Users\Roy.config\joplin-desktop\resources is also 9.16 GB

So the files are not deleted in OneDrive, but perhaps the synchronization is uncoupled in some way. The most recent OneDrive item I can see is "10 days ago", but the most recent item in 'resources' on Windows is 19/10/2024.

I have a backup of everything in C:\Users\Roy.config on an external drive. This is a straight copy with Beyond Compare.

Is this sufficient to restore if problems arise or is there other data I need to save somewhere?

[roygrubb]

Thanks, Jack,

So I'm at this stage: I deleted Joplin on the iPad.
Set Windows Joplin to have no sync target.
Deleted everything in GRAPH in OneDrive.
Then set Windows Joplin to have OneDrive as a sync target again, leaving fail safe still on.
And pressed Synchronise.
Soon it reports:
Completed: 23/10/202414:14 (7s)
Last error. Fail-safe: Sync was iterupted
because 100% of the data (94838 items) is about
to be deleted.

Sync status still shows
Note: 10484/10484
Folder: 170/170
Resource: 78901/78901
Tag: 339/339
NoteTag: 4882/4882
Revision: 62/60
Total: 94838/94836

So sync doesn't appear to be either looking at OneDrive or recognising that all the records have gone. I won't try to sync the iPad again until the Windows installation is actually syncing.

What is the correct procedure for a user who builds up many notes and notebooks on Windows only, on one computer only, but then decides to sync via OneDrive?

Thanks for helping

[girlbandgeek]

Hi Roy,
I had a similar issue with OneDrive and syncing between Windows and iOS. I ended up following this procedure successfully:

Android sync to Onedrive error

To get around it quickly, I did the following (basically rebuilt the whole thing): Export all the notes (in jex file format) Created a new profile on the desktop Imported all the notes to it (which created "/App/Graph 2" on OneDrive) Confirmed it was all there Sync'ed it with Mobile phone Erased "/App/Graph" from OneDrive Although, the sync does seem a little flaky. It'd be nice to figure this out, so we can prevent it in the future and/or resolve it in a better way.

In summary, you make a jex backup, then import it into a new profile. Some observations:

• OneDrive does not appear to be ideal for Joplin sync (but it's much cheaper than the alternatives which is why I'm using it)
• After creating the new profile and importing the backup, I had to run sync multiple times on my devices before the all my files and folders were actually in sync.
• If Joplin detects a conflict, some notes may get moved to a conflict folder. This was not included in the backup as far as I could tell. I manually copied the conflict notes from old profile to new one. It was cumbersome, but worked. I had three notes in this state. Possibly there's a more automatic way to move the conflict notes? Would be handy if more than 3 were in this state.

Good luck getting this sorted.

[roygrubb]

Thanks for this info. Will try that.

[personalizedrefriger]

@roygrubb

	Apps
		Graph

I'm linking to two possibly-related OneDrive API issue reports: Appfolder is named Graph · Issue #1866 · OneDrive/onedrive-api-docs · GitHub and Special appfolder is sometimes named Graph - Microsoft Community Hub — for me, OneDrive sync data is stored in /Apps/Joplin and /Apps/JoplinDev.