Obsidian Sync disables itself whenever app is closed

cyan · July 13, 2024, 7:26am

Steps to reproduce

Enable the “Obsidian Sync” core plugin.
Connect to Remote Vault, merge, unlock, sync.
Syncing works as expected.
Close app, reopen.
Sync plugin is now disabled. I have to re-enable the plugin.

Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? [Y/N]

Y

Expected result

I expect that the Sync plugin stays enabled and preserves all the configurations even after I close the app.

Actual result

Whenever i close obsidian on any of my devices, the Sync core plugin disables itself on that device, effectively removing its connection to the remote vault. I then have to re-enable and set up Sync all over again. This is incredibly frustrating because i have different hotkeys on all my devices, but the default Sync plugin configuration will automatically enable hotkey sync and merge it to remote.

Environment

This issue happens on all my devices (Linux, iOS, OSX) but here’s the debug info from my Macbook:

SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.6.5
Installer version: v1.5.3
Operating system: Darwin Kernel Version 22.6.0: Sun Dec 17 22:18:09 PST 2023; root:xnu-8796.141.3.703.2~2/RELEASE_X86_64 22.6.0
Login status: logged in
Catalyst license: none
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Base theme: dark
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: on

RECOMMENDATIONS:
none

Additional information

The Obsidian Sync plugin panel provides different debug info than the one that command panel does. I’ll provide it below, redacting some personal stuff.

SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.6.5
Installer version: v1.5.3
Operating system: Darwin Kernel Version 22.6.0: Sun Dec 17 22:18:09 PST 2023; root:xnu-8796.141.3.703.2~2/RELEASE_X86_64 22.6.0
Login status: logged in
Catalyst license: none
Insider build toggle: off
SYNC INFO:
Vault ID: c4bc4a8cc273d9f1b6290f3aaf03d32b
Host server: wss://sync-21.obsidian.md
Device name:
Allowed file types: image, audio, pdf, video
Allowed special types: app, appearance, appearance-data, hotkey, core-plugin, core-plugin-data
Ignored directories:
Vault path: /Users/plum/[REDACTED]
Sync logs:
1720855384444 Info Server pushed [plumbook.local] - 04 diary/2024-06-28.md
1720855384444 Info Server pushed [plumbook.local] - 01 encounters/computer jargon.md
1720855384445 Info Server pushed [plumbook.local] - etc/_media/Pasted image 20240628170735.png
1720855384445 Info Server pushed [plumbook.local] - etc/_media/Pasted image 20240702224959.png
1720855384445 Info Server pushed [plumbook.local] - 04 diary/2024-07-06.md
1720855384445 Info Server pushed [plumbook.local] - 01 encounters/guide to your new 3ds.md
1720855384445 Info Server pushed [plumbook.local] - 04 diary/2024-07-12.md
1720855384445 Info Server pushed [plumbook.local] - etc/_media/Pasted image 20240706170255.png
1720855384446 Info Server pushed [plumbook.local] - etc/_media/Pasted image 20240706170229.png
1720855384446 Info Server pushed [plumbook.local] - 01 encounters/[REDACTED].md
1720855384446 Info Server pushed [plumbook.local] - .obsidian/appearance.json
1720855385859 Info Resumed. Detecting changes…
1720855386314 Info Merging conflicted file - .obsidian/core-plugins.json
1720855386316 Info Downloading file - .obsidian/core-plugins.json
1720855386360 Info Downloading complete - .obsidian/core-plugins.json
1720855386360 Info Accepted - .obsidian/core-plugins.json
1720855388170 Info Merging conflicted file - .obsidian/core-plugins-migration.json
1720855388212 Info Merge successful - .obsidian/core-plugins-migration.json
1720855388246 Info Merging conflicted file - .obsidian/appearance.json
1720855388289 Info Merge successful - .obsidian/appearance.json

zaleszg · July 13, 2024, 9:30am

The exact same thing is happening to me. Reinstalled obsidian, deleted indexdb folder content, problem persists. Very frustrating.

zaleszg · July 13, 2024, 2:48pm

Hey there!
I think I managed to solve it, I did a LOT of steps but the one I think finally worked was:
in the vault configuration sync settings, I turned on not just “Active Core Plugin List” and Core Plugin Settings, but also Active Community Plugins and Installed community plugins. Even though sync is a core plugin, once the community plugin sync was enabled, it solved my problem.

I hope it works for you!

cyan · July 15, 2024, 12:31am

That is so interesting… I tried this and it actually solved the problem for a while. For the first time, the Sync plugin actually stayed enabled upon app reload. I was even able to turn off restricted mode.

However, after a few more reloads, Sync started disabling itself again. Now I can’t reproduce the solution. Thank you, though.

WhiteNoise · July 15, 2024, 12:41am

Can you post a screen recording of this happening?

deuts · July 15, 2024, 1:14am

Came here to say I experienced the same since yesterday. All my devices, as soon as I close them, when I re-open Sync plugin is disabled.

WhiteNoise · July 15, 2024, 1:33am

Which obsidian version do you have?

deuts · July 15, 2024, 1:53am

Desktop 1.6.5. Installed it since the day it came out 3 weeks ago.

WhiteNoise · July 15, 2024, 1:57am

Can you post a screen recording of this happening? Or some screeshots.

I am not sure I understand what you all mean with sync plugin disabled.

I would like for you all to paste here the output of the command “show debug info”. Thanks.

deuts · July 15, 2024, 2:15am

Sent via email.

WhiteNoise · July 15, 2024, 2:23am

Which email?

deuts · July 15, 2024, 2:27am

[email protected]

WhiteNoise · July 15, 2024, 2:37am

Enable restricted mode and restart obsidian.

Then enable sync and restart obsidian.

Please post here the output of debug info

zaleszg · July 17, 2024, 4:26pm

Hi Whitenoise,
Jumping in to better explain:
Sync plugin disabled means that you go through all the steps of enabling the plugin, connecting (or creating) a remote vault, start synching, all is good. You close obsidian.
But the next time you open obsidian, in the core plugins section Sync is disabled. As if you never started synching, as if you never connected to your remote vault. You need to go through the entire process again.

WhiteNoise · July 17, 2024, 4:48pm

do you mean that when you restart Obsidian, you go to core plugin and you see this:

John27rg · July 18, 2024, 9:32am

I have the same issue. I just subscribed to Obsidian Sync to get my vault to work seamlessly on my new Boox Oynx ereader. (I was previously storing my vault on Google Drive, but that doesn’t play easily on Oynx.) But I just cannot get the sync to “stick”. First time I login to this forum I see this bug. Frustrating!

John27rg · July 18, 2024, 10:06am

Obsidian Sync disables itself whenever app is closed - #15 by WhiteNoise is exactly what I see. If this isn’t fixed quickly I’ll be cancelling my Vault subscription and asking for a refund (signed up for a year…)

WhiteNoise · July 18, 2024, 2:36pm

Will be fixed in version 1.7.

If you enable sync plugin without configuring it and close obsidian. Then reopen obsidian. Is sync still enabled? If so proceed to configure it.

John27rg · July 19, 2024, 1:45am

I have to configure it each time as I have an encryption password on my vault which needs to be re-entered.

WhiteNoise · July 19, 2024, 2:28am

Everybody has an encryption password for the vault.
I am not sure I understand. I don’t know if you have this bug or something else.

Can you post a screen recording of what you are doing?