How to restart Insync after a time

Bugs and issues Windows
#1

I’ve got a computer that I think I was running insync on a long time ago. More recently I’ve been running Google drive. So I want to start using Insync again on this machine rather than Google drive. So I switch off Google drive, and I rename my ~/Google (where it was syncing) to ~/Google-old so I can start again with a clean slate, because I don’t know if Insync will be happy synching the same location. So I do that. Then I reinstall insync and start it up.

Well, this is super weird… the activity log shows a continual stream of activity, as if something is going on. The sync location is where I want it to be, aka ~/Google, however that folder doesn’t exist, and still doesn’t exist. So it’s scary seeing a ton of activity with no apparent reality to it. The Errors list says that ~/Google is missing, please locate the base folder… well it’s tempting to create an empty folder, locate it and continue on… However some time ago I did something like that, and Insync trashed my entire drive, and I had to spend a whole day on my Google drive restoring it all, file by file from my trash. Not only that, if I do click the Locate option, it threatens to trash all my files in the cloud, so needless to say, I don’t want to do that. But how to recover now is not clear, and what insync is beavering away in a scary fashion is not clear. All I want to do is something I would have thought is something people would need to do on the odd occasion which is start synching from a fresh empty folder, but there is no obvious way to do that.

2 Likes
#2

Hi @xpusostomos!

Good call on using a different sync folder as that is indeed the recommended way.

The error suggests that this might be a previous configuration so when you reinstalled the app, it tried to locate the folder from before. In any case, I would highly recommend two things:

  1. Remove the Google account
  2. Check Google Drive activity to see if anything changed recently

If your Google Drive files are intact, you can install Insync from scratch by doing this:

  1. Follow the uninstallation guide: https://help.insynchq.com/en/articles/112899-uninstalling-insync
  2. Create a new ~/Google folder that you can select as your sync location (Base Folder)
  3. Install the latest version of Insync (Mac, Linux, Windows) + add your account again: https://help.insynchq.com/en/articles/2853798-setup-guide-for-google-drive-accounts. Choose the empty Google folder you created in Step 2 as your Base Folder and select which file you’d like to sync.

You can start with a few small files first and check its sync progress, then proceed with the rest of the items you want to sync to your computer.

Thank you!

#3

What does “remove the google account” mean? I can see no options to remove my google account from insync. There is an option to add an account, but remove I can’t see.

I will try those uninstall instructions, next time I have that computer in front of me… but…
shouldn’t there be a menu option somewhere to start syncing from scratch in a new folder? People who somehow find themselves needing to start again… e.g. their drive fills up and they need to start again in a new place, are in danger of giving up in frustration, choosing the “locate drive” option, and trashing their drive. If you look back in my posting history here, you’ll see where I did exactly that.

#4

Hello @xpusostomos! Apologies, I should have linked that as well. Please see the instructions on how to remove your account here: https://help.insynchq.com/en/articles/8642455-insync-license-tab#h_6a05b99ec0

If a user reinstalls Insync without removing the config files prior (i.e., not a full uninstall), Insync will resume from where it left off. Users have the opportunity to choose a new folder to sync to if they are adding the account again.

I would be happy to forward your log files to our engineers before you proceed with the uninstallation so we can investigate why it deleted files when you chose a new, empty folder to sync it to. You can send your logs.db and out.txt files to support@insynchq.com. Here’s how to find your logs: https://help.insynchq.com/en/articles/1834816-locating-the-log-files. Refer to the latter section of the guide so you don’t have to open Insync to locate your logs.

It seems like this is the previous post you were referring to-- could you confirm?

#5

Yes, but that’s a long time ago, I might have sent the log files in then, either way they’re gone now.

Can I make a suggestion… The option in the regular Insync workflow to locate an existing sync folder is called “locate”… but when you “remove your account” and then add it again, it takes you also to a screen that also says “locate”… same name, but catastrophically different result depending how you got there. How about you change it so that the “Locate” in insync takes you to an option box with two options: “1) Locate an existing insync folder” 2) Sync with a new empty folder". That way (a) the user is always clear what is about to happen. (b) he can achieve a new sync without the ridiculously obfustcated solution of “removing your account” and adding it again and © If the user remembers, or is told, that “locate” (when you add a new account) starts a new sync, he’s not going to be wiped out when he chooses the same named option within insync that trashes everything. (d) frustrated users who have had enough searching for the option that doesn’t clearly exist, who decide to roll the dice (like I did in the above case) don’t have all their files trashed.

#6

My god, I followed that procedure, I chose ~/Google to sync with… then … nothing seemed to be happening. I came back later and it seemed like insync had silented changed my sync folder back to the default of ~/Insync/[email address]/Google Drive … Remember my previous posting how disturbing it is that Insync feels like it can change your sync folder? It’s still doing it. I’ve also seen it that after you moved your ~/Google folder to ~/Google-old it silently changes it to that. Kudos I guess for finding it, but black mark for doing it automatically not asking the question… anyway…

So I signed out of the account AGAIN, and signed back in. Set ~/Google AGAIN… nothing seems to be happening. It’s not in Paused state. Acitivity, Actions, conflicts and errors show nothing. My files are shown when I click my Google drive icon at the top. No files are showing up in ~/Google

Also if I click “My Drive” and “Open Base Folder” it takes me to Windows explorer “One Drive Personal” despite that I never use One Drive. Why doesn’t it take me to ~/Google since I’ve selected that as my sync folder?

… hours later… nothing, no synching is happening.

#7

Wait, am I supposed to sign out of my account AND uninstall? Really? Just to start synching again? If so, that’s ridiculous.

#8

FUCK. After removing my account and adding it again… then rebooting, suddenly insync noticed that it was synching with an empty directory AND PROCEEDED TO TRASH ALL MY FILES AGAIN.

This just stinks, you really need to fix this appalling situation, it’s like working with a shotgun aimed at your head, one false move and you’re dead.

#9

Hi @xpusostomos. Your suggestion to improve the “locate” function is great. I’ll be sending this as a feedback so users are certain what that step means and will know what to expect.

#10

@xpusostomos The base folder issue and trashing of files after a fresh setup are definitely not supposed to happen.

Could you send me your log files so I can escalate this to our team for immediate investigation? Please follow this guide (you can go to the latter part of the article so you don’t have to open Insync).

Make sure to include the following:

  • logs.db
  • out.txt
  • some names of the files/folders that were trashed in the cloud
  • the link to this forums post so I can trace the logs back to this discussion

Thank you!

#11

It wasn’t a fresh setup, I guess you mean fresh as in did I uninstall and reinstall. I misunderstood I guess, I just removed the account and added it again.

However, wouldn’t a user expect that if they remove the account, create a new folder for syncing, and then add the account again, that it would start afresh? But seemingly no, it still has memory that at one time I was synching, sees the folder empty, and proceeds to trash everything. Or at least that seems to me what is happening. Surely if you remove your account, Insync should reset and remove any state related to that account, so that you can really be fresh? Because when you add the account again, it sure seems like you are starting fresh, in as much as it asks you the same questions as if it was a fresh setup. However it then does nothing, presumably because there is no activity on the drive and has no intention of doing work. However when you reboot, then it decides apparently to have a look around, sees it empty and trashes it all.

There won’t be any log files right, because after that I realised what I needed to do is uninstall Insync itself and restart, after that, and after restoring from trash I was ok.

Also, as another suggestion, having “Remove account” on the license page… and tucked way down on the bottom right, and in grey color, seems like you’re trying to hide it. At a bare minimum, how about making it red, most software has delete as a red button. And maybe move it to the left… or the centre.

#12

Hi @xpusostomos, I’m glad to hear that you were able to restore the state of your account’s syncing after following the instructions in the previous post.

We do not remove the config files because we don’t want to assume that every single user wants to start afresh when they do that. I could think of a few things to improve this process and make it more clear what happens when a user only removes their account. :slight_smile: Thank you for your feedback once more. All of this is much, much appreciated!