firefox sync not working. tried everything I could think of

Question

I had to format my computer once again. But this time when trying to get all my firefox data from the sync server, nothing happened :(

I've tried updating firefox. reconnecting to the sync server a couple of times. But as the title says, nothing has happened.

I fear that somehow all my data has been whiped, but I have no clue why it should have done that.

I think my old FF was running v4b7, but I can't say for sure.

Please help!

***edit:

I tried adding some bookmarks, and then replacing all local data with the sync data, and I got all the new bookmarks back. So sync works again, it just doesn't have my old data.

I considered using x-marks a couple of days ago, seems like it was a STUPID idea to put it off..

still, if you have any suggestions, I would be very happy to hear them!

found a thread on the firefox support forum as well: https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/772759

Answer 1

I asked around, and found the answer!

Sync is a mechanism for exchanging data between clients (typically instances of Firefox). It's not a persistent cloud store, and it's not a backup service. It doesn't necessarily have all of your data (e.g., old history isn't uploaded), and it's not guaranteed to stick around.

There are also events that will deliberately wipe the server -- a storage version upgrade (as occurred between b7 and b8) being one of them. A wipe is a non-exceptional circumstance; clients will simply re-upload.

So when I tried connecting to sync just after installing FF again, something went wrong for some unknown reason. When I upgraded to FF4 b8, all my sync data was erased!

I'm using both FF sync and X-marks now, plus making monthly backups of my bookmarks again!