unable to sync annotations

My Android tablet (Asus Transformer) always comes up with the message "unable to sync your annotations because an error occured. Error: Authentication Failed" Can someone help with this problem?

[Moderator note: This thread was split from the Common issues and troubleshooting for Gospel Library for Android because it discusses a new and different topic. Please follow the Code of Conduct which states "Do not start a new topic in an existing thread; instead start a new thread."]

The problem you are experiencing may be related to the topic Scripture marking not working. When the LDS.org capability for scripture marking and annotation is not working then the mobile device capability will also experience synchronization problems or failures with the main program.

kylehawker wrote: Error: Authentication Failed"

This error is most often due to an incorrect LDS account username and/or password entered into the app. Go to the menu and then settings and look in the Sync annotations option and check to see if it says Verified. If it does not then you have the wrong username and/or password and you should correct the entry. If you need help with the username or password, go to https://ldsaccount.LDS.org to look up your correct username and password and then enter it into the app.

If you have done this, please go to the help menu in the app and select the Report a problem option to request further help.

I just had a problem today trying to sync. I not get an Error: Error Parsing Data when I try to sync from my Galaxy SII and I can't see any of my annotations, etc. on LDS.org. Any ideas what the problem is?

There is a bug in the app that should be fixed shortly with a new update to the app.

I hope it doesn't lose all my annotations online. My notes are empty. Who needs to address this problem?

20140126: I have the same issue. I get an error saying "Annotation Sync. Unable to sync your annotations because an error occurred. Error: Error Parsing Data" when I try to sync from my Galaxy S. I still see my annotations on my phone but when I login to www.lds.org, my whole notebook is empty. Please advise. Thanks.

I too am getting this error message about not being able to sync because of a parse error. I checked with several at church today and they too are getting this identical error. In fact, it started this morning at about 11:00 PST. I was able to sync before going to church, but could not sync an hour or so later. I think this problem is much bigger than a bug in the mobile app because using a browser, I logged onto lds.org and looked at my Notes and notebooks. My lds.org account should have several hundred annotations - after 11:00 today it says there are '0' zero annotations. They are all gone, everyone of them. I asked another person at church to log into their lds.org account using their browser and their annotations are also gone. In fact, everyone I've had check their lds.org account have found that all their annotations are gone.

What's going on? How do we get his information back?
Jim

I don't have any Android devices, but could it be related to the Church servers getting overloaded on a Sunday?

Purely from observation of various posts in the forum, it appears that a lot of syncing/downloads attempted, affect the US on a Sunday. If the problems resolve themselves on another day of the week, this would bare out my Sunday overload theory. Notwithstanding any potential bugs in the applications being used.

I'm another android user experiencing the Error: Error Parsing Data problem. It's Monday morning, so it doesn't appear to just be the Sunday load problem. Help!
Thanks.

garyriding wrote:I'm another android user experiencing the Error: Error Parsing Data problem. It's Monday morning, so it doesn't appear to just be the Sunday load problem. Help!
Thanks.

If it's any comfort I've just tried syncing my IOS Gospel Library and am getting the eternal spinner.

It's quite possible there are ongoing server problems. As I write this it is 06:28am in Salt Lake City!

Keep in mind that every time you sync, the annotations are backed up to your account on lds. org. As of Monday morning, all the annotations on my lds.org account are still missing. I would imagine the fact that annotations are missing on lds.org is indicative that something has happened to the data on the servers and is probably a reason nobody can sync.

Same story here. Please release update to fix the issue or provide a workaround.
Thanks!

It would also be nice if there was some sort of indicator to let the user know what content in Gospel Library is synced with the online study journal.
As far as I can tell, Gospel Library allows annotation in all of its content. However, the online study tool at lds.org doesn't allow annotation on its version of the same content. It might be nice to have some indication in GL telling the user: Notes made here are only available in the Gospel Library app.
And, confusingly, some content allows annotation on both platforms, but doesn't sync between the two. Specifically, Duty to God. As a YM adviser, that's one I would love to see connected.

I can´t sync my annotations, my tablet says that it has been sync, but i can not see anything in the church page. What can I do?

My comments won't help you at all, beyond knowing you're not alone... If you haven't sent feedback (either in the app or from the web page), I would recommend you do.

FWIW, I've been having problems off and on for over a week with sync'ing. I only ever see errors on my tablet (which has the previous version - 2.6.1.7), never on my phone (new version 3.0.1.2), but that might be because I use the tablet more than the phone for this app, and you're less likely to "see" the error on the new version because of how it handles synchronization.

I reported the problem and got the standard response IT people give to those who get an error message about authentication (I'm an IT person, and know all the standard responses), but by then, without my changing anything, it had worked and then not worked and then worked, etc. This is still going on (even today) and can fail one minute and succeed the next...

I think they're either having problems with or they're trying to update the authentication and/or synchronization functionality and what they're doing is problematic (for the older version at least)...

My hope is that they'll figure it out soon and the problems will go away, but until they acknowledge and /or reproduce the problem, that's not likely.

Liz

I have also been receiving this message lately. I followed the steps outlined in an answer below by going to menu, settings and checking and sure enough, I needed to refresh my sign in. I then realized that I had been required to change my acct password about the same time I began receiving this message. (The calling I hold right now requires I change my password on a regular basis.) I had no idea the sync was connected to my sign in information. Thank you for the help.

My menu screen won't show up on my htc phone. Is there a way I can still sync my annotations to my other devices?

I'm using version 3.2.13 of the gospel library app on my Samsung Galaxy S3.

I also get the error:
"Unable to sync your annotations because an error has occurred. Please check your username and password and try again"

However, I put in the correct username and password many times and verified it by logging onto LDS.org.
After receiving the error, I see in my username under LDS account and last sync : never.

Please help.

Thanks!
Jared

jaredeng wrote:I'm using version 3.2.13 of the gospel library app on my Samsung Galaxy S3.

I also get the error:
"Unable to sync your annotations because an error has occurred. Please check your username and password and try again"

However, I put in the correct username and password many times and verified it by logging onto LDS.org.
After receiving the error, I see in my username under LDS account and last sync : never.

Please help.

Thanks!
Jared

I've seen that, too. And, it appears to be a sibling to the "no reference link" error. The only way to rid myself of it was to scrub annotations and re-download them afresh. Unfortunately, that deleted some annotations I had made on the device that hadn't synced yet.
In my experience, one cause is linking to Ensign articles. Especially old articles. Especially especially segments in the old "I Have a Question" articles.
Good luck,
D.G.

I am having the same problem on one device (but not on another). The reply says the fix is to "scrub annotations and redownload afresh." How do you actually do that? The only thing I can find is under Advanced Options to Resync All Annotations. I still get the same "Unable to sync your annotations because an error occurred. Please check your username and password and try again."

Please use terms stated in app. Only developers will likely know what it means to "scrub annotations."

afhobbs,

My sequence of events would be:

1. Use Settings > Application Manager to delete all the app data

2. Uninstall the app

3. Power-cycle the device (making sure it stays fully powered off for at least 30 seconds)

4. Reinstall the app and re-do all my settings and let it re-sync

If that doesn't solve the problem, IMO, there's nothing you can do to solve the problem. The best you can do is to send feedback about what you did and ask for help.

I have seen the above work when the local database gets corrupted. I have heard of cases where the church support folk have to do something on their end to fix an account.

FWIW,
Liz

Lis,

Well, I was hoping for a less-drastic option.

Unfortunately, that still did not work. I cleared app data, uninstalled the app. Reinstalled, and in going through the setup wizard, I entered my username and password, and when it tried to sync I got the same error as before. I tried it twice.

I will send feedback to the "support folk."

Thanks.

afhobbs wrote:Unfortunately, that still did not work. I cleared app data, uninstalled the app. Reinstalled, and in going through the setup wizard, I entered my username and password, and when it tried to sync I got the same error as before. I tried it twice.

There seems to be a system-wide outage. See this post.

That was the problem. I did have to restore content, since I had uninstalled the app, but annotations have all synced.

The above solution didn't work for me. My Android tablet hasn't synced for months. I don't that often use my tablet, but I'd really like it to sync for when I do use it. At home, I use the app for Windows 8.1 (soon to use the one for Windows 10), and at work it's LDS.org. When travelling, it's my tablet. Sync between LDS.org and the Windows app happens almost flawlessly. When I do create a bookmark via the website, I do have to manually sync the Windows app, but that I can easily live with. Bookmarks created in the windows app sync to the website automatically. If I create a bookmark on my tablet, it syncs with LDS.org, and also to my Windows app. Nothing I do on either LDS.org or the Windows app, however, makes it to my tablet. Not automatically, not manually, not at all.

egnlsn wrote:Nothing I do on either LDS.org or the Windows app, however, makes it to my tablet. Not automatically, not manually, not at all.

Silly question: Are you sure the tablet GL is logged in using the same LDS Account as the Windows device?

Also, 1) is that tablet running the latest version of Gospel Library, and 2) when you're traveling or using your tablet, are you connected to the internet?

Yes. All of my annotations (highlights, underlinings, etc.) and bookmarks that I had months ago are there, just nothing new. As I wrote, if I create a bookmark on my tablet, it syncs with LDS.org, and also to my Windows app. It does a one-way sync (upstream) fine, just won't sync downstream.