Synchronization failed with the following exception: Unexpected character '<' at [1:1]

[Alwin Garside]

Binary package hint: tomboy

Here's the complete traceback:

12/28/2009 10:46:31 AM [ERROR]: Synchronization failed with the following exception: Unexpected character '<' at [1:1]
  at Hyena.Json.Tokenizer.UnexpectedCharacter (Char ch) [0x00000]
  at Hyena.Json.Tokenizer.InnerScan () [0x00000]
  at Hyena.Json.Tokenizer.Scan () [0x00000]
  at Hyena.Json.Deserializer.CheckScan (TokenType expected, Boolean eofok) [0x00000]
  at Hyena.Json.Deserializer.Deserialize () [0x00000]
  at Tomboy.WebSync.Api.UserInfo.ParseJsonNotes (System.String jsonString, System.Nullable`1& latestSyncRevision) [0x00000]
  at Tomboy.WebSync.Api.UserInfo.UpdateNotes (IList`1 noteUpdates, Int32 expectedNewRevision) [0x00000]
  at Tomboy.WebSync.WebSyncServer.CommitSyncTransaction () [0x00000]
  at Tomboy.Sync.SyncManager.SynchronizationThread () [0x00000]

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: amd64
Date: Mon Dec 28 10:43:16 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
Package: tomboy 1.0.0-0ubuntu2
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-16.53-generic
SourcePackage: tomboy
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-16-generic x86_64

[Alwin Garside (yogarine)]

I just fixed this doing a rm -r .config/tomboy...

Next time this occurs, I'll try to remember to back up the config first, for debugging purposes. ;-)

[eksortso (eksortso)]

I'm getting this bug, too. I'm running Tomboy 1.1.0 on Windows XP, and the attached debug dump comes from this version. I also run Tomboy on Ubuntu Karmic, and I get the bug on that machine, but I don't have details on that just yet.

[Phil Lawrence (prlawrence)]

I also have the error.

Linux hostname 2.6.31-16-generic #53-Ubuntu SMP Tue Dec 8 04:01:29 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux

[ERROR]: Synchronization failed with the following exception: Unexpected charact
er '<' at [1:1]
  at Hyena.Json.Tokenizer.UnexpectedCharacter (Char ch) [0x00000]
  at Hyena.Json.Tokenizer.InnerScan () [0x00000]
  at Hyena.Json.Tokenizer.Scan () [0x00000]
  at Hyena.Json.Deserializer.CheckScan (TokenType expected, Boolean eofok) [0x00
000]
  at Hyena.Json.Deserializer.Deserialize () [0x00000]
  at Tomboy.WebSync.Api.UserInfo.ParseJsonNotes (System.String jsonString, Syste
m.Nullable`1& latestSyncRevision) [0x00000]
  at Tomboy.WebSync.Api.UserInfo.UpdateNotes (IList`1 noteUpdates, Int32 expecte
dNewRevision) [0x00000]
  at Tomboy.WebSync.WebSyncServer.CommitSyncTransaction () [0x00000]
  at Tomboy.Sync.SyncManager.SynchronizationThread () [0x00000]

(tomboy:10175): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_source_remove: assertion `tag > 0' faile

[Alan Pope 🍺🐧🐱 🦄 (popey)]

I too got this on Tomboy 1.0.0-0ubuntu2 syncing to Ubuntu One

[Miloš Mandarić (mandzo18)]

I am aslo confirming this bug on Tomboy_1.1.0 in Ubuntu 10.4 and Windows 7 64bit.

[Jack Deslippe (jdeslip)]

I can confirm this on ubuntu 9.10

[Mark Anderson (wodenickel)]

Me too with the following debugging info:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Mark>set
ALLUSERSPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\All Users.WINDOWS
APPDATA=C:\Documents and Settings\Mark\Application Data
CLASSPATH=.;C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_07\lib\ext\QTJava.zip
CLIENTNAME=Console
CommonProgramFiles=C:\Program Files\Common Files
COMPUTERNAME=MARK2
ComSpec=C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
FP_NO_HOST_CHECK=NO
GTK_BASEPATH=C:\Program Files\GtkSharp\2.12\
HOMEDRIVE=C:
HOMEPATH=\Documents and Settings\Mark
LOGONSERVER=\\MARK2
NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS=2
OLDTMP=C:\Documents and Settings\Mark\Local Settings\Temp
OS=Windows_NT
Path=C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\AGL
;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Roxio Shared\DLLShared;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Ulead Systems\MP
EG;C:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTSystem;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\binn;C:\Progra
m Files\Common Files\Intuit\QBPOSSDKRuntime;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\binn\;C:\
Program Files\GtkSharp\2.12\bin
PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH
PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE=x86
PROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER=x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 13, GenuineIntel
PROCESSOR_LEVEL=6
PROCESSOR_REVISION=0f0d
ProgramFiles=C:\Program Files
PROMPT=$P$G
QTJAVA=C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_07\lib\ext\QTJava.zip
SESSIONNAME=Console
SMARTSVN_JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_02\bin\java
SystemDrive=C:
SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS
TEMP=C:\Documents and Settings\Mark\Local Settings\Temp
TMP=c:\temp
USERDOMAIN=MARK2
USERNAME=Mark
USERPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\Mark
windir=C:\WINDOWS

C:\Documents and Settings\Mark>cd "C:\Program Files\Tomboy\"

C:\Program Files\Tomboy>dir
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is 6CAA-193F

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Tomboy

01/09/2010 09:33 AM <DIR> .
01/09/2010 09:33 AM <DIR> ..
11/11/2009 06:20 AM 409 AUTHORS
11/16/2009 03:44 PM 7,168 Backlinks.dll
11/16/2009 03:44 PM 17,920 Backlinks.pdb
11/16/2009 03:44 PM 17,920 Bugzilla.dll
11/16/2009 03:44 PM 34,304 Bugzilla.pdb
11/11/2009 06:20 AM 26,934 COPYING
11/16/2009 03:44 PM 12,288 ExportToHtml.dll
11/16/2009 03:44 PM 24,064 ExportToHtml.pdb
11/11/2009 06:20 AM 5,865 ExportToHtml.xsl
11/16/2009 03:44 PM 8,704 FileSystemSyncService.dll
11/16/2009 03:44 PM 17,920 FileSystemSyncService.pdb
11/16/2009 03:44 PM 6,144 FixedWidth.dll
11/16/2009 03:44 PM 15,872 FixedWidth.pdb
11/11/2009 06:20 AM 131,584 ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll
11/16/2009 03:44 PM 9,728 InsertTimestamp.dll
11/16/2009 03:44 PM 17,920 InsertTimestamp.pdb
11/11/2009 06:20 AM 29,172 license.rtf
11/11/2009 06:20 AM 372,736 Mono.Addins.CecilReflector.dll
11/11/2009 06:20 AM 188,416 Mono.Addins.dll
11/11/2009 06:20 AM 151 Mono.Addins.dll.config
11/11/2009 06:20 AM 159,744 Mono.Addins.Gui.dll
11/11/2009 06:20 AM...

[Jack Deslippe (jdeslip)]

I doubt the error is in tomboy itself because this problem happened suddenly when tomboy was not changed. I have a feeling ubuntu-one must have changed something on their end that broke it.

[James Lewis (james-fsck)]

I've had this happen, and fixed it by clearing the sync config and syncing back to the online version (loosing local changes) several times... if it's somthing at the U1 end, it must be somthing that isn't a one off...

[Jack Deslippe (jdeslip)]

For me, rm the config directory allows me to sync once, but, everytime after that, I get the error again.

[Mark Anderson (wodenickel)]

Could it be a (minor) variation in the response(s) from Ubuntu-one that the client on our PC's doesn't properly handle? The curiosity is that for a PC where this fails, it continues to fail - thus the exchange from PC <--> server is repeated/repeatable while for me, at least, all my other PC's are syncing ok. I believe my Vista & XP machines are both at this same version 1.1.0 while the others are all Ubuntu physical or virtual machines. I just loaded 1.1.0 onto my Ubuntu 9.04 VM and it syncs fine.

[Mark Anderson (wodenickel)]

No software change to my XP machine - but this time it sync'd! Suggests an inconsistent response from the server - some pass, some fail.

[James Lewis (james-fsck)]

Wow, mine synced too... I've not changed anything, this has definitely happened on/off several times for me, can anyone find out if U1 made any changes in the last day or two.

[James Lewis (james-fsck)]

D'oh, it's not working now...

[James Lewis (james-fsck)]

Ahh, the server was "down for maintainance"... perhaps it would be possible to detect this and display a message.

[Jack Deslippe (jdeslip)]

This is fixed for me now. Looks like it was something wrong on ubuntu-one's end.

[Miloš Mandarić (mandzo18)]

I am also confirming this is fixed now. Works in Ubuntu and Windows. Was server issue for sure.

[Luis Carlos Cobo (luiscarlos)]

I do not get the error now, but in the computer (A) where I was getting the error, now I always get "0 notes updated" and there is no new content transferred in any direction. I don't get the updates made in computer B and even if I modify a note and synchronize right away from A, I get "0 notes updated". From B it works normal and the content on the web view is that of B.

Maybe I should file a separate bug regarding this, but adding this info in case is related to the server-side fix of the issue.

[Jack Deslippe (jdeslip)]

Yep. No error message anymore, but none of my changes are synching to the ubuntu one server either. Did you open a new bug?

[Miloš Mandarić (mandzo18)]

If I make a new note it gets synced. But if i edit existing note, nothing happens. Although tomboy says 1 note is updated.

[Luis Carlos Cobo (luiscarlos)]

@Jack @Milos I reported the new bug in #508597, please add yourselves there.

[firefeather (firefeather)]

Does anyone who has previously had this problem (and have had it sync correctly since) see any information output to the terminal when it syncs?

By the way, I get the same error on the Tomboy 1.1.2-0ubuntu3~ppa~karmic0 version from the
Development Tomboy Releases PPA, so it's not just the Tomboy 1.0.0-0ubuntu2 version.

[Vipo (vitus-piroutz-gmail)]

Linux vipo-desktop 2.6.31-19-generic #56-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jan 28 02:39:34 UTC 2010 x86_64 GNU/Linux

10.03.2010 16:05:55 [INFO]: Initializing Mono.Addins
10.03.2010 16:06:04 [ERROR]: Synchronization failed with the following exception: Unexpected character '<' at [1:1]
  at Hyena.Json.Tokenizer.UnexpectedCharacter (Char ch) [0x00000]
  at Hyena.Json.Tokenizer.InnerScan () [0x00000]
  at Hyena.Json.Tokenizer.Scan () [0x00000]
  at Hyena.Json.Deserializer.CheckScan (TokenType expected, Boolean eofok) [0x00000]
  at Hyena.Json.Deserializer.Deserialize () [0x00000]
  at Tomboy.WebSync.Api.UserInfo.ParseJson (System.String jsonString) [0x00000]
  at Tomboy.WebSync.Api.UserInfo.GetUser (System.String userUri, IWebConnection connection) [0x00000]
  at Tomboy.WebSync.WebSyncServer.BeginSyncTransaction () [0x00000]
  at Tomboy.Sync.SyncManager.SynchronizationThread () [0x00000]

and also on my Netbook using Ubuntu 9.10 UNR (2.6.31-20-generic #57)

Tomboy 1.0.0 suddenly stopped synching with Ubuntu One (no Detail-infos)

rm -r ~/.config/tomboy does not help

[Roman Yepishev (rye)]

If you are affected by this issue, could you please check whether you have at least one note that has the content missing (i.e. there is title only, but no other content). In case you are able to find it and there is a manageable amount of notes , could you please try to add some content via the web interface?

See bug #538140 for more information.

[nicolas (nico1038)]

Adding content to the one note which had title only fixed this bug for me.

[Chris Jones (cmsj)]

FWIW, none of my notes are empty.

[Roman Yepishev (rye)]

Tomboy does not detect that the server returned an error and it tries to perform the parsing of the returned HTML page.
In Karmic, that page was printed to stderr, in Lucid only exception is shown which does not allow OOPS ID to be seen (all the server failures are logged with a unique id for further processing).

There are two bugs currently known that may cause such behavior - bug #538140 and bug #539521.

[Roman Yepishev (rye)]

The bug #534140 is fixed and the fix was deployed to the servers.

Since this is the only known bug that could cause server-side OOPS during Tomboy conversion, I am marking this bug report as the duplicate of bug #534140.

Could you please check whether you are able to sync Tomboy now?
In case the sync is failing, please post a new bug report describing the issue.

[Roman Yepishev (rye)]

Sorry for the second post, but it looks like I made a typo in the bug number.
The correct bug number for the issue is bug #538140

[Victor (vic-tor)]

The whole discussion seems to date back, but I get the same error as described above.
Trying to sync tomboy, I get the following error.

[ERROR 17:58:06.973] Synchronization failed with the following exception: Unexpected character '<' at [2:0]
  at Hyena.Json.Tokenizer.UnexpectedCharacter (Char ch) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Hyena.Json.Tokenizer.InnerScan () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Hyena.Json.Tokenizer.Scan () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Hyena.Json.Deserializer.CheckScan (TokenType expected, Boolean eofok) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Hyena.Json.Deserializer.Deserialize () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Tomboy.WebSync.Api.UserInfo.ParseJson (System.String jsonString) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Tomboy.WebSync.Api.UserInfo.GetUser (System.String userUri, IWebConnection connection) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Tomboy.WebSync.WebSyncServer.BeginSyncTransaction () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Tomboy.Sync.SyncManager.SynchronizationThread () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

(Tomboy:24206): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_source_remove: assertion `tag > 0' failed

I can't connect my problem with bug #538140. The output I get in the console is the one pasted above (not the one in #538140) and in the GUI error message the "Details" window is empty.

So this bug seems like the closest match to what I get. However, in my case, removing .config/tomboy doesn't help.

[Bilalbox (bilalbox)]

To Victor (vic-tor),

Like you, I was getting the exact same error message as above in my .config/tomboy/tomboy.log, with the GUI "Details" window being empty. Deleting my .config/tomboy didn't fix anything either.

I was able to fix the problem by going into Edit > Preferences > Synchronization Tab and pressing "Clear" buttong, then reauthenticating through the Ubuntu One web login.

HTH