IOS app backup sync fail | Immich | Page 1

frozen pewter Oct 29, 2025, 9:45 AM

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Hey,
On our IOS device, backup seems not to work. in the backup menu we get an error "Sync failed. Cannot process backup." (as shown in attached pic).
I am attaching the logs from the app.

When we choose photos in the timeline to upload, that does work.

also, when choosing the old timeline, the backup seems to work.
on the android device, there is no issue.

server ver: 2.1.0. build 18540213782 (server is deployed on a linux machine using docker)
app ver: 2.1.0

Thanks

📎 Immich_log_2025-10-29T112251.634961.log

slender walrusBOT Oct 29, 2025, 9:45 AM

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:wave: Hey @frozen pewter,

Thanks for reaching out to us. Please carefully read this message and follow the recommended actions. This will help us be more effective in our support effort and leave more time for building Immich immich .

References

Container Logs: docker compose logs docs
Container Status: docker ps -a docs
Reverse Proxy: https://immich.app/docs/administration/reverse-proxy
Code Formatting https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/210298617-Markdown-Text-101-Chat-Formatting-Bold-Italic-Underline#h_01GY0DAKGXDEHE263BCAYEGFJA

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Checklist

I have...

:ballot_box_with_check: verified I'm on the latest release(note that mobile app releases may take some time).
:ballot_box_with_check: read applicable release notes.
:ballot_box_with_check: reviewed the FAQs for known issues.
:ballot_box_with_check: reviewed Github for known issues.
:blue_square: tried accessing Immich via local ip (without a custom reverse proxy).
:ballot_box_with_check: uploaded the relevant information (see below).
:ballot_box_with_check: tried an incognito window, disabled extensions, cleared mobile app cache, logged out and back in, different browsers, etc. as applicable

(an item can be marked as "complete" by reacting with the appropriate number)

Information

In order to be able to effectively help you, we need you to provide clear information to show what the problem is. The exact details needed vary per case, but here is a list of things to consider:

Your docker-compose.yml and .env files.
Logs from all the containers and their status (see above).
All the troubleshooting steps you've tried so far.
Any recent changes you've made to Immich or your system.
Details about your system (both software/OS and hardware).
Details about your storage (filesystems, type of disks, output of commands like fdisk -l and df -h).
The version of the Immich server, mobile app, and other relevant pieces.
Any other information that you think might be relevant.

Please paste files and logs with proper code formatting, and especially avoid blurry screenshots.
Without the right information we can't work out what the problem is. Help us help you ;)

If this ticket can be closed you can use the /close command, and re-open it later if needed.

frozen pewter Nov 6, 2025, 8:35 AM

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just upgraded. issue still persists.
server ver: 2.2.3
IOS app ver: 2.2.3 build.235

also attaching the log file.

📎 Immich_log_2025-11-06T103117.174584.log

mild egret Nov 6, 2025, 9:49 AM

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frozen pewter just upgraded. issue still persists. server ver: 2.2.3 IOS app ver: 2.2.3 build....

Can you try log out and log back in? I believe it will fix your issue

frozen pewter Nov 6, 2025, 10:19 AM

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mild egret Can you try log out and log back in? I believe it will fix your issue

Hmm, when I chose to use 'new timeline' (after updating the app), I needed to re-sign in, and then saw that the sync is not working.

I looked through the settings and saw an option to delete SQLite database. I saw that is helped other people in some cases, so I tried it.
Then I needed to sign in again. It seemed to sync...

Now I saw your reply and tested to see if I still have the issue, by taking pictures and seeing if it syncs. (Was going to wait a few days and update...)
It still doesn't.

So I tried your suggestions- log out and in again. Still has an issue.

mild egret Nov 6, 2025, 10:34 AM

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Looks like there are something going on with the database information about facial recognition that send in already existed data

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Do you know if you have modified the Postgres database manually or you use any of the community scripts to modify anything?

frozen pewter Nov 6, 2025, 10:51 AM

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I dont think i changed anything (other thank the compose file if breaking changes needed the change). did the updates as they came. (i think almost a year now)

mild egret Nov 6, 2025, 11:02 AM

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I can take a look in detail of the log in the morning and can send you some queries to help resolve the issue

frozen pewter Nov 11, 2025, 7:28 AM

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mild egret I can take a look in detail of the log in the morning and can send you some quer...

do you need any additional logs i can provide?

frozen pewter Nov 20, 2025, 6:57 AM

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Hey,
just updated to 2.3.1- both the server and mobile app.
took a pic and still the sync failed. attached mobile logs
*i am able to upload manually

📎 Immich_log_2025-11-20T085002.076386.log

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ill add, i did try to log out and log in again

mild egret Nov 20, 2025, 7:14 AM

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frozen pewter Hey, just updated to 2.3.1- both the server and mobile app. took a pic and still...

Cc @lyric pilot

lyric pilot Nov 20, 2025, 7:40 AM

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This definitely looks like a problematic asset as the issue persists after a sync reset as well. Can you share the results of the following two queries from the server's DB

SELECT * FROM "asset" WHERE "id" = '212cbd6f-9e5b-4f21-996f-64fe8e475752';
SELECT * FROM "person" WHERE "id" = '61bba906-023c-44bd-9727-521bc64cef9c';

frozen pewter Nov 20, 2025, 7:53 AM

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lyric pilot This definitely looks like a problematic asset as the issue persists after a syn...

how should i access the DB?
using docker exec maybe?
im not really sure how to actually access the DB directly?

slender walrusBOT Nov 20, 2025, 7:54 AM

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https://immich.app/docs/guides/database-queries/

frozen pewter Nov 20, 2025, 7:59 AM

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lyric pilot This definitely looks like a problematic asset as the issue persists after a syn...

the first quarry results in a single row- attached (message too long)

the second (i am assuming there is a typo, and we want 'FROM "person"', and that results with 0 rows

📎 immich_DB_quary

lyric pilot Nov 20, 2025, 8:02 AM

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frozen pewter the first quarry results in a single row- attached (message too long) the secon...

It is indeed, person, corrected now 😅 Can you also check if the following query returns any result?

SELECT * FROM "asset_face" WHERE "id" = 'e6302c5a-38bc-480d-b0f6-8df7c05ba9d9';

frozen pewter Nov 20, 2025, 8:03 AM

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lyric pilot Nov 20, 2025, 8:06 AM

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Can you try the person query again?

SELECT * FROM "person" WHERE "id" = '61bba906-023c-44bd-9727-521bc64cef9c';

frozen pewter Nov 20, 2025, 8:07 AM

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0 rows

lyric pilot Nov 20, 2025, 8:30 AM

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in the psql cli, make sure you're using the right database using \c immich, then execute \d asset_face and share it's output here

frozen pewter Nov 20, 2025, 8:33 AM

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psql cli- is how i ran the other commands?
or do i need to start the cli session (docker exec) with new parms?

lyric pilot Nov 20, 2025, 8:44 AM

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frozen pewter psql cli- is how i ran the other commands? or do i need to start the cli session...

Yes. You can execute it in the existing session

frozen pewter Nov 20, 2025, 8:52 AM

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output of \d asset_face

📎 message.txt

lyric pilot Nov 20, 2025, 9:58 AM

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Can you run the following command?

ALTER TABLE "asset_face" VALIDATE CONSTRAINT "asset_face_personId_fkey";

frozen pewter Nov 20, 2025, 11:07 AM

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i got the output of:
ALTER TABLE

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 3:50 PM

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today i opened the app on my android device, and get "Sync failed. Cannot process backup"
never had this issue on my android. was able to update manually.
attached the log file

📎 Immich_log_2025-11-26T17_38_26.582130.log

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 3:51 PM

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frozen pewter today i opened the app on my android device, and get "Sync failed. Cannot proces...

does logout and login help with this?

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 3:52 PM

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i will try

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 3:52 PM

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so same issue with the previous error

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looks like some operation on the face/editing persion is causing the data synchronization to fail

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have you done any operation like face merging, editing, deleting?

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 3:55 PM

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mild egret have you done any operation like face merging, editing, deleting?

a while ago, yes. on my account (admin)
i dont think the other account has done that in a while (the account that uses IOS)

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 3:56 PM

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mild egret does logout and login help with this?

did not help

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 3:57 PM

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mild egret looks like some operation on the face/editing persion is causing the data synchr...

is there a way to reset all the faces? will that help?

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also, dont know if it matters...
some of the faces are on the external libraries photos

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 3:59 PM

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let me do some digging

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Can you access to the sql database on the server?

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docker exec -it immich_postgres psql --dbname=immich --username=postgres

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:00 PM

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the one @lyric pilot wanted me to access earlier in this thread? yes

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:00 PM

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let's run some queries if it is ok with you

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let me know after you executed the command above

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:02 PM

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ok, im connected

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:02 PM

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First, let's check if the asset is still exist

SELECT * FROM asset WHERE id = '7045833b-079d-49c0-84ea-1cf88879f48a';

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:03 PM

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mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:04 PM

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ok, so it exists

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SELECT id, "deletedAt", "isVisible" FROM asset WHERE id = '7045833b-079d-49c0-84ea-1cf88879f48a';

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:05 PM

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ERROR: column "isVisible" does not exist
LINE 1: SELECT id, "deletedAt", "isVisible" FROM asset WHERE id = '7...

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:06 PM

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SELECT id, "deletedAt", visibility FROM asset WHERE id = '7045833b-079d-49c0-84ea-1cf88879f48a';

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:06 PM

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id | deletedAt | visibility
--------------------------------------+-----------+------------
7045833b-079d-49c0-84ea-1cf88879f48a | | timeline
(1 row)

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:07 PM

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SELECT * FROM asset_face WHERE assetId = '7f848494-2a7b-4911-8b7d-af126856ee46';

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:08 PM

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ERROR: column "assetid" does not exist
LINE 1: SELECT * FROM asset_face WHERE assetId = '7f848494-2a7b-4911...
^
HINT: Perhaps you meant to reference the column "asset_face.assetId".

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:08 PM

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SELECT * FROM asset_face WHERE "assetId" = '7f848494-2a7b-4911-8b7d-af126856ee46';

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:08 PM

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mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:10 PM

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SELECT * FROM asset_face WHERE "personId" = '7f848494-2a7b-4911-8b7d-af126856ee46';

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:10 PM

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mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:12 PM

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SELECT * FROM asset_face WHERE id = '7f848494-2a7b-4911-8b7d-af126856ee46';

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:12 PM

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mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:15 PM

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SELECT id, "ownerId" FROM asset WHERE id = '7045833b-079d-49c0-84ea-1cf88879f48a';

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:15 PM

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id | ownerId
--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------
7045833b-079d-49c0-84ea-1cf88879f48a | d79d6a39-5ae8-4e3a-8e10-4bde08775b37

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:16 PM

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Do you use partner's sharing feature?

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:16 PM

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yes

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i can go and see her timeline

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:21 PM

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select * from user;

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:22 PM

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user

postgres
(1 row)

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:22 PM

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select id, email from public.user;

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:23 PM

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mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:24 PM

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So which user is logged in on this phone?

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:24 PM

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i am the first user (android) - the admin

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i am accessing the server from my PC

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*using ssh

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:25 PM

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SELECT id, "updateId", "createdAt", "updatedAt" FROM asset WHERE id = '7045833b-079d-49c0-84ea-1cf88879f48a';

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:26 PM

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id | updateId | createdAt | updatedAt
--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+-------------------------------+-------------------------------
7045833b-079d-49c0-84ea-1cf88879f48a | 01990672-0a0c-7922-9b0c-712c964aca8b | 2025-09-01 18:01:27.114558+00 | 2025-09-01 18:02:41.036927+00
(1 row)

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:28 PM

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SELECT * FROM session_sync_checkpoint 
WHERE "sessionId" IN (SELECT id FROM sessions WHERE "userId" = 'd79d6a39-5ae8-4e3a-8e10-4bde08775b37')
ORDER BY type;

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:28 PM

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WHERE "sessionId" IN (SELECT id FROM sessions WHERE "userId" = 'd79d6a39-5ae8-4e3a-8e10-4bde08775b37')
ORDER BY type;
ERROR: relation "sessions" does not exist
LINE 2: WHERE "sessionId" IN (SELECT id FROM sessions WHERE "userId"...

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:29 PM

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SELECT * FROM session_sync_checkpoint 
WHERE "sessionId" IN (SELECT id FROM session WHERE "userId" = 'd79d6a39-5ae8-4e3a-8e10-4bde08775b37')
ORDER BY type;

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:29 PM

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📎 message.txt

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:36 PM

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You said logout and login still exhibit the sync error message?

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:37 PM

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correct

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on both accounts/phones

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:38 PM

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Can you help me clear the logs, then log out and log back in, after the sync finished/reach the error state, then you share the whole log again?

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:38 PM

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logs on phone, correct?

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:38 PM

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Yes

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:43 PM

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so when loging back in, the backup was not enabled.
enabling it, and i have 2 assets to upload (one was added after the log in), the cloud on top has a check (marking that backup has finished)- even though the 2 pictuers are not backed up

📎 Immich_log_2025-11-26T18_43_03.047688.log

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:44 PM

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Yes, when you logout and backup button is disabled

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Now run this query, I think it will fix the sync issue for this specific edge case

DELETE FROM asset_face WHERE id = '7f848494-2a7b-4911-8b7d-af126856ee46';

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:46 PM

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i got:

DELETE 1

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:46 PM

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ok, now put the app the background and reopen it

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it should resync and should finish the syncing

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:47 PM

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hmm, got the sync error

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:47 PM

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try log out and log in again

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:47 PM

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ok, trying

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:48 PM

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there might be another face that will need to be deleted

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:50 PM

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sadly, still an error...
attached logs

📎 Immich_log_2025-11-26T18_50_00.845393.log

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:52 PM

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SELECT COUNT(*) 
FROM asset_face af
JOIN asset a ON af."assetId" = a.id
WHERE a."isExternal" = true AND a."ownerId" = 'd79d6a39-5ae8-4e3a-8e10-4bde08775b37';

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:52 PM

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count

4730
(1 row)

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:53 PM

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SELECT id, "isExternal", "libraryId", "originalPath" 
FROM asset 
WHERE id = '18e7245d-b85b-4b2c-9000-d9f87c23710e';

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:53 PM

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id | isExternal | libraryId | originalPath
--------------------------------------+------------+--------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------
18e7245d-b85b-4b2c-9000-d9f87c23710e | t | fe24975f-0284-420d-90d3-a695fcc49a90 | /external_libraries/Hephzi bat mitzva/7Q1A9875.JPG
(1 row)

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:54 PM

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Can you help check the trash page on the web, do you have many in the trash and if they are from external library?

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:55 PM

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i see (the first account) 2 items in trash- and they are not from external

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 4:56 PM

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something is pretty weird going on regarding some facial/person operation

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We might have to re run facial detection and facial recognition for all

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:56 PM

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the second account has 1 item (live photo) in trash - also not external

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 4:57 PM

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mild egret We might have to re run facial detection and facial recognition for all

ok, how?

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if that what it takes to be able to sync again- lets do it

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but if this issue happened once, can we know that it wont happen again?

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 5:02 PM

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I'd have to deep dive into this with the team to figure out exactly why it happens in the frist place, for now I think it is important to get things back to functional for you and your users

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so let's reset the facial detection and recognitions

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 5:02 PM

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great

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hmm, just looked in admin settings on web, it looks like at the moment, Facial Recognition is off🧐

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 5:05 PM

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oh interesting

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 5:06 PM

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if i enable this, to see the effects i need to log out first?

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 5:07 PM

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lemme think about this

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when did you have facial recognition disabled?

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 5:09 PM

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not sure
could be when the issue first happened on the IOS phone and trying to try things to fix (i thought everything that was changed was put back) [before opening a thread here]

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 5:13 PM

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do you want this feature?

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if yes, then you can enable the feature, then run facial detection and recognition for all again

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 5:14 PM

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yes, i think it gives a better experience over all

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 5:17 PM

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mild egret if yes, then you can enable the feature, then run facial detection and recogniti...

i see in jobs (this is the correct place?) 3 options for face detection: reset, refresh, missing.
for facial recognition i see 2 options: reset and missing

what will be good for my case?

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for both: Active-0 Waiting-0

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 5:19 PM

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reset would be good

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 5:19 PM

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for both jobs?

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 5:20 PM

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If you run the detection then it will automaticall queue for recognition

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 5:25 PM

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face detection finished, and has "1 failed"

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and 'facial recognition' didt run

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 6:00 PM

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frozen pewter and 'facial recognition' didt run

sorry, been stepping a way for a bit, run reset on facial recognition now

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 6:01 PM

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its ok,
ran.
and status looks like last pic i sent

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 6:04 PM

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when it is finished, try to open the app and see if the sync finished

frozen pewter Nov 26, 2025, 6:05 PM

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wow, backup looks like it was successful on the android 🙂

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will check the other phone/account when its available to me

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will update

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thank you 🙂

mild egret Nov 26, 2025, 6:09 PM

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No problem, sorry for the hassle

frozen pewter Nov 30, 2025, 10:24 AM

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ok, seems like we can backup from android and IOS

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thank you so much @mild egret and @lyric pilot for all your help getting this to work for us 🙂

#IOS app backup sync fail

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