Cannot sync after letterS my, inclusive

I’ve encountered an unusual synchronization issue for the first time. The problem occurs when attempting to create a new local directory (on a source PC) that is supposed to sync the entire contents of the DOCUMENTS folder. However, only files and subfolders up to names beginning with “MY” are visible. Any files or folders starting with “MY” or higher in alphabetical order do not appear in the initial sync folder. This behavior has been observed on two separate source machines.

The common factor between the two systems is that I had to reconfigure the Documents folder location after OneDrive moved the folder into its default cloud directory. I’ve since applied the necessary registry modifications to revert the folder location and uninstalled OneDrive.

Has anyone encountered a similar issue or have any insights into the root cause of this problem?

Is there a .stignore file?

Yes, hidden .stfolder in the Documents folder with this text:

This directory is a Syncthing folder marker.

Do not delete.

folderID: rohfx-cfmtc created: 2024-11-23T17:35:39Z

I wasn’t asking about “.stfolder”, I was asking about “.stignore”.

Oh yes! No there is no stignore file

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It’s not at all clear to me what’s going on here.

  • What OS is on each machine?
  • Are there any errors in the Syncthing UI or log?
  • Just to be clear, there are files in one of your to-be-synced Folders that exist and are visible in the Folder, but don’t get sync’d? And these files that aren’t getting sync’d are alphabetical starting with “my*” and going to “z*” ?

Thanks for your replies.

both are Win 10 pro.

There are no errors on the UI. Not sure where to see the LOG?

Your third point is correct.

Earlier this evening, I uninstalled ‘everything’ syncthing off the source (including ‘remote devices’, the syncthing installation folder and syncthing folder in AppData-Local, and everything syncthing I could see in the registry ) . Then I started from scratch and loaded a new download of syncthing, ran it (with admin rights) I then removed the default folder and then choose ‘Add Folder’ to backup the Documents folder. It was only 1.48GB in size (global state and locl state), the actual size should be 2.1GB. So I could work out (as I did earlier in the day)that it has only scanned up to the folder thats named “My Data Sources” . Interestingly, it does the same with the FILES in the root of the document folder, it scans everything up to a word file named “My care and…”. I then connect a remote Device and do a oneway sync (Folder Type → SEND) and only the 1.48GB is copied over (like I say, files and folders up to MY… (not inclusive of the MY file and folder)).

There is something about the documents folder thats preventing syncthing from scanning it properly. Just as a test, I made a duplicate copy of the documents folder and called it Documents2, then went through the same steps as above. Everything scanned fine (2.1GB) and also copied it all over to the remote machine.

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Just been reading a bit more about this and found a forum with a similar question, that person was told to look at the log and use the FS and SCANNER options. So Ive now found how to do this and Ive just ran the scan again. The LOG shows the scan running and hits a problem at the MY Data source folder. If if would help I could send that bit of the log to you?

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For sure, let’s see that log.

Thanks for the comprehensive responses and the great troubleshooting step of copying the problematic folder!

At this point, I’m thinking that there is something badly wrong with the storage on your device. My advice follows:

  1. Make at least two good backups of your drive that shows this issue. I would backup all the files onto one removable media, and then do a disk image onto a separate removable media.
  2. Check your backups carefully.
  3. Use fsutil set dirty x: and replace “x:” with the hard drive in question. This will instruct your operating system to check the disk on boot.
  4. Reboot. Watch for errors during the disk scan.

At this point, you may have enough data to determine if the hard drive in question needs to be replaced, or if it’s fixed.

If unsure, I would (after another full disk image backup, I’m paranoid that way) format the disk and move forward from there.

Thanks for the help, Ill get a copy of that Log and certainly back things up. Ill be back!

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