Troubleshooting
Recover from download, opening, proxy and sync problems
What to do when Orbit Browser does not finish downloading, a profile will not open, a proxy fails, or a profile's session does not reach your other computer.
Guide · 7 min read
PowerOps reports a problem in the place where you were working, in a sentence of its own. This guide goes through the sentences you are most likely to meet: what each one means and what to do about it.
Where PowerOps reports a problem
- The Activity panel, at the bottom of the window, follows every open and close. When an open fails, its row turns red and gives the reason, with Retry beside it.
- The bell in the header keeps a notification for anything you may have missed, such as A browser could not open.
- On the Proxies page, a proxy that failed its test shows Failed in the Verification column. Hover over the word for the reason.
Orbit Browser did not finish downloading
PowerOps fetches Orbit Browser in the background the first time it starts. If that is interrupted, no profile can open until it completes.
What you see
- The Updating Orbit Browser… window closes before its bar has filled, and Create your first profile stays greyed out.
- Opening a profile answers That browser is not installed yet.
OpenWhat to do
- Check that this computer is online.
- Choose Retry in the Activity panel. PowerOps fetches the browser again before it opens the profile.
- If there is no row to retry, restart PowerOps. It starts fetching the browser again as it opens.
- Keep PowerOps open until the Updating Orbit Browser… window closes by itself.
What you should see
The window closes and the profile opens. The browser is fetched once for your Windows account, so this does not come back for other profiles.
A profile will not open
Read the sentence in the red row, then find it below.
This profile is open on another computer.
Another computer in your workspace has the profile open, and Cloud Sync lets one computer use a profile at a time. Close it there, wait for its Activity panel to read Synced, then choose Retry here. If that computer is switched off or offline, wait about two minutes for its hold on the profile to run out.
Cloud Sync is temporarily unavailable, so this profile was not opened.
PowerOps could not reach Cloud Sync to find out whether another computer has the profile, so it did not open it. Your data is safe. Check your connection and choose Retry. The same answer can appear on the very first open after PowerOps starts or after you switch workspace, while it is still signing in to Cloud Sync, and Retry clears it.
Cloud Sync for this workspace needs migration from a previously used computer.
This computer has not been given the workspace's encryption key yet. Start PowerOps on a computer that has been using the workspace, open that workspace there and leave it running for a minute. Then choose Retry here. There is nothing to type on either computer.
This version of PowerOps is no longer supported and cannot open profiles.
The header shows an Update required button. Open it and install the update. Only an owner or admin of the workspace can install updates, so ask one of them if the button does nothing for you.
This profile is already running.
Its browser is already open. Choose the Focus button on its row to bring the window to the front.
A browser is still using this profile from an earlier session.
An Orbit Browser window from before is still holding the profile. Close that window. If the menu at the end of the row offers Force stop, choose it, then open the profile again. If neither is possible, restart the computer, which ends the leftover browser.
PowerOps could not complete that action. Please restart the application.
Close PowerOps completely, start it again, and open the profile.
A notification that reads A browser closed on its own means the browser stopped without being asked to, after a crash for example. Choose Open to start it again.
A proxy test reads Failed
On the Proxies page, hover over Failed to read the reason. Put it right using the matching entry below, then click Failed to run the test again.
The proxy refused those credentials.
The username or password is wrong or has expired. Tick the proxy, choose Edit, type them again, save, and test again.
The proxy could not be reached.
Nothing usable answered at that host and port. You may see The proxy did not answer in time instead, and the fix is the same. Compare the host, port and protocol with what your provider issued. If they match, the proxy itself is down, and your provider is the next call.
The proxy could not resolve that address.
The host name was not found. Check it for a typing mistake.
The secure connection to the proxy failed.
Check that the proxy really is an HTTPS one. If your provider calls it HTTP, change Protocol to HTTP.
Proxy credentials need to be entered again.
PowerOps no longer holds this proxy's password. Click Failed, which opens the proxy for editing, and type the password again.
Cloud Sync has not unlocked this proxy password on this computer yet.
The password was saved on another computer and is still on its way here. Wait a minute and test again.
The stored proxy credentials could not be read.
The saved password cannot be read on this computer. Choose Edit and type it again.
A profile is refused because of its proxy
Proxy is unavailable. Profile was not opened.
PowerOps refused to open the profile because the last check of that profile's own proxy failed. It never opens a profile on this computer's own connection instead.
- Put the proxy right first, using the reasons above.
- Open the menu at the end of the profile's row and choose View details.
- Open the Proxy tab and choose Test proxy.
- When it reads Proxy is working, close the details and choose Open.
What you should see
The profile opens through its proxy.
An owner or admin can switch this safeguard off for one computer: in Settings, choose Local settings and untick Block opening on a failed proxy. The profile then opens even though its proxy failed, and its pages will not load until the proxy works again.
A proxy password is missing when a profile opens
If the red row reads Proxy credentials need to be entered again, or The stored proxy credentials could not be read, the profile's own copy of the password is gone. On the Proxies page, assign the proxy to the profile again, which gives it a fresh copy. If the library entry has lost its password too, edit the entry and type it first.
A session did not sync, or two computers disagree
Check whether a profile synced
Open the menu at the end of the profile's row and choose View details. Under Cloud Sync, the status reads Synced, Pending sync or Sync failed, with Last synced on the line below.
The Activity panel does not announce an upload that failed. If it never reached Synced or Up to date after a close, this is where to look.
The status reads Sync failed
The session could not be uploaded when the profile closed, most often because the computer was offline. Nothing is lost: the session stays on this computer, and PowerOps does not replace it with an older copy from the cloud.
- Bring the computer back online and leave PowerOps open. While it is running, it tries again by itself about every ten minutes.
- To send the session sooner, open the profile, close it again, and wait for Synced.
- Check View details once more before you open the profile on another computer.
What you should see
The status reads Synced, and the other computer opens the session you closed here.
Two computers ended up with different sessions
This only happens when a computer closed a profile without being able to upload it, and the profile was then used on another computer. PowerOps does not merge the two sessions, and it has no screen for choosing between them. This is what it does instead.
- The computer that holds the session which never uploaded keeps opening its own copy.
- Its automatic retry does not overwrite the newer session in the cloud.
- The next time you open and close the profile on that computer while it is online, its copy is uploaded and becomes the one every computer receives.
So decide which session you want before you open the profile again on the computer that shows Sync failed. To keep that computer's session, open and close the profile there. To keep the other one, carry on from the other computer and leave the profile closed here, because nothing in PowerOps discards the copy that did not upload.
How Cloud Sync moves a session between computers
- Frequently asked questionsMoving profiles between computers, macOS, how updates are verified, and what Phones in the sidebar is.Next guide
- Use Cloud Sync between computersCheck that Cloud Sync is on, close a profile on one computer and open it on another with its session intact, and understand why only one computer can have a profile open at a time.Next guide
- Add, test and assign a proxySave a proxy once in your workspace's proxy library, test it, and assign it to the profiles that should use it. Each profile gets its own copy, and PowerOps checks it again when the profile opens.Next guide