Unable to sync Flex

[carsond17]

At this point I am seriously ready to take my flex and throw it into a fire. It refuses to sync.

I have uninstalled and re-installed the app on both the pc and my phone, many many times.

I have restarted the actual flex while it's plugged in to my pc and I'm on the fitbit.com dashboard.

I have restarted the flex in many ways many times.  Mostly to try to surprise it into working.

I have let it charge fully. 

I've changed my password.

I've "set it up as a new device".

I've checked that everything has the most up to date versions of the os or app available.

I did the "work around" where you turn off bluetooth, restart you phone, restart the flex, turn everything back on.

I've gotten the specific error messages of "your sync has been scheduled and will begin soon" and "cannot connect to fitbit.com" on my phone. From the pc app I always get "Network operation failed.  Fitbit.com is unavailable. Please try again later."  I've even gone on my husband's pc app and logged him out and tried to log myself in and gotten the same message.

Nothing will make this thing sync anymore.  I can sometimes get it to "connect" directly to my phone.  When this happens it will display whatever is available for that day.  As soon as this black magic is broken it vanishes again.

I spent 2 hours on Monday trying everything I could find here on the boards and on the official troubleshooting pages.  Something worked...but I have no idea what.  I think it was likely a combination of black magic and moon phases.  Because it synced after I gave up on messing with it and went to class.  It synced sometime on my drive over.  So at least 20 minutes after I gave up on it.

The really crappy thing is that it worked fine for the first 2 weeks or so.  At this point I'm wondering if this is some horrible ploy to force me to pay for the upgraded application.  Which I won't do.  It's such a shame.  I was using my phone to track steps and sleep before.  I got this as a gift and was so excited for the added convenience but it turns out it's absolutely useless.

So if anyone can think of something I haven't tried to make this stupid thing work I would appreciate it.  It would be preferable if it would work on my phone, desktop app, and the website.  But we can't have everything in life I guess.

EDIT: added more things I'd forgotten.

Moderator edit: edited title for clarity

[PureEvil]

Hello @carsond17,

Fitbit trackers are unconventional bluetooth devices because they operate in a bluetooth mode that is called 'promiscuous'.  This effectively means that they'll try to communicate with basically any device that will listen.  This is also the reason why your tracker may sync simply by walking near a computer with the Fitbit software running.

Why do I mention this?  This also means that occasionally, if you try to sync from more than one device, it will get confused.  This is like one of us trying to carry two conversations at once; we're likely to get confused.  So to that end, I would try the following:

1. Turn off bluetooth on your phone (or turn it off entirely).
2. Restart your tracker.  Yes, you've probably done it recently, but we want to make sure everything is in a known state.
3. Run the Windows 10 Fitbit App.
4. Click on the picture of your tracker (it's either on the very bottom left or the top right, depending on your window configuration).
5. Click on the sync icon (looks the refresh icon on your browser).

Hopefully this will get you syncing.  If not, then we'll walk you through installing Fitbit Connect and trying to sync through it.

I hope this helps.

[KatieMD]

Ditto! I can get my flex to connect maybe once a day... Maybe! Idk how to follow a post, so I'm replying in hopes someone will have an idea that works!

[PureEvil]

@KatieMD,

Welcome to the community!

Did you try the above?

[KatieMD]

Thanks!  

I've not tried those exact steps yet - I didn't have my laptop handy.  This morning, I turned off my Bluetooth, then restarted my phone.  Turned the BT back on and it synced!  I was hoping to find a way to not have to reboot my phone all the time.

One question - how do I restart my tracker?  Is that where I put it in the charger and use a paper clip?

[carsond17]

yes, the paper clip and charger thing is how it restarts.

[carsond17]

I am unable to use the pc* fitbit application.  It just tells me, "Network operation failed.  Fitbit.com is unavailable.  Please try again later."

I just tried again in the interest of trying your solution and no luck same error.

Also I usually don't have my pc even powered on.  I've only ever had it powered on to do all this trouble shooting.  

Just as an update.  It randomly synced some 40 minutes ago.  I didn't have the app open or anything.  I just got home from the grocery store and came in the office to try your suggestion.  I logged on to the fitbit.com dashboard and it said it syned 30 some minutes ago.  No idea how it happened.

EDIT: spelling

[ErickFitbit]

@carsond17 I recommend uninstalling and reinstalling the Fitbit Connect software and then giving it another try. Also, is the Flex now consistently syncing with your Android device or is it still intermittent?

@KatieMD Check out the full restart instructions here. That should help get you up and going.

[KatieMD]

Thank you!