Why Doesn't My Device Sync to ownCloud?

Symptom:

I've installed ownCloud with a recent Mozilla Sync app (plugin, version 1.3.1). Desktop Firefox syncs to it. Now on my Android device (that did not sync before) I run Firefox and hit Menu - Settings - Sync. It shows a 12-byte (3x4 byte) code. On desktop Firefox I navigate to Edit - Preferences - Sync - Pair a Device, and I fill in the code. But my bookmarks do not appear on Android Firefox.

What's happening:

Android Firefox is patiently waiting for someone to check in on Mozilla's server, which of course never happens.

How to fix:

Follow this procedure:

• Get your recovery key. On Desktop Firefox, Edit - Preferences - Sync - Manage Account - My Recovery Key. It's 26 bytes not counting hyphen separators.

• You did tell desktop Firefox to sync the bookmarks, didn't you?

• Find the server's URL. Log in to ownCloud. Click on your loginID (upper right corner); pick Personal. Scroll down to the section for Mozilla Sync. It will give the Account Name (e-mail address) and the URL, which is https://www.example.org/owncloud/remote.php/mozilla_sync/ (substitute your server's hostname).

• In Firefox for Android, hit Menu -Settings - Sync.

• Ignore the 12-byte code and hit Advanced Setup.

• Click on Custom Server. A box for the URL will appear.

• Fill in the 4 items: Account Name (e-mail address), ownCloud password, recovery key, and server URL. Hit Connect.

• Promptly the bookmarks will be imported to Android Firefox. They will be in a folder called Desktop Bookmarks, and under that, Bookmarks Menu. Not the most convenient location, but they're on the machine.

I wonder, if you omit the recovery key, whether you can then return to Android Firefox's sync page and use the 12-byte code, entering it in desktop Firefox? Also, is it possible to have one account but multiple sets of devices that sync to each other but not to the other sets? Likely you can't do either but I didn't actually try and fail.