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DB thinks I am offline
Both my laptop and desktop are connected to my account. This issue is with my desktop only.
If you are reading this it is because my internet is working fine, as I proved outside of DB. It's also true that I can perform tasks such as saving to the servers, which wouldn't happen if my internet were awry.
But if I try to use Preview, I get a message saying we can't do that because you are offline. (Again, the same file opens fine on my laptop.) If I click the chat button, nothing happens. When I tried to send an e-mail to Support, I got a curt message saying we can't do that now. Let's see if this last possibility of getting help obtains.
I tried restarting my computer, quitting and re-entering the program, but the issue continued. I then tried logging out and back in, but nothing works.
Again, the system is happy to accept my data, but insists I am offline when I'm not.
Bingo! Thanks, Walter. Preview behaved normally on a different browser. Two points worth making. I had tried going Incognito within Chrome, but still got the error message. Also, my laptop, where Preview always worked fine, is also running Chrome.
So, it's clearly not Chrome itself, but apparently just its cache on my desktop computer. I don't know how long it will take me to learn to clear that, but when I do I will come back with a (hopefully final) report! Stay tuned.
(I should also answer about that shared file. Still got error message here on Chrome.)
25 Replies
- Walter
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hey Norfolk VHF, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.
It's not quite clear to me, are you using the desktop app or the website when you notice this error about previewing your files?
Could you send us a screenshot perhaps?
Any additional information is more than welcome!
I don't know the distinction between the desktop app and the website. I have, e.g., this link on FB.
If, from within FB, I click on it on the laptop I use rarely (particularly for music, which wants the bigger screen), it plays normally on Preview. But doing so on my desktop gets this. (I also get this when I click on the file at dropbox.com.)
(I can't possibly be offline, because other internet sites respond to my clicks or dropdown choices normally. DB itself, seconds before, accepted the new saving of a file in the usual manner.)
Hi Victor,
Did you try to sign out of your Dropbox account in the background window, seen on your post (not the small one), and try to open the same link again (without signing in back in your account there). If not, try it. Does the link open properly in this case?
Good luck.
I mention above that I logged (they say, signed) out and back in to no avail. Thanks.
Oh. You wanted me to try clicking on the FB link when still signed out of DB. I did, and got the same DB error message.
An interesting detail you can see in the above screenshot. The dropdown in the upper right corner shows today's only Activity to be the editing (in other words, the overwriting on the DB servers) of two files. But as late as yesterday I could still use Preview to view pdf's or listen to .mp3's.
- Hannah
Thanks for this info Norfolk VHF, and sorry to jump in here.
It seems that this is a shared link that someone has shared with you, right?What if you open it through a different browser or a private browsing window? Does that work?
No, this is my link for others to use which, ironically, they can do but not me (except on my laptop)! I just gave it as an e.g. I cannot use Preview to see or listen to any file of mine or anyone else's; I always get that erroneous error message.
I tried your suggestion and tried accessing it in those different ways, but always with the same result. Still, I thank you.
- Jay
Hi Norfolk VHF, if you download the file, does it play correctly?
