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Dropbox is stuck syncing after an update, what can I do?
I have the "Dropbox Plus" subscription and I run the client on 4 computers.
Yesterday (Monday, 13-Jan-2020) I signed onto my desktop (which is always on) and has a full local sync of my dropbox...
@S34WOLF - I was in the same boat as you and documented the solution (for me) on page 12 of this thread: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Files-folders/Dropbox-is-stuck-syncing-after-an-update-what-can-I-do/m-p/392419/highlight/true#M142599
Thank you Matt F.16 . I am on windows, I have found and deleted symlinks (just two), and also fixed permissions both with the "Fix Permission" button and the command line commands Dropbox support has sent me but haven't solved the issue.
Further investigation/experimentation led me to this:
It seems that the dropbox.exe process is "blocked" by another thread. I right clicked on the Dropbox.exe process and chose "Analyse wait chain":
This gave me the following interesting message. Dropbox is waiting for some other process on Thread 9236 to finish and release *network* I/O:
I downloaded "Process Explorer" from Microsoft (here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer) to see what this Thread is (right click on Dropbox.exe process in Process Explorer, choose Proporties, then "Threads" tab:
So ucrtbase.dll seems to be involved. Doubleclicking on the Thread gives this stack of "core" Windows10 dlls and exe files:This is the furthest I can go with my technical understanding, and I am reporting it so that others may dig further and reach a solution.
(Note: to see the threads on my PC I had to install "Debugging Tools for Windows" from the Windows 10 SDK (here:https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/windows-10-sdk . On the installer choose only to install:"Debugging Tools for Windows" to save disc space and time:
SOLVED!: As I was browsing the threads that were related to dropbox.exe, I saw that boxifier had some threads, which was weird as I had it closed. So I unistalled boxifier, restarted the PC, and it synced fully! I am not sure whether it was just boxifier or a combination of all the other issues that I tackled (symlinks, permissions etc), the thing is I am fully operational now, and all new changes get synced as before.
Thanks to all people that helped!
Hi S34WOLF:
I am also a Boxifier user too because I wanted to sync files in their current folder locations and not move them to the designated Dropbox folder. These are usually in the "Boxifier" folder under the Dropbox folder, and these contain the links to to external folders outside the Dropbox folder structure.
Can you tell us all a little more what happened to the "Boxifer" folder after you uninstalled Boxifier, and what you will do now?
FYI, I contacted Boxifier support who told me (in part): "Dropbox has introduced a new sync engine ("Nucleus") that at the moment is not advertised and it is only available to some users. The team discovered an incompatibility between Boxifier and this new sync engine and is working to solve this problem. We have released a beta last week which includes support for the new sync engine of Dropbox. Could you please give it a try and let me know if it makes any difference for you?"
The Boxifier Beta did not make any difference, so I am wondering which side to try to tackle this problem: Dropbox or Boxifier.
Thank you!
Ronald
Hello Ronald H.
My use of Boxifier was circumstantial, I wanted the data of an application I was using to be saved in Dropbox - but I am not using it anymore, so I can quit using Boxifier, no need to replace it at the moment.
The Boxifier folder is still in Dropbox and all the files that had been synced by Boxifier are still there (there are no links, rather copies of the files that are outside Dropbox).
Did uninstalling Boxifier solve the Dropbox issues for you?
Thanks, S34W0LF! Uninstalling Boxifier solved my syncing issue. (It's not enough to just exit Boxifier.)
Just to add that I also have the problems described in this thread. My support ticket is #10211177
I'm on an iMac with High Sierra. I've been trying to fix the problems for about 2 weeks now, including uninstalling and reinstalling more than once. Support has so far recommended I try things I've already told them I've done.
I've now completely turned off "Smart Sync" on my account to see if that might help, and I'm selectively syncing just the one (large) folder which I really need to be functional.
It's no longer stuck, and if syncing takes ages I can live with that. However Dropbox is not displaying any sync icons (or contextual menu choices) in my finder window.
The whole process has made me look into alternative otpions; I'm still hoping Dropbox will settle and work well again, but I'm losing trust, especially with all the support references to Dropbox not working as well with larger numbers of files. If that's the case, I don;t see the point in offering 2TB+ options as anyone with anything near that size of a storage requirement is guaranteed to have a large number of files...
Anyway, I hope the syncing issues will resolve for everyone soon.
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