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touchepas's avatar
touchepas
Helpful | Level 5
8 years ago
Solved

Time machine forces smart sync to download files locally!

There is a huge problem when using smart sync as a Mac user who has time machine setup to automatically back up the entire hard drive (including the dropbox folder). If this is the case the time mach...
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  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    8 years ago
    The files aren't on the computer so your backup software can't back them up. If it tries to access the files, Dropbox is likely bringing them local just like it's supposed to do (no different from when you access a file that's Online Only; it's downloaded). Dropbox likely can't differentiate between you accessing a file or another application accessing the file.

    Your best bet would be to add an exclusion to your backup set so that it doesn't attempt to backup any files that are marked as Online Only.
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    8 years ago
     
    Hey touchepas, let me follow-up on your last reply more closely (& thanks for taking the time to post your feedback here)!
     
    You may keep in mind that it isn’t currently possible to avoid this behavior: 
     
    However, I wonder whether there is a way to prevent dropbox from doing so if it is a 'read trigger' by time machine?
     
    On the other hand though, I understand that this functionality is important to you & for that reason I’ve made sure to pass your comments & overall feedback on to our team for future consideration. 
     
    Please don’t hesitate to post here again at any time in case you need further assistance & we’ll do our best to check back with you. Happy Friday! 
Anne-Marie a.'s avatar
Anne-Marie a.
Explorer | Level 3
8 years ago

That sounds like a great answer. How do you do that? How do you add an exclusion to a Time Machine backup that targets Dropbox online-files only?

 

AFAIK you only select files and folders in the Exclude window.  There is no "file type"  pattern matching or anything. And as soon as you select an online-file only,  it looks like the Mac starts downloading it right there in the Exclude dialog box. 

 

 

 

 

 

I am hoping that since you suggested it, you know how to do it. I have hundreds of gigs in my Dropbox folder and there isn't a way for me to quickly identify in this dialog which is selectively synced or not.  Please share, thanks!

 

AM

Jane's avatar
Jane
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
8 years ago
Hey Anne-Marie a., let me clarify in a bit more detail below! 
 
It’s my understanding that you’d like to follow my advice & make your files “Local” (so as to back them up in Time Machine)- which you can do in smaller batches using Selective Sync, is that correct? 
 
If so, please follow the steps listed here: 
 
#1. In case you have mixed state folders ☁️/ :white_check_mark: , you first have to make your files available locally withing the Dropbox folder. In case you don’t have the hard disk space to do so for the entire Dropbox folder in on go, you can Selectively Sync your content & repeat the backup within Time Machine until all your content is stored there. 
 
  1. Click the Dropbox icon from your menu bar. > Click on the :gear: icon, and then select Preferences… from the menu. >Click Sync. > Click Change settings… 
  1. A window will appear with a list of all the main folders in your Dropbox folder:
  • The folders with a check next to them are synced to your computer.
  1. Uncheck any folders that you don't need to sync to your computer's hard drive.
  • Folders you uncheck will be removed from your hard drive, but will still be available on dropbox.com and on any other computers linked to your Dropbox account.
  1. When you're done, select OK.
 
#2. Once you finish backing up your content, you may exclude the Dropbox folder from Time Machine again & make your files Online-only as previously or adjust your settings according to your preference. 
 
I hope this is helpful to you Anne-Marie! 
  • Anne-Marie a.'s avatar
    Anne-Marie a.
    Explorer | Level 3
    8 years ago

    Jane,  I appreciate the answer, but no that's not what I was asking.

    I want to know how to tell Time Machine to *ignore* the Selective Sync files.  I  think you or someone else suggested that.

    I came here just now, a couple months later, because the same bizarre behavior just happened again. I'm guessing  it has to do with Time  Machine, which is running, but  I'm not certain.

    Here's what happened:  I imported an .mp4 video on my Mac into another program and then started getting multiple alerts that Dropbox was downloading all sorts of selectively synced .mp4 files, none of which was the .mp4 I imported. After the 3rd or 4th alert I thought to take a screenshot:

    Looking at the Dropbox menu from the title bar, there was nothing about it downloading these files, not in Notifications nor Recent Files. But the alert kept popping up with names of different .mp4's. I tried turning on Pause Syncing, but that didn't stop the alerts.  

    Why did this happen? Was it Time Machine? Did I happen to try to import a selectively  synced .mp4 and that "woke Dropbox  up" to start downloading other mp4s? I'm 90% sure that the .mp4 I imported was in my  Downloads folder, outside of Dropbox.  

    I  thought  to look at my Notifications, and it appears Dropbox was unsuccessful:

    As I said, "IDS_quotes.mp4" was *not* the video I was importing. I don't remember the names of the other ones, but they weren't the same video either.

    I'm going to post this to tech  support too, but in case it has something  to do with Time  Machine (which is running on my Mac,  and is set to backup my local  Dropbox folder too), I thought I'd post it here. 

    Plus, reply to your post, since it's apparent I wasn't clear. 

    AM

    • Jane's avatar
      Jane
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      8 years ago
      Hey there (Anne-Marie a.), thanks or reaching back out to me on this discussion on the issue & apologies for the slight delay in replying on my end.
       
      Are you still experiencing the same behavior? I’ve made sure to run a search on our system on my end, I’ve located your newest ticket & I can see that my colleague has been awaiting your reply, in order to investigate what happened. You may have a look at your inbox for their latest message at your earliest convenience & please keep them updated with the requested info on this email chain, as it’s best for us to keep all relevant info in one correspondence. 
       
      I hope that this gets resolved soon for you & I’m always here in case you’d need further assistance in any way, just keep me updated in your next reply & I’ll do my best to check back with you. I’m wishing you a wonderful rest of your day ahead! 
      • Anne-Marie a.'s avatar
        Anne-Marie a.
        Explorer | Level 3
        8 years ago

        Hi Jane, I have not seen it happen again since that day.  It must  have  been  sunspots  or  some other  celestial event  causing a glitch. ;-) Thanks, I'll  find and close  out the tech support  request.

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