The Badge shows a file was edited 420 years ago

Dropbox has ignored this issue for more than a year, has offered useless advice and refused to investigate the issue properly.

We still have the issue, and the syncing issue might be part of the cause- but how about Dropbox actually checks and provides a fix.

It isn't just excel files either.  I can't see how the sync issue is responsible as when you open a file on your desktop- it downloads a copy so must therefore be synced with the server.

There's a lot I like about dropbox but if the 420 years bug remains unfixable you wonder if they have really tried.

hey @dropboxsupport any chance of some interest in this issue???

If anyone is curious about 1601, it's because computers store the file modification time as the number of intervals that have elapsed since the "epoch", aka Time Zero, and on Windows, the epoch is January 1st 1601 (Why is the Win32 epoch January 1, 1601? - The Old New Thing (microsoft.com))

Hence if the stored file time defaults to zero, it'll come out as 1/1/1601, i.e. 421 years ago.

We see this pretty often at work but it's more a cause of mirth than inconvenience, it always sorts itself out after a short while.

Sorts itself out? We've been waiting for years. We would like dropbox to either remove the badge indication of time since edited or fix it.

It sorts itself out because once its downloaded and reopened, it will show correctly.  I stated this in a previous post.  But I agree with the sentiment of others that they should be able to fix this when the file is double-clicked, downloaded, and opened at the same time.

We have downloaded and reopened files hundreds of times. We have a team of people that are all connected and we all literally download and reopen all day long. This has been an issue for YEARS.

RevitArkitek

I appreciate you for sharing your experience!

That is, at best, a 'workaround' and not a solution.

C'mon Dropbox! how about an actual solution, please?

Hey guys, I hope you're doing well!

Have you tried reaching out to our Support, in regards to that issue? If not, can you give it a go, using this form? Once you do, make sure to give me your ticket number, so I can locate it on our system. 

On the other hand, if you're facing any issues when trying to create a ticket, just let me know and I'll open it on my end for you.

Thanks a bunch! 

THESE ARE RESPONSES FROM DROPBOX SUPPORT REGARDING THE ISSUE.

Violet, May 5, 2021, 1:37 AM PDT:

Hi Tim, 
Thank you for your patience!
I've been advised by our engineering team that a fix for this will be implemented on 25th May.
Regards,
Violet

Maddison, Aug 25, 2021, 5:52 PM PDT:

Hi Tim,
The team has advised me that a resolution for this issue may come at a later date, however, the team doesn't have an exact ETA at this stage.
If you have any questions, please let me know. 
Thanks,
Maddison

So, we are well over a year now, still waiting for resolution, along with countless other PAID SUBSCRIBERS.

This solution works for me. Indeed it seems to be a conflict between Unix/OSX/Windows date management.

So as soon as I put the file on local access it solved the problem and shows 37min rather than 421 years ago.

Thanks to joebeals 

March 2023 and still not fixed.  What is the deal?  I find it hard to believe it's not a Dropbox issue.