Dropbox Sync Errors I have been attempting to sync an external disk for weeks now, with no success. Uninstalled, reinstalled (Dropbox), tried on a Mac, tried on Windows 10, and ultimately, got the OS to see the external 4TB disk on a Windows installation, however, do not see any success in uploading the data to the cloud, it just keeps showing the repetitive "updating dbxignore" updating 3 files, 4 files, dbxignore, etc., and if I wanted to "drag" ALL the folders from the external drive into Dropbox, it overfills the capacity of the resident OS disk, how does one get the data there and not while putting it there fill the local disk? Multiple issues, hours and days, failed syncs, looking for simple, 1-2-3, put data from external disk on Dropbox and walk away, no babysitting, folder by folder procedure, and or getting stuck...Am I doing something wrong or is this a limitation of the software? Even if I wanted to put ALL the data on the external disk and make the external disk the Dropbox location, I get messages about disabling, and turning it off, which I do, but I still cannot succeed. Why is this so hard?

Issue details: 1st, let me say that the support offerings are dismal, especially when paying for a higher-level subscription. I, as a support consultant for dozens of clients, assist them with their issues so they don't need to go through the laborious, time-consuming, stupid, wasteful, "chat" or other BS functions to get support, and normally, for well over 30 years, I've been pretty much successful. I am somewhat of an advocate for my clients. However, the wasted effort as of late to achieve a simple, easy function of uploading, syncing, and populating the Dropbox "cloud" with data from an external 4TB drive (2 TB populated) has been problematic, time-consuming, and unsuccessful. Answers provided via Google search results, AI, and even your community forum do not even in the slightest help at all. I was told to copy/paste the community forum discussion to generate a support ticket. To summarize, before I do so, a 4TB external NTFS disk on Windows will not upload to Dropbox in the cloud, repeat gets stuck, never gets past 3 or 4 files, says fils in use (they are not), and if chosen to use the Web interface to upload multiple folders, I cannot, I can only "babysit" one folder at a time, wait, do another, and then the Dropbox cloud gets populated, so does the local disk, which is space limited, so there is no "easy solution to get files to be available from an external device to the Dropbox cloud for "safe keeping", as what is the intended purpose of a cloud-based repository. My client, xxxxxxxx, account xxxxx@xxxxxxx.com, with a 'Professional' account, cannot get her files on the cloud without 1 by by one folder upload (super overwhelming, time-consuming) and filling up her hard disk. So, how is it done, why is it so difficult, and if this product is a mature, well-working tool, why is it that I have to go to such lengths to even have a simple communication with the provider of this software (you/Dropbox), without being told that if I want a 'higher level' support, I'd need to buy a higher level subscription to have telephone support? (And even so, the support could potentially suck, as I've found out in the 30+ years of support that the support persons hired sometimes don't have a clue and we as the consumers report these types of problems as if we were beta testers.

I got a message that said, “Someone has responded to your question on the Dropbox Community”, where, not here?

Got zero reply, must be because of the weekend...

Well, it is going on days after days after days, ZERO response from Dropbox support. I would imagine this means they don't care, they don't know, and it's time to look for another solution )provider).

Hi there @guruuno - sorry to hear about this and thanks for letting us know about the troubleshooting steps you've attempted so far. Could you just clarify what version of the Dropbox desktop app you're using and if you have reached out to our support team about this? Also, have you tried fixing your hardlinks and permissions since you first noticed this? Thanks!

Can't Backup an external drive | The Dropbox Community

16 Replies

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Walter
Dropbox Community Moderator
2 years ago
Hi there @guruuno - sorry to hear about this and thanks for letting us know about the troubleshooting steps you've attempted so far.

Could you just clarify what version of the Dropbox desktop app you're using and if you have reached out to our support team about this?

Also, have you tried fixing your hardlinks and permissions since you first noticed this?

Thanks!
guruuno
Helpful | Level 6
2 years ago
The latest version is available, I can provide it next, but are you kidding? Is this application just not supposed to "work" or are you saying I have to open a support ticket, go through multiple e-troubleshooting issues, etc., etc.? Please clarify!!
Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
2 years ago
Hey @guruuno, Walter is asking you some basic questions, so we can gather some info, in order to troubleshoot the issue accordingly.

Keep in mind that you can back up the following types of external hard drives to Dropbox Backup:

On Windows: NTFS, exFAT, FAT32

On Mac: HFS+, APFS, exFAT, FAT32

Is this the case for your external drive?

Also, does restarting your computer help at all?
guruuno
Helpful | Level 6
2 years ago
NTFS/Windows 10, Rebooted 200 times, files start to sync, don't want files stored locally, can't "drag" or"upload" via web interface without filling local hard disk, would much like to just upload to Dropbox and access only on cloud and only have "symbolic links" on PC. Latest, greatest Dropbox version (206.4.6506), keep getting stuck on a folder on the external disk called 'Software', Dropbox says 'Can't update "Software" file in use', yet there is nothing "in use" other than the folder living on the drive. "dbxignore' keeps showing over and over and over in the pop-up bubble from the taskbar over Dropbox when I place the mouse pointer over Dropbox to see it's non-progress/activity, and the only reference to a file or 2 or 3 stating they are syncing/uploading, but never do. I successfully used the Web interface and uploaded individual files from the external drive root, but interface does not allow "bulk"(more than 1 folder) to manually upload....so upon trying that for several hours and days, I had to stop because the internal disk of the PC became close to capacity with the Dropbox files, yet I only want them on the cloud, and reference links in the Dropbox folder. It should not have to be so difficult, hard, and TIME CONSUMING. I'd like to put the 2Tb+ of files on the external hard disk into Dropbox....simple request, how achieved?
Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
2 years ago
Hey @guruuno, I appreciate the info you gave me.

However, just to clarify, there are two ways of adding files from an external drive to Dropbox.

You can either manually copy them into your Dropbox folder, to actually sync them to your account, which means that the files will also take up hard drive space in order to sync.

Or you can choose to use our backup feature, to back up the external drive.

With backup, the files don't get moved to your internal hard drive, they just need time to get backed up and then they're only accessible from your backups page.

I'm assuming that you'd prefer the second way, so can you just confirm that you've used these steps to back up the drive? And are you having issues with this process?

Regarding the .dbxignore files, some external drives need to create log files to function.

Dropbox ignores these to save space in your backup. To do so, it creates placeholder .dbxignore files that take up less storage space.
guruuno
Helpful | Level 6
2 years ago
Followed to the teee-----will do again, for the umpteenth time and report back
guruuno
Helpful | Level 6
2 years ago
No OneDrive is running, No iCloud is running, NO Google Drive is running, Dropbox just keeps backing up/failing 3 files, all of the previously referenced items, no changes, nada, zero, will not work.
Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
2 years ago
Hi @guruuno, thanks for the details. At this point, I'd recommend contacting the support team directly for them to investigate this matter in more detail on their end.
guruuno
Helpful | Level 6
2 years ago
How, by copy/paste these items discussed here or is there a phone number to call?
Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
2 years ago
When submitting the ticket, you can copy and paste what you have done on this thread into the ticket for the support agent to be aware of what steps you've already tried.

Currently, we only provide phone support for team admins of Dropbox team subscriptions.