I'm using Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. In response to the change in dropbox file system support, I created a new partition on my hard drive to store my dropbox files in. It's 2 GB larger than my maximum dropbox space. My main partitions are all Ext4, but my home partition is encrypted which apparently doesn't work. This new partition was made without any obvious encryption option. Trying to move the dropbox folder, using dropbox > preferences > sync > dropbox folder location, and selecting a folder on my new partition returns a system incompatability error (see screenshot) I reformatted the partition to NTFS, but dropbox refuses to move the folder, with the same vague error. I looked through the circuitous FAQs this error links to, as far as I can see there's no other special circumstances to my setup. I'm just a guy using linux who doesn't want to reinstall his entire OS, and is about ready to cancel his dropbox subscirption.

Take a look at https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Error-messages/Ubuntu-16-04-Error-moving-files-to-new-ext4-location/m-p/304087#M17994Basically, use a subfolder of the new ext4 partition as target for dropbox. It worked for me.

Can't Move the Dropbox Folder to Ext4 or NTFS partition

11 Replies

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Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
7 years ago
Hi there, could I ask why you switched the drive to NTFS, while you’re on Linux?

Was that drive originally EXT4 before you did the move, and it was still unable to move?
jonnyA1
Explorer | Level 4
7 years ago
Sorry, yes. The new partition was originally created as Ext4. I also tried reformatting it to Fat32 before I realized that's unsupported. Finally I tried NTFS, but I got the same error when trying to move the dropbox folder each time.
Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
7 years ago
If moving the folder isn’t working, try doing an advanced reinstall, but this time during the installation choose the advanced settings and choose the EXT4-formatted drive you want the folder to reside on.

Then, you can pause syncing immediately, and copy the files over from the old folder to the new folder.

You can see similar steps in this article when moving files to a new computer.

Hope this helps!
jonnyA1
Explorer | Level 4
7 years ago
I tried the advanced reinstall, but based on the instructions in that article it's more of an advanced uninstall. There was no point in the installation process where I could choose where the app installs or the dropbox locaiton. After installation, the instructions say to use the move folder feature in dropbox, and I get the same error.
jmzama
New member | Level 2
7 years ago
Take a look at https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Error-messages/Ubuntu-16-04-Error-moving-files-to-new-ext4-location/m-p/304087#M17994
Basically, use a subfolder of the new ext4 partition as target for dropbox. It worked for me.
jonnyA1
Explorer | Level 4
7 years ago
Yeah wow, that actually did work. Files successfully moved to media/username/DropboxPartition/Data/Dropbox
Not super elegant, but at least it's working. Thank you!
Krasimir S.
New member | Level 2
7 years ago
I'm using Kubuntu 18.04.
I have ext4 partition, mounted on /media/dropbox and a symlink (for convenience) to it at: /home/$USER/Dropbox (my home & root partition is also ext4).
Until today, dropbox was set up to sync in /home/$USER/Dropbox.
Now it says I should move it to a supported location.
I tried setting it up to sync directly in the /media/dropbox ext4 partition, but it still refuses, and says this is unsupported location.
The filesystems ARE ext4 and HAVE extended attributes enabled.
Mounting the dropbox partition directly in /home/$USER/Dropbox (instead of using simlink) results in the same error.
Jane
Dropbox Staff
7 years ago
Hey Krasimir S., thanks a lot for your detailed description! I’ve moved your post into this conversation, in order to ping you to the answer that did the trick for some users. That said, it’s worth mentioning that don't generally support the use of Symlinks due to the issues that can arise when they are added to Dropbox.

Additionally, please bear in mind that we currently only support Ubuntu 14.04 or higher and Fedora 21 or higher. If your device does not meet these requirements, you are still able to use the Dropbox desktop application however your results may vary.

Hopefully these pointers are- evern slightly- helpful to you!
Krasimir S.
New member | Level 2
7 years ago
Kubuntu = Ubuntu, just different desktop environment. Install KDE on Ubuntu, and you have Kubuntu...
Also, about the symlink - it was NOT inside dropbox, and it was not the cause for the bug - the result was the same without it.
It was a symlink to the dropbox directory, and I don't see why dropbox would have anything against it - it does not break anything, and it's a standard feature that has been working for, like, decades in unix/linux.
This is definitely a bug - I don't have any other types of partitions except ext4, and yet, dropbox throws an error and refuses to sync).
The proposed "solution", while maybe working, is just a workaround (and not very elegant one).
yago76
New member | Level 2
7 years ago
I have the same configuration. I'm using a dual-boot PC with linuxmint and windows 10. I have a data partition that is NTFS to share between Linux and Windows. The dropbox folder is in the NTFS partition so it can be shared between linux and windows.
Now I cannot move the dropbox folder to the NTFS partition when working on linux OS.