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Bert M.'s avatar
Bert M.
New member | Level 1
11 years ago
Solved

Desktop app is stuck 'Starting' when it loads up and doesn't sync

I am a paying customer and very frustrated with Dropbox. I am ready to drop DropBox and look for other alternatives. Since Friday of last week it has been trying to sync 100Gb in files and it is ta...
desktop
Mac
sync
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    8 years ago
    Reading through this thread, everyone seems to be experiencing similar and yet slightly different issues, so I’ll go through the general troubleshooting steps to fix all of them. 
     
    Feel free to stop whenever your app begins to sync normally, not all steps are needed.
     
    Install the stable version:

    The first thing we need is to be sure you’re running the stable version of the Dropbox desktop application, and not the beta.
     
    To do so uncheck the box next to "Early releases" here. Then, do an advanced reinstall to ensure that all beta functions are removed fully. 
     
    Instead of the download link on that page, I recommend using the offline installers for this purpose:

     

    Confirm there are no symlinks

     
    Secondly, if your app is fine, but it’s still starting, then it could be stuck in a loop trying to parse your symlinks. 
     
    What are these? Long story short for those not in the know, these are files or folder that refer to another file or folder in your Dropbox account, or even outside the Dropbox folder.
     
    This can include, but is not limited to, iPhoto/Photos library on Mac, system folders such as Documents/Pictures/Music/Downloads, databases, programming code, and many more.
     
    Removing these symlinks is vital since they can cause these issues, high CPU usage, and permissions problems.
     
    Follow step 7 on this article in order to detect the symlinks in your computer and remove any from your Dropbox folder. Generally, moving the specific files or folders to another location should remove the links.
     
    Check your internet connection

    Hilariously, this is more common than you think. You have a stable WiFi/ethernet connection to the web, other sites work, and yet the app isn’t connecting.
     
    If multiple users are having this problem on the same network, there is a possibility that a proxy, VPN, firewall, security software, or even ISP/router issues that could be restricting traffic to the Dropbox domains. 
     
    We can’t really narrow things down for you, since you need to check this out yourself as there are so many programs out there.
     
    We’ve had cases more often than not about built in security software on routers for home internet users, meant to protect users and children, but in doing so preventing the Dropbox desktop application from loading.
     
    Using a remote login

    Getting a black or white screen on the Dropbox app when you’re trying to sign in is a different issue.
     
    This usually occurs when using a remote login or even a virtual machine to another device. The graphics for remote logins are usually reduced in quality, and since the Dropbox desktop application connects to the Dropbox site to sign you in, it won’t render the login page in the app while on a remote login.
     
    Best thing to do would be to access the machine directly to login from there.
     
     
    ---
     
    Overall, there are many reasons for this cause, however hopefully this post should help in resolving most of the issues!
     
     

     

     

    [This thread is now closed. If you have a similar or new question, you can ask here.]

Laureline's avatar
Laureline
Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager
11 years ago

Hi everyone!

You can of course contact support here:
https://www.dropbox.com/support

Support will have access to information about your account that can help troubleshoot your issues :)

  • Matt A.12's avatar
    Matt A.12
    New member | Level 2
    7 years ago

    Do you have any idea how many times people like us have contacted Dropbox support, and received NO acknowledgement of our contact, let alone a reply? 

    • Bissquitt's avatar
      Bissquitt
      New member | Level 2
      7 years ago
      I just migrated over to my own nextcloud server. You can set one up on as little as a raspberry pi 3. It's telling that I have gotten almost imediate responses from the community when theres no financial stake, yet Dropbox just doesn't seem to care. The recent limit on number of devices was the nail in the coffin. It's not like I have 10 devices syncing, but I'm not gonna sign out and in every time I pick up my old tablet.

      Lookup nextcloudPi.
    • Jane's avatar
      Jane
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      7 years ago
      Hey again kurosa, apologies for the tardy reply on my end. In continuation to our ongoing discussion via email (i.e. that has now been closed on our system due to inactivity), it would be worth noting that Selective Sync should help you reduce the overall load of the client, as it seems that you’ve stored a lot of files & your desktop Dropbox application is currently facing an issue handling those. 
       
      Please let me know here if you need further assistance with Selective Sync or feel free to reply back to the email I had sent you’re still facing an issue launching our application. 
      From there spike1968, it would be worth noting that storage space refers to the amount of data stored in our servers. Nonetheless, you should be able to upload files to the servers and access them in the cloud via the website, the desktop &/or mobile app, however the 300,000 files limit pertains specifically to those synced on your computer. 
      Matt A.12 wrote:

      Do you have any idea how many times people like us have contacted Dropbox support, and received NO acknowledgement of our contact, let alone a reply? 

      Have you contacted us using the email connected to your Community profile by any chance Matt A.12? I’m merely asking, as I haven’t been able to locate an open support request on our system. If you’ve been in touch with our Support team, please include a ticket# in your next reply here. 
       
      (Note: Your ticket number should be a 7-digit number, which allows us to look for your ticket on our system. You should be able to see it in the email heading that you receive as soon as you submit your request.)
       
      Thanks! 

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