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Jonathan L.24's avatar
Jonathan L.24
Helpful | Level 5
8 years ago
Solved

High CPU Usage: 2 Macs

Dropbox v53.4.67.

 

The app is using 40-80% CPU constantly on 2 different Macs. There are NO files currently being synced on either machine. The Dropbox menu item reports nothing is currently happening (no syncing, no indexing, "Up to date" is displayed).

 

I've tried quitting and re-opening the app on both machines.

I've tried restarting both machines.

 

Both machines are running 10.13.6. 

Both machines were running older versions (took advantage of restarting to update both). One was on 10.13.5, other was on 10.13.3. Both were experiencing the problem before and after the updates.

 

desktop
Mac
sync
  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    8 years ago
    Hi there Jonathan L.24. Thanks for keeping Mark and I in the loop. It sounds like you were able to find symlinks - awesome first step - but did you attempt to remove them?
     
    Please remember that symlinks refer to data in locations outside of the Dropbox folder, so the Dropbox desktop app can get stuck attempting to access them. Issues such as high CPU usage and poor syncing performance may be the result of symlinks. The article mentions ways on how to locate symlinks - as I assume from your previous posts that you’ve already carried out. 
     
    Although you can move the actual folders into the Dropbox folder and then symlink back to the original locations, please bare in mind that we don't generally support the use of symlinks due to the issues that can arise when they are added to Dropbox. For this reason, it’s recommended that you remove these symlinks. 
     
    You can do that by following the file paths that are shown when you run the command (as mentioned in the article above), and remove the files in your Dropbox folder by dragging them somewhere else on your computer (if you don't want them deleted). Then, please quit Terminal, open it again, and run the command once more to ensure that no symlinks remain.
     
    If the symlink pathway is part of a single file that’s visible in your Dropbox folder, this symlink may be part of a container file. Container files look like regular files, but they're actually “wrappers” that contain other file types, such as iPhoto libraries. In these cases, you may want to remove the entire container file, as removing just a component of the container file could be problematic.
     
    After you remove the symlinks, it can take some time for syncing to get back to normal. For this reason, I’d kindly suggest restarting your computer and then checking on the Dropbox desktop app’s status. Please give it some time to re-index and begin the sync process again.
     
    Sorry for the lengthy post, but I tried to explain myself in the best possible way. Let me know of any update on the matter and I’ll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Cheers! :nerd:

8 Replies

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  • Jonathan L.24's avatar
    Jonathan L.24
    Helpful | Level 5
    8 years ago

    Yes, I saw this. I am trying the symlinks issue, removing them via selective sync. I'm not hopeful this will fix anything, but will update.

  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    8 years ago

    Let us know whenever you have an update on this, Jonathan L.24, and we’ll take it from there. Looking forward to hearing back from you! :grin:

  • Jonathan L.24's avatar
    Jonathan L.24
    Helpful | Level 5
    8 years ago

    There was an app causing it! I figured out which app (PrintNode), but I'm not sure why it would be causing anything to happen with Dropbox - it doesn't store/access files within the Dropbox folder. 

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    8 years ago
    Interesting Jonathan!

    Any idea what it was doing?
    Any clue as to what data it was tweaking within Dropbox?
  • Jonathan L.24's avatar
    Jonathan L.24
    Helpful | Level 5
    8 years ago
    Nope. I just emailed PrintNode about it. I was able to verify it was that app on both machines, and tried quitting it/reopening it a few times to confirm. I checked the "Open Files and Ports" in Activity Monitor (basically it's just lsof), and the Dropbox path doesn't appear to be being accessed by it - so I'm not sure what's going on.
  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    8 years ago
    Hi there Jonathan L.24. Thanks for keeping Mark and I in the loop. It sounds like you were able to find symlinks - awesome first step - but did you attempt to remove them?
     
    Please remember that symlinks refer to data in locations outside of the Dropbox folder, so the Dropbox desktop app can get stuck attempting to access them. Issues such as high CPU usage and poor syncing performance may be the result of symlinks. The article mentions ways on how to locate symlinks - as I assume from your previous posts that you’ve already carried out. 
     
    Although you can move the actual folders into the Dropbox folder and then symlink back to the original locations, please bare in mind that we don't generally support the use of symlinks due to the issues that can arise when they are added to Dropbox. For this reason, it’s recommended that you remove these symlinks. 
     
    You can do that by following the file paths that are shown when you run the command (as mentioned in the article above), and remove the files in your Dropbox folder by dragging them somewhere else on your computer (if you don't want them deleted). Then, please quit Terminal, open it again, and run the command once more to ensure that no symlinks remain.
     
    If the symlink pathway is part of a single file that’s visible in your Dropbox folder, this symlink may be part of a container file. Container files look like regular files, but they're actually “wrappers” that contain other file types, such as iPhoto libraries. In these cases, you may want to remove the entire container file, as removing just a component of the container file could be problematic.
     
    After you remove the symlinks, it can take some time for syncing to get back to normal. For this reason, I’d kindly suggest restarting your computer and then checking on the Dropbox desktop app’s status. Please give it some time to re-index and begin the sync process again.
     
    Sorry for the lengthy post, but I tried to explain myself in the best possible way. Let me know of any update on the matter and I’ll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Cheers! :nerd:
  • Kirt's avatar
    Kirt
    New member | Level 2
    7 years ago

    I run Windows 10 and have been having problems with Dropbox consuming massive amounts of CPU all the time.  I found no solutions that worked until I opened Settings and disabled Dropbox Badge.  Immediately, Dropbox started performing as it should with zero usage except when I purposefully modified a file and saved it.  

    Hope it works for others.

    Kirt

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