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Dropbox removing external disk support for Mac users
In case anyone's unaware... if you're a Mac user storing your Dropbox on an external drive, you'll shortly lose that ability.
https://help.dropbox.com/installs/macos-support-for-expected-changes
Just confirmed this with DB support (see below). Gutted - been with Dropbox for years and our entire video team flow is based around it 😕
>Hi there, I read today that you are scrapping the ability to store the Dropbox folder on external disks, on OSX. I'd like to ask more about this please.
> Hello Jon, and thank you for contacting Dropbox Support. My name is Joseph, and I will be more than happy to look into your request, right away.
That is correct Jon, as part of the Dropbox for macOS update, the Dropbox folder must be located in ~/Library/CloudStorage.
>This is a showstopper for us, and will mean we have to move to another service. We have a large distributed team using DB for video work, no way it'll fit within internal drives.
Is there a workaround?
> I totally understand and I apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, there is no workaround on this as changing the location of your Dropbox folder is no longer supported by macOS.
>This change doesn't seem to have hit us yet - we're running a variety of machines inc Ventura
What will trigger its enforcement? Can we stay on an earlier OS or Dropbox version?
>The updates happening automatically every time the Dropbox app is restarting, for example if your device never restarts it should maintain the older version but we can't guarantee full functionality on older versions of the application.
>So what will happen - if we have a Dropbox folder on an 8TB drive and a tiny internal drive - will it try to clone stuff across and eat up the space? What's the mechanism?
>That's right, it will try to move the content on your internal drive until it has no space and gives you an error.
>Is Smartsync still supported? I.e. will it move stuff to being online only if it won't fit?
>It is, however it is now known as online-only.
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LOL started a new thread and it was moved here. NOT SOLVED
Continuing on from my earlier comment:
digisam wrote:
And I do not believe for a second that such disruption and regression was unavoidable. Work it out, develop your own API or encryption, or do stuff behind the scenes that pushes stuff around, but do what it takes to not have to tell your customers what you are telling us now.
Yesterday when looking for alternatives I installed a self hosted option to see if that had any restrictions.
I was able to put my "library" where I wanted, including an external drive.
Granted I had to give the application permission to use the location I wanted to use, but isn't that true of most applications?
If Dropbox can explain why they are simply holding up their hands and saying "We know it is a massive pain point for you, but we had no choice, Apple made us do it" then I would like to hear it. Until then I don't believe that statement is true, if anything it sounds like nonsense.
Every other application on my Mac can read and write to files anywhere on my laptop, internal, external as well as network drives. So why can't Dropbox?
Don't update. Have been fighting a selective sync problem for the last 24 hours. Only solution is so far is to make a 17G folder download only. Deleted it 20 times, and it always came back. Then it duplicated itself with two 17G folders. What a mess.
Has anyone tried using a symbolic link?
DissatisfiedUser99 my upgraded Mac laptop will not sync either. SO FRUSTRATING!!!!!
I'm on the latest beta build v170.3.5866 and still syncing to an external drive. Has this been resolved?
Edit: on an M2 Mac.
- Mark
Super User II
I'm not sure it'll be the end - until very recently external drives werent supported. Plus, they come with HUGE risks of data loss. For example if the drive disconnects or Dropbox doesnt open quick enough then it can be seen as a complete deletion of all files.
I think the bigger issue is around online and offline folders. BUT the irk with that needs directing at Apple.
This is a bombshell for the entire Mac community. As everyone knows, Apple charges a fortune for extra terabytes of SSD storage on its Mac Studio, Mac Mini, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro computers, and it's impossible to increase internal disk capacity after you purchase your computer. Up until now, however, it's been possible to augment a skimpy internal drive with very fast and cheap external SSDs.
In fact, I have been pricing out a new Mac Mini M2 with 512 Gigs on an internal drive, supported by 4T of external storage, on a wicked fast Samsung SSD inside a very inexpensive external, enclosure. This is a bargain, given that Dropbox and other apps can be placed on the external drive.
Now, however, it seems that either Apple or Dropbox — or both companies working in tandem to skr3w us consumers--are making this impossible. Soon we'lll all be victims of Apple's greed and monopolistic power to squeeze us for every dollar they can extract.
My only response can be to stop using Dropbox and find an alternative. Microsoft OneDrive has already deprecated use of external drive. And, given that it irreparably corrupts PDF files, I can no longer recommend it to anyone.
I now must throw myself on the mercy of the Dropbox community. Is it really true that MacOS will soon make it impossible to use a cloud service on an external drive. If so, what can we do t work around this? If not, which of the many alternate cloud services are the most reliable and serviceable? HELP?
