I'm running Dropbox on Fedora 42 (Linux). Each time I do a software update for the computer, this warning shows when I log in: Do I really have to reinstall Dropbox each time? This is confusing.

Dropbox is running fine now. I think the answer (or workable workaround) is to click OK on the prompt that comes up (see image at top of thread) or run 'dropbox start -i'.(I got an email notification that AugustusHarbor posted a useful comment two days ago, but for some reason it's not showing here in the thread....)

Do I have to reinstall Dropbox every time I do a software update on my Linux Fedora 42?

26 Replies

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Dell_Dropbox
Community Manager
5 months ago
Hey there Beatboxer, welcome to the community!

We have a Linux commands article in the help center that I believe has a command for auto-installation of the Dropbox daemon.

Can you let us know if this helps?
Beatboxer
Helpful | Level 7
5 months ago
That doesn't seem to answer my question about the strange message. Dropbox was working for me. I did a software update using the Fedora software app. When I logged in, the mysterious message appeared, seeming to imply that somehow, in my software update, the Dropbox proprietary daemon was removed. So my question is, is that the case? Do I really have to reinstall the daemon each time?
I can see why that might be the case, but it does seem unusual that updating other programs would affect the Dropbox daemon.
Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
5 months ago
Hi Beatboxer, thanks for messaging the Community.

Could you clarify what you mean by software update?

Are you updating the OS itself, or the Dropbox desktop application, or another application on your machine?

This will help me to assist further!
Beatboxer
Helpful | Level 7
5 months ago
There were about eight updates in the Fedora (Gnome?) software management app. I don't have any record now of what they were (maybe buried in some log somewhere). One included some Fedora system stuff, I think. None involved Dropbox. After Fedora did the downloads and updates and rebooted, I logged in and got the popup message about installing the Dropbox daemon.
I clicked 'OK' in the popup message and Dropbox is now working. But it seems strange--that's what I'm asking about in this thread--that I would have to keep reinstalling Dropbox.
Neal
Community Manager
4 months ago
Hi Beatboxer,

I just wanted to check in and ask if you see this error on a restart (without performing any updates)?
Beatboxer
Helpful | Level 7
4 months ago
It's strange. It doesn't seem to happen on a plain reboot. The other day, after several apps and the system were updated, it wanted me to reinstall the "proprietary daemon." But then this morning there were a few more updates, and Dropbox continued fine after I rebooted.
It seems that certain kinds of updates must overwrite the daemon file while others do not.
This morning it was "System Updates," "Firefox," and "XPS 9315 System Update." Somewere I've got the list I jotted down of the last batch of updates. I can find that if it would help.
Thanks.
Fedora 42 on Dell XPS 9315
Neal
Community Manager
4 months ago
Hi Beatboxer,

Thanks for letting me know! Would it be possible if we could get the contents of ~/.dropbox-dist down to two directory levels? Particularly before and after running dropbox -i and accepting the prompt.

If you have Tree installed you can run:

tree -L 2 ~/.dropbox-dist
Beatboxer
Helpful | Level 7
4 months ago
(I was wrong about not needing to re-install after today's update. The little dots showed up in the screen header but I realized they were not responsive. As you'll see below, "dropbox start" returned "The Dropbox daemon is not installed.")
=======
eric@fedora:~$ dropbox start
Starting Dropbox...
The Dropbox daemon is not installed!
Run "dropbox start -i" to install the daemon
eric@fedora:~$ tree -L 2 ~/.dropbox-dist
/home/eric/.dropbox-dist [error opening dir]
0 directories, 1 file
eric@fedora:~$ sudo tree -L 2 ~/.dropbox-dist
[sudo] password for eric:
/home/eric/.dropbox-dist
0 directories, 0 files
====
eric@fedora:~$ sudo tree -L 2 ~/.dropbox-dist.backup
/home/eric/.dropbox-dist.backup
├── dropboxd
├── dropbox-lnx.x86_64-229.4.5197
│ ├── ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
│ ├── allocator_metrics.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── apex._apex.abi3.so
│ ├── _cffi_backend.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── cpuid_native.abi3.so
│ ├── cryptography.hazmat.bindings._openssl.abi3.so
│ ├── cryptography.hazmat.bindings._padding.abi3.so
│ ├── dropbox
│ ├── dropboxd
│ ├── fastpath.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── fs_api_python.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── google._upb._message.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── helpers
│ ├── images
│ ├── libatomic.so.1
│ ├── libdropbox_core.so
│ ├── libdropbox_sqlite_ext.so
│ ├── libdropbox_tprt.so
│ ├── libffi.so.7 -> libffi.so.7.1.0
│ ├── libffi.so.7.1.0
│ ├── libicudata.so.42
│ ├── libicui18n.so.42
│ ├── libicuuc.so.42
│ ├── libpython3.8.so.1.0
│ ├── libQt5Core.so.5
│ ├── libQt5DBus.so.5
│ ├── libQt5Gui.so.5
│ ├── libQt5Network.so.5
│ ├── libQt5OpenGL.so.5
│ ├── libQt5PrintSupport.so.5
│ ├── libQt5Qml.so.5
│ ├── libQt5Quick.so.5
│ ├── libQt5Sql.so.5
│ ├── libQt5WebKit.so.5
│ ├── libQt5WebKitWidgets.so.5
│ ├── libQt5Widgets.so.5
│ ├── libQt5XcbQpa.so.5
│ ├── linuxffi_gnu_native.abi3.so
│ ├── linuxffi_pthread_native.abi3.so
│ ├── linuxffi_sys_native.abi3.so
│ ├── linuxinfinite_native.abi3.so
│ ├── nucleus_python.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── plugins
│ ├── posixffi_libc_native.abi3.so
│ ├── psutil._psutil_linux.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── psutil._psutil_posix.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtCore.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtDBus.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtGui.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtNetwork.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtPrintSupport.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtQml.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtWidgets.so
│ ├── PyQt5.sip.so
│ ├── python-packages.zip
│ ├── qt.conf
│ ├── README
│ ├── resources
│ ├── tornado.speedups.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── tprt.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── VERSION
│ ├── wmctrl
│ ├── wrapt._wrappers.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ └── _yappi.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
└── VERSION
=====================================
eric@fedora:~$ dropbox start -i
Starting Dropbox.../usr/bin/dropbox:243: DeprecationWarning: Python 3.14 will, by default, filter extracted tar archives and reject files or modify their metadata. Use the filter argument to control this behavior.
archive.extract(member, PARENT_DIR)
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._openssl.abi3.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._padding.abi3.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/apex._apex.abi3.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/google._upb._message.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/psutil._psutil_linux.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/psutil._psutil_posix.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
<frozen zipimport>:259: UserWarning: google.protobuf.service module is deprecated. RPC implementations should provide code generator plugins which generate code specific to the RPC implementation. service.py will be removed in Jan 2025
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/tornado.speedups.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/wrapt._wrappers.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
success!
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._openssl.abi3.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._padding.abi3.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/apex._apex.abi3.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/google._upb._message.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/psutil._psutil_linux.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/psutil._psutil_posix.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
<frozen zipimport>:259: UserWarning: google.protobuf.service module is deprecated. RPC implementations should provide code generator plugins which generate code specific to the RPC implementation. service.py will be removed in Jan 2025
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/tornado.speedups.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797/wrapt._wrappers.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
(dropbox:31362): LIBDBUSMENU-GLIB-WARNING **: 18:27:31.774: About to Show called on an item wihtout submenus. We're ignoring it.
Done!
=============
eric@fedora:~$ sudo tree -L 2 ~/.dropbox-dist
/home/eric/.dropbox-dist
├── dropboxd
├── dropbox-lnx.x86_64-230.4.8797
│ ├── ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
│ ├── allocator_metrics.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── apex._apex.abi3.so
│ ├── _cffi_backend.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── cpuid_native.abi3.so
│ ├── cryptography.hazmat.bindings._openssl.abi3.so
│ ├── cryptography.hazmat.bindings._padding.abi3.so
│ ├── dropbox
│ ├── dropboxd
│ ├── fastpath.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── fs_api_python.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── google._upb._message.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── helpers
│ ├── images
│ ├── libatomic.so.1
│ ├── libdropbox_core.so
│ ├── libdropbox_sqlite_ext.so
│ ├── libdropbox_tprt.so
│ ├── libffi.so.7 -> libffi.so.7.1.0
│ ├── libffi.so.7.1.0
│ ├── libicudata.so.42
│ ├── libicui18n.so.42
│ ├── libicuuc.so.42
│ ├── libpython3.8.so.1.0
│ ├── libQt5Core.so.5
│ ├── libQt5DBus.so.5
│ ├── libQt5Gui.so.5
│ ├── libQt5Network.so.5
│ ├── libQt5OpenGL.so.5
│ ├── libQt5PrintSupport.so.5
│ ├── libQt5Qml.so.5
│ ├── libQt5Quick.so.5
│ ├── libQt5Sql.so.5
│ ├── libQt5WebKit.so.5
│ ├── libQt5WebKitWidgets.so.5
│ ├── libQt5Widgets.so.5
│ ├── libQt5XcbQpa.so.5
│ ├── linuxffi_gnu_native.abi3.so
│ ├── linuxffi_pthread_native.abi3.so
│ ├── linuxffi_sys_native.abi3.so
│ ├── linuxinfinite_native.abi3.so
│ ├── nucleus_python.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── plugins
│ ├── posixffi_libc_native.abi3.so
│ ├── psutil._psutil_linux.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── psutil._psutil_posix.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtCore.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtDBus.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtGui.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtNetwork.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtPrintSupport.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtQml.so
│ ├── PyQt5.QtWidgets.so
│ ├── PyQt5.sip.so
│ ├── python-packages.zip
│ ├── qt.conf
│ ├── README
│ ├── resources
│ ├── tornado.speedups.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── tprt.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ ├── VERSION
│ ├── wmctrl
│ ├── wrapt._wrappers.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
│ └── _yappi.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
└── VERSION
6 directories, 62 files
Beatboxer
Helpful | Level 7
4 months ago
About a half hour ago I replied with a whole bunch of the printouts you requested, but now that reply is not showing here...?
In the meantime I rebooted, so the results are no longer visible in my terminal.
Beatboxer
Helpful | Level 7
4 months ago
?? Now my terminal printouts have reappeared...?
Anyway, I hope it helps the Dropbox Linux team see what might be happening here. Thanks for the support.