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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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juliolio this is what happens when a single company dominates a sector, then innovation stops and they no longer need to develop their product...
ArthurPix Sync.com is laggy like you said yourself... certainly not a reliable workaround for professionals and professional freelancers. Also the sync is really slow compared to Dropbox speeds and the indexing system different too (Dropbox being far superior).
I chip in on this thread every now and again, just to remind folks of how good Dropbox Sync really is pre File Provider. BTW I'm on Ventura 13.6.4 and it still works perfectly. We have maybe 100TB of files in Dropbox.
There's 2 things to focus on, one is storage for sure, and external syncing removal, if we are forced to move to "File Provider" will destroy our workflows here. But the other thing I worry about, is that LAN sync goes away too.
Now for those not familiar with this, it's simply a way of syncing files from another Dropbox user, who is on the same network locally, rather than via the Cloud. This feature is invaluable. Why?
Well because I have internet download speed of only 75Mb/s fairly typical in the UK. So what I do is have 2 Macs syncing. One just drip feeds all the time to an 8TB Raid. The other is my work machine which is portable and has less storage. If I want files when at home. I just sync as normal, but this feature retrieves the files from the other Mac. Eg. I just pulled 90GB of files in under an hour, that would take 5 times that via the internet!!
So we must not lose this LAN sync feature because it is the solution to poor internet download speeds.
For me the problem will only become a problem when the Old Syncing API no longer works with the latest Mac OS. So far this has not been the case. I'm optimistic about why, because it's obvious that without external Syncing AND LAN share Dropbox is unusable for millions of folks, using File Provider. This will therefore get solved eventually, it has to.So this is what's happening to me, one of your first users ever. I found out about this Macos change because my system almost ran out of space. I was running Dropbox in 2 locations: 1. my external drive, and somehow a new instance on /Library/CloudStorage that I don't recall ever installing. Now DB won't connect and log in. This was a cluster f**k of a way to tell customers about this massive change.
Having my files on an external drive is the #1 reason I have used Dropbox since 2007. If I cannot do that I will delete and unsubscribe. Sorry DB it seems Apple is forcing this from their walled garden approach.
I upgraded to a base model MacBook Air with a 256 GB drive. I just use it for DJing and surfing the web. I did a Time Machine backup and restore. DB moved my folder to an encrypted folder that sits in the Library. The transition was a nightmare as I have 2+TB on DB. It clogged my Mac for a few days as I worked through getting it to online only.
My iMac Pro still functions as normal, though, with DB sitting on the internal drive. It's when you make a change that you'll have problems. DB support was very helpful and they escalated my ticket. Ultimately, it just took a long time to for DB to sort itself out and my laptop is fine.
If I'm reading this correctly, it looks like there may be hope on the horizon. According to the Apple File Provider developer docs, it looks as though Apple has added some functionality for external drives: link.
"Cache files on external disks. Confirm whether a volume is eligible for storing a domain using checkDomainsCanBeStoredOnVolume(at:), and create a domain on that volume using the new init(displayName:userInfo:volumeURL:) initializer. Store data about the current sync state using stateDirectoryURL(), and determine whether to connect to a domain created on another device using shouldConnectExternalDomain(completionHandler:)."
