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mike _.'s avatar
mike _.
Helpful | Level 6
9 years ago
Solved

Linux - Unable to change Dropbox directory

I'm using Fedora Workstation 25 with GNOME.   Trying to change the Dropbox directory results in the utterly useless message "Unexpected errors occurred. Your Dropbox is ok!".   Steps to recre...
Account Settings
desktop
Setting up the apps
  • pigg's avatar
    pigg
    9 years ago

    I was having this same issue.  I found a fix in creating a Dropbox folder in my home directory prior to connecting my account.  This caused the installer to throw an error about a Dropbox folder already existing that prompted me to either delete the Dropbox folder or select a different location.  Eureka!  (for me at least...)

  • 6GeMiNi9's avatar
    6GeMiNi9
    8 years ago

    Guys solved, and the solution was the easiest and logic. 

     

    I expose my situation:

     

    sda1 300GB --> /

    sda5 8TB --> /home

     

    As I explained, I wanted to install Dropbox below /home directory, but playing as "root" user, by default, it forced the installation on /root

     

    So I just installed the daemon using the user who owns the home directory I want and it works properly, just remember to add the "user" to the root group.

     

    If you need more details, don't hesitate to ask.

  • turtlejuice's avatar
    turtlejuice
    8 years ago
    wrote:

    I was having this same issue.  I found a fix in creating a Dropbox folder in my home directory prior to connecting my account.  This caused the installer to throw an error about a Dropbox folder already existing that prompted me to either delete the Dropbox folder or select a different location.  Eureka!  (for me at least...)

    This didn't work for me, but I did find a similar solution! I created a "work" dropbox account and set up a fresh installation of dropbox with that account, which places the "work" Dropbox folder in the defaut  ~/Dropbox. I then deleted everything in ~/.dropbox* (with rm -rf ~/.dropbox* ), reinstalled dropbox and set it up using my personal account. Now since the folder in ~/Dropbox already contains the dropbox for the work account, I got the prompt that allowed me to either delete the Dropbox folder or select a different location for my personal account. Somehow this worked when simply moving the folder within dropbox wouldn't... I hope this helps somebody! (using Fedora 27 btw)

Jane's avatar
Jane
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
9 years ago
Hey tuannv0708, 
 
Because you mention that you’re unable to move the Dropbox folder only on your “NTFS drive”, you may have some files in your folder that have their permissions incorrectly set. That is of course provided that the application is running corrrectly on this drive. If the application doesn’t run, please let me know. 
 
You can fix the permissions for the Dropbox folder with the following steps:
 
#1. - Click on the gear icon in the Notifications panel :gear: and select "Quit Dropbox".
 
#2. Open the Terminal app
 
#3. Copy and paste the following lines into the Terminal, one at a time, and press RETURN after each one. PLEASE make sure you copy and paste these commands (don't type them by hand), as getting them wrong could cause some harm. You'll be prompted for your computer user's password (not your Dropbox password) after entering the first command. Keep in mind that the password field in the terminal will remain blank as you type your password. After you type it, just press ENTER. You'll know that these instructions complete normally once the initial line of text (called prompt) comes up again:
 
sudo chown "$USER" "$HOME"
 
sudo chown -R "$USER" ~/Dropbox ~/.dropbox
 
sudo chattr -R -i ~/Dropbox
 
sudo chmod -R u+rw ~/Dropbox ~/.dropbox
 
Please note that once the prompt displays, the instruction completed the requested task, and is ready for the next command. If the command returns an error, or does not respond after an hour, you may want to try restarting your computer and try these steps again.
 
#4. Restart Dropbox
 
Please bear in mind that if your Dropbox folder or its system files are located in a mounted network drive or a remote location (like roaming profiles), this could cause Dropbox to not have constant access or permissions to operate in those locations. This is especially an issue if other people in the network could be accessing the same data. 
 
Please keep me updated on the results in your reply! 
 
Warm regards, 
JaneA
mike _.'s avatar
mike _.
Helpful | Level 6
9 years ago

I know those commands are taken from the Dropbox FAQ. Please have someone update the FAQ so it doesn't tell people to use sudo when making modifications to files/directories that they own, as the last two commands do. It is not required and is bad practice.

 

It should not be assumed that someone's usercode has sudo rights.

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