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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 recreate problem:

 

  • Dropbox directory is currently ~/Dropbox
  • Start Dropbox application by running ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd
  • Right click sys tray icon and select Preferences.
  • Click "Move…" button under Account > Location
  • Select directory /local on which my user has write permissions.
  • The message "Unexpected errors occurred. Your Dropbox is ok!" appears.

 

Observations:

 

  • The directory /local/Dropbox is sucesfully created.
  • One of the directories in ~/Dropbox is created in /local/Dropbox/ It's empty. Deleting that directory from ~/Dropbox before attempting the move doesn't help.
  • Selecting other directories on which my user has write permissions results in the same behaviour.
  • Permissions and ownership of my Dropbox directory and user's home directory are OK. (Troubleshooting advice for Linux at https://help.dropbox.com/desktop-web/move-dropbox-folder is pooly written. sudo is not needed on all those commands. "Internet menu" is not a thing in all (any?) desktop environments.)
  • There's a log file in ~/.dropbox/logs/1 but it's a binary blob so useless without something to make it human readable and I can't locate such a thing.
  • Deleting all my files from ~/Dropbox/  waiting for sync to complete and then attempting the move doesn't help.
  • When attemping the move after deleting all my files from ~/Dropbox/  /local/Dropbox/.dropbox.cache/ is succesfully created. It's empty.
  • Pausing syncing before attempting the move doesn't help.
  • There don't seem to be any options that can be passed to ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd to get more info.  (Adding --help prevents it running!)
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)

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  • tuannv0708's avatar
    tuannv0708
    Explorer | Level 4
    9 years ago

    I've tried to open these log files, and couldn't read, maybe it's encrypted or is binary files.

     

     

  • mike _.'s avatar
    mike _.
    Helpful | Level 6
    9 years ago
    Um, did you see the part of my previous post where I said Dropbox support told me "they are encrypted" ?
  • 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.

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    9 years ago

    Hey tuannv0708, 

     

    Thanks for your swift reply! 

     

    Would you mind sending in some more details on the matter, such as your device configuration (for instance, are you trying to move the Dropbox folder on an NTFS, HFS, ext4 drive?). 

     

    Also, are you receiving any error messages? I'd be glad to follow-up if you give me some more information on what you're experiencing. 

      

    Looking forward to hearing back from you,

    JaneA

  • tharris104's avatar
    tharris104
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago

    I have tried this on both NTFS and ext4 and still have issues. This is a clean OS install, other than the NVIDIA drivers that are installed beforehand.

    -Installed 64bit Fedora 25 workstation

    -Installed 64bit dropbox via https://www.dropbox.com/install-linux 

    -Formatted secondary drive (NTFS + ext4), and setup auto mount on fstab

    -Opened up all permissions and using chown doesn't seem to make a difference since root is always mounting the drive

    -When first opening Dropbox, I go to move the location and it returns "Unexpected errors occured. Your Dropbox is ok!" 

     

    One thing I would like to add is that about 6 months ago when I did this exact same process... I didn't have problems and didnt even need to change the permissions. Please help

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

    -Formatted secondary drive (NTFS + ext4), and setup auto mount on fstab

    That doesn't make sense. Do you mean you set up the secondary drive with two partitions and formatted one NTFS and one ext4?  Then you tried to move the Dropbox directory to the NTFS partition?

     

     

    Please help

    C'mon, look at this thread, you may as well write "please help" on a piece of paper, stick it in a bottle and chuck it in the sea.

     

    The only solution to this issue is someone at Dropbox figuring it out where the issue is in the client code and fixing it. All we can do is wait for that to happen.

     

    The support ticket I have open has now been passed to the engineering team. Hopefully one of them will come up with a fix to incorporate in to a client update.

     

    It could be that they issue you're encountering isn't even the same error I am. We're both trying to move the Dropbox directory and we both get the same error message, but it's obviously a generic catch all message that could be displayed in who knows how many circumstances.

  • tharris104's avatar
    tharris104
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago

    I went through the entire process twice. Tried it with ext4 first...then I tried NTFS and same results... as I mentioned in the very first sentence. 

     

    I really doubt this issue is beyond Dropbox. I have been able to replicate the exact same error over multiple installations with different medias... I have tried both Fedora 25 + 26 (seperately!!! for those who cant read) and have just gone to a completely different OS to resolve the issue. I did see some people mentioning Arch had similar problems and error codes. 

  • tuannv0708's avatar
    tuannv0708
    Explorer | Level 4
    9 years ago

    Dear JaneA,

     

    I have 2 OS on my laptop: Windows 10 and Fedora26. All OS install on SSD.

    A HDD drive for share data. It's formatted NTFS. And I have dropbox data on this drive.

    Dropbox on Windows 10 is ok as it always.

    Dropbox on Fedora failed when I relocate to NTFS drive.

    The permission in Fedora is ok for all file of dropbox.

    Could you show me the log file location of dropbox, so I can trace the problem.

    I think Dropbox team try to protect the log file, so user can't access that.

     

    Thanks in advance.

    TuanNV

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