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Problems created by new Dropbox app
I was able to resolve some of the issues in my last post, but I still have three significant problems, which I describe below.
I was out of the office for two weeks, and when I returned, Dropbo...
Hey Asjadsfjur, thanks for reaching out to our Community.
If all the files in your Dropbox folder before the update, were synced and available in your account online, they will also be available in the new location of the Dropbox folder.
You can see more info about the sync icons on your files here.
After the update, all new files added by other computers, will sync as online-only by default.
This and other info about the expected changes that come with Dropbox for macOS (which will answer your questions), can be found here.
Let me know if you have any questions.
That is too bad. Dropbox's great advantage is that is reliable. However, its much more expensive than its competitors and now it doesn't have even this very basic features. I'm leaving.
How do we escalate this with DropBox? This is NOT acceptable. We are a Business customer, and this will BREAK EVERYTHING WE DO.
We also have seen that Microsoft's OneDrive have worked around this: why can't you. I see the repeated "we can't do anything" but that clearly is not true. Can you speak to your management and developers and ask why they think it is?
If the answer is "we're not investigating a fix" and/or "we've made our decision and this is they way it is, sorry" then we will be moving to Microsoft.
thanks.
I just had a thought: Is there any reason that I couldn't create a new folder at the very top level of Dropbox, move everything else i have in dropbox to that folder, and then set that folder to always keep offline copies. In theory, that setting would apply to all of the subfolders, and everything would be kept on both the local machine and in the cloud. Can any of you think of a reason that that would not work?
"Is there any reason that I couldn't create a new folder at the very top level of Dropbox, move everything else i have in dropbox to that folder, and then set that folder to always keep offline copies"
I've been wondering the same thing. I just verified that all my folders are currently marked as available offline, so it that idea works, it would take care of my desktop/laptop issues (and hopefully not cause any issues with the mobile devices).
- I'm not sure I follow your suggestion. Are you saying do this in the DropBox folder on your local SSD? The problem is that our local SSD's are too small to hold all the files that our external drives currently hold.
Sadly, this isn't a proposed solution to the external drive issue, this is proposed solution to the problem of Dropbox not keeping local copies of all files by default. The problem with Dropbox not supporting external discs is an entirely different issue.
Yes, external drives is definitely a different issue and it makes no sense. Hope things get escalated and resolved or you can find an adequate solution.
I ran this solution by Dropbox support, and they said it would work. Its pretty crazy that we have to do this, and I haven't tested this yet to be 100% sure it is true. That said, I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work. Let's hope!
Oh goodness, the interface for this community seemed to imply that my last post would appear as a reply to my post from a few days ago. However, it appears that posts just come up in the other that they are added to the system. As a result, my last posted didn't have the relevant context. Here is the full story.
My goal is to have existing and new files be offline only by default. A support tech at Dropbox confirmed that the following steps would produce that result.
- Create a new top-level folder called "Top level work-around folder" and set it as offline only
- Move all of my other folders into "Top level work-around folder"
- Create all new files and folders in "Top level work-around folder"
I haven't done this yet, but I hope it will work. I can't see any reason why it won't. If anyone tries this, it would be helpful if you posted to let everyone know if it worked or if it failed.
So I just tried to do this, and it isn't simple. As soon as I moved the files, I got a storm of dialog boxes that read "DropboxFileProvider is downlaoding a file from com.getdropbox.drop. The file won't open until the download completes." With two choices: "stop downloading" and "continue waiting." This continued for about 15 minutes, and I couldn't do anything on my machine at that time. One of the dialog boxes refuses to go away. The dropbox app says that the files are now all synched up. Can I trust that? I don't know.
"So I just tried to do this, and it isn't simple. As soon as I moved the files, I got a storm of dialog boxes that read "DropboxFileProvider is downloading a file from com.getdropbox.drop. The file won't open until the download completes."
Did you do the Mac Dropbox upgrade already? Trying to figure out if I should try this before the upgrade or after. When (if) I do it, I will do one folder at a time into the new top level folder. Maybe something that isn't critical, then test creating a new file in it and see if it syncs to my other devices.
It couldn't hurt to move the files in batches. I moved everything into the new folder after the upgrade. The storm of dialogs did stop after about 20 minutes, and it appears that everything made it over OK. The tech I exchanged email with said that if a folder has a green circle with a white check mark in it, the folder is offline and synched to the cloud. I think that this also means its subfolders are offline and synched as well. I
This change in DROPBOX did indeed break everything. I was at a conference tonight and could not open my company database file because DROPBOX decided that my files should be stored online and not on my hard drive. The building I was in had minimal wifi -- it took 40 minutes to download the database (900mb) to be able to use it. My presentation time was 30 minutes. This was a train wreck. It was said elsewhere here: The great benefit of Dropbox, which I have been using since about 2010, is that it was invisible -- it just worked. On my Mac, I like to use things that just work.
Dropbox is no longer invisible and it doesn't just work anymore. My presentation tonight was ruined by the folks at Dropbox who decided to substitute their opinions as to where my files should reside with their own opinion. Dreadful update. If I knew this was the ramification, I would never have updated.
- I’m so sorry to hear that this happened to you. I concur completely. The crazy thing is that I can’t see how this could be on their business interest. How do they benefit from forcing me to store my files online only? Does they think that it will encourage me to buy a small hard drive so I am dependent on their service? If so, they miscalculated. Now, I just want to leave.
- Emmet
Community Manager
Hello users,
Two things about these issues. Firstly, if you want to keep your files offline, we recommend you follow these instructions.To ensure all files and folders contained within a Dropbox folder are available offline, users should:- Open Finder
- Select all the folders the default setting should be applied to or select the entire Dropbox folder in ~/Library/CloudStorage
- Right click and select “make available offline”
If this isn’t working for you, please let us know if we can follow up with you via email and we will escalate.
Secondly, for the external drive issue, the File Provider API only supports your Dropbox folder in ~/Library/CloudStorage. We are actively working on a solution to support external drives on the updated Dropbox for macOS. While we work to implement a solution, customers who have their Dropbox folder on an external drive will not be migrated to the updated macOS experience. External drive support will continue to work as usual on your current experience.We will keep you updated when we have more details to share.
Regards,
Emmet I'm going though the same storm of "DropboxFileProvider is downloading a file from com.getdropbox.dropbox" right now on one of my machines! Wondering how this is helpful to anybody?
- Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi LivePaola, how are you today?
How long has this been happening for? Can you also hover your mouse over your little Dropbox icon, on your menu bar, near your WiFi to let me know the version of the app that you're using?
If you have any screenshots, feel free to attach them here!
Keep me posted!
Hi. My Dropbox version is 172.4.7555 - Up to date.
Today was the first time I saw the phenomenon. It happened after I noticed that files were not properly syncing to my computers and I went (again) to find Dropbox in Library/CloudStorage and re-select 'Make available offline'. I wasn't able to save any screenshots because as my screen got completely covered in notifications, I could not switch to another app fast enough before a new notification came onto the screen. This lasted for about 15-20 minutes? At the end I had to reboot (twice) and now things seem to be working again.
Hi Hannah,
this happened again today as described. The message storm has now been going on for about 90 minutes, at a progressively slower speed as the machine runs into memory constraints I assume. You can see a quick video (only 20 seconds) here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dwbhhkvgunt1e2w/AAAUpFTukEjadAYRYHzaZ9Yfa?dl=0
It is definitely an issue because while that process goes on the computer becomes completely unusable. It is a Mac, OS Monterey 12.6.5.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions about how to make the "Make available offline" stick without this recurring.
Will do. Thanks!
- Hi Walter. I just updated to the new version you linked and then went again to Make Available Offline. Unfortunately I am getting the same message storm I got on two previous occasions, so apparently the issue is not solved. Thank you for your attention.
So, I remain puzzled as to why it is happening with macOS Monterey 12.6.5, which is what my machine is running. It appears that unfortunately, being a 2016 MacBookPro, it cannot be updated to macOS Ventura 13. What should I do? I've never had any software not run correctly on it and with Dropbox it's the first time it has happened. Also, there seems to be no way to revert to a previous version of Dropbox that is compatible with what I have. Thanks in advance for any solutions.
- ~Library/Cloud Storage is a unique location on each computer.I have two other laptops that I will be updating the Dropbox app on.How does each computer NOT duplicate/triplicate the files when I update the app?
