Beta Build 147.3.4765

See if something happens on the next release. It took awhile for mine to switch over. 

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jekratz wrote:

See if something happens on the next release. It took awhile for mine to switch over. 

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Are you saying the switch over to ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox happened between updates?

I assumed it would happen immediately as a result of an update.

Thanks

Sorry no i meant wait for an update. It took a couple of updates of the client before mine switched over. 

Have you tried uninstalling Dropbox and disconnecting it from your account, then reinstalling the beta/reconnecting? That will generally force the move.

That did actually not work for me. Tried it several times. Then just waited and eventually when one of the betas installed it then moved everything.

This has worked for me in the past:

1. Make sure everything is currently synced using your current stable build of the app.
2. Backup anything on Dropbox that you can't afford to lose.
3. Make sure you have "Early Releases" turned on in your online settings.
4. Disconnect your current app/computer from your account by either:
   
   1. Signing out of the app on your computer OR
   2. Going to your account online and disconnecting your computer (device) from the account in the Security section of your settings (probably the better way to do it).
5. Uninstall the Dropbox app from your computer (using an uninstaller like CleanMyMac is best).
6. OPTIONAL: Trash the old Dropbox folder from Users/<YourUserID> (the new files will be in /Users/<YourUserID>/Library/CloudStorage, so the old files are just taking up space)
7. Download the most recent beta "Universal Installer" from Desktop Client Builds
8. Install the app and it should walk you through setting it up as a "clean" install and require you to sign back in. This will trigger a new synchronization of your (chosen) folders. You will have to download any that you want offline again, since they are being moved to CloudStorage (which is why I said you could remove your old folder that showed up under "Favorites.")
9. Things should work at that point!

Thanks both ....will sleep on that!

JWL Photo Thanks for the detail.

Can I clarify something please..... It sounds like after the reinstall, Dropbox downloaded a new set of your data from the Cloud direct into ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox, leaving the original ~/Dropbox spare and unused. Hence your advice that you could delete ~/Dropbox as part of the preparation.

In other words it did not move the contents of ~/Dropbox to ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox.

Obviously, depending on quantity, a fresh download could take some time compared to moving.

As you say, have a sound backup of all your data in case... 😀 

Michael B.10 : Any old (downloaded) files will stay on your computer and you will need to remove them. Any new ones will need to be re-downloaded. It’s not a simple “move”, which is inefficient, at best. At least once you get it done the first time, it should keep it synced from there.

JWL Photo 

Thanks.

All my files are downloaded, nothing is cloud-only, so in my case it will be a matter of downloading a fresh copy of everything. 

Just to clarify, though … the resyncing will happen in ANY case (even if it works on its own).

So, no matter what, in your case, you will be downloading everything …

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JWL Photo wrote:

Just to clarify, though … the resyncing will happen in ANY case (even if it works on its own).

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Yes. Doing the first sync is in effect doing a fresh download. 

I wonder if you are implying that I could move the contents of ~/Dropbox to ~/Library/Cloudstorage ....and then Dropbox would of course re-sync everything but it would be faster than downloading a fresh set. 

I am going to do this tomorrow, but getting my ducks in a row.

BTW I am favouring the fresh download approach rather than seeding the new location by moving my files. 

Sorry. No. There is no way that I know of to “move” anything. What will happen is that you will have to resync/DL everything to your cloud storage, then you can delete the files from your old site. Like I said … inefficient.

JWL Photo 

Decided I would do it this evening and it all worked as discussed.

I used version 148.2.1667. 

Currently all is being downloaded, which I had to initiate ....the default state was to be cloud only.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Now to see what DEVONthink and Moneydance make of it!

DEVONthink works fine. Least it did for me. at the end of the day its just another location on the disk.  Tho in my case I only indexed a folder in there, I didnt store the database itself there.  but again...its just another location.

jekratz Thanks, yes reading around there shouldn't be a problem with DEVONthink but I haven't been clear whether DEVONthink links with its indexed files automagically, or whether I will have to change anything, even reindex them in the new location. 

I am still waiting for my download to complete, and don't want to investigate anything until Dropbox has finished.

BTW You mentioned putting DEVONthink database itself on Dropbox. This is an absolute no-no. You have to use a syncstore..... which is what you must be doing if you are syncing without having the database itself on Dropbox. 

I have now sorted DEVONthink and Moneydance successfully.

Moneydance was a matter of changing the sync method to select the new location for the syncstore. (The app will need changing because you cant just select the "Dropbox Folder" method anymore.

DEVONthink I actually created new Databases and pointed them at the new location. I could probably could have reindexed the old databases, but felt easier and cleaner to create new.

I also had to change the location of my family tree app (Reunion), but that was straightforward.

Moneydance and Reunion on the iPad and iPhone syncing weren't affected as they use a different method. Not sure about DEVONthink To Go on the iDevices yet but don't anticipate a problem.

Michael B.10 yes you are 100% correct and I misspoke about the DT database. Actually in general I don't even index stuff and just have the databases on my internal drive using the syncstore mostly as yet another backup. 

And it's funny because at one point I tried JWL Photo 's wonderful instructions multiple times and it just never worked for me. Glad you got everything working!

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JWL Photo wrote:

This has worked for me in the past:

 

1. Make sure everything is currently synced using your current stable build of the app.
2. Backup anything on Dropbox that you can't afford to lose.
3. Make sure you have "Early Releases" turned on in your online settings.
4. Disconnect your current app/computer from your account by either:
   
   1. Signing out of the app on your computer OR
   2. Going to your account online and disconnecting your computer (device) from the account in the Security section of your settings (probably the better way to do it).
5. Uninstall the Dropbox app from your computer (using an uninstaller like CleanMyMac is best).
6. OPTIONAL: Trash the old Dropbox folder from Users/<YourUserID> (the new files will be in /Users/<YourUserID>/Library/CloudStorage, so the old files are just taking up space)
7. Download the most recent beta "Universal Installer" from Desktop Client Builds
8. Install the app and it should walk you through setting it up as a "clean" install and require you to sign back in. This will trigger a new synchronization of your (chosen) folders. You will have to download any that you want offline again, since they are being moved to CloudStorage (which is why I said you could remove your old folder that showed up under "Favorites.")
9. Things should work at that point!

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Thanks again for your really useful post above. For the sake of others who may pick up on it I would modify it slightly to strengthen the advice to delete the old Dropbox folder from ~/Dropbox. It isn't just a matter of saving space, but all the apps using Dropbox will continue to use that location which is no longer being sync'd by Dropbox. They need pointing at the new location and deleting the old location is moving likely to trigger the user to this essential step.

I think it is great that there is a path to seeing that the Dropbox folder moves from /Users/Name of User/Dropbox to ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox.

However, the problem and it really isn't a problem in an as much as a function of the process outlined above and that is the way Dropbox Backup names the computer being backed up. 

Put more directly: my feeling (having not tested this) is that if a user signed out and removed Dropbox and then did a clean install of Dropbox (stable version) when the user got to the Dropbox Backup (Documents, Desktop and Downloads folders) - the naming of that computer would go from My Mac (Name of Computer) to My Mac (##). And, maybe, that isn't a concern for some - but I wouldn't be satisfied with that as an outcome. 

The saga continues.