Stable Build 83.4.152

Thanks for your comment, layolayo!

As a next step, I carefully reinstalled Dropbox using the instructions that Dropbox Support had given me.  Then I rebooted the computer.

The submenu behavior is still broken.

I've now asked them to escalate the problem, and for them to install Dropbox on a clean installation of Ubuntu 19.10 . Either (a) they will have the same submenu problem we do, so then it would then be up to them to fix it, or (b) it works for them, on Ubuntu 19.10 , so we would need to do some sleuthing on what's wrong with our installation method.

However, I already followed their instructions very carefully, on removing Dropbox and reinstalling it,  which didn't help at all. I feel it's unlikely that this is a source of the problem, where so many different users have the exact same submenu problem.

I also suggested they install Dropbox on a beta release of 20.04 , to see if it works there, since that's supposed to be a stable release, where Dropbox should be working correctly.

I'll see what their response is, soon enough, hopefully.

They said they were really swamped with trying to fix various types of bugs and problems.

I'm on Ubuntu 19.10, as verified with the command

$  lsb_release -ds

Dropbox Support gave me a very helpful suggestion yielding a clue, which was to issue the command:

$ nautilus --version

Here's what that command did, for me:
  Initializing nautilus-dropbox 2019.02.14
  GNOME nautilus 3.34.1
  Segmentation fault (core dumped)

Clearly, nautilus should be able to tell us its version, without seg faulting!

I had re-installed Dropbox according to their instructions.

I've asked them for additional help, where I poked around and found other problems, where it seems that nautilus-dropbox is not installed and won't install.

It could be interesting if you issue the same command,

$ nautilus --version

I'm curious as to how your system responds.

Then I can pass your command's output along to the Dropbox Support people, since I've told them that this problem affects more than one person.

abarrcms,

I get exactly the same result:

layolayo@thinkpad:~$ nautilus --version
Initializing nautilus-image-converter extension
Initializing nautilus-dropbox 2019.02.14
GNOME nautilus 3.34.1
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

I sent your nautilus --version results to Dropbox Support right away, so they could see that your results were in accordance with mine.

They have sent it all to their advanced engineering team. They said they'd get back to me when they "had something." At that point, I'll report again.  I haven't heard anything yet.

I had also told them that I found a package installation that might be sort of a mismatch,

$ ls -l  /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*dropbox*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 66 Feb 16 23:08 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/dropbox.list

The contents of the file are:

deb [arch=i386,amd64] http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu cosmic main

This file has the timestamp from when I reinstalled dropbox, as per their original request.

However, the "cosmic" version of dropbox is for Ubuntu 18.10 (which is when I first noticed the submenu problem taking place on a different machine, a long time ago.).

We're on Ubuntu 19.10 , so I think this should say eoan instead of cosmic, if everything was up-to-date and compatible.

They didn't suggest anything, but I tried to reinstall nautilus which didn't change anything, and nautilus-dropbox, but it wouldn't install. Not sure if that was a "good" thing to try to do or not. I might have made a mess, where I may have to reinstall Dropbox again.

I also told them that it would be great for the Dropbox submenu to work correctly also for Ubuntu 20.04, which will be a stable release, where it should have its own tag here, saying "focal" or something like that instead of "cosmic." 

Anyway, thanks for the timely info!! They received a copy of it right away.

I think we gave them some good clues, where your similar results should show them that this is a likely problem for many users.

We'll see if they can find anything to suggest for us!

I pinged Dropbox again, alerting them to the upcoming release of Ubuntu 20.04 , a long term service, stable release of Ubuntu.

I suggested they really try to fix it now, for 20.04, or else ALL of the new Dropbox Ubuntu users, for the next few years, are likely to have the same problem.

We'll see what their reponse is, soon enough!

Thanks, layolayo , that was really great information!

I told the Dropbox team about your experience, that it's still glitchy in 20.04 .

I told them that I'd like to "elevate" this problem AGAIN, to the next level, beyond where it currently is.

I also suggested that they their team should try it out, on a fresh install of 20.04 , and see if it works for them or not. If it works for them, but not for us, then perhaps there is a subtle installation issue, for them to track down and tell us. 

I also gave them a link to try -- to download a beta from  http://releases.ubuntu.com/20.04/ .

Also, you could try the

$ nautilus --version

command, in 20.04 and I can tell them what the output is.  They didn't tell me to try that this time. I haven't upgraded to 20.04 yet.

You could also try the following, where for me, the dropbox.list file has "cosmic" in it instead of eoan (for 19.10).

$ ls -l  /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*dropbox*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 66 Feb 16 23:08 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/dropbox.list

The content of my dropbox.list file is:

deb [arch=i386,amd64] http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu cosmic main

What happens if you change "cosmic" in this file, to "fossa" (for 20.04)?  And then you did a sudo apt update and sudo apt upgrade?

Perhaps it will install the correct software then, and work?  I don't know, of course! Hopefully this won't mess up your system too much. You could always change the dropbox.list file back to what it was, hopefully, to restore the previous state.

This didn't help me, on 19.10, but maybe it can help for 20.04?

Anyway, I'll see what they suggest next, and will get back to you!

Thanks for the information on 20.04 !

abarrcms 

$ nautilus --version
Initializing nautilus-image-converter extension
Initializing nautilus-dropbox 2020.03.04
GNOME nautilus 3.36.1
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

The content of my dropbox.list file is:

deb [arch=i386,amd64] http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu disco main

Changed to eoan and focal, both of which fail.

Successful operation of the dropbox menu appears to happen a little more frequently... so if I click rapidly about 10-15 times I sometimes get the dropdown to fix in place... 

(also, it appears I cannot login on my laptop as layolayo, it defaults to the other account layolayo1...??)

Hi layolayo !

I relayed your information to the Dropbox team.

They said they're still working on it, but thanked me for your information. They said:

• ... I have relayed your update to the Engineering Team. ...
• ... We have already been collaborating on the problem itself. I have also been keeping an eye on the forum for updates from our users. ...
• ... We are diligently aware of your needs and we will get this issue resolved. ...
• ... Thank you for keeping me updated. We appreciate it. ...

I also pointed out that Ubuntu 20.04 is an ESM release, for paying Ubuntu customers.

• ... More interestingly for businesses and enterprise scenarios is news that this release will be supported for 10 years as an ‘extended maintenance release’ (ESM) ...

I suggested they get even more help from Ubuntu, to try and track down the problem, since Ubuntu will be paid for maintaining this system, by some users.

Hopefully, they'll figure out what's wrong and can get back to us! I also saw that for some people there are some workarounds and that this problem is listed as being "Solved." I tried some of those fixes, but they didn't work for me.

But I didn't try everything I found.

I guess we'll just have to wait even longer!

Thanks for your information, though! I sent it to the Dropbox team.