Cannot open Dropbox website through Linux client

[andreamoro]

Similarly to the issue described here, on a fresh Ubuntu 20.04 with the dropbox client recently installed, by the time I press the button on the app to say "Open the Dropbox site", the browser opens a new window with a local file in the url starting with tmp which can't resolve in a proper site.

The issue happens in both Firefox and Chromium.

How can this be solved?

[Megan]

Hey @andreamoro, I'd be happy to help with that!

Do you get this error with a specific file type or no?

Could you send me a screenshot of what you see when trying to open on the website, so I can have a clear visual? 

Thank you!

[andreamoro]

I'm not on that computer now, but it is a URL not found. Since the URL requested is starting with tmp:// or file:///tmp/  and the browser doesn't know hot to resolve that URL, the error shows up.

I did try to change the browser into Chromium (default is Firefox) without luck. Don't have temp files restrictions as far as I can tell, but it mostly depends on where this tmp file is being created.

I guess that somewhere in the installation process the mime-type if any, or the path resolution has not been created?

[andreamoro]

No, as I said, I'm just pressing the globe button from the dropbox icon tray. But, even if I right click on the contextual-menu View on dropbox, the result is the same, no matter which file I try to open.

See below a screenshot from Firefox

and one using Chromium which I temporarily reverted as default browser (btw, until quitting, the app continues to read the previous browser as the default).

Tmp folder settings are 1777, so I don't see why DropBox should not be able to create the temporary file (as per the previous answer).

Perhaps this is the problem? Since my logged in user is the only one able to remove file I create, it might be that DropBox is trying to create files with my logged in account, but remove with its own process name?

[Megan]

Hi @andreamoro, thanks for all the additional info! 

It seems your issue is similar to the one mentioned in this thread. 

Want to take a look at what has been also mentioned there?

[andreamoro]

As I said, Firefox is already my default browser

All the commands given are just to check what the default browser is, except one that seems to setup a smart url. The path in that case will never match with my system, so some clarity around how to create them might be helpful.

[Jay]

Hi @andreamoro, this is something related to how your OS works, and isn't related to Dropbox itself.

If the tmp file can't be accessed by the browser, then it's possible that the creation of the file is being prevented somehow in your OS.

[andreamoro]

@Jayassuming this is the case, how can this be fixed? You guys support Linux Ubuntu, so I would expect some sort of log to be inspected?

Can you tell me where this log is, or what else can be done?

As far as I can tell, the problem is the Dropbox client that is not writing the file at all. Inspecting the /tmp folder the browser attempts to load the file from, reveal no files at all.

[Здравко]

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@andreamoro wrote:

... You guys support Linux Ubuntu, so I would expect some sort of log to be inspected?

...

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Hi @andreamoro,

Linux is NOT first class citizen on Dropbox (and not only), despite growing usage in many fields. Big companies are "conservative" and takes some time adaptation to new realities, so "some sort of log to be inspected" sounding very abstract to the PR staff moderating the forum. In other words better don't rely.

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@andreamoro wrote:

... Inspecting the /tmp folder the browser attempts to load the file from, reveal no files at all.

---

🤔Wow... "no files at all" is sounding very strange! 🧐 Are you sure?! The "tmp" folder is used by many applications (user programs and system services) to keep (as the name suggest) temporary files. Inability to access to /tmp would carries a lot of headaches, no only Dropbox application related.

Let's find out what's the current state. Execute following in terminal:

ls -ld /tmp
ls -al /tmp | wc -l

What's the both commands output? Can you post the result?

Take in mind that the files, you are referring above, are kept by Dropbox application for a minute, at most. If you have checked after that they have gone already. One more thing, you may have ignored, is actual file name - only the first part of the URL, up to the hash sign. The rest is an argument passed to the browser (everything after the hash and the hash sign itself). So be careful what you are looking for to be able find it. 😉

Also take in mind that default web browser, protocol handler, and file handler are completely different things.

They can keep the same or different applications. The screenshot you have posted above, showing your default web browser, has nothing to do with html file handler. Don't mess them! You can find (and possibly change) the file handler on Properties dialog in Nautilus (Open With tab) or using following command:

xdg-mime query default text/html

Hope this gives direction and adds some clarity.

[andreamoro]

@Здравкоthanks for coming back to me. When I said no files at all in the tmp folder, I was in fact not clear enough. I meant no Dropbox files.

I will be looking into the tmp folder again later, perhaps going with a

watch ls

to capture changes?