Disable autostart permanently

[256shadesofgrey]

I installed dropbox for linux on debian 9 (with cinnamon) from the sid repository (there is none for stretch). Because I run it on a notebook and dropbox tends to drain the battery like crazy when it starts scanning files for changes, I don't want dropbox to start automatically. So hence my question:

Is there any way to permanently disable dropbox autostart option?

What I tried so far:

1. Disabling dropbox in the preferences.

Effect: the checkbox in preferences is unchecked, and stays unchecked after I restart the app and the PC, but it's still starting automatically with the system anyways.

2. Entering "dropbox autostart n" and "sudo dropbox autostart n" in the console.

Effect: none. The app continues starting automatically.

3. Enabling and disabling the option again.

Effect: the same as 1.

4. Turning off dropbox in System Settings->Startup Applications.

Effect: Dropbox doesn't autostart until I run the dropbox app manually, at which point it turns this option on and from that point on starts automatically with each subsequent reboot.

5. Removing the dropbox entry in System Settings->Startup Applications.

Effect: same as 4. After I start dropbox once, it adds and enables the entry and starts automatically with each subsequent reboot.

[Sanchez]

Hey @256shadesofgrey, welcome to our forum! 

That’s a great description of the issue, and the troubleshooting steps you’ve taken so far 

I’m afraid that I can’t be of any help here, as the distribution you’re using isn’t officially supported (and the fact that my Linux knowledge is very limited ).

Hopefully, another user will be able to help out in this case.
Cheers

[256shadesofgrey]

I took the repository from the dropbox help center, and there is no mention of debian not being officially supported, in fact it explicitely talks about it:

https://www.dropbox.com/help/desktop-web/linux-repository

[Sanchez]

My mistake, @256shadesofgrey. If you’d like, go ahead and submit a support ticket here. One of our agents can gather all the details surrounding the issue, and forward it to our app specialists. 

Thanks

[gospdomazet · Accepted solution]

Debian:

Only solution that I have found for this problem is to edit

~/config/autostart/dropbox.desktop

file and change line

Exec=dropbox start -i

to

Exec=dropbox stop

and then comes the most important thing and that is to change ownership and deny access to dropbox.desktop file  so that that file could not be again overriden.

Not elegant solution.

[256shadesofgrey]

Thank you. This works.

[Sanchez]

Hey @gospdomazet, thanks for coming back and posting your solution here! I’m glad that you found a way to make this work.

@256shadesofgrey, thanks for confirming! 

Cheers
 

[Sanchez]

Hey @gospdomazet & @256shadesofgrey, 

If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind taking a minute of your time to fill out a survey sharing your experience using our Dropbox Community? You can access the survey here: http://bit.ly/2lNKIxT

Thank you!

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