Dropbox No Longer Launches - macOS Monterey 12.6.1

[foxglove_1]

The internal drive which hosts my Dropbox Folder was nearing capacity, so I stopped syncing via the Dropbox menu. I then selected all the folders that I didn't need downloaded to my computer and selected "Make Online Only". After a moment, I was told that the Dropbox Helper application wasn't responding, and to quit and relaunch Dropbox. So I quit the Dropbox application from the menu, but it would no longer re-launch, stating that there was an error of some sort.

I proceeded to restart my computer, but this did not solve the problem. So I attempted to re-install Dropbox in order to ensure that I had the latest version.

After downloading, the Dropbox Installer attempted to run, but ran into a problem, stating that it couldn't download the program; it asked if I wanted to try a different downloader (this despite the fact that it was in the Install phase of the process). So I downloaded the Dropbox Offline Installer (Dropbox 175.4.5569.dmg). After opening it, the Dropbox menu appears for awhile; opening the menu shows the Starting Up animation. After some time however, it errors out, and states as before that it cannot launch. A text dump is provided, the relevant bit I think being this:

"The executable currently located at file:///private/var/folders/wl/[...]/T/AppTranslocation/[...]/d/Dropbox.app/ is translocated and can't be launched., NSLocalizedDescription=The application cannot be used from this location." (Elipses added by me.)

Obviously I have not moved the application file anywhere, I am merely running the installer. It sounds like a permissions issue, but that is not something that is generally user-addressable these days (Apple removed the "Repair Permissions" option from Disk Utility many years ago).

[Jay]

Hi @foxglove_1, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

When you reinstalled the app, did you uninstall it first, or do the advanced reinstallation?

This will help me to assist further!

[foxglove_1]

Hi Jay,

I did not attempt to uninstall Dropbox first. Since it's now in a broken state, how should I proceed?

[Hannah]

Thanks for the follow-up, @foxglove_1.

First, can you please let us know the current location of your Dropbox folder?

You can find this by right-clicking on a file/folder in your Dropbox folder and then clicking on "get info".

[foxglove_1]

Hi Hannah,

My Dropbox folder is in the default location: "~/userfolder/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox"

[Jay]

Could you provide us with the full error log or message you received when downloading or running the app?

[foxglove_1]

Hi Jay,

Here is the complete log file (with personally identifying bits omitted):

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
bn.VERSION: 175.4.5569
bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 61
bn.is_frozen: True
machine_id: [...]aa9d
pid: 1302
ppid: 1
uid: 501
user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='Username', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=501, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='Username Lastname', pw_dir='/Users/User', pw_shell='/bin/bash')
effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='Username', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=501, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='Username Lastname', pw_dir='/Users/Username', pw_shell='/bin/bash')
euid: 501
gid: 20
egid: 20
group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', 'macports', '_nsurlstoraged', '_serialnumberd'])
effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', 'macports', '_nsurlstoraged', '_serialnumberd'])
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: None
cwd: '/'
real_path='/'
mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
parent mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
HOME: '/Users/Username'
appdata: '/Users/Username/.dropbox/instance18'
real_path='/Users/Username/.dropbox/instance18'
mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20
parent mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20
dropbox_path: '/Users/Username/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox'
real_path='/Users/Username/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox'
mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20
sys_executable: '/private/var/folders/wl/kwdsqdk91knbmmd_c72c0l9h0000gn/T/AppTranslocation/87FDA27F-F6BC-49F8-8F60-205ABF085E38/d/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
real_path='/private/var/folders/wl/kwdsqdk91knbmmd_c72c0l9h0000gn/T/AppTranslocation/87FDA27F-F6BC-49F8-8F60-205ABF085E38/d/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
mode=0o100755 uid=501 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20
trace.__file__: '/private/var/folders/wl/kwdsqdk91knbmmd_c72c0l9h0000gn/T/AppTranslocation/87FDA27F-F6BC-49F8-8F60-205ABF085E38/d/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
real_path='/private/var/folders/wl/kwdsqdk91knbmmd_c72c0l9h0000gn/T/AppTranslocation/87FDA27F-F6BC-49F8-8F60-205ABF085E38/d/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
not found
parent not found
tempdir: '/var/folders/wl/kwdsqdk91knbmmd_c72c0l9h0000gn/T'
real_path='/private/var/folders/wl/kwdsqdk91knbmmd_c72c0l9h0000gn/T'
mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "desktop/dropbox/client/main.py", line 5333, in _setup_root_for_account
File "desktop/dropbox/sync_root/helpers.py", line 514, in get_root_for_account
File "desktop/dropbox/foundation/futures/basic.py", line 857, in result
File "desktop/dropbox/sync_root/handlers/macos/file_provider.py", line 121, in set_result_or_convert_exception
dropbox.mac.internal.MacError: [Errno -2002] Error Domain=NSFileProviderErrorDomain Code=-2002 "The executable currently located at file:///private/var/folders/wl/kwdsqdk91knbmmd_c72c0l9h0000gn/T/AppTranslocation/87FDA27F-F6BC-49F8-8F60-205ABF085E38/d/Dropbox.app/ is translocated and can't be launched." UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=The executable currently located at file:///private/var/folders/wl/kwdsqdk91knbmmd_c72c0l9h0000gn/T/AppTranslocation/87FDA27F-F6BC-49F8-8F60-205ABF085E38/d/Dropbox.app/ is translocated and can't be launched., NSLocalizedDescription=The application cannot be used from this location., NSURL=file:///private/var/folders/wl/kwdsqdk91knbmmd_c72c0l9h0000gn/T/AppTranslocation/87FDA27F-F6BC-49F8-8F60-205ABF085E38/d/Dropbox.app/}

[foxglove_1]

Hi @Jay, @Hannah 

Just checking in if there's any update. I rely on the desktop app for working with colleagues, and using the website version, while functional, is less than ideal.

Thank you!

[foxglove_1]

Based on advice from other users and elsewhere, I've tried a few things:

- Removed all Dropbox-related files that I could locate from my User/Library folder (and restarted)

- Installed the latest Beta release of Dropbox (176.3.5105 Offline Installer for Intel Macs)
- Signed out of my Dropbox account during the Install/Startup phase via Dropbox -> Preferences, and re-logged in when prompted

Dropbox still fails to start, and now I have a "temporary" Dropbox folder in my Finder Window Favorites comprised of a string of characters (in the form: #X##X###-##XX-##X#-#XXX-#XXX##X##X#)

Repeated attempts continue to fail.

[foxglove_1]

I'm still unable to properly launch or use the Dropbox app.