Dropbox app won't start on M1 Mac running Big Sur

[MikeLV]

I just got a new MacBook Air M1 running BigSur.  Dropbox does show up in the Finder sidebar and it appears the Dropbox files and folders on my Mac have synced with Dropbox.com.  However the dropbox icon does not show up in the tool bar at the top of the screen.  Plus, I downloaded the Dropbox app but it won't start.  error message is shown below.  I am not on a network share.  Don't know what is the deal with permissions.  Suggestions?

[victoriabaum]

I have same problem and have 2T Pro, 3 allowed. Works on iPhone and old MacBook Air 😞

[Walter]

Hey there @MikeLV & @victoriabaum, thanks for posting on our Community and sorry to hear about this.

Could both of you please click on the hypertext from your error message and send us the full error log?

This will help us assist further!

[MikeLV]

Thank you for getting back to me.  The error message I receive is at the top of this stream.  FYI  I have deleted and re-downloaded the installer numerous times and always get the same result.  Also shut down and restarted the computer after deleting the installed app and the installer.  None of that worked.  I am running Mac OS BigSur version 11.4.

You asked for the full error log.  It is very long.  Here it is:

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox

bn.VERSION: 125.4.3474

bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 48

bn.is_frozen: True

machine_id: 3c855c8f-1be4-5167-9ada-50e978519c94

pid: 12896

ppid: 1

uid: 501

user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='Mike', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=501, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='Michael Vaughn', pw_dir='/Users/Mike_1', pw_shell='/bin/bash')

effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='Mike', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=501, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='Michael Vaughn', pw_dir='/Users/Mike_1', 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', 'mike', 'Patty', 'Mike', '_nsurlstoraged', '_serialnumberd'])

effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', 'mike', 'Patty', 'Mike', '_nsurlstoraged', '_serialnumberd'])

DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: None

cwd: '/'

     real_path='/'

            mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0

     parent mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0

HOME: '/Users/Mike_1'

appdata: '/Users/Mike_1/.dropbox/instance1'

         real_path='/Users/Mike_1/.dropbox/instance1'

                mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20

         parent mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20

dropbox_path: '/Users/Mike_1/Dropbox'

              real_path='/Users/Mike_1/Dropbox'

                    mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20

              parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20

sys_executable: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'

                real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'

                      mode=0o100755 uid=501 gid=20

                parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20

trace.__file__: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'

                real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'

                      not found

                parent not found

tempdir: '/var/folders/dp/6dr17q2s32s1p26mmx5tt44m0000gn/T'

         real_path='/private/var/folders/dp/6dr17q2s32s1p26mmx5tt44m0000gn/T'

                mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20

         parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 819, in wrapper

  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 6472, in finish_dropbox_boot

  File "dropbox/client/message_queue.pyc", line 307, in _wrapped

  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 6005, in _init_components_for_account

  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 5932, in create_sync_engine

  File "dropbox/sync_engine_boundary/factory.pyc", line 225, in make_sync_engine

  File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/sync_engine.pyc", line 275, in __init__

  File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/modern_client/modern_client.pyc", line 219, in __init__

  File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/modern_client/base.pyc", line 149, in __init__

  File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/thin_adapter/in_proc.pyc", line 223, in __init__

  File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/thin_adapter/in_proc.pyc", line 597, in _init_new_engine_locked

  File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/thin_client/client.pyc", line 182, in __init__

  File "extensions/nucleus/nucleus_python.pyx", line 76, in nucleus_python.NucleusSyncEngine.__cinit__

nucleus_python.SyncEngineError: "Initializing engine |>> Initializing filesystem |>> Attempting to register icons |>> Opening dst |>> open syscall |>> Permission denied"

[Walter · Accepted solution]

Thanks for providing the full error-log @MikeLV.

Could you please try an advanced reinstall with admin privileges and let me know how it goes?

While at it, please make sure that there's no antivirus or firewall that might be causing issues. 

Keel me posted with your progress!

[MikeLV]

It worked!  I must tell you, the Terminal thing is not easy to figure out but after a couple tries, I got it.

[Tim T.]

The advanced reinstall works (as does re-initializing the drive, reinstalling the macOS, and then restoring files/applications/etc from a Time Machine backup previous to the appearance of the problem). However, the Cannot Start Dropbox error keeps coming back—in some cases after any restart, or after sleep (note: my SSD is set to never sleep), or—as in this last reinstall of Dropbox—upon the first attempt to start Dropbox at the end of the install process. I have made sure the Dropbox app is allowed incoming traffic through the firewall, I have excluded the Dropbox app from being scanned by Bitdefender anti-virus. 

Dropbox has become unusable. This is a REAL problem, as I use it to coordinate with colleagues (other consultants) for work. If Dropbox doesn't fix this new (only began in the last two weeks - no changes in my software/OS during that time) problem soon, I will have to abandon it for some other cloud service. I like Dropbox and have never had problems like this before.

[MikeB2]

My M1 Mac started showing this "Couldn't start Dropbox" error this morning.  I've uninstalled, reinstalled (126.4.4618), and performed the advanced reinstall, always with the same error on startup.  I finally renamed the DropBox folder then reinstalled.  It recognized it as a "new" install, but still ended up with the same error message.

Error file contains:

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox

bn.VERSION: 126.4.4618

bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 48

bn.is_frozen: True

machine_id: 81473c3e-02f8-54bb-bc0e-2632fb565d70

pid: 10648

ppid: 1

uid: 502

user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='user', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=502, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='User', pw_dir='/Users/user', pw_shell='/bin/bash')

effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='user', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=502, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='User', pw_dir='/Users/user', pw_shell='/bin/bash')

euid: 502

gid: 20

egid: 20

group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', 'mjbunnell', 'user', 'mike', 'boinc_master', 'boinc_project'])

effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', 'mjbunnell', 'user', 'mike', 'boinc_master', 'boinc_project'])

DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: None

cwd: '/'

     real_path='/'

            mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0

     parent mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0

HOME: '/Users/user'

appdata: '/Users/user/.dropbox/instance1'

         real_path='/Users/user/.dropbox/instance1'

                mode=0o40700 uid=502 gid=20

         parent mode=0o40755 uid=502 gid=20

dropbox_path: None

                    not found

              parent not found

sys_executable: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'

                real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'

                      mode=0o100755 uid=501 gid=20

                parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20

trace.__file__: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'

                real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'

                      not found

                parent not found

tempdir: '/var/folders/vw/hs31tvjn26d1mypmb2zsztn80000gp/T'

         real_path='/private/var/folders/vw/hs31tvjn26d1mypmb2zsztn80000gp/T'

                mode=0o40700 uid=502 gid=20

         parent mode=0o40755 uid=502 gid=20

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 834, in wrapper

  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 6622, in finish_dropbox_boot

  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 5689, in _create_root_for_account

  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 6818, in create_dropbox_folder

  File "dropbox/fsutil.pyc", line 655, in safe_makedirs

  File "os.pyc", line 223, in makedirs

PermissionError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/Users/user/Dropbox'

[Megan]

Hey @MikeB2, thanks for posting your error log here! 

Does the error remain after an Advanced re-install, and rebooting your device? 

Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there.

[MikeB2]

Lori,

Yes, the error persists after regular & advanced re-install, and reboots...