Unable to start dropbox in Ubuntu 20.04

[CodesAreHonest]

Hi, I am unable to start the dropbox in Ubuntu 20.04 with Headless Mode with the following errors. I had read through all the forums and documents to find out the solution in order to fix this error but now lucks.

I had already perform `dropbox start` as root but still obtains:

Couldn't start Dropbox.
This is usually because of a permissions error. Storing your home folder on a network share can also cause an error.

Get more help at https://www.dropbox.com/c/help/permissions_error

The log of /tmp/dropbox_errorf0tk7axj.txt are shown below: 

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
bn.VERSION: 131.4.3968
bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 48
bn.is_frozen: True
machine_id: 20210623-1124-0478-1463-487467590001
pid: 30950
ppid: 1
ppid exe: '/usr/lib/systemd/systemd'
uid: 0
user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='root', pw_passwd='x', pw_uid=0, pw_gid=0, pw_gecos='root', pw_dir='/root', pw_shell='/bin/bash')
effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='root', pw_passwd='x', pw_uid=0, pw_gid=0, pw_gecos='root', pw_dir='/root', pw_shell='/bin/bash')
euid: 0
gid: 0
egid: 0
group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='root', gr_passwd='x', gr_gid=0, gr_mem=[])
effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='root', gr_passwd='x', gr_gid=0, gr_mem=[])
LD_LIBRARY_PATH: None
cwd: '/root'
     real_path='/root'
                mode=0o40700    uid=0   gid=0
     parent     mode=0o40755    uid=0   gid=0
HOME: '/root'
appdata: '/root/.dropbox/instance5'
         real_path='/root/.dropbox/instance5'
                mode=0o40700    uid=0   gid=0
         parent mode=0o40755    uid=0   gid=0
dropbox_path: None
                        not found
              parent    not found
sys_executable: '/root/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-131.4.3968/dropbox'
                real_path='/root/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-131.4.3968/dropbox'
                        mode=0o100755   uid=0   gid=0
                parent  mode=0o40755    uid=0   gid=0
trace.__file__: '/root/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-131.4.3968/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
                real_path='/root/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-131.4.3968/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
                        not found
                parent  not found
tempdir: '/tmp'
         real_path='/tmp'
                mode=0o41777    uid=0   gid=0
         parent mode=0o40755    uid=0   gid=0
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 5397, in _setup_root_for_account
AssertionError: fresh link yet no preferences

[feria35]

I have the same problem on Debian 10.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 5397, in _setup_root_for_account
AssertionError: fresh link yet no preferences

I have tried many things :

* export variables like LC_ALL="fr_FR.UTF-8", LANGUAGE='fr_FR.UTF-8', HOME="/path/to"

* remove the folder  .dropbox

but nothing works !

[petardo]

Same here, Debian 10

[Walter]

Hey there @CodesAreHonest, @feria35 & @petardo, thanks for posting on our Community and sorry to hear you're having issues with this. 

If you've ensured that your devices are meeting the minimum requirements as outlined here, you could try a clean, advanced reinstall at this point. 

I hope this helps!

[petardo]

Thanks, for reply.

1. "minimum requirements" not met since it says Ubuntu and two of us have Debian which is not exactly the same.
   However most programs are compatible on those systems.
2. The "advanced reinstall" link you provided is not relevant to headless installation

[Evick]

I am having the same problem on my server (Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS).

[torga]

Same trace on headless Debian 8 and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, same client build 131.4.3968
Has this issue been observed with an older release ?

[keeb]

Same trace here. I've tried Ubuntu 18.04 & 21.10 as well as Debian buster and I get the same error with the latest dropbox client installed.

[feria35]

@Walter, yes on a fresh and clean reinstall of Debian 10, I did exactly the method you described (for Dropbox client).
I reinstalled several times my debian but each time, I got this error.
Could you try by yourself ?

[cuye]

same issue here, running headless Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS. Tried as well on a new VM with the same OS, didnt work either