DB never fully syncs on my Mac

[JA-B]

Hi,

I use a MacBook Air running MacOS Catalina.  Since the upgrade to Catalina, my DB has been behaving oddly - after many years of trouble free use.  

My DB never seems to fully synchronise.  The numbers of files outstanding vary enourmously from less than a hundred to many thousands - and sometimes the number changes from one end of the spectrum to the other in moments.  And the estimated time to complete the task varies similarly - from seconds to more than 100 days.

I have: updated the app to the latest version; logged out of DB and back in; re-started my computer; and de-linked and then re-linked my DB; and "fixed" the permissions DB has on my computer.

But nothing seems to make a difference.  Indeed, from time to time large numbers of files suddenly show up with a red cross next to them; and then equally suddenly they become green ticks.  At any one time, about 20% of my DB says that it is not yet synched.

Does anyone have any ideas about what might be going on; and what to do to return to the days when I never even thought about DB - because it just worked?

Many thanks.

JAB

[Jane]

Hey @JA-B, thanks for reaching out to us detailing us what you’ve already tried on your end in order to resolve this discrepancy! 

Following-up from your description, it looks like you’ve tried some of the advice posted on this resource that haven’t resolved the issue you’ve been facing. It looks like you’ve already done some advanced troubleshooting on your end, so I was wondering whether you’ve tried un-installing & re-installing to see if that helps fix this issue. 

Would you mind giving it a go if you haven’t already? Otherwise, please let me know here if you’ve already attempted following these instructions without success & I’ll make sure to touch-base with you soon on this matter. Thanks! 

[JA-B]

Hi Jane,

Thanks.  I can give it a go.  But before I do, what is the effect of uninstalling (and then re-installing) on my existing Dropbox shared folders?  I work in a number of virtual teams, and I would not want to lose my data; or to affect the same data on other peoples' computers.

All the best.

JAB

[Здравко]

Hi @JA-B,

@Jane asks you to uninstall/reinstall the Dropbox application, not the Dropbox folder. Application management shouldn't affect you account content. Here I suppose you don't do it (app management can't, but you can do it 'by hand').

If I have to bet, your issue isn't in the application, but in Dropbox file/dir(s) permissions/owning. Before reinstall anything, try fix possible inconsistencies in your Dropbox folder using:

sudo chflags -R noschg "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"
sudo chflags -R nouchg "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"
sudo chown -R "$USER" "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"
chmod -R u+rw "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"

Will be asked for your password (sudo). Take in mind "/Users/$USER/Dropbox" evaluates automatically to default folder position. If your folder occupies another place or have other name, set corresponding place/name as appropriate (in all commands above).

Hope this helps.

[JA-B]

Many thanks.  I confess that I don't naturally speak this (Mac) language.

I have done as you suggest, but the result is this:

Last login: Sat Oct 19 19:43:06 on ttys000

jeremyastill-brown1@JAB-ADA-Laptop-August-2018 ~ % sudo chflags -R noschg "/Users/$USER/Dropbox" sudo chflags -R nouchg "/Users/$USER/Dropbox" sudo chown -R "$USER" "/Users/$USER/Dropbox" chmod -R u+rw "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"

Password:

chflags: /Users/jeremyastill-brown1/Dropbox: No such file or directory

chflags: sudo: No such file or directory

chflags: chflags: No such file or directory

chflags: -R: No such file or directory

chflags: nouchg: No such file or directory

chflags: /Users/jeremyastill-brown1/Dropbox: No such file or directory

chflags: sudo: No such file or directory

chflags: chown: No such file or directory

chflags: -R: No such file or directory

chflags: jeremyastill-brown1: No such file or directory

chflags: /Users/jeremyastill-brown1/Dropbox: No such file or directory

chflags: chmod: No such file or directory

chflags: -R: No such file or directory

chflags: u+rw: No such file or directory

chflags: /Users/jeremyastill-brown1/Dropbox: No such file or directory

Have I done something wrong?

JAB

[Здравко]

Hi @JA-B,

Not all at one! There are number of commands - 4 in fact. You have to execute line by line. Every line is one command.

Hope this clarifies the things.

PS: Something more: Did you check if path to you Dropbox directory is "/Users/jeremyastill-brown1/Dropbox"?!

[JA-B]

Ah!  Sorry - told you I don't speak the language.  

Are you able to tell if I have the right "/Users/$USER/Dropbox" path?  I suspect that I don't - but I can't work out what it should be.  

Apologies again for being a bit slow.

JAB

[Здравко]

Check this in the directory Info window.

[JA-B]

Path:  I suspect I have it wrong - havign tried only one command, the result is:

jeremyastill-brown1@JAB-ADA-Laptop-August-2018 ~ % sudo chflags -R noschg "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"

Password:

chflags: /Users/jeremyastill-brown1/Dropbox: No such file or directory

jeremyastill-brown1@JAB-ADA-Laptop-August-2018 ~ % 

JAB

[JA-B]

I'm really sorry.  I don't know what a "Directory Info Window" is.

JAB