New folder shown as "Untitled Folder" on server and no content in the folder is synced

[ElToro1966]

When I make a new folder and add files to that folder, it only shows up as an empty folder with the title "Untitled Folder" on the server. Moreover, the Dropbox client is showing only older files under "Recently Changed Files". None of the files in the new folder is shown. Tried restarting the Dropbox client but to no avail.

Additional info:

- The parent folder is a shared folder

- The Dropbox client is running on Ubuntu 20.10.

- The client version is v118.4.460

[Mark]

Are these files directly in the Dropbox folder @ElToro1966 and not symlinked etc. to elsewhere?

[ElToro1966]

They are directly in the Dropbox folder.

[Lusil]

Hey @ElToro1966, what is the syncing status of the desktop app? Does it show that it's up to date?

Do you get the same experience when you create a new folder and add new files to your account via the web?

[ElToro1966]

Hi @Lusil, yeah, it works via the web.

The client looks like it's stuck, and restarting doesn't help; The "Starting..." and "Syncing..." entries in the main menu are greyed out.

[Lusil]

It could be that there's a third party app, like a security software or antivirus, that's hindering the syncing process.

Could you temporarily close or disable them and see if it triggers a different behavior?

[ElToro1966 · Accepted solution]

I figured I could try to start Dropbox from the command line to see what was happening. But first I stopped it and ran an update from the command line:

$ sudo dropbox stop
$ sudo dropbox update

Next, I started the client again, and got this result:

$ dropbox start
Starting Dropbox...dropbox: locating interpreter
dropbox: logging to /tmp/dropbox-antifreeze-KYeVhp
dropbox: initializing
dropbox: initializing python 3.8.7
dropbox: setting program path '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/dropbox'
dropbox: setting python path '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460:/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/python-packages.zip'
dropbox: python initialized
dropbox: running dropbox
dropbox: setting args
dropbox: enabling allocator metrics
dropbox: applying overrides
dropbox: running main script
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._openssl.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._padding.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/psutil._psutil_linux.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/psutil._psutil_posix.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/apex._apex.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/tornado.speedups.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/wrapt._wrappers.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/PyQt5.QtWidgets.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/PyQt5.QtCore.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/PyQt5.QtGui.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
Dropbox isn't running!
Done!
$ dropbox: load fq extension '/home/eric/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/PyQt5.QtDBus.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
Unable to monitor entire Dropbox folder hierarchy. Please run "echo fs.inotify.max_user_watches=100000 | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf; sudo sysctl -p" and restart Dropbox to fix the problem.

Did Ctrl-C to stop the daemon, and ran the change in the config-file:

^C
$ dropbox stop
Dropbox daemon stopped.
$ echo fs.inotify.max_user_watches=100000 | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf; sudo sysctl -p
fs.inotify.max_user_watches=100000
fs.inotify.max_user_watches = 100000
fs.inotify.max_user_watches = 100000
fs.inotify.max_user_watches = 100000

Re-started the daemon:

$ dropbox start
Starting Dropbox...dropbox: locating interpreter
dropbox: logging to /tmp/dropbox-antifreeze-xJxZI6
dropbox: initializing
dropbox: initializing python 3.8.7
dropbox: setting program path '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/dropbox'
dropbox: setting python path '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460:/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/python-packages.zip'
dropbox: python initialized
dropbox: running dropbox
dropbox: setting args
dropbox: enabling allocator metrics
dropbox: applying overrides
dropbox: running main script
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._openssl.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._padding.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/psutil._psutil_linux.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/psutil._psutil_posix.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/apex._apex.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/tornado.speedups.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/wrapt._wrappers.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/PyQt5.QtWidgets.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/PyQt5.QtCore.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/PyQt5.QtGui.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/****/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-118.4.460/PyQt5.QtDBus.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
Done!

The Dropbox client is now humming along nicely, finding files and syncing them.

Truly wonderful the Dropbox command-line tool is.

[Lusil]

Awesome work with the troubleshooting, @ElToro1966!

Glad to see that you were able to resolve your concern in the end. 

If anything else pops up in the future, you know where to find us. 

In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful day ahead of you!