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Hey everyone,
I've got a mid-2012 Retina MacBook Pro that I've been using Dropbox on. However, for the past 3 months, my dropbox app has been completely non-functional and I have not been able to sync anything. I've tried resetting Dropbox permissions, my computer's permissions, I've tried those code lines posted in Dropbox, and I've removed all the files with incompatible names. I'm desperate for a solution. Please help!
Ive been using Dropbox for several years but a few months ago set up another mac which syncs to the same dropbox account. Often very very slow - sometimes 15 mins to sync. Suddenly was asked for password to update permissions - did this and had to watch as all 500,000 files were re uploaded - took 3 days.
It then asked me again several days later (which I did not do) but then made contact with Dropbox help. They told me to unistall and reinstal the app. I did and of couse went thru the same uploading of 500,000 files - another 3 days. They looked thru and found I had symlinks which I dont know how they got there but eventually again with help I moved them.
However when speaking to another Dropbox 'help' person he told me, a lot - and I mean thousands and thousands - had bad file names - starting with an '*' and a '•'. So I changed them. Not only did the original machine have to re upload and delete the changes but of course the second machine had to then download all the files. This time I couldnt work for three days as I couldnt get into any of the files that were redownloading! Its all been a bit of a nightmare but Im hoping all is calm and working better. Does seem to be a lot 'indexing' going on still but Im watching patiently!!!
Will say that the Dropbox help team are very good and quick to respond on 'chat'.
My upload and download speeds varied a lot and one day it took over 24 hours to sync 200,000 files. They say the smaller files are synced first so I m guessing alot of the the larger files were last to be synced so took much longer.
Hope some of this helps!
@TXMedStudent wrote:
Quick update: it seems like the problem is within my dropbox account itself. I just tried syncing something into my Work folder and it worked with no issues. So there's something wrong with my personal folder then?
Hello, @TXMedStudent...
First, let's start by checking your current storage space level since you didn't specify what type of account you use (eg: Basic or Plus).
How much storage space is available when you look here (eg: 300 MB of 2 GB used)? If you're over your storage quota then your files won't sync (upload).
If you're not over your storage quota then I recommend that you try the newest stable build (offline installer) vs any beta versions that are available (eg: v35.3.15). After installing it, please restart your computer and see if the Desktop Client is working.
I've included a few Help Center articles listed below that may be of assistance to you.
HELP CENTER ARTICLES:
Hi there,
Yeah I've got plenty of storage space available both on Dropbox and on my hard drive, so that shouldn't be a problem. I've also got the newest stable build installed.
I'm not sure why it keeps happening. I constantly get asked every time I restart my computer to enter my password to change permissions for my personal folder. However, for my business/work folder, I don't have this issue and sync is instant. Any ideas now?
@TXMedStudent wrote:
Hi there,
Yeah I've got plenty of storage space available both on Dropbox and on my hard drive, so that shouldn't be a problem. I've also got the newest stable build installed.
Any ideas now?
Hello, @TXMedStudent...
Okay about storage space.
I recommend that you read this Help Center article and see if it can help with the Desktop Client. Scroll downward to select your operating system and pay particular attention to the secntion entitled, "Add a second Dropbox account to the desktop app".
Otherwise, please post a screenshot of the problem minus any sensitive information so we can see what you're viewing.
HELP CENTER ARTICLES:
@310EI here's an idea of what's goign on:
So it's basically got a bunch of files to sync which it never does, then I rebuild the permissions and it indexes endlessly and never stops. So then I try to reinstall the whole thing and it sort of goes back to this same situation. I've tried to also just restart the computer and it asks me on startup to type in my password because it needs to change permissions. After typing my password, it just goes back to everything I just described above.
Hey @TXMedStudent,
Thanks for your cooperation & screenshots, they were really helpful!
Secondly, because I could see that're running a Beta version on your Mac, I'd suggest getting the latest stable build (35.4.20) on your desktop after removing the Symlinks.
Would you mind going through these steps & keep me updated on the outcome here?
Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support
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@TXMedStudent wrote:
@310EI here's an idea of what's goign on.
Hello, @TXMedStudent...
I apologize for my tardiness in getting back to you.
I recommend that you follow @Jane's very detailed response.
Good luck.
Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support
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Hi there!
If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for a ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.
For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.
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