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Dropbox keeps trying to download and sync files set to online only

Dropbox keeps trying to download and sync files set to online only

Rachel L.
Collaborator | Level 10

I had this same issue with a particular folder when I first set up my new Windows 10 laptop, but closing and restarting Dropbox seemed to fix it. (Derp.)

 

Today it randomly started trying to download/sync a few zip files I set to online only. I set them to online only again; then, since my computer has been indexing files for over a week now, decided to exclude my online only folders from being indexed, thinking maybe that was the cause of all the indexing. As soon as I did this, it started trying to download/sync those zip files again! I again set them to online only, exited and restarted Dropbox...but then Dropbox got stuck in a cycle of syncing, syncing, syncing a different, online-only folder. It has 32 files in it and Dropbox kept saying, "Syncing 32 files...31 files...32 files...31 files...32 files..." like it kept starting over and over and over. This laptop has an SSD and the files are small so it should have been almost instantaneous.

 

I exited Dropbox and restarted my computer this time, to boot. Looking in the Dropbox folder, I see individual files set to online only (including those zip files) are marked with an X but none of the folders are, which puzzles me. Restarting Dropbox now...

 

Okay, nothing is happening yet (except the endless indexing). Still, what could be causing this? Why does Smart Sync keep trying to sync and download things set to online only and is there a fix if it gets stuck in that syncing loop again?

 

...Wait, crud, I found another online folder had changed its setting (though not the files' setting) to local. Ugh! Changed it back...Dropbox said it was doing something with a bunch of files but now it's up to date again and the folder is again online only. So weird.

 

And now the number of indexed items is suddenly a lot different! 92,000 odd! (I believe it was around 205,000 before.)

 

Dropbox desktop application 109.4.517, Windows 10 Home v.1909, build 18363.1198.

61 Replies 61

Rachel L.
Collaborator | Level 10

Hm. As soon as I turned it on, a Windows notification said Smart Sync wasn't working and the popup in Dropbox says this:

 

"Smart Sync is experiencing an issue. To open online-only files and folders, right-click and choose Smart Sync and then Local." And there's a link: https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/sync-uploads/smart-sync-experiencing-issue

 

Not sure how to fix this...or if anything's even broken. Aren't I supposed to make files local if I want to open them, anyway? 😕 All the Smart Sync icons on the folders/files look the same as always--green checkmarks (local), white-and-green checkmarks (mixed), gray clouds (online only).

Lusil
Dropbox Staff

Hey @Rachel L. - thanks for keeping us in the loop and for all the troubleshooting you've done so far on this. 

 

At this point, I'd recommend having a more in-depth look into this issue with our team. 

 

Could you have a look at your Support options from this page

 

If you can submit a ticket, please do so and let us know its ID (eg. #1234567) so that we can pass all your comments from here along to the one who'll be reviewing this for you.


Lusil
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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thebobalos
Explorer | Level 4

Hey @Sanchez , @Rachel L. , et al

 

I have some good news! I believe that I have identified the process that attempts to index these files, thereby initiating Dropbox Smart-Sync to begin downloading them.

 

The process is called "Ableton Index". It is a normal part of the Ableton software suite and part of its normal operation is to scan and index all the "Places" I have favorited in the Ableton browser. It will "touch" image, video, and audio data in such a way that it causes Dropbox Smart-Sync to initiate on-demand downloads. The solution is not to have any Dropbox-daemon-managed locations in your Ableton "Places" list. Furthermore, a Dropbox-daemon-managed location cannot be a subfolder of a folder in the Ableton "Places" List.

 

For tech-savvy posterity, I'll take a moment to illuminate the methodology I used to identify the meddlesome process. These instructions will only apply to Mac OSX users. They probably translate easily to Linux, but Windows users will need to do more research to identify analogous tools.

 

The idea is to run a tool in your terminal that tracks and logs file access. You'll have to start that running and then wait for the undesired smart-sync downloads to begin. You're basically trying to catch the problem red-handed in the act! One such tool on Mac OSX is "opensnoop".

  1. Open Terminal
  2. Run `sudo opensnoop -s > opensnoop.log` (this captures the opensnoop output and stores it in a log file)
  3. Inspect the log file for processes that accessed the file. I recommend using `grep` to search for the specific filepath that you didn't want to download. You'll see a process name (or process ID) and you can use that to identify the process causing the problem.

 

I hope this helps for the future!

@SanchezAs a feature-request (or does this exist already?) -- is there a log-file that the local Dropbox Daemon keeps that would explain every smart-sync decision that Dropbox daemon makes? As an end-user troubleshooting this situation, I would love to have a source of truth for Dropbox's decision-making that could immediately tell me whether or not the Smart-Sync action was "user-initiated" or if it was initiated by a process, and if so, which one.

Rachel L.
Collaborator | Level 10

Returning in defeat to my thread...

 

@thebobalos I'm afraid I've never heard of this "Ableton" software (searching for it on my laptop brought up nothing but online search results), so that can't be the cause of my problem. 😞

 

I've been trying to avoid the issue simply by shutting Dropbox down before it could start acting up on Fridays around 6:35PM, turning it back on after 7PM. This worked...until today. I forgot to turn it off and only realized after 7 that it hadn't acted up! I felt hopeful that maybe a Dropbox or Windows update had resolved the issue. Well...no. It's just delayed now. 😞 Around 8:05PM it started trying (both failing and succeeding) to download the three zipped files I have set to online only. I changed their settings back, and did the one thing I haven't tried yet--created a new folder specifically for the three problem zipped files, made it online only, and excluded it from Windows 10 indexing, since I USED to think that was the cause of the problem. (Apparently, it isn't.) Dropbox settled down...but a few moments later, after I'd made changes to an unrelated file that IS stored locally (did this on my tablet, watched it sync to my laptop), it started trying to download the problem files again. This time I got a notification saying that the file in question was online only and if I wanted to view it (I hadn't been trying to view it!), I had to download it. This despite the fact that it already had downloaded one of the files!

 

I AGAIN reset them to online only...only to see Dropbox now attempting to download the contents of one of the other, online-only, non-indexed folders it had tried to do in the past. I reset that to online only...and shut Dropbox down again, even though I'm right in the middle of syncing some other files.

 

I'm so frustrated by this, especially now that I'm not sure WHAT time it'll start acting up (why did it change??), much less when it'll be "safe" to start Dropbox up again, plus, I know for sure that excluding files from indexing won't fix the problem. (Plus I'm kind of creeped out that Dropbox and/or Windows thought I was trying to view a file that I wasn't. Why would it do that?) Windows could very well be to blame, and probably is, but I've thought over and looked into everything I can think of and nothing explains this.

Rachel L.
Collaborator | Level 10

@Lusil Sorry it took me so long (anxiety) but I submitted an e-mail ticket since chat is difficult for me. I wasn't sure which category to choose so I went with "The Dropbox app" and I wasn't sure how to summarize such a lengthy issue so I sent a link to this thread. The ticket number is #12049248.

Lusil
Dropbox Staff
No worries! Thanks for letting me know, @Rachel L.

I've made sure to forward your comments to the member of my team who's reviewing this for you. 

Whenever you have the chance, check your inbox for their latest message and don't hesitate to get back to them with any additional information. 

Cheers!

Lusil
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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Rachel L.
Collaborator | Level 10

The problem persists and has only gotten worse. Since last night now it seems to do it any time, any day I turn on Dropbox and navigate to my Windows Explorer folders. Last night it was just trying to download one e-book but today it's trying to download TENS OF THOUSANDS of files from numerous folders! I mark them as online only over and over and it just keeps trying to download them all! Clicking "cancel" on the occasions it brings a popup message works only temporarily, then it tries again; but now that it's doing all these files at once, there's no way to stop it. A few moments ago it wasn't trying to do this much, but now it is.

 

Previously I could at least predict the day and time it would do this and avoid turning on Dropbox then, but when it can just decide to do it every night when I'm manually backing up my files, how am I supposed to use this program properly?

 

I don't have room on my computer for all those files! How do I stop this from happening? I'm sorry to be so frustrated but this has been going on for months now and I really can't deal with all these files always trying to download. 😞 At least when it was just that one file it would always fail to download, but these ones look like they're going to download whether I try to stop them or not. I have no idea what's going to happen when I turn Dropbox on and try again but I have to, to back up my files!

Rachel L.
Collaborator | Level 10

Oh by the way, I very greatly changed up my file organization since I was last here, completely different folders, reorganized files, but that hasn't changed the problem any. All these folders are set NOT to index so that's not the issue. Virus scan wasn't running so that's not the issue. It happens literally when I open Windows Explorer so that's obviously related--but I need to use that program to view my files and modify them (I don't modify them through the app because I need to view the Windows properties).

 

I can't even figure out how to open the Dropbox app even if I wanted to, anymore. Since I have to go into Windows Explorer to make these folders online only, it's going to keep trying to download them! 😞

Rachel L.
Collaborator | Level 10

I've opened Dropbox in the desktop app version, Windows Explorer is closed, and am trying to tell it to make folders online only through the app but that's not working, either! So it's not just Windows Explorer causing it now, it's Dropbox! I keep clicking online only for this particular folder and it never selects it!

 

I'm really sorry for my hysteria but I don't know if I have the space for so many files, plus it won't back up the few files I WANT backed up until it's done doing all these. Tens of thousands of online-only files and I can't make them online only whether I use Windows Explorer or the Dropbox app. 😞

Rachel L.
Collaborator | Level 10

Restarting the computer & restarting Dropbox didn't help. 😞

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