DropBox won't start on Catalina after changing User account

[dloomstein]

Unable to open DropBox now on my Mac. I changed my hard drive name, and the app insists on opening up under the old user name. I've tried several proposed solutions, and it appears DropBox has no direct support options. What are my options at this point besides switching to Google Drive? I am not interested in upgrading my OS to use DropBox. Thanks.

Prompt: Dropbox needs to change permissions for the Folder: /Users/XXX/.dropbox

Login attempted

Error Message: 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. For more information click the help button below. Please contact Dropbox support with the following info for help:

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox

bn.VERSION: 110.4.458

bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 46

bn.is_frozen: True

machine_id: e5bd9c7b-eaca-5bfd-bace-5556146f5d5d

pid: 1312

ppid: 1

uid: 501

user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='djloomer7', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=501, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='DJL', pw_dir='/Users/djloomer7', pw_shell='/bin/bash')

effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='djloomer7', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=501, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='DJL', pw_dir='/Users/djloomer7', pw_shell='/bin/bash')

euid: 501

gid: 20

egid: 20

group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', 'djloomer'])

effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', 'djloomer'])

DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: None

cwd: '/'

     real_path='/'

            mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0

     parent mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0

HOME: '/Users/djloomer7'

appdata: '/Users/na/.dropbox/instance1'

         real_path='/Users/na/.dropbox/instance1'

                not found

         parent not found

dropbox_path: '/Users/djloomer7/Dropbox'

              real_path='/Users/djloomer7/Dropbox'

                    mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=80

              parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20

sys_executable: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'

                real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'

                      mode=0o100755 uid=501 gid=20

                parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20

trace.__file__: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'

                real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'

                      not found

                parent not found

tempdir: '/var/folders/nm/2vghs6s50w5bdsjzppg679rr0000gn/T'

         real_path='/private/var/folders/nm/2vghs6s50w5bdsjzppg679rr0000gn/T'

                mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20

         parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20

Traceback (most recent call last

  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 1268, in safe_makedirs

  File "os.pyc", line 213, in makedirs

  File "os.pyc", line 213, in makedirs

  File "os.pyc", line 223, in makedirs

PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/Users/na'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last

  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 7769, in main_startup

  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 2957, in run

  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 1714, in startup_low

  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 1295, in safe_makedirs

  File "os.pyc", line 213, in makedirs

  File "os.pyc", line 213, in makedirs

  File "os.pyc", line 223, in makedirs

PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/Users/na'

[Здравко · Accepted solution]

Hi @dloomstein,

Take a look on https/www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-installs-integrations/Couldn-t-start-dropbox/m-p/468604

Hope this helps.

[Rich]

---

@dloomstein wrote:

I changed my hard drive name, and the app insists on opening up under the old user name.

---

Or, perform a complete reinstallation as described my Dropboxer Stefanie in the following thread:

• https/www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Installation-and-desktop-app/changed-home-folder-name-now-db-will-not-...

[dloomstein]

Perfect! Fast and effective. Thank you.

[dloomstein]

I found that recommendation earlier and tried it to no avail.

The detach and re-attach worked perfectly. Thank you for taking the time to suggest this. Much appreciated.