cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Announcements
Want to learn some quick and useful tips to make your day easier? Check out how Calvin uses Replay to get feedback from other teams at Dropbox here.

Apps and Installations

Have a question about a Dropbox app or installation? Reach out to the Dropbox Community and get solutions, help, and advice from members.

cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Re: Dropbox keeps quitting on my Mac Pro

Dropbox keeps quitting on my Mac Pro

insch
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

After years of successful use Dropbox stopped working on my Mac Pro a few days ago. It keeps trying to launch (I see it in the menu bar) and then immediately quits. I can't manually launch it. I get the error message 'Couldn't Start Dropbox' - see grab. I don't have a Firewall running or anti-virus software. I have seen posts about fixing this in Dropbox permissions but it doesn't stay up long enought to access permissions. I need to urgently resolve this issue since I might have to travel this weekend and need to sync my MacBook Pro with my Mac Pro. Dropbox still works normally on my MacBook Pro.

Any advice grateful received.

Thank you, Phil

Screenshot 2019-09-27 at 14.39.03.jpg

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

insch
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

I did get it resolved, thanks. I had to follow a very specific method to re-install Dropbox. My first attempts to do that had not worked. This was the solution:

1.Restart your computer, holding down command+R to enter Recovery Mode

2.Open your Terminal app (Located at /Applications/Utilities/Terminal)

3.Copy and paste the following line into the Terminal. PLEASE make sure you copy and paste the command (don't type it by hand). You'll be prompted for your computer's admin password (not your Dropbox password) after entering the command. Keep in mind that the password field in the terminal will remain blank as you type your password. After you type it, just press ENTER. You'll know that these instructions complete normally once the initial line of text (called prompt) comes up again:

spctl kext-consent add G7HH3F8CAK

If the command returns an error or does not respond after an hour, you may want to restart your computer and try these steps again.

4.After this you can restart the machine, and let it load as normal. Once restarted, you can re-install Dropbox again (basic reinstall this time, pasted below). When Dropbox has finished installing, while it will not prompt you again to install Smart Sync, the required components will now be present on your machine.

You should now be able to proceed with using Smart Sync without further issue.

Basic reinstall: 

First, make sure you save and quit ALL programs that access files in the Dropbox folder.

Here are the steps:

  1. Download the newest version:


https://www.dropbox.com/downloading

  1. Stop Dropbox (If needed):

 

  • Click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar at the top of your screen
  • Click on your profile picture or initials to the right of the search bar and select 'Quit Dropbox'

 

  1. Delete the Dropbox application from the Applications folder. You may need to provide your computer password in order to perform this action.

  2. Reinstall the Dropbox desktop application

 

  • Open the Dropbox .dmg file and double click the Dropbox icon.
  • Dropbox should appear in your menu bar.

View solution in original post

10 Replies 10

Daphne
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

Welcome to the Dropbox Community @insch!

Just so that we can be sure of the exact error you're getting there, can you please click the blue hyperlink in the error message and paste the entire error log in your reply? With this error log we'll be able to know in more detail what it causing the issue here.

Let me know what you find - thanks!


Daphne
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, please give it a Like below.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Tips & Tricks Find new ways to stay in flow or share your tips on how you work smarter with Dropbox.

insch
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

Thank you - annoyingly I can't get that message to come up again - but Dropbox is still quitting. Is there somewhere else I can find a log of the crash?

insch
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

I found the folder on my Mac but there was no file named 'dropbox_errorldrvndtr.txt' in there.

insch
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

I got it - after a restart the error log was recreated. Here it is...


[get_extra_trace_info failed]
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "dropbox/client/authentication/manager.pyc", line 718, in _try_register_host
File "dropbox/client/authentication/manager.pyc", line 896, in _on_register_host_success
File "dropbox/infinite/preferences.pyc", line 175, in update_local_config_from_server
File "dropbox/infinite/preferences.pyc", line 274, in _get_server_default_root_policy_unlocked
File "_collections_abc.pyc", line 660, in get
File "dropbox/gui.pyc", line 121, in _trace_warn_if_called_on_main_thread
File "dropbox/client/config.pyc", line 300, in __getitem__
File "dropbox/client/config.pyc", line 225, in __enter__
File "dropbox/client/config.pyc", line 209, in __cursor
File "dropbox/sqlite3_helpers.pyc", line 632, in conn
dropbox.sqlite3_exceptions.ConnectionClosedError: Already closed!

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 1220, in boot_error
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 6948, in get_dropbox_path
File "dropbox/client/configuration/manager.pyc", line 357, in get_dropbox_path
File "dropbox/client/config.pyc", line 329, in __len__
File "dropbox/client/config.pyc", line 225, in __enter__
File "dropbox/client/config.pyc", line 209, in __cursor
File "dropbox/sqlite3_helpers.pyc", line 632, in conn
dropbox.sqlite3_exceptions.ConnectionClosedError: Already closed!

Original traceback:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "dropbox/client/authentication/manager.pyc", line 718, in _try_register_host
File "dropbox/client/authentication/manager.pyc", line 896, in _on_register_host_success
File "dropbox/infinite/preferences.pyc", line 175, in update_local_config_from_server
File "dropbox/infinite/preferences.pyc", line 274, in _get_server_default_root_policy_unlocked
File "_collections_abc.pyc", line 660, in get
File "dropbox/gui.pyc", line 121, in _trace_warn_if_called_on_main_thread
File "dropbox/client/config.pyc", line 300, in __getitem__
File "dropbox/client/config.pyc", line 225, in __enter__
File "dropbox/client/config.pyc", line 209, in __cursor
File "dropbox/sqlite3_helpers.pyc", line 632, in conn
dropbox.sqlite3_exceptions.ConnectionClosedError: Already closed!

Здравко
Legendary | Level 20
Go to solution

Hi @insch,

Seems last "stable" build have some problems (especially work database initialization). You can try as a workaround install some earlier version (this one for example) to ensure consistent initialization and at next update (auto) everything would work properly. :wink: Use Offline installer to be sure that currently installed version will not be downloaded immediately and will let initialization complete (before auto update). Try at least...

Daphne
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

Hey @insch, thanks for sharing the error message!

To have a better look into this with device specific info, I've reached out to your email address associated with your profile. Please just check your inbox when you have a moment and we'll go from there if you'd like.

Thanks!


Daphne
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, please give it a Like below.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Tips & Tricks Find new ways to stay in flow or share your tips on how you work smarter with Dropbox.

insch
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

Thanks Daphne

I have replied to your email. I am keen to get this resolved soon.

Best, Phil

Lusil
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

Hi there @insch

I just wanted to follow up on this and check if you were able to resolve this in the end. If you were, could you let us know what did the trick for you?

Thanks! :slight_smile:


Lusil
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, please give it a Like below.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Tips & Tricks Find new ways to stay in flow or share your tips on how you work smarter with Dropbox.

insch
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

I did get it resolved, thanks. I had to follow a very specific method to re-install Dropbox. My first attempts to do that had not worked. This was the solution:

1.Restart your computer, holding down command+R to enter Recovery Mode

2.Open your Terminal app (Located at /Applications/Utilities/Terminal)

3.Copy and paste the following line into the Terminal. PLEASE make sure you copy and paste the command (don't type it by hand). You'll be prompted for your computer's admin password (not your Dropbox password) after entering the command. Keep in mind that the password field in the terminal will remain blank as you type your password. After you type it, just press ENTER. You'll know that these instructions complete normally once the initial line of text (called prompt) comes up again:

spctl kext-consent add G7HH3F8CAK

If the command returns an error or does not respond after an hour, you may want to restart your computer and try these steps again.

4.After this you can restart the machine, and let it load as normal. Once restarted, you can re-install Dropbox again (basic reinstall this time, pasted below). When Dropbox has finished installing, while it will not prompt you again to install Smart Sync, the required components will now be present on your machine.

You should now be able to proceed with using Smart Sync without further issue.

Basic reinstall: 

First, make sure you save and quit ALL programs that access files in the Dropbox folder.

Here are the steps:

  1. Download the newest version:


https://www.dropbox.com/downloading

  1. Stop Dropbox (If needed):

 

  • Click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar at the top of your screen
  • Click on your profile picture or initials to the right of the search bar and select 'Quit Dropbox'

 

  1. Delete the Dropbox application from the Applications folder. You may need to provide your computer password in order to perform this action.

  2. Reinstall the Dropbox desktop application

 

  • Open the Dropbox .dmg file and double click the Dropbox icon.
  • Dropbox should appear in your menu bar.
Need more support?