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Dropbox is stuck syncing after an update, what can I do?

Dropbox is stuck syncing after an update, what can I do?

Shawn B.14
Helpful | Level 6

I have the "Dropbox Plus" subscription and I run the client on 4 computers.

 

Yesterday (Monday, 13-Jan-2020) I signed onto my desktop (which is always on) and has a full local sync of my dropbox that a number of new files added Saturday had big red Xs on them -- JPEGs I had scanned Saturday and which were in sync to my laptop on Sunday morning.

I checked my other workstation (also always on) and Dropbox wasn't even running.  I launched it, and it pretty immediately ran a "one time update".   Once this completed, it appeared to go into a full-on sync mode, indexing thousands of files and downloading thousands more (my total dropbox footprint is ~17k files, 600 GB of data).  This has been running for 24 hours without making any apparent progress, despite the drive being materially in sync with my first workstation (using BeyondCompare to check).  Plus not enough system activity to indicate any actual indexing or download was taking place.

I paused workstation 2, uninstalled dropbox on workstation 1 and reinstalled it.  Just prior to this, workstation 1 was "stuck" uploading 2 files and downloading 7 files, which it had been on since last night.

Workstation 1 now shows "indexing" for around 8k files and "downloading" for 9k files.  Trouble is, Resource Monitor doesn't show disk activity or network activity for that kind of activity.

What's going on?  I was perfectly in sync as of Saturday morning and over the last 24 hours it's gotten bad.

Oddly, my laptop ("laptop 1") is apparently fine, showing more or less normal sync status as far as I can tell (and is on build 88.4.172).

165 Replies 165

Ronald H.
Helpful | Level 6

Dear Trevor R.7:

Thank you for sharing your experience!

I am a Boxifier user. Are you saying that the latest version of Dropbox and Boxifier are no longer compatible?

This is strange, because I have been able to install Dropbox v 87.* release and it still is stuck on "syncing" without number for a week now on one of my two Boxifier computers.

I am just wondering where to turn: Dropbox or Boxifier

Thank you!

Trevor R.7
Helpful | Level 5

@Ronald H.

Boxifier works with Dropbox and is still a good solution.

Windows File History, which I was unaware of until today, is independent of Dropbox. I suspect that File History will be my primary method to automatically backup folders that are outside Dropbox.

Regarding your issue, have you checked that you don't have any symlinks that are causing your syncing to be stuck? Dropbox livechat will walk you through what to do.

MaxLebled
Helpful | Level 6

Recently I've had the initial starting/indexing bit take ten minutes, instead of ten seconds. I'm not sure when it started happening exactly, but I'm positive it was in the last two weeks, much like many of the users here.

Note that I use two symbolic links with Dropbox... but they are FROM my Dropbox TO another location. That is to say, I am using the symlink to present e.g. D:/Dropbox/blah/ as C:/.../.../.../.../blah/. (The folder icon with the shortcut icon added to it is outside Dropbox.) So as far as I understand things, the actual symbolic links are outside Dropbox. This may be an important detail.

I guess I was fortunate enough to have the app merely be very slow instead of stuck... where it gets very interesting is that this is happening on a laptop I have not touched during that time, so my best guess is that it's something wrong in the Dropbox app.

Like others, I am seeing basically 0 drive activity and 100% usage on one core during this issue.

Once the app gets past "Starting..." (which takes about a minute), it then gets stuck on "Indexing 1 file" (displayed as "Syncing 1 file" in the expanded tray) for about 3 to 4 minutes. It then goes to just "Syncing..." for 2 or 3 more minutes.

Using Resource Monitor, I see Dropbox calling for the following files:

During "startup":

perfmon_2020-01-25_14-31-07.png

During "indexing 1 file..."

perfmon_2020-01-25_14-34-01.png

Let me know if there is any additional information I can provide (logs etc)

Thanks.

Siwinis
Helpful | Level 5

Look into Syncovery as another alternative. It can also help as a stop gap to at least backup your files into Dropbox will this sync issue persists. 

Matt F.16
Collaborator | Level 9

For the past 8 hours my machine has been stuck at...

Syncing 723 files
Uploading 390 files...
Downloading 333 files...

Dropboxd is currently using 100% of a core, 10GB of RAM, and is at 462 minutes on the CPU. I'm not optimistic.

Matt F.16
Collaborator | Level 9

This seems to indicate Dropbox is not actually syncing my files:

$> lsof -p <dropbox pid> 

COMMAND   PID USER   FD      TYPE             DEVICE  SIZE/OFF     NODE NAME
dropbox 30902 matt  cwd       DIR                8,2      4096 63176758 /home/matt
dropbox 30902 matt  rtd       DIR                8,2      4096        2 /
dropbox 30902 matt  txt       REG                8,2  11181752 63177210 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/dropbox
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   4033420 20187078 /usr/share/fonts/truetype/droid/DroidSansFallbackFull.ttf
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    757076 20187044 /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSans.ttf
dropbox 30902 matt  mem-W     REG                8,2  10485760 63177021 /home/matt/.dropbox/logs/1/1-6013-5e2b6f23.tmp
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    101168 81269470 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libresolv-2.27.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     26936 81269448 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libnss_dns-2.27.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     97176 81269446 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libnsl-2.27.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     47576 81269451 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libnss_nis-2.27.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     39744 81269447 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libnss_compat-2.27.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     84032 81269422 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgpg-error.so.0.22.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   1159864 81264667 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgcrypt.so.20.2.1
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    112672 15472430 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/liblz4.so.1.7.1
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    153984 81269433 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/liblzma.so.5.2.2
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    536648 81264984 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libsystemd.so.0.21.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    313496 81264967 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libdbus-1.so.3.19.4
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   3779465 63176906 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/resources/resources_images.rcc
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     39240 15474924 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXcursor.so.1.0.2
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     47568 81269449 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libnss_files-2.27.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    202672 15472534 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpng16.so.16.34.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    202880 81265008 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libexpat.so.1.6.7
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     27112 81264806 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libuuid.so.1.3.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     39448 15473573 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXrender.so.1.3.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    735704 15472385 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfreetype.so.6.15.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    281984 15473487 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfontconfig.so.1.10.1
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     97952 15467408 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libICE.so.6.3.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     30960 15467703 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libSM.so.6.0.1
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   1410856 63176975 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libQt5XcbQpa.so.5
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   6983864 63177204 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libQt5Widgets.so.5
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   5404096 63177223 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/PyQt5.QtWidgets.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    213824 63177202 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/PyQt5.QtDBus.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   4186752 63177186 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libQt5Network.so.5
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    776480 63177196 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/PyQt5.QtNetwork.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     80104 81264669 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libbsd.so.0.8.7
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     22616 15472349 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXdmcp.so.6.0.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     14456 15472348 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXau.so.6.0.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     55640 63177002 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libdrm.so.2
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     22784 15468798 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXxf86vm.so.1.0.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2      6160 15474692 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxshmfence.so.1.0.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    162232 15468761 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxcb.so.1.1.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     26712 15470185 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxcb-sync.so.1.0.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     10296 15467366 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxcb-present.so.0.0.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     14408 15467362 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxcb-dri3.so.0.0.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     18488 15466728 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxcb-dri2.so.0.0.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    108600 15475517 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxcb-glx.so.0.0.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   1277384 15466709 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libX11.so.6.3.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2      5992 63176995 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libX11-xcb.so.1
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     22640 15472975 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXfixes.so.3.1.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     10272 15474926 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXdamage.so.1.1.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     73640 15472350 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXext.so.6.4.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    211192 15468297 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglapi.so.0.0.0
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    413968 63177209 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libGL.so.1
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   6304008 63177199 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libQt5Gui.so.5
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   3225712 63177188 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/PyQt5.QtGui.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    127984 63176901 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/sip.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    521128 63176900 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libQt5DBus.so.5
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    464824 81269461 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpcre.so.3.13.3
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   1137968 15467206 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglib-2.0.so.0.5600.4
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2      5984 15467830 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgthread-2.0.so.0.5600.4
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2  16011928 63177195 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libicudata.so.42
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   1504304 63177184 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libicuuc.so.42
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   1685512 63177227 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libicui18n.so.42
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   5515832 63177185 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libQt5Core.so.5
dropbox 30902 matt  mem-W     REG                8,2  10485760 63176777 /home/matt/.dropbox/logs/1/1-9a5b-5e2b6f21.tmp
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    116960 81269487 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1.2.11
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   2849072 63177224 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/PyQt5.QtCore.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     11436 63176893 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libdropbox_sqlite_ext.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     27930 63176993 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libdropbox_tprt.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     26704 63177205 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libatomic.so.1
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    108424 63177193 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/tprt.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2  27343308 63177187 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libdropbox_nucleus.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   1594864 15467142 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.25
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     92400 63177180 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/nucleus_python.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     32024 63177192 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/_yappi.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     10200 63177211 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/linuxffi_gnu_native.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     10392 63177197 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/posixffi_libc_native.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     10312 63176973 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/linuxffi_sys_native.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     56024 63177206 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/librsync.so.1
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     14584 63177208 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/librsyncffi_native.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2      6080 63177201 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/linuxffi_resolv_native.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2      6352 63176985 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/tornado.speedups.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     96616 81264982 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgcc_s.so.1
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     31680 81269471 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/librt-2.27.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   8624422 63176984 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libdropbox_apex.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     44056 63177200 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/apex._apex.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     10208 63176994 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/cpuid_native.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     10208 63177203 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/linuxffi_pthread_native.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     14864 63176966 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/psutil._psutil_posix.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     23760 63177213 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/psutil._psutil_linux.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    350992 63176911 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/_decimal.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     78408 63176990 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/fastpath.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    131176 63177212 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/_ctypes.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     10448 63176910 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._padding.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   3545904 63177198 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._openssl.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     44448 29364817 /var/cache/fontconfig/945677eb7aeaf62f1d50efc3fb3ec7d8-le64.cache-7
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     39280 63177194 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/libffi.so.6
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    203856 63177222 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/_cffi_backend.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     10472 63177181 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._constant_time.cpython-37m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2      2112 29364824 /var/cache/fontconfig/0bd3dc0958fa2205aaaa8ebb13e2872b-le64.cache-7
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     15272 29364816 /var/cache/fontconfig/d589a48862398ed80a3d6066f4f56f4c-le64.cache-7
dropbox 30902 matt  mem-r     REG                8,2     32768 63176779 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/sync/nucleus.sqlite3-shm
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   2030544 81269402 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc-2.27.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    144976 81269467 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread-2.27.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   1700792 81269435 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm-2.27.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     10592 81269484 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libutil-2.27.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     14560 81269413 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libdl-2.27.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2    170960 81269390 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ld-2.27.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2      3320 29364823 /var/cache/fontconfig/3f7329c5293ffd510edef78f73874cfd-le64.cache-7
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     26011 63176907 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/resources/resources_qml.rcc
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     10712 63177221 /home/matt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-89.4.278/plugins/platforms/libqxcb.so
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2   1683056 15472674 /usr/lib/locale/locale-archive
dropbox 30902 matt  mem       REG                8,2     26376 15599392 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gconv/gconv-modules.cache
dropbox 30902 matt    0u      CHR             136,11       0t0       14 /dev/pts/11
dropbox 30902 matt    1w      CHR                1,3       0t0        6 /dev/null
dropbox 30902 matt    2u      CHR             136,11       0t0       14 /dev/pts/11
dropbox 30902 matt    3u      REG               0,46       490       94 /tmp/dropbox-antifreeze-qSfnxU
dropbox 30902 matt    4r      CHR                1,9       0t0       11 /dev/urandom
dropbox 30902 matt    5u      REG                8,2      5120 63176890 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance_db/instance.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt    6u      REG               0,46         0      264 /tmp/#264 (deleted)
dropbox 30902 matt    7u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt    8uW     REG                8,2  10485760 63176777 /home/matt/.dropbox/logs/1/1-9a5b-5e2b6f21.tmp
dropbox 30902 matt    9u  a_inode               0,13         0    10599 [eventpoll]
dropbox 30902 matt   10r     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4931380 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   11w     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4931380 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   12u  a_inode               0,13         0    10599 [eventpoll]
dropbox 30902 matt   13r     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4933763 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   14w     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4933763 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   15u  a_inode               0,13         0    10599 [eventpoll]
dropbox 30902 matt   16r     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4932101 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   17w     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4932101 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   18u     IPv6            4933231       0t0      TCP ip6-localhost:43910->ip6-localhost:6010 (ESTABLISHED)
dropbox 30902 matt   19u  a_inode               0,13         0    10599 [eventfd]
dropbox 30902 matt   20u  a_inode               0,13         0    10599 [eventfd]
dropbox 30902 matt   21u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931438 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   22u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4932118 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   23u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4932119 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   24u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   25u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4933232 /home/matt/.dropbox/command_socket type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   26u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4933233 /home/matt/.dropbox/iface_socket type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   27u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   28u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4933234 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   29u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4933235 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   30u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4933236 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   31u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4933237 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   32u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4933238 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   33u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4933239 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   34u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931523 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   35u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931524 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   36u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931525 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   37u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931526 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   38u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931527 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   39u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931528 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   40u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931529 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   41u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931530 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   42u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931531 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   43u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931532 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   44u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931533 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   45u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931534 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   46u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931535 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   47u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931536 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   48u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931537 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   49u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931538 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   50u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931539 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   51u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931540 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   52u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931541 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   53u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931542 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   54u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931543 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   55u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931544 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   56u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931545 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   57u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931546 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   58u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931547 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   59u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  4931548 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt   60u      REG                8,2      5120 63176890 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance_db/instance.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   61u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   62u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   63u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   64u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   65u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   66u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   67u  a_inode               0,13         0    10599 [eventpoll]
dropbox 30902 matt   68u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   69r     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4933257 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   70w     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4933257 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   71r  a_inode               0,13         0    10599 inotify
dropbox 30902 matt   72u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   73uW     REG                8,2  10485760 63177021 /home/matt/.dropbox/logs/1/1-6013-5e2b6f23.tmp
dropbox 30902 matt   74u  a_inode               0,13         0    10599 [eventpoll]
dropbox 30902 matt   75r     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4932145 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   76w     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4932145 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   77u  a_inode               0,13         0    10599 [eventpoll]
dropbox 30902 matt   78r     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4933916 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   79w     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4933916 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   80uw     REG                8,2 117829632 63176764 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/sync/nucleus.sqlite3
dropbox 30902 matt   81u      REG                8,2  30096632 63176765 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/sync/nucleus.sqlite3-wal
dropbox 30902 matt   82ur     REG                8,2     32768 63176779 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/sync/nucleus.sqlite3-shm
dropbox 30902 matt   83u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   84u  a_inode               0,13         0    10599 [eventpoll]
dropbox 30902 matt   85u      REG                8,2         0 63177022 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/sync/temp/#63177022 (deleted)
dropbox 30902 matt   86u      REG                8,2         0 63177023 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/sync/temp/#63177023 (deleted)
dropbox 30902 matt   87u      REG                8,2         0 63177024 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/sync/temp/#63177024 (deleted)
dropbox 30902 matt   88u     IPv6            4933921       0t0      TCP *:db-lsp (LISTEN)
dropbox 30902 matt   89r     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4933917 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   90w     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4933917 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt   91u     IPv4            4933920       0t0      TCP *:db-lsp (LISTEN)
dropbox 30902 matt   92u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   93u     IPv4            4933277       0t0      UDP *:17500 
dropbox 30902 matt   94u      REG                8,2    736256 63176913 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/aggregation.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   95u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   96u      REG                8,2      5120 63176890 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance_db/instance.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   97u     IPv4            4933323       0t0      TCP server:37162->162.125.82.3:https (CLOSE_WAIT)
dropbox 30902 matt   98u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt   99u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  100u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  101u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  102u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  103u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  104u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  105u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  106u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  107u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  108u     IPv4            6527924       0t0      TCP server:52656->ec2-3-221-92-5.compute-1.amazonaws.com:https (CLOSE_WAIT)
dropbox 30902 matt  109r     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4932388 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt  110u     IPv4            4933373       0t0      TCP localhost:17600 (LISTEN)
dropbox 30902 matt  111u      REG                8,2    736256 63176913 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/aggregation.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  112u     IPv4            6550618       0t0      TCP server:43658->162.125.35.135:https (CLOSE_WAIT)
dropbox 30902 matt  113u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  114u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  115u     IPv4            6536489       0t0      TCP server:35914->162.125.35.134:https (ESTABLISHED)
dropbox 30902 matt  116u     IPv4            6526971       0t0      TCP server:50726->162.125.82.7:https (CLOSE_WAIT)
dropbox 30902 matt  117u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  118u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  119u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  120u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  121u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  122u     IPv4            6526963       0t0      TCP server:55206->162.125.82.3:https (CLOSE_WAIT)
dropbox 30902 matt  123u     IPv4            6556435       0t0      TCP server:60408->162.125.35.136:https (ESTABLISHED)
dropbox 30902 matt  124u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  125u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx
dropbox 30902 matt  128u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  6492147 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt  131u     unix 0x0000000000000000       0t0  6492148 type=STREAM
dropbox 30902 matt  140w     FIFO               0,12       0t0  4932388 pipe
dropbox 30902 matt  142u     IPv4            4934846       0t0      TCP localhost:17603 (LISTEN)
dropbox 30902 matt  159u      REG                8,2     52224 63176896 /home/matt/.dropbox/instance1/config.dbx

 

Trevor R.7
Helpful | Level 5

@Matt F.16 Have you tried posing your issue with Dropbox livechat? They were really good when I used them recently.

s4ndman
Helpful | Level 7

I started the migration to Onedrive and in the final files, Dropbox was synchronized normally. So, I put all the files back on Dropbox and there were no more errors.

Matt F.16
Collaborator | Level 9

Finally! SUCCESS. After 2 weeks of troubleshooting I'm "Up to date", fully sync'd.

Symptom #1: "Syncing...." (with no indication of # of files) Dropbox dies after it runs out of memory.

Root cause #1: A circular symlink that allowed for infinite path tranversal (e.g.: /root/a/b/c/d/symlinkto-b/c/d/symlinkto-b/c/d/symlinkto-b/c/d/etc..)

Solution #1: Rearrange the symlinks so they cannot be infinitely traversed.

---

Symptom #2: Stuck at "Syncing ####, Downloading ####, Uploading ####" sometimes w/ speeds like 0.1k/s. Dropbox eats memory over time but never makes progress. The point at which it gets stuck seems random.

Root cause #2: I run multiple applications within my Dropbox folder. Some of them use or create files that are not owned by the same user/process that Dropbox is using. So Dropbox doesn't have access to read *and* write to every single file that is created/updated by the applications. 

Solution #3: Ensure *EVERY* file within Dropbox's reach (including inside/past/through/beyond symlinks) is fully owned RW (read-write permissions) by the same user/account/process as the Dropbox process. The "Fix Permissions" button attempts to automate this, but who knows if it always works.

---

Key point: My system as it was before, lasted for 4-6 years worth of Dropbox updates. In the past if Dropbox couldn't read/sync/access a file, it would continue on sync'ing everything else. If I gave it READ access to the unsync'd file, that was enough, it could sync and move on.

There were obviously some significant changes to Dropbox in the past few weeks that have made it so if you have 1 single file that cannot be changed (WRITE, UPDATE) by Dropbox, it will destroy your entire sync with no indication what's going on. This is crazy, counterintuitive, and shame on Dropbox for not communicating this major change to us. 

I'm on Linux, so it's pretty straight forward to search for files that Dropbox cannot edit (+w). Windows isn't as friendly and likes to hide files, so if you're on Windows it may require some extra searching to locate the culprit(s). Be sure to try the "Fix Permissions" button and check all symlinks to see if they're circular.

To @Daphne 's credit, if I had followed her troubleshooting steps TO THE LETTER (delete all symlinks, run the custom Linux Fix Permissions script), I probably would have solved this sooner. However, the reality of live applications running on this server coupled with the fact that everything worked as-is for 4-6 years made me very skeptical. 

To Dropbox's non-credit (debt?) -- WAKE UP and provide a detailed CHANGELOG to your users like every other company on the planet. The one you give now is quite shallow and never mentioned this change. Something this significant is even worthy of a technical blog post from your engineers. I wish I could send you a bill for my 40+ hours of trouble.

Bartjeeh
Helpful | Level 5

Okay, so i decided i'd rather have dropbox running properly again then to keep my symlinks (at least till DB fixes it). 
- my symlinks are super simple, i have folders in dropbox, i need them in another directory, so i symlink them.... 

Anyways, i deleted all symlinks that had to do anything with dropbox. (and checked with NTFSlinkview.) and rebooted both pc's.  Hoping that the problem would be resolved. Sadly not the case. (i tried clicking fix permissions and hardlinks, but dropbox keeps crashing before it gets it done).

Does anyone have any tips?

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