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Syncing is stuck on a Mac. What could be the culprit here?

Syncing is stuck on a Mac. What could be the culprit here?

robynphd
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution

I have a Mac Air (photo attached includes system data). I have noticed for the last two days that the DropBox desktop icon is constantly syncing three files. I have no "blue icons" in my Dropbox folders. I have tried the following:

1) stopping the sync and restarting...nothing changed

2) stopping dropbox and reloading exising app...nothing changed

3) updated dropbox and loaded it on computer...nothing changed

HELP...this is occupying valuable CPU bandwidth and slowing my computer down.

Screen Shot 2019-10-31 at 11.21.04 AM.png

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

Jane
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Hey @WolfgangHaak, I’ve moved your post here, as the two descriptions are very similar & I’d like to see if the troubleshooting posted here fixes this issue for you. Could you have a quick look on our suggestions above?
 
There’s also a new Stable Build that was released just yesterday → (Stable Build 84.4.170). Could you give it a go if it’s not too much trouble & see if this gets the syncing issue sorted? 
 
Thanks again & please let us know of the outcome here!

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

Heart Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below. 
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View solution in original post

30 Replies 30

Здравко
Legendary | Level 20
Go to solution

Try also the command:

chmod -R u+rw ~/Dropbox

Are some errors reported? :thinking: If Dropbox directory has been moved, use the proper path.

Hope this gives some direction.

PS: Check also results (if any) coming from:

ls -alRP ~/Dropbox | grep " -> "

 

Jane
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Hey @robynphd, thanks for taking the time to work on that & letting us know of the outcome here! 
 
If I were in your shoes, I'd unlink & relink my account once, since it recreates the local database. Can you clarify if you’ve already tried following these steps if it’s not too much trouble for you? 
 
Zdravko’s suggestion could also be helpful. If you’re not very confident with the terminal, you could also check out the steps below. Please note that it is very important to follow these steps specifically as failure to do so may result in other issues:
 
#1. Make sure the Dropbox desktop application is running & click on the Dropbox icon in your menu bar. → Then click next to your profile picture in the Notifications panel. 
#2. Select 'Preferences' & then navigate on the 'Account' tab.
#3. Hold down the 'Option/Alt' key. 
#4. Click on the 'Fix Permissions' button (make sure you're still holding down the 'Option/Alt' key). 
#5. You may be prompted for your a username and password, this is your computer login credentials, not your Dropbox account ones. 
 
Once you get a chance to have a look at our pointers, please keep us updated on the results!

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

Heart Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below. 
:white_check_mark: Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Best Answer' button to help others find it.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question! (
Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)

robynphd
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution

No errors reported. Not sure I put the commands in correctly:  See photos of terminal box and directory structure on my computer. Note the blue syncing icon shows up on the directory but not in any of the folders...sigh...Screen Shot 2019-10-31 at 12.10.47 PM.pngScreen Shot 2019-10-31 at 12.10.33 PM.png

Здравко
Legendary | Level 20
Go to solution

That's fine! :wink: What about the second "proposal"? :thinking:

robynphd
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution

...and no response to the last command listed in the PS

I'll try Jane's recommendations later on...busy right now with work stuff!

 

Здравко
Legendary | Level 20
Go to solution

Ok, What you see is fine again. Bad thing is there is some other problem. As a last move take a look here, when you have some time.

Hope that will help.

PS: Would be fine to try following commands also (to ensure there a no any locks left)|:

sudo chflags -R noschg "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"
sudo chflags -R nouchg "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"
sudo chown -R "$USER" "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"

Will be asked for your password (sudo).

WolfgangHaak
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution

Hello,

since the last update to Catalina 10.15.1 and dropbox 83.4.152 my dropbox icon appears to be stuck syncing on six files, see screenshot here:

Screenshot 2019-10-31 at 18.22.01.png

I have gone through dropbox and have checked all folders and files for the green sync symbol. All seems fine there in perfectly in sync. I also went through the answers here, but have not found a solution that'll fix my problem.

I should also mention that my desktop computer (not latest updates) at work is synced to the same dropbox folder with the same account name, and there everything is fine. So my guess is that something with the updates is causing this glitch.

Also

And yes, I have restarted my laptop already.

Thanks

Wolfgang

Jane
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Hey @WolfgangHaak, I’ve moved your post here, as the two descriptions are very similar & I’d like to see if the troubleshooting posted here fixes this issue for you. Could you have a quick look on our suggestions above?
 
There’s also a new Stable Build that was released just yesterday → (Stable Build 84.4.170). Could you give it a go if it’s not too much trouble & see if this gets the syncing issue sorted? 
 
Thanks again & please let us know of the outcome here!

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

Heart Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below. 
:white_check_mark: Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Best Answer' button to help others find it.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question! (
Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)

robynphd
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution

FIXED! YAHOOOOOOOOO! Thank you!

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