Dropbox is compatible with Ext4 but doesn't recognize ext4 drive?

[Axiom2018]

So, like most Linux users, I've gotten the message about needing to upgrade to an ext4 drive. I had an extra drive in my machine with nothing on it so I formatted it to ext4. I rebooted then went into my prefs to change location and it tells me:

To sync your Dropbox, move your Dropbox folder to a partition with a compatible File System. Dropbox is compatible with Ext4.

So, when is an ext4 drive not an ext4 drive?

I'm using v55.4.171

[Walter]

Hey there @Axiom2018 - sorry to hear about this.

If you have formatted your drive to be ext4 you shouldn't be getting this message.  Note that if you received a notification and you are running ext4, it may be because you are also running ecryptfs. Ecrypfts is not supported. 

Could this be the reason behind this? 

[Axiom2018]

Hi.

No, ecrypt is not running, it's actually not even installed.  Here's the df -Th output

/dev/sdb1      ext4      459G   70M  435G   1% /media/daryl/storage500GB

I read somewhere here about having it on the same drive as / , is that correct? If so, I'm not going to format my system just to use dropbox.

I also checked and removed an old install from 2 years ago thinking it could have been that machine (not likely in my mind since the app wouldn't let me select the drive in my current machine but who knows) and still have the same issue.

[Walter]

Thanks for the update @Axiom2018!

Have you tried installing our software normally and then point the Dropbox folder to the drive you'll be using ( the ext4 )?  If so, are you still getting this message? 

Also, could you please verify that your device's setup is meeting our minimum requirements and that it's actually supported? 

[Axiom2018]

Hi Walter

The software is currently working and has for years on the same set up.  Only issue is with the ext4 drive

GTK2-engines 2.20.2-3

Glib 2.42

Libnotify 0.7.6-2

Libappindicator 0.4.92-3.1 (latest version)

Nautilus 3.14.1-2

Dropbox 2015.10.28

/home/XXXXXXXXX# cat /proc/version
Linux version 3.16.0-4-amd64 (debian-kernel@lists.debian.org) (gcc version 4.8.4 (Debian 4.8.4-1) ) #1 SMP Debian 3.16.51-3 (2017-12-13)

[Axiom2018]

Ok, I did uninstall and reinstall the software with a fresh download from the site. I went in to change the location and same issue

[Walter]

Thank you for the additional information @Axiom2018 - much appreciated. 

While we don’t officially support Debian, people have reported building from source on Debian. Your results may vary though. As long as your drive is formatted in ext4, you should be fine. 

Also note that Dropbox uses Qt 5.5, and as such needs the following software to work on desktop environments:

• GTK 2.12 or higher
• Glib 2.22 or higher
• Libnotify 0.4.4 or higher
• Libappindicator 1.0 or higher
• Nautilus 2.30.0 or higher. 

I know this is not much but I sure hope it helps to some extent. Let me know how this goes. 

[Axiom2018]

Hi Walter

I'm using Debian Sid and there is no Libappindicator 1.0. As it is currently working with version 0.49, I don't think that's the issue. I think the issue is your software is saying it needs to have the folder on an ext4 drive but the software is almost 3 years old and has a bug in it since it can't see 2 different ext4 drives.

I can try and compile from source but if it installs the v55 I have now, I don't see it making much of a difference.

[Walter]

I'd hate to speculate about this as it's not officially supported at the moment @Axiom2018 - do keep me posted on your findings though; I'd appreciate it. 

If there's anything I can do to help in the meantime, please let me know.

[Jeroen O.]

I have a sneaking suspicion that Dropbox checks the location of the binary (/usr/bin/dropbox). I run a recent Ubuntu version with nautilus-dropbox installed. The root partition is ext3, the separate /home partition is ext4 so it should be good, yet Dropbox complains. I hope somebody can confirm this.