Disaster: Dropbox removing external disk support for Mac users :(

[Jon C.10]

In case anyone's unaware... if you're a Mac user storing your Dropbox on an external drive, you'll shortly lose that ability.

https://talk.tidbits.com/t/dropbox-drops-support-for-storing-files-on-an-external-drive-and-onedrive...

https://help.dropbox.com/installs/macos-support-for-expected-changes

Just confirmed this with DB support (see below).  Gutted - been with Dropbox for years and our entire video team flow is based around it 😕

>Hi there, I read today that you are scrapping the ability to store the Dropbox folder on external disks, on OSX. I'd like to ask more about this please.

> Hello Jon, and thank you for contacting Dropbox Support. My name is Joseph, and I will be more than happy to look into your request, right away.  

That is correct Jon, as part of the Dropbox for macOS update, the Dropbox folder must be located in ~/Library/CloudStorage.

>This is a showstopper for us, and will mean we have to move to another service. We have a large distributed team using DB for video work, no way it'll fit within internal drives.
Is there a workaround?

> I totally understand and I apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, there is no workaround on this as changing the location of your Dropbox folder is no longer supported by macOS.

>This change doesn't seem to have hit us yet - we're running a variety of machines inc Ventura
What will trigger its enforcement? Can we stay on an earlier OS or Dropbox version?

>The updates happening automatically every time the Dropbox app is restarting, for example if your device never restarts it should maintain the older version but we can't guarantee full functionality on older versions of the application.

>So what will happen - if we have a Dropbox folder on an 8TB drive and a tiny internal drive - will it try to clone stuff across and eat up the space? What's the mechanism?

>That's right, it will try to move the content on your internal drive until it has no space and gives you an error.

>Is Smartsync still supported? I.e. will it move stuff to being online only if it won't fit?

>It is, however it is now known as online-only.

[beenyweenies]

Synology NAS includes a tool called Hyper Backup that allows you to back up specified folders on your NAS to any compatible resource. IDrive gives you a special key you can input into hyper drive and backups will automatically occur on whatever schedule you like.

You can also back up to Dropbox, Google Drive and other cloud providers. In fact, you can have Dropbox sync with your NAS just like we want to do with external drives here in this thread using Synology software. But given that I have almost 8TB of data and growing every day, I choose IDrive because it has large storage options for a fraction of the cost of those providers. E2 is basically just backup storage for redundancy, you wouldn't want to use it like Dropbox, that's what the NAS is for.

[shinbeth]

@beenyweenies I still believe I was perfectly clear. Let's take another example with large Kontakt music libraries, which can reach up to 150GB. Even with the best external SSDs from SanDisk, which are supposed to be super fast, there's a noticeable lag compared to the MacBook's internal drive. This matters a lot in my line of work, especially for tasks like processing machine learning models, where disk speed directly impacts efficiency and performance. I don't have time for slow drives. But apparently you do have time to waste.

As for your comment, "my TM backups are just created on my NAS, then backed up to the iDrive, so I have incredible redundancy built in," I see your point. However, to me, it sounds like a spaghetti setup - tangled and not straightforward.

And regarding the monitor connection, when you say, "You make it sound like it’s some risky, cumbersome, inconvenient thing to deal with. How is your machine connected to your external monitor? A cable. Not a big deal. Not risky. Not inconvenient," I must clarify. I wasn't talking about risk; I was emphasizing the inconvenience and redundancy. Yes, I have an Apple Studio Monitor, and yes, connecting it is an option. But it's just that - inconvenient. My setup is minimalist, with just my high-end M3 and the Apple Studio Monitor. No wires, no mess.

Furthermore, it seems like you might not fully grasp the complexity of my work, which is a whole different ballgame. It appears we're not quite in the same league, and frankly, your understanding seems to be at a fifth-grade level, which really disqualifies you from making further comments on this matter.

[shinbeth]

@ArthurPix It's downright hilarious, @beenyweenies. You've been at it for a year, still scratching your head over auto-backups to the cloud, and then have the audacity to critique my setup as if it's not up to par? That's rich! Your inability to navigate what should be a straightforward process, and then turning around to question my (most straightforward and logical) way of doing things? That's comedy gold. Maybe focus on getting your own house in order before casting doubts on others. It's like the blind leading the blind, only you're alone in the dark, buddy. Hahahaha.

[shinbeth]

You know @ArthurPix the whole cable thing is hilarious to me. I'm over here living the dream with Dropbox and my trusty Mac drive—no wires, no drama. And then there's you, with your high-tech setup, which, if I recall correctly, took a nosedive that one time. Quite the adventure, huh? Props for owning up to it, though. It's like a tech horror story, but with a good sport as the protagonist.

[GetUp]

Hi, im sorry, how to downgrade to old API? Im on SOnoma on 4 macs here...

[Nederkoorn]

You can't mean this, can you? We pay for this! I want to be able to decide where I want to store my files, right?
Apple or you don't have to interfere with that, do you?
Internal drives are far too small, so the option to synchronize your Dropbox on an external drive should be back very soon.
I'm really outraged by this... this really doesn't make any sense!

[ArthurPix]

@Nederkoorn I’m not sure to whom you are directing this complaint but I hope it’s not me, because we are in complete agreement.

[jakobsjobom]

@ArthurPix I guess it's towards @dropbox  right? I also agree to the criticism (against them) – this situation is a disaster. And the lack of communication is beyond unprofessional. And, there seems to be conflicting info depending on who you speak to. I personally have heard from the DB support that they ar NOT working on a solution, whereas other support staff members have stated that they indeed ARE working on it. Who knows? It really sucks.

[ben_k]

@GetUp - I think you’ll have to reinstall Dropbox.
When I setup a new Sonoma Mac in December it used the old API by default and gave me the option to upgrade to File Provider.

[juliolio]

I think the lack of clear communication on a situation over a year old, encouraging the mostly professional user side to maintain an increasingly untenable legacy setup is borderline criminal. If anyone has a suggestion for a service that functions well for Mac Pro users with external drives please let us know as I will be jumping ship in the coming months if there’s not clear indication soon.