Syncing is stuck, and issues with installation on my device.

[vpierrev]

Hi Dropbox.

I'm a 10+ years paying customer.

I'm getting more and more frustrated with the service you offer, and feel as much friction with it as with the Adobe suite back in the days: This means i loose A LOT of time trying to fix issues, my computer have often sub par to almost unusable performances because of your app synching hundreds of thousands of files once a week, and now i can't even install the desktop app properly because your installer is stuck and unresponsive.

Today it's been two hours of work time dedicated to trying to resolve the infamous syncing bug (which i've battle with many times already).

I think i'm gonna leave you and go somewhere else.

Too many bugs, too many new functionalities selected by default without my consent, etc etc.

I don't know what's going on inside your org, but things feel as broken as they can be.

That's it for today.

[Megan]

Hey @vpierrev, sorry to hear about that! 

I don't know if you've already made your decision, but I am here to assist in any way possible. 

You mentioned you had some trouble installing the app, and also mentioned that your syncing status was stuck. 

As a first step, can you clarify if you managed to install the app successfully? If so, feel free to let me know the app's syncing status and version that you're using. 

How long is the app stuck syncing content?

Let me know more, and we'll take it from there!

[vpierrev]

Hi Megan

Thanks for your reply.

To name a few just these past months:

- Indexation happen every 10 days or less, my computer takes more than 2 full days to index 350000+ files. In the meantime i can barely use it for professional matters.

- Full Sync happens also very often (and following indexation), usually resolved in a day, but it gets stuck a lot = many hours trying to debug.

- Since a few months, the desktop app is launching with a lot of errors, sometimes still "launching" after a full hour past booting. When i try to close / relaunch it gets stuck, sometimes with the app window being open with no means of closing it. I'm then forced to restart my computer.

- When i try to reinstall the desktop app to the last version (as often said to be a working solution to many bugs), i'm facing a file who doesn't open, stuck in the "launching" phase. At the time of my first post, i've tried to install the desktop app more than 10+ times, which took me more than an hour of work time. When made the difference between the 10th time and the 9 first? I still don't know, because at some point the file decided it was time to fully launch.

- Last but not least, there was a few service updates (notably the option "only store the files online") that came with the app update as automatically selected. I realized my files (and work files) weren't on my computer rather quickly but it was a very unpleasant surprise. Personal and professional files are an important matter, consent should be the norm when you decide it's ok to move them only on your servers, while keeping just a link on my computer. I'm def not anti-change, i just want to be asked if that's ok or not when it's about moving a lot of files online-only.

All in all, for a service that should run invisible in the background, Dropbox is now in my long experience of your org, a time sink and the definition of a very buggy and strange software.

[vpierrev]

Version: v186.4.6207

[vpierrev]

Side note: indexing started again after finishing two days ago.

[Walter]

Hey there @vpierrev - sorry to jump in here and thank you for all the additional information and sharing your thoughts on this too. 

Could you maybe send us a screenshot of the app's status as shown in your menu bar at the moment so that we can have a visual too?

Also, could you clarify your device's exact OS version and how many files you've got syncing locally on your computer approximately? 

Have you tried fixing your hardlinks and permissions since you first noticed this issue by the way?

[vpierrev]

Hi @Walter sorry i wanted to reply to your comment but it it launched the 'accepted resolution' i don't know why.

So, to answer your questions:

- Pictures below.

-I'm on MacOS Ventura 13.6.1

- I have around 350 000 files indexing, syncing is somewhat the same.

- Tried fixing hardlinks and permissions with the option+alt trick, the process doesn't start even if i click a million times on the button.

- Also, i've discovered this : my actual storage and how Dropbox perceive it.

[vpierrev]

 Hi again, just a quick reply (now that it works again) to tell you i've answered all your questions, and that since yesterday i've succeeded in fixing hardlinks and permissions. Now Indexing is stuck at the initialization stage.

[vpierrev]

Hi again.

I have a feeling my main problem is a storage bug, because when i move all my files online the sync goes forward until it blocks again. As far as i'm concerned, i still can't access a lot of files because it's stuck indexing or syncing. I've reinstalled a zillion times, logged unlogged, fixed permissions and hard links again and again, my total dropbox storage is around 700Go (on a 2To plan) with a lot of raw video files online-only, while my HD still has 300Go available.

I have space on my computer, yet the app thinks it's full, i guess.
I've checked all the posts on this, to no avail.

Guys, i've spent way to much time on this, and it costed me a lot of money as i don't work in the meantime. It's really bad.

[Walter]

Could you try using the selective sync feature to un-sync some folders from your computer (as this would lessen the app's load) and let us know how it goes @vpierrev? 

The app's performance might start to decline when you locally sync more than 300,000 files on your computer, that's why I'm suggesting this.