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Dropbox Backup can't find external hard drives - Mac Ventura 13.0.1

Hi everyone, I've seen people have a similar issue but haven't found a workaround.

I'm planning to backup a couple of hard drives using the Dropbox backup option. But when I use the desktop app (or try do this via browser) Dropbox doesn't show me the option to choose these drives (although they are connected and and show in Finder).

Any advice for me?

Here is the situation:

Screenshot 2022-11-26 at 12.41.07.png

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Jay

Hi @danielstarrason, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

What is the current size of the external drive, and how much is currently being used on the drive itself?

This will help me to assist further!

danielstarrason

Hi Jay, thanks for your reply.

I have three drives connected, one in 1TB connected straight to computer with thunderbolt. Two are 8TB drives connected with USB3 with docking stations.

Each one are pretty much filled with data.

Jay

Are these all the drives that aren't appearing on the Dropbox Backup prompt, or only specific drives?

What file systems are the drives formatted in?

danielstarrason

They are all Mac OS Extended.

Since I've been meaning to set up my backup I haven't seen a drive connected to DropBox, now I remember though when I connected to my personal account it saw the hard drives. But I have to use my Advanced account for this.

Nancy

Hey Daniel, I hope you’re doing well.

Can you please clarify for me what’s the app version of your desktop app, as well as its current syncing status?

danielstarrason

Hi Nancy, thanks for your reply.

Everything is up to date as current syncing status shows.

Here is my current version:

Screenshot 2022-11-29 at 17.16.09.png

Thanks!

Megan

Hi @danielstarrason, sorry to jump in here!

Just keep in mind that this feature only supports external drives with filesystem type APFS or HFS+ for Macs. There's no chance the drives are formatted differently, right?

Also, can you check for a .dbxignore and .dropbox.device, which are in the root folder of your external drive, and delete them?

Afterwards, disconnect the drive and reconnect it.

danielstarrason

Thanks Megan, now we're getting somewhere!

Plugged in an old drive, formatted as APFS and it's working like it should! Is DropBox not equipped to make a backup of MacOS Extended formatted disks?

Screenshot 2022-11-29 at 22.14.20.png

Megan

Hi @danielstarrason, it depends on the format they use.

Usually, Mac OS extended drives use the Mac format HFS+, isn't that the case for your drives?

danielstarrason

Hi everyone, I'm still struggling with Dropbox Backup. With some success I've backed up some of my hard drives but as I was adding more I had this stopping me.

Screenshot 2022-12-14 at 17.58.34.png

I'm using DropBox for Business as a 4 member team, only devices I connect to my DropBox are my computer and my phone.

Any advice for me?

Best wishes, Daníel

danielstarrason

Hi Megan and thans, yes some are and some work great while some don't.

Is this an error on the FAQ site?

Screenshot 2022-12-14 at 18.04.23.png

Rich

@danielstarrason wrote:
With some success I've backed up some of my hard drives but as I was adding more I had this stopping me. ... I'm using DropBox for Business as a 4 member team ...

How many drives have you backed up so far? The number of external drive backups you can create on a Team account is equivalent to the number of licenses you have. If you have four licenses, you can create four external drive backups.

https://help.dropbox.com/organize/manage-team-backup