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New version of Dropbox completely broken, need to revert to previous version.

I got a new MacBook Air 15". Used Migration Assistant. Something updated Dropbox. Everything is broken.

Specifically:

* The Dropbox.app application when launched does not open the app, but opens a Finder window to the new storage location (with no path to show where that is, but I found out from a web search).

* There is no Dropbox icon in the menu bar.

(Together those two things mean there is NO way to interact with or affect Dropbox's behavior, at all.)

* Because of a successful migration I have a complete copy of my Dropbox director and files in ~/Dropbox (where I want them; I use symbolic links in critical locations like ~/src, ~/bin, ~/.setup, ~/.bash_profile, ~/.bash_aliases, etc. to invoke folders and files stored in ~/Dropbox).

* Because of the CloudStorage location change I am *slowly* accreting a duplicate set of Dropbox files and folders.

(This is a problem, because there's only so much space on the boot volume, but I am NOT going to delete my old files while craziness is affecting the Dropbox app and these replacement files.)

The Dropbox app is 177.3.5380 (I can tell from the Finder).

This is macOS 13.4.

I'm leaving on vacation in a few days and just want my ~/Dropbox folder to properly sync across machines. Please help.

If it's really not possible to get Dropbox to behave like before, simply syncing my Macs, it'll be time to take Google Drive seriously.

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larryy

Rebooting my Mac put the Dropbox icon in the menu bar finally. It says it's a Beta release. I didn't ask for a Beta release. I don't want a Beta release. Can I please get back to the previous behavior?

If I am forced to live with this abomination for now, would it be feasible / advisable to copy the entire ~/Dropbox folder (either the folder itself or its complete contents) onto (or into) the ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox folder? Then let Dropbox sync its contents in this new location rather then re-download them all?

Jay

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

As it seems you're now on the newer version of the Dropbox desktop application for Mac OS, it can take some time for the files to migrate into the new CloudStorage location on your machine.

At this point, making any major changes to the app could affect the movement of the files. Have you noticed any difference now? Are the files still in the old folder, or have they moved over?

This will help me to assist further.

larryy

Yes, apparently I am on the new version of that app. I do NOT want to be. Is there anything I can do to fix that?

If I allow the complete Dropbox folder sync to the new CloudStorage location while the old Dropbox folder (in ~/) is still present, I'm not sure the system will have enough SSD space to run without problems. So I paused Dropbox from the small menu.

I then made a complete backup of my boot drive, so I have a full, external copy of my original Dropbox folder. And I have turned off automatic app updates. So I feel safer experimenting. Unless you have a way to revert to the original behavior or some better idea, I am going to try to MOVE (not copy) my old Dropbox folder's contents into the new Dropbox folder. Then un-pause Dropbox.

Actually, now that I think about it, if I can find a way to entirely quit and restart Dropbox I'll do that instead of pausing/un-pausing it.

If that works and I can prove the new Dropbox is syncing with my other Macs, both directions, then I just have to start the tedious process of changing a bunch of symbolic links, by hand from the command-line. Did I mention I *hate* this change? Who thought it was a good idea to force my Dropbox documents to be in a HIDDEN folder? No wonder some other bright spark thought launching the Dropbox app should do nothing but open the magic, hidden folder. Sorry, but the new design really sucks.

larryy

Question... Do the "advanced reinstall" instructions at the following link still work with the latest rev of Dropbox? It clearly indicates you can specify where the Dropbox folder resides. That would solve my biggest problem, allowing me to point Dropbox at my existing ~/Dropbox folder. Should that work or is the webpage out of sync with reality?

https://help.dropbox.com/installs/advanced-reinstall

larryy

One other tidbit, rebooting my Mac with Dropbox paused seems to have broken Dropbox in a new way, preventing it from launching at all. I'll try to attach a screen grab of the error dialog that opened on reboot:

Dropbox failure to launch dialog.png

jffgrffn

I guess I can now add my name to the list of users on macOS that have a broken Dropbox app. It has been working flawlessly for me for years, but today it won't even launch on my computer. In case it helps with the investigation, the problem was first noticed today (June 15, 2023) at around 3:30PM EST.

larryy

What a mess. I followed the "advanced reinstall" instructions precisely and successfully (but briefly) downgraded to Dropbox version 175.4.5569, and it even defaulted to using my original ~/Dropbox. But first I noticed it wasn't syncing. The nice contextual menu items were back, so I told it to Sync Next the most recent addition. Didn't work. Also, the Dropbox menu was missing.

Then a notification dialog came up:

Dropbox update notification 1.png

Mousing over it brings up a "Get Started" button:

Dropbox update notification 2.png

Not wanting to update at this time, I clicked the "X" and dismissed the dialog.

But in the background, despite automatic updates being turned off, Dropbox ignored my settings and actions and updated itself to 177.3.5390, the same as when this mess started.

Meanwhile, I now had a date-time-stamped Dropbox folder in ~/Library/CloudStorage. (With a *terrible* filename, that included the time 7:28 expressed as "7/28" -- yes, a forward slash in a unix filename. FFS, Dropbox engineers. Yes, they couldn't use ":", but "/"???)

I deleted the Dropbox folder in CloudStorage and replaced it with my ~/Dropbox folder. Apparently Dropbox was still running, despite not appearing in the menu bar, because a warning came up that my Dropbox folder was no longer where it belonged (~/Dropbox). At this point Dropbox quit running.

I'm going to reboot and see if the new Dropbox will sync properly with my old Dropbox data in its new location. Fingers crossed.

Oh, one nice trick that will help alleviate the pain of an invisible Dropbox and a hundred broken symbolic links... I made a symbolic link from the new CloudStorage Dropbox to ~/Dropbox, and for all practical purposes it looks like Dropbox is back where I want it, and my command-line environment is back to working. This will probably help a lot of others. And Dropbox might want to consider creating this link automatically. It's just this:

ln -s ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox ~/

larryy

Well, maybe in 21 hours I'll know if this worked. I rebooted, launched Dropbox manually, it showed up in the menu bar, I looked its preferences, it wouldn't let me change the location away from ~ to ~/Library/CloudStorage, probably because my symbolic link was confusing location checking. But I selected the Sync option for enabling "the updated Dropbox for macOS on File Provider", clicked through a few pages, clicked the button to start the sync, and it looks like it's working, and claims the process will take about 21 hours (which is silly, since all the files are already in place). It also looks like it's going to mess up my "Date Modified" and "Date Added" attributes for everything, but I can live with that (though it is genuine nuisance in some cases). I'm worried that my disk space still seems to be ticking down, but I can't find any duplicates anywhere, so hopefully this will finish and NOT crash the system. More later.

My worst fear is that it will corrupt all these files somehow, copying the same files over themselves, and the corruption will propagate first to the server, then to every syncing device. But I have that one complete backup I grabbed before doing any of this, and can start over if I truly must. What fun. NOT.

frralt

I am experiencing similar symptoms on MacOS that began with an update pushed at ~1PM PST; the app version is 178.2.762 according to app bundle information. I can likewise say this is the first non-functional Dropbox update in all the time that I've used it.

I cannot start Dropbox at all; Activity Monitor shows the the app has launched, but the icon doesn't appear in the menu bar, and the it quits a minute or so later (as verified with Activity Monitor). Hence, I cannot access the preferences for the app at all, and I confirmed that files are not being synced, even when the Dropbox processes are running.

I am running MacOS 12.6.7, build 21G708. Console.app shows a number of errors related to Dropbox when it launches, but I can't tell which are relevant to this issue. MacOS doesn't create a spindump for this issue as far as I can tell.

frralt

My issue seems to be fixed with a new Dropbox version: for me, the new, working version is 178.2.763. I did a standard install of the app, and it auto-updated several times until it finally installed that version

larryy

Well, it's tough to say for certain, because the following "Can't update Dropbox right now" error message was waiting for me this morning:

Dropbox Something went wrong error.png

I don't know if that means the app was trying to update itself and couldn't or something had gone wrong with the update/sync of the files in their new location. The app is still at 177.3.5390, and from @frralt's comment it's clear they've released later versions.

However, 1) the Dropbox menu is still present, 2) it claims "Your files are up to date", 3) it says there are no sync issues, and 4) I still have the right amount of free space on my hard drive. I also checked recent activity and see that files I updated on a different Mac late last night have been updated on this Mac. So I cautiously think the problem is resolved. I'm going to turn on automatic app updating again and see if I can coax it to update to 178.2.763 or higher, and hope this really is fixed.

So in quick summary, what I think fixed the problem was:

* Quit Dropbox

* Trash ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox

* Move ~/Dropbox into ~/Library/CloudStorage/

* Re-launch Dropbox

* Select and enable the Sync option to turn on "the updated Dropbox for macOS on File Provider"

* Wait for the sync to complete

And to make one's Dropbox easily accessible from the Finder and in Open/Save dialogs, create a symbolic link from the new CloudStorage location to its original location, such as:

ln -s ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox ~/Dropbox

That seemed to restore reasonably normal functionality.

Note: It's possible most of my problems were caused by a bad intermediate release of Dropbox (177.3.5390), given frralt's comment, but that symbolic link would be a lifesaver for me even if the folder move and sync had taken place smoothly.

frralt

@larryy: I'm not entirely sure, but I believe version 178.x is the current beta version. You might have luck updating to that version if you enable "Early Releases" from Account -> Settings -> General in the Dropbox web interface. The usual caveats about beta software apply, however.

Despite the version differences, I posted on this topic, because the common symptoms and timing seemed to me unlikely to be a coincidence (see also the timing described in @jffgrffn 's post). My speculation -- and it is speculation -- is that both the release and beta branches had a common security bug (or something) that was patched at roughly the same time, so both were similarly affected. However, it is entirely possible that we experienced entirely different issues that merely had similar symptoms.

In any case, it's great that we all seem to have a functional Dropbox again!

larryy

@frralt wrote:
@larryy: I'm not entirely sure, but I believe version 178.x is the current beta version. You might have luck updating to that version if you enable "Early Releases" from Account -> Settings -> General in the Dropbox web interface. The usual caveats about beta software apply, however.

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks. Not sure I want to enable beta, for the usual reasons. But might give it a try, because it turns out things are still broken. Dropbox is importing new files to my laptop (generated on a different Mac), but is NOT exporting new files from my laptop to my other Macs (or iDevices).

I checked my Dropbox folder location, and Dropbox still thinks it's in ~. It won't let me change it to ~/Library/CloudStorage because there's already a Dropbox folder there (which, of course, is true; it was the only way I could prevent it from generating a duplicate Dropbox and eating up all my disk space, and was part of what I thought was the solution, sigh). I'm out of ideas at this point.

Well, if some expert user or Dropbox staff could tell where that preference option is stored, it's conceivable I could hand edit a .plist or the like and relaunch Dropbox afterward, and it would know to just use that folder in CloudStorage. I *think* that would fix everything.

My wild speculation is that Dropbox is being triggered into action by a modification date-time change on the Dropbox folder, but the ~/Dropbox location it is currently looking at is my symlink, whose date never changes. So new files are never noticed. If I could just tell Dropbox to pay attention to ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox is might all just work.

Nothing is ever easy.

larryy

Darn, I really thought I'd found it. I quit Dropbox then edited:

~/Library/Preferences/com.getdropbox.dropbox.plist

Changed this:

	<key>EFSyncRootMountPaths</key>
	<array>
		<string>/Users/<username>/Dropbox</string>
	</array>

to this:

	<key>EFSyncRootMountPaths</key>
	<array>
		<string>/Users/<username>/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox</string>
	</array>

Where, of course, my actual username was present instead of "<username>".

Relaunched Dropbox. It quickly synced and uploaded my new file from my laptop. Yay! But...

Checking the preferences it still showed my Dropbox folder location as my home directory, and a new new file I created was not synced. So there's another preference somewhere I haven't found. Sigh. Help, please, someone from Dropbox?

larryy

Well, I surrender, but happily...

I never could find a way to hand modify Dropbox's path to the Dropbox folder. I remembered that some preferences are stored in a binary format rather than a plain text .plist format, so maybe that's why I couldn't find it.

I could find no way to tell Dropbox to store its files in ~/Library/CloudStorage using its own preferences. This produces an error saying it can't create a folder in the requested location. (Even though this obviously can happen when the new "File Provider" option is chosen.)

*But*, having gone through the "advanced reinstall", downgrading to a lower version of Dropbox, then automagically updating to 177.3.5390 (this mess started on 177.3.5380), it turns out I was able to:

* Quit Dropbox.

* Move my complete Dropbox folder out of CloudStorage, back to my home directory.

* Restart Dropbox.

Et voila. Everything is back to its original functionality, exactly as I'd like it to be. This whole nightmare seems to have been caused by an intermediate release of Dropbox that triggered the transition to "File Provider" / CloudStorage mode without my interaction or permission.

Things now appear to be stable and working correctly. I've confirmed that files are syncing to and from my nice new 15" Air, with Dropbox in my home folder. I've lost the nice, convenient contextual menus providing the various Dropbox services, which is a royal pain, but survivable. I'm not on the new "File Provider" path, but that's good for now.

I don't feel like I can mark anything as a solution. I don't know if my speculations here, about the problem being in the release cycle of the Dropbox app, are correct, and I wouldn't have had to move my Dropbox folder back from CloudStorage to my home directory if Dropbox hadn't forced it to be relocated to CloudStorage in the first place. So this is where I'll leave things, for now at least.

Helenfpm

I have the latest Mac OS and a relatively new macbook air. I changed the name of my user folder from a former clients name back to my name and now I can't launch dropbox. it's looking for the old user file name. I worked with their support live chat for hours with no luck. This is crazy that I can't even launch the app on my desktop. any suggestions? supposedly I will hear back via email from support.

Megan

Hi @Helenfpm, sorry to hear about that!

Can you send us the ticket number reference of your communication with our Support, and the start-up error you get on your end, when trying to launch the app?

Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!

larryy

@Helenfpm You should probably have started a new thread, since your problem doesn’t look related to the one I posted about, but fortunately someone from Dropbox noticed your query and is stepping up to help you.

I wanted to go ahead and make sure, though…. You did “change the name of [your] user folder” using System Settings’ “Users & Groups” settings, I hope? If you just changed the name of your home folder in the Finder (if it will even let you), the next attempt to reboot is going to be painful. Instructions for changing your username and home folder name are given here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201548

If you did somehow just change the name of the home folder, before you reboot or log out you should probably change the name back to what it was and follow the above instructions to change it correctly.

Helenfpm

Hi - I think I also started a new thread but I am not sure. I am so frustrated and I can't keep it all straight. I worked directly one on one with Apple to change the user folder name - I did NOT just change the name myself. Now you said it looks like someone stepped up to help but I don't see it?

Helenfpm

Hi Megan,

The ticket number is #22429141.

When I open the dropbox app on my macbook air (after dropbox support via chat guided me on uninstalling the dropbox app and reinstalling it) I get a message that says: "Dropbox needs to change permissions for the Folder:/Users/theranica/.dropbox with a request to enter my computer password - the screen shot is in the ticket notes. "Theranica" is my FORMER username folder and has since been changed to my name. Dropbox can't find the permissions for that folder because it no longer exists. HELP!!

Hannah

Hey @Helenfpm and thanks for the additional info and ticket number.

I've raised the priority of the case on my end, so an agent from our team will be assisting you the soonest possible.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Helenfpm

Thanks.

Helenfpm

Colin got back to me with the following instructions which resolved the issue:

To resolve this issue, I am going to provide you with steps to reset the Dropbox application settings. This will not affect or remove the files in your Dropbox folder.

Note: Please be sure to take note or take a screenshot of any Selective Sync settings you may have applied prior to re-installing as you will need to re-apply these settings after this process.

First, please save and quit all programs accessing files in the Dropbox folder, and then follow these instructions:

1) Open your Terminal app (Located at /Applications/Utilities/Terminal)

2) Copy and paste the following line (highlighted below) into the Terminal and press ENTER. PLEASE make sure you copy and paste this command (don't type it by hand), as getting it wrong could cause some harm. You'll be prompted for your computer's admin password (not your Dropbox password) after entering the first command. Keep in mind that the password field in the terminal will remain blank as you type your password. After you type it, just press ENTER. You'll know that these instructions complete normally once the initial line of text (called prompt) comes up again:

sudo mv ~/.dropbox ~/.Trash/dropbox.old

Please note that once the prompt displays, the instruction completed the requested task. If the command returns an error, or does not respond after an hour, you may want to try restarting your computer and trying this step again.

3) Restart Dropbox from the Application folder, then please sign in and apply any Selective Sync settings you may have had prior to this reset during the sign in process. Your account will take a few moments to reindex the files and sync any pending changes.

Michael F.47

The Dropbox migration to a new location on OSX broke all my links.

"It would have been helpful if you could have migrated these links."

Please see below...

Ticket #22616602: DB: links break

Marcus, Sep 4, 2023, 7:56 AM PDT:

Hello Michael,

Thank you for your quick reply.

If I understand correctly, you have an idea regarding also migrating aliases during the upgrade process to the Dropbox Desktop application for macOS

We're always looking for ways to improve Dropbox. We regularly release new versions of our products with better performance, additional features, and security enhancements.
The best way to have your idea reviewed by our development team is to visit our Share an Idea board. This board allows you to post new ideas or add your vote to existing ideas from other users. Share your ideas here.

We appreciate your contributions with helping us unleash your creative energy.

Thank you for using Dropbox, and have a great day!

Kind regards,
Marcus

Michaelf, Sep 4, 2023, 7:36 AM PDT:

Hi Marcus,

I understand that

"Due to the change of the Dropbox folder location, files that were previously linked in some third-party applications may need to be linked again."

However these are not files linked in a third-party application.

They are files that were linked through OSX - the Mac's own operating system - that need to be relinked.

And there are hundreds of them.

It would have been helpful if you could have migrated these links.

Just a comment, I will have to do it....

thanks,

Michael

Marcus, Sep 4, 2023, 2:51 AM PDT:

Hello Michael,

Thank you for contacting Dropbox Support. My name is Marcus, and I’ll be more than happy to help you with your issue. So let's get started!

From what I gather by your description, you are having an issue with the Dropbox Desktop application update for macOS.

As part of the Dropbox for macOS on File Provider update, the Dropbox folder must be located in ~/Library/CloudStorage.

Some other things to note about the Dropbox folder location:

Changing the location of your Dropbox folder is no longer supported by macOS.
Due to the change of the Dropbox folder location, files that were previously linked in some third-party applications may need to be linked again.
Storing your Dropbox folder on an external drive is no longer supported by macOS.
Your Dropbox folder in Finder will now be found under Locations and no longer under Favorites.
Individual folders can be moved from your Dropbox folder to Favorites for quick access.

Learn more about what to expect with Dropbox for macOS on File Provider.

Please keep in mind that I'm only an email away so feel free to reply to this message, letting me know if you have any additional questions, and we can take it from there.

Kind regards,
Marcus

ByeByeDragonbox

I don't even know where to begin with the mess that dropbox is. Dropbox "controlled" my Downloads Folder, and when you look at the paths (whatever they're called) Dropbox was always the first item in the path (eg Dropbox --> imac / or Dropbox --> imac -- Downloads).

In any case, this became so confusing and hard to control MY OWN DOCUMENTS. I unlinked everything, and let my paid membership lapse.

But nope. It still controlled my downloads folder. How? (don't answer, I don't care anymore)

So downloading my content off the dropbox cloud became actually impossible

I literally had to delete my entire download folder and the downloads alias.

Now, I have a new shiny download folder, all my files under my control and ZERO dropbox involvement.

I won't be back. I'll file share some other way. Used to be so simple dropbox, but you turned into a **bleep** show.

Controlling my personal Mac is some big brother **bleep** right there.

ByeByeDragonbox

It's more feasible to get rid of Dropbox.

ByeByeDragonbox

yep. the list gets longer.

the only way I could solve my "new" dropbox issues was just to get rid of it completely.