Child Item

Very slow syncing on new Mac

Hi folks,

I have a new Mac and have migrated from my old one. Dropbox is set up and indexed. Now I want 200Gb of my Dropbox files on my mac. But the download is very slow and seems to keep stalling (requiring quitting and restarting). And even when it is working, it downloads at a maximim of 3.5Mb/sec even though the network can sustain a lot more. Dot points:

The Dropbox sync status doesn't give more details than just "Syncing ..." (unlike what it often does indicating how many files and the time to sync).
The only way I can work out if anything is happening is to use Activity Monitor and check the network status to see if there is activity. That's where I see up to 3.5 Mb/sec sometimes when Dropbox is syncing.
Yes I have restarted the Mac various times.
I have also turned on LAN sync with my old Mac on the same network but that doesn't seem to help.

So, Dropbox team, what is going on?

Cheers,
Chris

Find more posts tagged with

Desktop

Sync

Mac

Insightful

Closed - Partially Delivered

Comments

Mark

How many files have you got?

Is it a completely new set up? If so Dropbox works from smallest to largest files after creating all of the folder structure first. That does mean that the initial sync starts off taking a long, long time because the overheads are quite high. Dropbox downloads in 4mb blocks and so if files are smaller than that the overheads on the hash check etc. really slows it down. It should start speeding up after the larger files are there for you.

Mulherin

Thanks, Mark. Yes, it is a completely new set up.

On more research, it seems that there are issues with using the "new" Dropbox on a Mac which uses Apple's file provider and stores the Dropbox folder in the Library/CloudStorage folder. So, on my new Mac I selected this recommended option. But, after numerous attempts it would not work. The sync status was unhelpful because it just said "Synching ..." with no more details. So, I kept checking with System Monitor and it showed (no network traffic, as opposed to 3-3.5 Mb/sec when Dropbox was actually synchronising) that the synchronisation did actually keep stalling, Here is the most comprehensive details I could find: https://tidbits.com/2023/03/10/apples-file-provider-forces-mac-cloud-storage-changes/

I have now reverted to the "old" Dropbox on my new machine.  I would still like advice because I believe Apple is indicating that it will soon not allow cloud providers to sync to "normal" folders (using kernel extensions) but will insist that all cloud providers use the Apple file provider extensions and the CloudStorage folder in the Library.

Can Dropbox staff help with this? Or is this actually an Apple problem?  

Cheers, Chris

Walter

Hey @Mulherin - thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Can you please clarify if this is still an issue after reverting to the old version of the app or if you noticed any difference now?

Also note that if you'd like to look further into this with account and device specific information, we can reach out via email as well, Chris.

Mulherin

Thanks, Walter. I also put in a support ticket and I am in touch with Steven by email. And, for anyone interested, the first suggestion is to change my settings so I do not use early access (beta) version. We'll see how that goes.

Megan

Hey @Mulherin thanks for the heads up!

I was able to locate your ticket number on our system.

For your convenience I changed the priority to "High" and also shared our forum thread with the agent helping your case, Steven.

Feel free to share any update or resolution you have with us here in the Community! 😌

AlBundy1

Unfortunately, Dropbox is broken on newer Apple computers. I think since the Sonoma switch to a new way of synchronizing (i think because of Apple's new direction on the matter) Dropbox has been an issue for many people. On both my Macs with Sonoma Dropbox has become a nightmare. Syncing for hours after adding just a couple of files. Or writing "synced" when you right click millions of times for a files to be accessible Offline, and never does...

When i switch back to Catalina on my old mac, it works just fine. Support has been unable to help. A couple colleagues of mine have the same issue. Time to switch to another service. You can't stay at the top indefinitely i guess... 😢

Megan

Hey @AlBundy1, sorry to hear you're having issues with this!

If I understand this correctly, it sounds like you're using Dropbox on File Provider for your Sonoma device, right?

I'd like to have a closer look into this, if you don't mind. Would you be able to clarify the Dropbox version you're using on the machine?

You can find this by hovering your mouse over the little Dropbox icon on your menu bar, next to your WiFi.

You also mentioned that you've reached out to our Support about this. Can you share your ticket number reference, in order for me to locate the communication? I'd like to see what has already been suggested as troubleshooting steps there.

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