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Getting an error saving an Autocad file, tmp files created?

I use Autocad to work on files I have stored and shared here in Dropbox. My Autocad is set to save every ten minutes. I also manually save very often because I've learned a valuable lesson once when we lost power and my battery backup (UPS) didn't work. Hours of lost work is not fun so I constantly save to avoid losing work. With that being said, I frequently get an error "Unable to save to drawing C:\Users\xxx\Dropbox\thedrawing.dwg. Drawing saved to C:\Users\xxxx\Dropbox\sav###.tmp. This is filling up my Dropbox Folder that I'm working out of with all these *.tmp files. Is anyone else experiencing this problem and what can I do to remedy it? I shouldn't have to monitor my account for these *.tmp files.

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Aarón__

Hi Joe,

It seems that those files are automatically generated by another application, not Dropbox. If that's the case, I would recommend you to contact directly with the support organization of that application to ask for further instructions about how to prevent those files from being created or how to make the application to store them in a different location.

I hope this helps!

Joe E.4

I don't think you understand. The *.tmp files are created and saved to my Dropbox folder because Autocad was 'unable' to save the original file, which is on Dropbox, in the first place. A .tmp file is created and stored to Dropbox when this happens. Usually, but not always, after the second save attempt, the file saves to Dropbox. I stress, not always because sometimes, I have to try to save 3 or 4 times before it actually saves the original file. In the mean time, after each failed attempt, a .tmp file is created and stored in my Dropbox Folder. Autocad doesn't have this problem saving my files anywhere else. Take for example, if I work on a file that is stored on my Hard Drive or on our Company Network, Autocad never, I repeat, never has a problem saving the file, never gives me an 'unable to save' error message, and never creates a .tmp file because it was unable to save the original. On the other hand, working on a file or files that are stored in my Dropbox Folder, numerous times throughout the day, after trying to save the file or files, I get this error message. And since Autocad couldn't save the file to my Dropbox Folder, a .tmp file is created and stored to Dropbox. So why would you consider this an AutoDesk (the maker of Autocad) problem? Isn't Dropbox supposed to be an extension or similar to an external hard drive? In the mean time, my Dropbox Folder is filling up with these .tmp files which I have to manually delete at the end of the day. The only solution I have to remedy this situation is to work on the file locally, then save it to my Dropbox Folder at the end of the day. But that doesn't do much good when I make numerous changes to the drawing throughout the day, yet the other 6 trades I'm collaborating with don't see those changes till the end of the day. I guess it's the best I can ask for until a real solution to this problem can be discovered. But I doubt Autodesk will have the answer. This, I can almost certainly say, is a Dropbox problem. Here's another example, from software that is not created by Autodesk. Cadpipe is software that I use to draw 3D Piping Systems for large buildings. Cadpipe uses a Database that it loads at startup for it's pipe dimensions, fitting dimensions, what type of material the pipe is made of, such as copper, cast iron, pvc, etc. This Database is critical for Cadpipe to properly work. The Database File I point Cadpipe to load through it's .ini file is stored on Dropbox. Cadpipe can never load this critical database file directly from Dropbox. It gives me an error also. Yet I'm looking at the file right now. It's there. The only way I can get Cadpipe to load this database file is to copy it from my Dropbox Job Folder over to a folder on my local Hard Drive or my Company Network Job Folder and load it from there. The Problem with this is, when I work at home, I don't have access to my Company Network, forcing me to save the file locally at home also just so Cadpipe can properly work. Are you going to blame this one on Cadpipe? As with a lot of software companies I've dealt with over the years, when I point out a bug or flaw, it never seems to be their problem, it's always the other guys problem so it never gets looked into, therefore, never fixed. We shall see if I have these same problems if I were to start using Box.Com or Wuala.com, or Google Drive, Sky Drive, or Team Drive or any of the numerous other alternatives that are out there.

Dave A.9

I am having the same problem with Office applications. As of 7 days ago, all save operations from Word or Excel to a dropbox folder on my harddrive fail. Office does not create tmp files in this case - it just prompts you to save somewhere else. Something is locking the file in the folder, preventing the application from saving. It could be dropbox, it could be windows search, not sure. Google has not turned up any ideas.

This is happening for both my corporate and personal dropbox folders. I'm running windows 8.

Strangely, I CAN save wordpad or notepad documents to the same folder. This only is affecting Office documents.

I thought that perhaps dropbox is putting a lock on the file, so I did a file/Save As from word to a different filename in the same folder - it still fails. It creates a 0 byte file, then prompts me to save somewhere else.

Radik S.

Same problem with AutoCAD. Using Dropbox to backup all my work files more for two years and several days ago this problem appeared. When I turn off Dropbox sync everything is fine. I didn't change anything on my computer, it just started by itself.

Rich

I've started having this issue in the last month or so while working in Photoshop. I've used the same process for nearly three years, which is to open a PSD file from a Dropbox folder and do a "Save As" and a "Save" (first to save as a TGA file, then to save the PSD) as I work on it. I do this every few minutes or so. This process has worked fine with no errors for years, but I'm now getting a message (randomly, but very often) that Photoshop is unable to save the file. When this happens the original file that I'm saving over is deleted from the folder. If I pause Dropbox syncing this does not happen and I'm able to work on the files like I always have.

Dustin G.1

I am having the same exact problem and it just started happening a couple of weeks ago. I also use Autodesk's Autocad and am also having issues saving. I also agree that it is something with dropbox cause when I save a file to my desktop I no longer have any save problems. Likewise I had my other employees do the same thing with the same result. Is there a solution to this problem yet? Can someone direct me to a way to fix this? I really have enjoyed using dropbox and it has worked great for me with no issues until this. Thanks for the help! One other interesting note is that when you turn off dropbox syncing and then hit save it works fine. Though I would rather keep it always syncing therefore I would like to get this resolved.

Joe E.4

Dustin, Pausing the Sync is the only work around I've found. After reading some of the other responses, some of the people who had been using Dropbox for years just started experiencing this same problem. I wish Dropbox would come up with a fix because I've forgotten to Resume Syncing at the end of the day a few times, making the file unusable from my Home Computer.

Jeffrey L. Bruc

I also just started having this issue with saving my AutoCAD Files on Dropbox. I have been doing it for several months with no issues - but just recently The warning message in AutoCAD Shows up saying the file cannot be saved (directly to where the file is located on Dropbox). What is strange is that I can click "OK" on this error message and then try to save it again, which will likely produce the error again - but if I keep hitting okay and then trying to save again - eventually It will save....So I just don't understand the consistancy issues. It certainly does seem like Dropbox as I do not have these issues with saving on my desktop or any other drive for that matter. Here is a link to a webpage I found on AutoDesk's website - but I honestly do not understand the whole Indexing by Windows - but it seems like that could be a solution - or even "disabling the TCP Offload setting in your network adapter". Please post if you have any luck with anything....So Annoying!

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Error-One-or-more-objects-in-this-drawing-cannot-be-saved-to-the-specified-format.html

Mark K.8

I have also just started having the same issue with saving AutoCAD files in Dropbox, which I have been using for a number of years without any issues, and it is definitely something to do with Dropbox because if I put my work in a folder away from Dropbox AutoCAD works just fine. Clearly this is something that Dropbox need to address and it appears to me to have only started in the last few weeks.

David G.155

Same problem here as everyone else. "One or more objects in this drawing cannot be saved..." It doesn't happen every time that I click save. The only thing that is consistent is that when I pause syncing AutoCAD saves just fine. I don't want to do that every time I save or save as. This problem has started within the last week or so. Until now Dropbox has served as a backup for several years without any issues at all. ></p>

Ashley S.20

Same issue as all others, same exact error message. We're a design firm with 3 people constantly using drop box and saving our CAD files - 2 people use AutocadLT 2015 and have this error message often; 1 uses LT 2012 and has yet to get the error message. This started appearing a few weeks ago and is very frustrating and hurting our productivity. Dropbox, please advise asap.

Jeffrey L. Bruc

Hello all,

I and several folks in my office have found a "solution". I would advise all those who use AutoCAD to check your "save as" Settings under "Options". I and several others in my office had their set to 2007 (or 2010 in some cases) and were having this issue. Its funny because it was only when we upgraded to 2015 or 2016 did we have this issue because my save as setting was always 2007. So there is a bug in the new autocad software. We have all switched our save as to 2013 and noone has yet to have the issue to appear again. So saving it to a newer version seems to be the key.

It seems as though this is an AutoCAD issue. A dumb one too. I also think it's quite poor of Dropbox as a business to not even acknowledge us on this forum and at least try to offer better suggestions for a remedy. It would be nice to see if others try this and it works - please post back if so.

marco t.14

I have the same problem from a few days, can't save in Autocad if sync si working.. i must exit drop box and then launch... never did it before

please someone help us

Rich

Cross-linking the two related threads regarding this issue. Note that multiple applications are affected by this.

https://www.dropboxforum.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/201612939-Temporarily-pause

Jerub D.

Having the same issue here. However I am currently running AutoCAD 2012. The funny thing is I can save drawings to AutoCAD 2010 with no problems so far. Others who are running more recent versions of AutoCAD are unable to even save to 2010. The problem seems to show up when we save drawings more than a few versions back from the version we are running and not necessarily a specific version. For example; I am running 2012 and can save back to 2010, while others are running 2015 or 2016 and can only save back to 2013.

Unfortunately in my case our company by default saves our drawings to AutoCAD 2004. I know that is old and obsolete, but some people still use my drawings that that are running 2004 so I am forced to save all my drawings to a version that old. Also like everyone else, this was never a problem until the last few months when working in dropbox.

Like everyone else, my problem goes away if I pause syncing.

I like using dropbox but am looking for an alternative because of this unresolved issue.

Jerub D.

I received an e-mail from Dropbox today and they were able to give me a temporary fix. They made changes to my account, then I was able to “quit” uninstall dropbox, and reinstall version 3.6.9 from the link they provided. They said dropbox “should resume updating to the latest version within a month”. They say they have identified a bug in the current version and hope to have it resolved in the next update.

The fix is currently working smoothly and I am able to save files without any issues for the time being.

If you are still experiencing this issue and they have not contacted you already I would recommend contacting customer support and try this fix.

Jerub D.

It appears that dropbox has now fixed this issue the their version 3.9.40. I don’t know if this version is part of an auto update yet or not but you can find it by following the link below.

https://www.dropboxforum.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/204766049-Experimental-Build-3-9-40

After uninstalling my previous version of dropbox and installing version 3.9.40 I have not had any more issues even saving back to AutoCAD 2004.

There is also a version "Experimental Build 3.9.41" available that others have had success with as well.

Rich

The problem is fixed for AutoCAD, but it remains for other applications (Adobe products like Photoshop and Illustrator, and Office).

David G.155

Has the problem been fixed?!?! I think this is the first day I've had where I have not experienced any issues saving without having to pause the sync. Anybody else have the same luck today?

james a.12

When I first connect to new wifi with my MacBook Pro running OSX Yosemite, it takes awhile for the "Pause syncing" option to appear in my menu bar settings? This seemed like it used to appear immediately with the DB icon. Any suggestions?

Clint H.8

Running ACAD LT 2014, Windows 7 and 8. on different machines in our office. I direct the .dwg file to my local hard drive where the dropbox files are kept and synchronized. Sometimes, randomly, ACAD will not save, it just sits there and chews on it for a while. Maybe 15 seconds. Sometimes it kicks out an error message, sometimes it will go ahead and save. Not very confidence inspiring.

Yes we need a solution for this.

I believe it is dropbox because we also work out of files directed to a NAS server and we never have this problem.

Healthy V.

I currently have Dropbox version 3.10.11 and have had these same problems for years now on all my Adobe CS6 Products. It seems to be a timing issue. When Photoshop or other products are saving to the dropbox folder, I am asked questions, and when it comes time to finally save, it get an error, and have to try again. Sometimes it will fail out the second or third time and finally it saves. I believe the file is in the process of synchronizing up to dropbox and prevents it from overwriting the file. If Dropbox could start the synchronization a minute or even 30 seconds after a file is created, or gave this option in the preferences, then all would be happy.

I started disabling Dropbox while working on files in Dropbox, then enable it at the end of the day. A pain!!!!

Dropbox, when will you fix this issue??????????

I've lost countless hours of life dealing with this issue, life that I will never get back, life that I could have used to spend with my family!!!!

Thanks Dropbox, I have been paying 9.99 for years, and still this problem exist....

I am a programmer, maybe you can hire me to fix this for you.

Rich

This stopped happening for me in Photoshop a few weeks ago. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I'm on the Experimental builds. Try upgrading to the latest and see if the problem goes away.

https://www.dropboxforum.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/204360366-Experimental-Build-3-11-45

Healthy V.

Awesome, I downloaded and installed this version. Will give it a try and let you know if I run into any issues or if the problem is fixed. Would be great!!! Thanks a lot for your time and help on this.

Healthy V.

That did the trick. No more file errors in Photoshop, Dreamweaver, or Power Director 13. Thanks for the tip Rich R.

muhammad a.19

i am using iphone and desktop, i am saving files to dropbox on the desktop, but not getting on mobile. is there any solution?

Mark

Please find a relevant thread Muhammad or start a new one.

muhammad a.19

my dropbox not syncing between computer and mobile

Tony K.16

I'm having the same problem with dropbox version 13.4.21 and it's over a year after this thread started. It's with completely different apps than other people mentioned. Altium Designer and Xilinx ISE are the tools that are giving me errors when the files are on dropbox. If I enable PAUSE, then it's ok. This needs to get fixed!!

[This thread is now closed by moderators due to inactivity. If you're experiencing a similar behavior, feel free to start a new discussion in the Dropbox Community here.]