Is there a fix if my Dropbox file download keeps failing?

Good news here, the problem has been fixed...I was able to download a 23GB file from the web @ a consistent 30mb/sec...took 13 minutes. Dropbox support emailed me this morning to let me know:

We've had our engineers working on this and the good news is the problem has been fixed. Please check again and you should find that the correct modified time is now displayed on files uploaded via the Dropbox website.

Sorry for any inconvenience this caused.

Thanks everyone

All comments

Hey @cohenben, welcome to our community!

To be honest, this sounds like some kind of connection issue on your end. This could be an actual issue with your internet service, or some kind of application that's interfering with the download, and causing it to time out.

What message or error do you get when the download fails?
What device and operating system are you experiencing this on?
What types of files are you seeing this with?
Where are the files being downloaded from?

your Dropbox?
someone else’s Dropbox?

if so, how are the files shared with you? Shared link? Shared folder with full edit rights?

Let me know about this, and we’ll go from there.

Cheers

This is almost certainly NOT from a connection issue on my end - I attempted the same download process from both home and office. At home I have Optimum and at the office we have Spectrum Business. So - let's rule that out.

Thanks for the response - to answer your questions:

What message or error do you get when the download fails?
- In chrome - the error is "Transfer failed - network issue" ... in Safari and Firefox the transfers just fail. They are generic failure notification in each browser.
What device and operating system are you experiencing this on?
- I'm on a Mac. Running Sierra. Latest versions of Chrome, Safari and Firefox.
What types of files are you seeing this with?
- Video files (.mp4) - file size range from 900 mb to 4.7 GB have been tested and have same result.
Where are the files being downloaded from?
- From my dropbox.

@cohenben, thanks for getting back to me with that. Let’s go ahead and put you in touch with our support team. By submitting a ticket here, a member of our team will be able to have a look at your account through our support platform, and provide additional troubleshooting steps.

Have a great weekend!

@cohenben, were you able to get in touch with our support team? Have you resolved the issue?

Let me know.

Thanks!

I'm having the same exact issue when downloading files through the web larger than 1GB. Doesn't matter the browser or the OS...I've also tried from my home and here at work. I have a dropbox business acoount and only got it because of the abilty to download large files, and store a ton. This is extremely diasppointing becuase I cannnot rely on the one function I need the most. I already have a ticken open with tech support since last week and havent been able to resolve the issue.

Sanchez, when I click that link I don't actually see anywhere to open a ticket - are you suggesting I email or chat with support?

update - yes - I have submitted a ticket.

dochood

I can verify that my team member and I are having this same problem trying to download a 22 GB file. We are attempting it from two different locations, from Windows 10 and Linux, from Firefox and Chrome, and over wired and wireless networks, all to no avail. I have submitted a ticket for it.

We routinely upload and download large files like this, so we have not had this issue before, where every single download attempt fails.

As you may have seen in my previous post - I was able to successfully work around this by using Firefox and then choosing "restart" in the download window whenever the file failed. Firefox would then pickup where the transfer dropped and go another distance before having to repeat this step. Eventually (depending on how large the file) I was able to complete the transfer.

SUPER ANNOYING and not a solution - but at least it may get you what you need until Dropbox addresses this.

I did see that, thank you. I tried that and it works for me, but I can't tell a client to do something like that...this should just work correctly.
In the meantime, the latest response I received from support was: "I have sent your request to a member of my team who specializes in this kind of issue. They'll review it carefully, and get back to you as soon as possible."

I'll update this thread once they get back to me and hopefully resolve the issue.

Thanks

Hey everyone,

Thanks for submitting your tickets, and for keeping the thread updated.

@cohenben, thanks for sharing your work-around with us here, and I’m glad you were able to get a ticket going. For future reference, you can use any of the options on our support page. You will only see support channels that are available to your account type!

@chrismonico, yeah, this isn’t an ideal solution by any means. Your ticket has been escalated, so do let us know when you get a reply from our team.

@dochood, I’m sorry that you’re experiencing this issue as well. Just something to keep in mind here: there is a 20GB size limit on files downloaded from our site. As for most transfers, we recommend using our desktop app for larger files. I know this isn’t always an option, but if you can use it, it is preferred

I look forward to your updates, as you get them.

Cheers

Thanks Sanchez, I did receive a reply from support:

Thanks for reporting this problem. Without you, other customers could have experienced this same issue. You’re helping us make Dropbox better for all our customers.

I relayed the details of your problem to our engineering team. From here, they’ll evaluate the problem and work toward a solution.

I can’t say exactly how long this will take. Depending on the nature of the issue, it could take a day, a few weeks, or longer. I’ll keep a close watch on the team’s progress and let you know as soon as I have an update.

I'll update this post again when I know more.

Thanks

Hey @chrismonico, I'm so glad to hear that! Thanks for letting us know here.

@dochood &j @cohenben, can you let us know how this is working out for you?

Cheers!

I am still receiving the network failure. It does appear that more files are working more often, but I am still getting the same failure on about 50% of my transfers today.