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Unable to start dropbox in Ubuntu 20.04

CodesAreHonest

Hi, I am unable to start the dropbox in Ubuntu 20.04 with Headless Mode with the following errors. I had read through all the forums and documents to find out the solution in order to fix this error but now lucks.

I had already perform `dropbox start` as root but still obtains:

Couldn't start Dropbox.
This is usually because of a permissions error. Storing your home folder on a network share can also cause an error.

Get more help at https://www.dropbox.com/c/help/permissions_error

The log of /tmp/dropbox_errorf0tk7axj.txt are shown below:

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
bn.VERSION: 131.4.3968
bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 48
bn.is_frozen: True
machine_id: 20210623-1124-0478-1463-487467590001
pid: 30950
ppid: 1
ppid exe: '/usr/lib/systemd/systemd'
uid: 0
user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='root', pw_passwd='x', pw_uid=0, pw_gid=0, pw_gecos='root', pw_dir='/root', pw_shell='/bin/bash')
effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='root', pw_passwd='x', pw_uid=0, pw_gid=0, pw_gecos='root', pw_dir='/root', pw_shell='/bin/bash')
euid: 0
gid: 0
egid: 0
group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='root', gr_passwd='x', gr_gid=0, gr_mem=[])
effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='root', gr_passwd='x', gr_gid=0, gr_mem=[])
LD_LIBRARY_PATH: None
cwd: '/root'
     real_path='/root'
                mode=0o40700    uid=0   gid=0
     parent     mode=0o40755    uid=0   gid=0
HOME: '/root'
appdata: '/root/.dropbox/instance5'
         real_path='/root/.dropbox/instance5'
                mode=0o40700    uid=0   gid=0
         parent mode=0o40755    uid=0   gid=0
dropbox_path: None
                        not found
              parent    not found
sys_executable: '/root/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-131.4.3968/dropbox'
                real_path='/root/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-131.4.3968/dropbox'
                        mode=0o100755   uid=0   gid=0
                parent  mode=0o40755    uid=0   gid=0
trace.__file__: '/root/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-131.4.3968/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
                real_path='/root/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-131.4.3968/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
                        not found
                parent  not found
tempdir: '/tmp'
         real_path='/tmp'
                mode=0o41777    uid=0   gid=0
         parent mode=0o40755    uid=0   gid=0
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 5397, in _setup_root_for_account
AssertionError: fresh link yet no preferences

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All comments

feria35

I have the same problem on Debian 10.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 5397, in _setup_root_for_account
AssertionError: fresh link yet no preferences

I have tried many things :

* export variables like LC_ALL="fr_FR.UTF-8", LANGUAGE='fr_FR.UTF-8', HOME="/path/to"

* remove the folder .dropbox

but nothing works !

petardo

Same here, Debian 10

Walter

Hey there @CodesAreHonest, @feria35 & @petardo, thanks for posting on our Community and sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

If you've ensured that your devices are meeting the minimum requirements as outlined here, you could try a clean, advanced reinstall at this point.

I hope this helps!

petardo

Thanks, for reply.

"minimum requirements" not met since it says Ubuntu and two of us have Debian which is not exactly the same.
However most programs are compatible on those systems.
The "advanced reinstall" link you provided is not relevant to headless installation

Evick

I am having the same problem on my server (Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS).

torga

Same trace on headless Debian 8 and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, same client build 131.4.3968
Has this issue been observed with an older release ?

keeb

Same trace here. I've tried Ubuntu 18.04 & 21.10 as well as Debian buster and I get the same error with the latest dropbox client installed.

feria35

@Walter, yes on a fresh and clean reinstall of Debian 10, I did exactly the method you described (for Dropbox client).
I reinstalled several times my debian but each time, I got this error.
Could you try by yourself ?

cuye

same issue here, running headless Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS. Tried as well on a new VM with the same OS, didnt work either

adw74

I can download and start the dropbox daemon. It generates a link to use to connect it to my Dropbox account.

The link works fine, but then the daemon says:

"This computer is now linked to Dropbox. Welcome XXXX
Couldn't start Dropbox.
This is usually because of a permissions error. Storing your home folder on a network share can also cause an error."

I believe the issue is that a 'Dropbox' folder is never created in my home directory on the server. I've tried creating the folder myself with full permissions.

This is on an AWS Lightsail instance, in case that matters. All help appreciated.

Walter

Hi all, thanks for your reports!

I'd like to have our team investigate this a tad further, so would it be OK if I reached out via email?

petardo

Thx, OK

Walter

No biggie @petardo - you've got :envelope:

Eunjin Sul

I have the same problem on debian bullseye, even if it is a fresh OS just after installing that. I have installed a bunch of dropboxes to several bullseyes about two weeks ago with the same method, and those worked well.
After this permission error, I tried many methods to install dropboxes. One case created a weird directory named /home/‘&(whoami)’ with root previleged. I guess one of your engineers made the bug of $(whoami) to &(whoami).

Walter

Hey @Eunjin Sul, thanks for joining the topic here and sorry to hear you're also having issues with this.

I've just reached out via email to have a further look into this matter internally.

Please have a look at your inbox and we'll take it from there.

Eunjin Sul

It’s working well now. Thanks

cuye

what did you do to get it to work again @Eunjin Sul?

Eunjin Sul

I didn’t do anything. In my guess, there are some problems in the dropbox daemon, and the support team of dropbox have got rid of it. I did the same procedure for installing dropbox, and it worked.
Just do it again please. If you have the same error, I’ll try to reinstall and check it out

torga

Still failing for me with client 131.4.3968. I have it working though using a previous build (125.4.3474)

Rodrigo Oliveira

For anyone still having this issue, it happened to me today when trying to install on Ubuntu 14.04, i got it working using build 125.4.3474 as Torga mentioned.
Followed the steps in advanced reinstall here but when it tells you do download the latest client:

cd ~ && wget -O - "https://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86" | tar xzf -

I changed the link to get the older version:

cd ~ && wget -O - "https://edge.dropboxstatic.com/dbx-releng/client/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-125.4.3474.tar.gz" | tar xzf -

And it worked just fine!

Still no updates on the latest build

timpalpant

Hi all, thanks for your reports!

We've released a new beta build that addresses this issue: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-desktop-client-builds/Beta-Build-132-3-3795/td-p/546837 

Please give it a try if you're encountering this error. You can install it using:

cd ~ && wget -O - "https://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86_64&build=132.3.3795" | tar xzf -

and then start the client as usual with:

~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd

Update (10/1): This has been released to the stable channel, and you can use the regular install process now as described at https://dropbox.com/install?os=lnx

sumeetsk

I was able to use dropbox fine till yesterday, but today it complains of the following error.

Couldn't start dropbox. This is usually because of a permissions error.

I tried some steps in https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-files-folders/Why-am-I-getting-a-Couldn-t-start-Dropbox-permission-error/td-p/22462/page/4, but none of them helped.

My file contents are:

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
bn.VERSION: 131.4.3968
bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 48
bn.is_frozen: True
machine_id: ec45be64-4b75-507e-92d6-80c5883f48e6
pid: 34365
ppid: 1
uid: 216702978
user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='katsumee', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=216702978, pw_gid=1896053708, pw_gecos='', pw_dir='/Users/katsumee', pw_shell='/bin/zsh')
effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='katsumee', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=216702978, pw_gid=1896053708, pw_gecos='', pw_dir='/Users/katsumee', pw_shell='/bin/zsh')
euid: 216702978
gid: 1896053708
egid: 1896053708
group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='ANT\\Domain Users', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=1896053708, gr_mem=[])
effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='ANT\\Domain Users', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=1896053708, gr_mem=[])
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: None
cwd: '/'
real_path='/'
mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
parent mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
HOME: '/Users/katsumee'
appdata: '/Users/katsumee/.dropbox/instance1'
real_path='/Users/katsumee/.dropbox/instance1'
mode=0o40700 uid=216702978 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=216702978 gid=20
dropbox_path: '/Users/katsumee/Dropbox'
real_path='/Users/katsumee/Dropbox'
mode=0o40755 uid=216702978 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=216702978 gid=20
sys_executable: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
mode=0o100755 uid=216702978 gid=1896053708
parent mode=0o40755 uid=216702978 gid=1896053708
trace.__file__: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
not found
parent not found
tempdir: '/var/folders/jl/n_00nb2529q4dqb0vl54h23r6fn802/T'
real_path='/private/var/folders/jl/n_00nb2529q4dqb0vl54h23r6fn802/T'
mode=0o40700 uid=216702978 gid=1896053708
parent mode=0o40755 uid=216702978 gid=1896053708
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "dropbox/client/authentication/register_host_helper.pyc", line 478, in _try_register_host
File "dropbox/client/authentication/register_host_helper.pyc", line 944, in handle_changed_host_secret
File "dropbox/sync_root/helpers.pyc", line 359, in destroy_root_from_config
AssertionError

t00l

having same issue, this fixed it for me

svetsmirnova

The new build did not resolve the issue for me. I am on Ubuntu 20.04, use encrypted drive.

martonsebok

Thanks, for this post the older version works flawlessly for me.

Aysberg

Was able to get Dropbox running on my Ubuntu 21.04 server with the mentioned beta version. Before that I got this "Couldn't start Dropbox. This is usually because of a permissions error... " message, after linking the computer via my browser.

Thanks for the support.

BTW I had another error even before I could get the link message, because my PuTTY terminal was forwarding X11 on my headless setup.

petardo

Thanks, it works by me (Linux, Offline- https://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86_64 ) as well!

However I'm still having an issue:

When I run './.dropbox-dist/dropboxd', following happens:

Script is running fine, but after the "This computer is now linked to Dropbox. Welcome Pter" message, the script is continuously reading/echoing the console and I can only exit by pressing Ctrl C.

After this I can successfully start the service with './dropbox.py start', sync works.

svetsmirnova

Please ignore my report. It was antivirus software. SentinelOne thinks dropbox binary from ~./dropbox-dist is suspicious.