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DB thinks I am offline

Both my laptop and desktop are connected to my account. This issue is with my desktop only.

If you are reading this it is because my internet is working fine, as I proved outside of DB. It's also true that I can perform tasks such as saving to the servers, which wouldn't happen if my internet were awry.

But if I try to use Preview, I get a message saying we can't do that because you are offline. (Again, the same file opens fine on my laptop.) If I click the chat button, nothing happens. When I tried to send an e-mail to Support, I got a curt message saying we can't do that now. Let's see if this last possibility of getting help obtains.

I tried restarting my computer, quitting and re-entering the program, but the issue continued. I then tried logging out and back in, but nothing works.

Again, the system is happy to accept my data, but insists I am offline when I'm not.

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Bingo! Thanks, Walter. Preview behaved normally on a different browser. Two points worth making. I had tried going Incognito within Chrome, but still got the error message. Also, my laptop, where Preview always worked fine, is also running Chrome.

So, it's clearly not Chrome itself, but apparently just its cache on my desktop computer. I don't know how long it will take me to learn to clear that, but when I do I will come back with a (hopefully final) report! Stay tuned.

(I should also answer about that shared file. Still got error message here on Chrome.)

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Hey @Norfolk VHF, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

It's not quite clear to me, are you using the desktop app or the website when you notice this error about previewing your files?

Could you send us a screenshot perhaps?

Any additional information is more than welcome!

I don't know the distinction between the desktop app and the website. I have, e.g., this link on FB.

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dropbox.com%2Fs%2Flmuj7vg14z23wb9%2F91Dsample5.mp3%3Fdl%3D0%26fbclid%3DIwAR0UAOs2aMmkkwMSyZtVSLJt2kgR0xLZmKIo8BChdL5NAV-74xfrm1ueQes&h=AT2HHpjd04lJZFKENdY30lODYdZmEQ02T_Ya4fHQQiCsOOElyeW2V705iUj0Wjeq2NsQmswRf1fZZvt8iNxYGVrEYEse45brLRYJsLTGxJQgdgjz63ohIG2Z2--FcScEA2X5Gqd_4QEqPHlbORvI2Ow&__tn__=H-R&c[0]=AT3qlrnhpkQCTw7zoBwZ7JN06m0Niqzg85zmLeyppbkc_4wfaaFg1nxE8QRkq7lzCFlrJTVusxA_amCdnDYzO1Vxqpvx5x4QT74rulA-wQCXzEsjZZSINWDm-bsVcIsWhCXbljPhgrSTuFiPbPxWQ5DcroCs9GZ20Xw7SGUH3if_clP1NowvhA

If, from within FB, I click on it on the laptop I use rarely (particularly for music, which wants the bigger screen), it plays normally on Preview. But doing so on my desktop gets this. (I also get this when I click on the file at dropbox.com.)

(I can't possibly be offline, because other internet sites respond to my clicks or dropdown choices normally. DB itself, seconds before, accepted the new saving of a file in the usual manner.)

Hi Victor,

Did you try to sign out of your Dropbox account in the background window, seen on your post (not the small one), and try to open the same link again (without signing in back in your account there). If not, try it. Does the link open properly in this case?

Good luck.

I mention above that I logged (they say, signed) out and back in to no avail. Thanks.

Oh. You wanted me to try clicking on the FB link when still signed out of DB. I did, and got the same DB error message.

An interesting detail you can see in the above screenshot. The dropdown in the upper right corner shows today's only Activity to be the editing (in other words, the overwriting on the DB servers) of two files. But as late as yesterday I could still use Preview to view pdf's or listen to .mp3's.

Thanks for this info @Norfolk VHF, and sorry to jump in here.

It seems that this is a shared link that someone has shared with you, right?

What if you open it through a different browser or a private browsing window? Does that work?

No, this is my link for others to use which, ironically, they can do but not me (except on my laptop)! I just gave it as an e.g. I cannot use Preview to see or listen to any file of mine or anyone else's; I always get that erroneous error message.

I tried your suggestion and tried accessing it in those different ways, but always with the same result. Still, I thank you.

Hi @Norfolk VHF, if you download the file, does it play correctly?

No issues with dowloading. Just with reading pdf's and such, and listening to audio files. DB thinks I'm offline even while accepting new files and updates to its servers. So far, that only affects my use of Preview.

Have you tried clearing your browser's cache lately or another browser perhaps @Norfolk VHF?

Do you still get the same error?

Also, if you access the shared link from this page, does it give you the same error?

Bingo! Thanks, Walter. Preview behaved normally on a different browser. Two points worth making. I had tried going Incognito within Chrome, but still got the error message. Also, my laptop, where Preview always worked fine, is also running Chrome.

So, it's clearly not Chrome itself, but apparently just its cache on my desktop computer. I don't know how long it will take me to learn to clear that, but when I do I will come back with a (hopefully final) report! Stay tuned.

(I should also answer about that shared file. Still got error message here on Chrome.)

SOLUTION: clear cache on browser, restart computer.

Credit to Walter above, but I wanted it to be clear that of several things he suggested in a single message, this is what worked for me. I was glum at first, because I still got the error message right after clearing the cache. I decided to try restarting the computer and now everything works fine again.

Thanks to all for your input.

Glad to hear it's sorted now @Norfolk VHF and thanks for keeping us in the loop too.

See you around the Community and have a lovely weekend!

Unfortunately I have to reinstate this thread. The problem I had, non-functionality of Preview with the error message that I am offline when I'm clearly not, has returned. I had functionality for a few days after clearing cache on Google Chrome and restarting, but that no longer works.

Preview works fine on Chrome on my laptop, and fine on this desktop on a different browser.

[Update: problem returned after a few months, even on my new Brave browser.] Ok. Time to wrap up this thread. This is not a Dropbox issue. Like Dropbox, DoorDash relies, apparently, on the browser I use to discern whether I am online. The Google Chrome on my desktop is damaged, and even clearing the complete browser history only works to fix it for a couple of days. Just as I was still able to update files in Dropbox despite the error message, so here I was still able to order my food despite the warning message.

I downloaded the Brave app, and will have to get used to using it. Thanks to all for your input. I learned a lot.

This is a Dropbox issue after all. It now says, yet again, I am offline (when I'm not, and can perform numerous functions that would require a dynamic connection to work, such as saving updated files). It happens on both Chrome and Brave.

Am I really the only person with this issue?

Hey @Norfolk VHF, sorry to see you're having this issue again.

Do you perhaps have any security apps/extensions on your browser or generally your computer, like an antivirus, firewall, VPN etc. that might be causing this issue?

If you can, please temporarily disable them and let us know what you find.

Thanks, but I have nothing of the kind. I wanted, before, someone to tell me where and when this error page is activated in DB. How it wouldn't be superseded when I perform function after function dependent on the very connectivity it is claiming I don't have.

Hi @Norfolk VHF, since you previously experienced something similar with another site, the only common denominator was the browser.

Since you've mentioned you're not using any antivirus, firewall or VPN, what about a proxy server, or custom settings in your router/ISP, such as a custom DNS?

Do you have another desktop machine on the same network to test if it experiences the same issues? What OS version are you running on your device?

No network or special setup. Totally vanilla. I have a laptop that is using the same wifi modem. Dropbox works fine there, even on Chrome.

This means there's something specific on that machine which is preventing connections to Dropbox, and generating this error from there.

Do you have another computer profile, or login, on the machine, in order to see if that profile can access Dropbox?

No, I am the only user of this computer. You can't really say that anything is preventing connections. (The connection is there, or I wouldn't be able to save files. It's that the system doesn't recognize the connectivity that exists. Many error messages, of course, are themselves in error, as here.) The only issues I have are when trying to play back audio files or read pdf's.

This is me trying to read my own stuff online. I'd be curious what it would say if I tried to read something (a pdf, say) from someone else.

Hey @Norfolk VHF, sorry to hear you're still having issues with this.

Can you please clarify your browser's version for us?

Also, did you try clearing your browser's cache or another browser, preferably with no extensions or plugins running?

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