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How to ignore/exclude parent.lock file?

Hi,

I'm using Dropbox desktop v186.4.6207 on Windows 11.

I keep my Thunderbird mail on Dropbox, which works fine, usually. It can never sync the file 'parent.lock' as this is in use by Thunderbird to prevent corruption of data if I tried to open the email program on two computers, simultaneously.

Recently a problem has begun where D'box is using a lot of CPU, trying to sync 'parent.lock'. This is causing high CPU temperatures.

I have tried the Powershell commands seen at https://help.dropbox.com/sync/ignored-files - which seems to be missing a '1' at the end, BTW.

That changed nothing.

Is there a way to ignore 'parent.lock'?

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adslimq2

I may have found the problem, and it is not with Dropbox or Thunderbird.

My main concern was high CPU temperatures, and therefore fan noise on my Legion laptop, when both D'box and T'bird are running.

A search of causes for this gave me a suggestion to change "advanced power settings", "processor power management" in Windows. For the past 30 minutes with both programmes running, the CPU temperature has been normal, with no fans running.

Thanks for the replies. If it stays all quiet I will mark this solved in a little while.

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Rich

@adslimq2 wrote:
I have tried the Powershell commands seen at https://help.dropbox.com/sync/ignored-files ... That changed nothing.

The help article you link describes the only method of ignoring a file or folder, which appears to be working fine (I just tested it). After you used it to ignore the file, did you restart Dropbox (or reboot)? I didn't have to, but the test file was already synced and wasn't in the process of trying to be synced.

adslimq2

Yes, I restarted Dropbox and Thunderbird. The file still has a white cross in a red circle in Explorer, and "Can't sync" in the Dropbox tray icon.

Jay

Hi @adslimq2, just to check, did you add a 1 when you were using the command from that article? What was the message you received when ignoring the file?

adslimq2

Hi @Jay ,

I first tried exactly as the help page said, but got an error message about syntax or missing something.

When I googled the Powershell syntax used (I'm an amateur at this) I found another link said it needed a '1' at the end of the line.

This seemed to work, as I got no error message in Powershell, but nothing actually changed. There was no confirmation in Powershell, just back to the prompt.

adslimq2

I may have found the problem, and it is not with Dropbox or Thunderbird.

My main concern was high CPU temperatures, and therefore fan noise on my Legion laptop, when both D'box and T'bird are running.

Thanks for the replies. If it stays all quiet I will mark this solved in a little while.

Megan

Thanks for sharing more with us @adslimq2!

We'll be one post away if you need anything else!

Dude4

I am having the same problem. When I add the code to Powershell (and include the 1 at the end) it does work... as long as any of my Mozilla programs are shut down. But as soon as I turn any of them on again, Mozilla insists that the parent.lock file be new, and so the ignore command is... ignored. And dropbox tries to sync the file again.

adslimq2

Yes @Dude4 , it seems to re-create parent.lock whenever you close and re-open T'bird. Just ignore it, as it causes no problems,

Dude4

It causes massive problems and hogs the CPU, up to 20% continuously. I've had to move that app off of dropbox, as I have not found a real solution to this.