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DropBox Locks Up System While Syncing (Linux)

For the last several days, every time I start my Linux system (Ubuntu 22.04) it locks up after a few minutes. DropBox appears to be the cause. It loads on startup and a few minutes into syncing the whole system freezes. If I close DropBox before the freeze, there is no freeze.

I suspect the problem is related to a very large folder I had created in my local DropBox folder. The folder was encrypted using cryfs, which breaks files into numerous smaller files. I did not realize this might be a problem for DropBox until I learned about the 300,000 file limit two days ago. I'm not sure, but I think there were over a million files in the cryfs folder.

I had planned to move away from cryfs anyway so I copied the files (decrypted) to another local folder (outside Dropbox) and then moved the local encrypted folder out of Dropbox. The encrypted folder no longer shows as present but there was still constant disk activity while Dropbox is open and the system continues to freeze a few minutes after syncing begins. The last time I looked it reported that it was downloading 17,000 files, but why is it downloading anything when all I've done lately is remove things from Dropbox?

I have tried reducing Dropbox's bandwidth on the theory that this might reduce its load on the system. I started with a 1 mbps (1024 kb) limit, but the system still froze. Then I tried 256 kbps, but the system still freezes. (If anything it freezes for a longer time -- presumably because it's taking longer for Dropbox to crash.)

I've run out of ideas for troubleshooting this. Help!!?!

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Здравко

Hi @notredruide,

Try following list of commands:

killall dropbox
sudo apt-get purge dropbox
rm -rf ~/.dropbox*
wget https://linux.dropboxstatic.com/packages/ubuntu/dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install $(realpath dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb)
rm dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
dropbox start -i

Execute the commands one by one in the order as shown. If some error brings up at some point post exact steps as they appear in the terminal together with the error message.

Hope this helps.

All comments

Jay

Hi @notredruide, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Could you try reinstalling the app, without uninstalling it first, to see if this helps?

Keep me updated with any progress!

DerSpitz

Hello notredruide

I am aware of the problem with DropBox's system load. Previously through Windows, later also with LINUX (my system: MX23.2 minimal - Debian based, 16GB RAM). Due to the high system load, I changed the cloud provider, but this didn't bring any improvement due to poor programming of the program. Now I'm back on DropBox. You can try to solve the problem with the system load as follows (that's how I do it); go to the menu, search for “session and startup behavior” and open it. The “Automatically started applications” tab contains, among other things, an entry for the automatic start for DropBox. It should look something like this: "Dropbox Sync your files across computers and to the web". The command line for this (you can access it by clicking on the edit icon) probably looks like this; "dropbox start -i". If this condition is met, we can continue. Next, create your own startup process by clicking on “New or Add”. An input field opens;
Surname:
Description:
Command:
Trigger:

You fill these fields with the following data:
Name: CPU limit for Dropbox (freely selectable)
Description: Reduce CPU load (freely selectable)
Command: cpulimit -e dropbox-I 25
Trigger: when registering

Then save and check the box to start automatically.

However, the package: “cpulimit” must first be installed with the command line: “sudo apt-get install cpulimit”.

This command tells Dropbox to use a maximum of 25 percent of the CPU load. You can experiment with the value "25".

I hope I can help you with this, please report any successes or if you have any questions!

DerSpitz

notredruide

Thanks Jay. Sorry for the late reply but I have not received any notifications that anyone had responded to my post. I tried reinstalling Dropbox over the top of the existing installation but have been unable to do so. Searching for Dropbox in Ubuntu Software produces a spinning wheel, and so does downloading the file and attempting to open it with Software Install. This is obviously an Ubuntu problem but instead of trying to troubleshoot it I am going to go ahead and try DerSpitz's solution.

notredruide

Thanks Jay. Unfortunately I seem unable to reinstall Dropbox on my Linux installation at the moment. If I open Ubuntu Software and search for Dropbox, I just get a spinning propeller thingie. If I download the latest version and right click Open With / Software Install, I get a window that says "loading application details," and nothing happens. If I try the command line (sudo apt install dropbox), I get "Package 'dropbox' has no installation candidate." Is there a repository I need to install? Anyway, pending further suggestions on that front I'm going to dry using cpulimit as recommended by DerSpitz.

DerSpitz

Hallo,

versuche doch bitte mit "sudo apt install gdebi" den paketinstaller "Gedbi" zu installieren. Dieser kann deine Original-Dropbox....den prüfen und zeigt dir vielleicht fehlende Pakete oder die Ursache der Fehler an.

DerSpitz

notredruide

Okay, as suggested by DerSpitz I attempted to use Gdebi to install either dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb or dropbox_2024.01.22_amd64.deb over my existing installation. In both cases Gdebi reported, "Error: Breaks existing package 'nautilus-dropbox' conflict: dropbox ()" I guess this means I should uninstall the existing package and try one of the newer ones? Which package should I install, given that I'm running Ubuntu 22.04? And is there anything I need to do to preserve existing settings etc.?

Здравко

Hi @notredruide,

Try following list of commands:

killall dropbox
sudo apt-get purge dropbox
rm -rf ~/.dropbox*
wget https://linux.dropboxstatic.com/packages/ubuntu/dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install $(realpath dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb)
rm dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
dropbox start -i

Execute the commands one by one in the order as shown. If some error brings up at some point post exact steps as they appear in the terminal together with the error message.

Hope this helps.

notredruide

Thanks Здравко, that seems to have worked. I used the "apt" command because I understand "apt-get" has been deprecated. I did get one notification after running "sudo apt update": "Download is performed unsandboxed as root as file '/home/[user]/dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb' couldn't be accessed by user '_apt'. - pkgAcquire::Run (13: Permission denied)." (Is this because there was already a copy of that file in my home Downloads directory?) Also the last command was unnecessary because Dropbox launched itself and offered to complete the installation by downloading the daemon. When I first did that it reported an error that I forgot to copy but I think it said the file couldn't be verified or the key didn't match -- something to that effect. But when I repeated the process everything seemed to install and it now seems to be working properly. Many thanks, or if I can trust the translator,

Благодаря!

notredruide

Oh, also, for the record, your second command produced this response which I responded to by changing the target from "dropbox" to "dropbox-nautilus":

[user]@[computer]:~$ sudo apt purge dropbox
[sudo] password for [user]: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Package 'dropbox' is not installed, so not removed
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 5 not upgraded.
[user]@[computer]:~$ sudo apt purge nautilus-dropbox
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  nautilus-dropbox*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 5 not upgraded.
After this operation, 288 kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
(Reading database ... 284304 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing nautilus-dropbox (2019.02.14-1ubuntu1) ...

DerSpitz

Ist dein Problem jetzt gelöst? Ich bin etwas verwirrt weil die Dropbox Befehlszeile die gleiche ist, wie zu Beginn? Was ist jetzt anders? Funktioniert Dropbox jetzt trotz der vielen Dateien und wird das System jetzt weniger ausgelastet? Danke für deine Antwort.

Здравко

@notredruide wrote:
... from "dropbox" to "dropbox-nautilus":

Yes, good move! 👍

I didn't think of the dropbox-nautilus, cosa it too old. Anyway... you best know what you have done. 😉 And yes you can believe to the translator. 🙂 Моля!

About the error message you have received (I saw you previous post that as seems was catch by the forum spam filter - Don't as me why): That's why I asked you to post the entire flow, not just a part, in case of error! "update" has nothing to do with the package installed, so I cannot comment why that appears there. If I have to bet, probably some typing mistake by you resulted in that error.

Anyway... it works. Good luck.