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dropbox hangs on "starting..." in Manjaro and in Fedora 38

currently on Fedora 38, using dropbox installed from Fedora 38 RPM at https://linux.dropbox.com/fedora/38/x86_64/

Observed behavior: Dropbox hangs on "starting"'

Theory: there is something in my Dropbox folder that is hanging Dropbox.

Tried:
Dropbox hangs on "starting". Originally in Manjaro, around May 1, it began to hang when started. Tried fresh reinstall of Dropbox, then fresh reinstall of Manjaro. Once I installed Dropbox on a fresh system, it pulled in all the files without a problem, but when I rebooted, I got the "starting" message again. I thought it might be the maxhandles parameter so set that, but no change.

Rolled back to a fresh install from backup to pre-install state, including config files and no Dropbox folder that I installed and had working until reboot. That still hung on "starting...."

Deleted Dropbox folder, config, and app, from my home folder as per https://help.dropbox.com/installs/uninstall-dropbox, Installed Fedora 38 and Fedora 38 dropbox version from https://linux.dropbox.com/fedora/38/x86_64/, and once I followed the instructions to install topicon to get an appindicator, I was able to set selective sync so it would not download everything, but it froze on starting. Reboot led to same result.

* full remove of dropbox, including Dropbox folder, install from fedora nautilus dropbox rpm at
* install rpm through software gui, it updates itself and starts up, starts syncing everything. no app indicator shows., so no way to get to prefs for selective sync.
* reboot. Dropbox starts automatically, app indicator shows, but stuck on starting again.

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Accepted answers

rcrath

I got some help from support. The key piece was to run "chattr -R -i ~/Dropbox" which revealed the problem files. I had created symbolic links from my dotfile settings in .config, .themes, and .local and placed the actual files in dropbox folders so that some of my settings would get backed up to dropbox. One of the applications put unchangeable files in dropbox and that is what caused the problems. Since I reinstalled fresh, once I was able to find the problem files via chattr and move them out of Dropbox, syncing resumed and is now fixed.

All comments

rcrath

PS, syncs fine on Win 10 box.

Hannah

Sorry to hear about this issue, @rcrath.

After you rebooted and you got the Dropbox icon (indicator), were you able to go through the preferences, to set up selective sync and see if it helps?

Or perhaps you can try the commands here?

rcrath

yes, once the indicator appeared I was able to set the sync to a single folder for test purposes. The process never gets beyond "starting..." to index anything though. rebooted after that so that the system started fresh with the single folder sync, same thing. Exclude on command line did not work because Dropbox is hanging at start and not accepting any input.. I'm on the woindows box right now, so I will give some error messages a second reply.

rcrath

[rich@fedora ~]$ dropbox status
Starting...
[rich@fedora ~]$ dropbox exclude list
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/dropbox", line 1587, in <module>
ret = main(sys.argv)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/bin/dropbox", line 1576, in main
result = commands[argv[i]](argv[i+1:])
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/bin/dropbox", line 743, in newmeth
return meth(*n, **kw)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/bin/dropbox", line 1347, in exclude
exclude([])
File "/usr/bin/dropbox", line 743, in newmeth
return meth(*n, **kw)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/bin/dropbox", line 1325, in exclude
lines = [relpath(path) for path in dc.get_ignore_set()['ignore_set']]
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/bin/dropbox", line 1325, in <listcomp>
lines = [relpath(path) for path in dc.get_ignore_set()['ignore_set']]
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "<frozen posixpath>", line 490, in relpath
ValueError: no path specified

rcrath

and restart gives me the following,

[rich@fedora ~]$ dropbox status
Dropbox isn't running!
[rich@fedora ~]$ dropbox start
Starting Dropbox...dropbox: load fq extension '/home/rich/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-177.4.5399/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._openssl.abi3.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/rich/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-177.4.5399/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._padding.abi3.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/rich/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-177.4.5399/apex._apex.abi3.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/rich/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-177.4.5399/psutil._psutil_linux.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/rich/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-177.4.5399/psutil._psutil_posix.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/rich/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-177.4.5399/tornado.speedups.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/rich/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-177.4.5399/wrapt._wrappers.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/rich/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-177.4.5399/PyQt5.QtCore.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/rich/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-177.4.5399/PyQt5.sip.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/rich/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-177.4.5399/PyQt5.QtGui.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/rich/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-177.4.5399/PyQt5.QtWidgets.so'
Dropbox isn't running!
Done!
[rich@fedora ~]$ dropbox: load fq extension '/home/rich/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-177.4.5399/PyQt5.QtDBus.so'

and it hangs on "starting..."

[rich@fedora ~]$ dropbox status
Starting...
[rich@fedora ~]$

Walter

Hey @rcrath, sorry to jump in here, but are you running any 3rd party apps that might be causing issues perhaps?

If so, you can try closing them and trying again.

If that does not work, you can try reinstalling and selecting only specific folders via the selective sync feature.

In any case, please keep us posted.

rcrath

clean fedora 38 install. seems particular to this machine. still checking my other linux box, but I think that is updating fine. nautilus dropbox is the only thing interacting.

rcrath

el-guapo

I've been going back-n-forth with support for a week without resolution. I was instructed to attempt the "Advanced Reinstall" process documented here: https://help.dropbox.com/installs/advanced-reinstall and I'm still experiencing what appears to be the exact same issue that you reported: "dropbox status" reports "Starting..." and running "dropbox stop && dropbox start" outputs text mentioning "load fq extension" and finishes with "Dropbox isn't running!"

One noteable difference is that I'm running Fedora 40.

jjadigo

Same situation here with Fedora 39 and 40. Dropbox sync is working fine but the tray icon hangs in "Connecting..."

rcrath

Solution that worked for me is here:
https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Apps-and-Installations/dropbox-hangs-on-quot-starting-quot-in-Manjaro-and-in-Fedora-38/m-p/697868#M56698

jjadigo

Hey @rcrath

I tried the solution listed there but the problem persists. On Fedora, Dropbox daemon looks to work fine, it syncs and the status from the terminal shows the correct status: synching, Indexing, Uploading, etc. The issue is with the icon tray, it shows "Connecting..." and it doesn't display the entire menu.

el-guapo

For me the daemon is still "hanging" as best as I can tell. Running via "~/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-197.4.7629/dropboxd" the final lines of the output are:
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/barnetwc/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-197.4.7629/PyQt5.QtCore.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/barnetwc/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-197.4.7629/PyQt5.sip.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/barnetwc/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-197.4.7629/PyQt5.QtGui.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/barnetwc/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-197.4.7629/PyQt5.QtWidgets.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/barnetwc/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-197.4.7629/PyQt5.QtDBus.so'
Unable to monitor entire Dropbox folder hierarchy. Please run "echo fs.inotify.max_user_watches=100000 | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf; sudo sysctl -p" and restart Dropbox to fix the problem.

Running "dropbox status" returns only "Starting..." and the GUI refuses to load.

Здравко

@el-guapo wrote:
...
Unable to monitor entire Dropbox folder hierarchy. Please run "echo fs.inotify.max_user_watches=100000 | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf; sudo sysctl -p" and restart Dropbox to fix the problem.
...

Hi @el-guapo,

Keep in mind that the message is template and the value 100000 is just an example. This value should be bigger than your Dropbox folder entries count (both files and folders - all together)! If you set a value smaller than total count it's meaningless - it's still not enough. You may want to determine this number - run following command:

ls -ARl Dropbox | wc -l

Here Dropbox above is the default place of your Dropbox folder from your home folder point of view. If you have changed its place use appropriate path there. Use the value received (or better bigger) and don't forget to restart you machine so the changes take effect. To see what's the actual value set and in effect, execute following command:

cat /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches

Also to change this value without restart you can execute following command for immediate but temporary effect (after restart will gets forget):

sudo bash -c 'echo YOUR_VALUE_HERE > /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches'

Good luck.

rcrath

If the chattr or the or the max handles doesn't work, try support--they were quick and sorted things out for me.

el-guapo

Sadly, I’ve been going back and forth with Support for a week. They appear to be following the same script with me but taking 24 hours or more to provide the next step.

I’m a long time Dropbox customer and like the product but sadly, like for all such services, their support is declining.

Walter

Hey @el-guapo - sorry to hear about this.

Could you share your ticket ID so that we can look it up in our system too?

Thanks!

el-guapo

Thanks Walter. Ticket # 23655183

Walter

Thanks for the ticket number @el-guapo- I've found it in our system and passed your comments on to the expert who's looking into your case.

They should be getting back to you soon, but please let us know if you have anything else to add in the meantime.

el-guapo

Nailed it! Thanks Здравко!

That did it. I ran the `ls` you provided and updated `max_user_watches` value and BANG! `dropbox status` is returning “Indexing…”

Thank you!

el-guapo

Thanks Walter but Здравко got me going!