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Issues reinstalling Dropbox Backup from a Time Machine Backup.

Hi,

I'll start with a bit of background:

My 3TB fusion drive on my 2013 27" iMac failed recently so I replaced the HD with a new 1TB SSD.

When I try to recover from the latest backup (from a time machine back up on an external drive) it turns out the back up is too large for my new SSD (I think around 2.1TB of the iMac HD was being used).

The main culprit is Dropbox (1.8TB, even though I had previously set most of it to being online-only, to free up space) and if I uncheck the Dropbox box on migration assistant, everything is fine and I can reinstate Apps, Documents, Mail etc etc that were on the iMac before....EXCEPT dropbox and my Desktop, Downloads and Music (because these three folders were synced and backed up to dropbox).

Unfortunately I can't reinstall dropbox again because my download folder is non-existant so no destination for downloads to go to (there's simply a question mark in the place where it should be on the right of the dock), so I can't even download the installer.

It's quite nice having a completely clean desktop too but TBH I'd like to access the files that were on there.

Is my only option to get a larger external harddrive and make that the iMac's main drive? If so I've wasted time and money on the new SSD.

Any ideas of how I can solve this and get my Desktop, Downloads and Music folders back?

Thanks,

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Megan

Hey there, @gkmach1ne, thanks for posting here!

When you visit your Dropbox account online, are you able to see your Backup there?

You didn't mention anything about disabling it, so unless it's unlinked the content might still be there for you to access.

I hope this clarifies!

gkmach1ne

Hi Megan

Thanks a lot for your response.

Yes, I can see the folders in the online Dropbox. So the data is still there online.

But I'm missing the folders from my Finder in the iMac. I think this is because I was using Dropbox backup. So when I am in Finder and click on either the Dropbox folder, Desktop folder, Music folder or Downloads folder I am met with a message that says: "Desktop" can't be found because the original item can't be found" (and the same for Music or Downloads).

It seems I can't download anything either because Download is gone.

I'd like to be able to have a Desktop on my desktop, downloads in Downloads etc.

Any clues?

I'm maybe missing something obvious.

Thanks

Walter

Hi there @gkmach1ne - sorry to jump in here, but could you clarify your device's OS version and send us a screenshot of the desktop app's exact status as shown in your menu bar at the moment if you managed to install it properly on your computer?

Also, instead of using the time machine backup, do you get the same results if you create a new OS profile?

gkmach1ne

Hi Walter

I appreciate you chiming in.

The iMac is using macOS Catalina (10.15.7) which was as high as this old model could be upgraded to (and exactly the same specs as before the hard drive was replaced so everything should correlate).

I can't take screenshots (well, I can, but since the default destination of screenshots is the desktop, which is absent, I've no idea where these are going) so here's a pic taken with my phone:

I'm not sure I understand the second question...do you mean creating another user profile and installing dropbox from there? If so would I be able to access it from my own user profile?

Thanks

Walter

So, it seems that you haven't linked your account on the desktop app yet - could you give that a go and try adjusting your Dropbox Backups from the app's preferences under the Backups tab?

As for the 2nd question, I was merely suggesting that you create a new OS profile on your computer to see if the app behaves normally there.

In any case, please let me know of any updates @gkmach1ne

gkmach1ne

Hi Walter

Is there a way that that lets me link the Dropbox app?

In my previous screenshot (above) at top right in the menu bar, that revolving blue/black box that says "waiting to be linked to a dropbox account..." has been doing that for 72 hours.

I'm not quite sure how to speed that up.

Thanks

Gordon

gkmach1ne

Hi again

Just to be clear, the dropbox icon in menu bar has been grey for days and has looked like this for days:

When I go to dropbox (browser) and check my linked devices the list looks like this:

which shows me that that the last time the iMac was linked was three weeks ago....the day my old hard drive died.

Walter

Do you see your account's information in the app's preferences under the Account tab @gkmach1ne?

Have you tried quitting and relaunching the desktop app?

gkmach1ne

Hi Walter

No, under the account tab I see this and when I click on Sign In I just see that spinning circle for hours on end.

I can also see the following window:

But when I click on Sign In With Dropbox it takes me to here after I enter my log in details:

At this point when I click on 'Allow' I reach this:

But when I click on 'Open Dropbox' nothing happens. By that I mean the page stays exactly the same...no other windows or anything pops up or opens....the dropbox icon in the menu bar stays grey.

Meanwhile the Preferences Account tab still has the spinning wheel beside the Sign In button.

I'm no expert but what I think this is to do with is folder pathways. Dropbox backup was used to backup my desktop, downloads and music folders. Since the Dropbox folder was too large to import with migration assistant, and remains on the external hard drive, there is a 'ghost' of all four these folders in the finder window, like this:

When normally it should look like this (screenshot from my MacBook Pro):

Screenshot 2024-05-08 at 11.26.18.png

Walter

Thanks for the additional information and the screenshots too @gkmach1ne

Could you please let me know if you're able to navigate to the Backups tap in the app's preferences to see if it shows as enabled there?

Apart from that, could you try these steps for your affected folders and let me know if they helped improve matters on your end?