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Moving the Dropbox folder on Linux Mint 22.2 using the Dropbox desktop app won't work

I've gone over to Linux Mint 22.2, have dropbox installed. I want to move it to my data drive...no problem. I made the move using the dropbox app, pointing it to my data drive. It did the sync fine, moved the files over, and all is good.

Restart. Upon restart, I get this error message, and can't do anything about it.

If I do a relink, it automatically installs the dropbox back on my OS drive and ignores everything it had just done prior the restart. How do I fix this without reinstalling it on my OS drive?

Thank you.

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Walter

Hey @alanon - sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

As a first step, have you ensured that your device is meeting the minimum requirements?

Have you tried repeating the process of moving the Dropbox folder via the Dropbox desktop app since you first got this error message? Also, has your Dropbox folder been created normally on the new location?

Any additional information is more than welcome!

alanon

Application Affected
Dropbox

Device
Sager Laptop

Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
Linux Mint 22.2

Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
Uninstalled.

Question or Issue
No matter what I try, including AI, I cannot get Dropbox to move the folder of my data, or install where I want the data, from my local OS drive. I want it on my local data drive also installed on my laptop. Is this is a bug? Is this a limitation? How do I fix this? Thank you. Leaving it uninstalled for now as I can't seem to get this to work properly.

When I used the preferences menu and used the app to select the data drive, it seems to work, but when I restart the computer, I get an error message:

AI gave me a whole bunch of different coding to use, including initiating symlinks, which were ignored by the dropbox installer/preferences.

Thank you in advance.

alanon

my apologies for duplicating the posting. Dropbox website gave me an error leaving me to believe this post didn't take. I reposted with more information, so I will abandon this posting and go to the other one.

alanon

Hi Walter, can we delete this post and use the one I redid with more information?

Walter

Thanks for following up with additional information @alanon - much appreciated. Did you have the chance to check my previous questions?

alanon

thank you for combining them Walter!

Back to the issue: the laptop has 16GB RAM, a 1TB HDD, a 500GB SSD for the OS. Uninstalled/reinstalled the dropbox app about 4 times now. A couple restarts, etc. Each time the same issue.

Walter

I see, thanks for the clarifications @alanon.

Can you try an advanced reinstall and try to point your Dropbox folder to your desired location using the 'advanced' settings?

alanon

I followed the directions on the link you gave. The reinstall isn't allowing me any "advanced" options. It's proceeding to install at the default SSD location without asking me for a location. One thing I noticed, in regards to the direction to "rm /etc/apt/source.d/dropbox", that directory does not exist. It's not being created by the installer.

Walter

I see, thanks for giving that a go for me @alanon. Can you send me a screenshot of the options you get since you should be seeing an 'Advanced settings' option upon reinstalling the app?

Also, can you clarify the format of the drive you're trying to move your Dropbox folder to?

I'm asking because a Dropbox folder can be located on a hard drive or partition, formatted with one of the following file system types:

ext4
zfs
eCryptFS (back by ext4)
xfs
btrfs

alanon

I'm not getting any advanced options or advanced settings option when reinstalling. It's just installing like a normal install with no menu at all. The format of the data drive is ext4.

Neal

Hi @alanon,

I just wanted to chime in and see if I can help here.

After looking at your screenshot and seeing the file path /media/$USER/data/Dropbox, I was wondering, are you moving your dropbox folder to an External drive or was it already on an external drive and you're attempting to move it from it to another space?

I ask because the Dropbox folder is not meant to be stored on an external drive as it can cause issues.

Can you please confirm?