Linux Dropbox installation requires 6-digit authenticator code to sign and link the device

Question

Hi,

I'm trying to install the dropbox client in an opensuse tumbleweed install

The last time I did this, I simply installed the dropbox-cli

sudo zypper in dropbox-cli

Then, after the install completed, I started the app with this command:

dropbox start -i

The dropbox daemon duly downloaded and installed, and when installation had completed, my browser invited me to "link" my device

I logged-in at the newly-opened w/page using my username and p/w.

That surely should have been it, but instead the (firefox) browser page invited me to provide a 6-digit authenticator code (!?)

Problem: I don't have the authenticator app installed

After hours of fiddling, I seem to have linked the Tumbleweed system to my dropbox account (one of my 3 linked systems is identified by the T'****** linux kernal number)

Yet, when I start the dropbox app using "dropbox start -i", the system again invites me to link my device to my account. I get this message:

"To link this computer to a dropbox account, visit the follow url…"

When I visit the url, I get the same demand for an authenticator code

I have spent hours on this

Is dropbox still useable on Linux?

Hannah · Answer

Hi there @PorkPieHat, thanks for your post.

I'm happy to see that you managed to sign in and I really appreciate that you posted the details on what you did and what fixed it for you, with Mark's help of course.

If you need anything else or have other issues, please let us know!

PorkPieHat · Answer

Hi Mark,

Your suggestion worked a treat, thanks very much.

In the end, it was all very simple…

Late this afternoon, I logged back into my DB account via my u/n, p/w and a code sms-ed to my 'phone

Inside the account → Settings (from a drop down menu at the top of the screen) → Security. Switched off 2-Factor Authentication

I also visited "linked devices" (top-right menu again) and binned two previous link attempts for my Tumbleweed system (confirmed by their kernel nos), leaving me with just 2 linked devices of the 3 allowed for my (free) account

I then restarted my T'****** system

Back in the desktop, my browser opened and invited me to link my computer to my dropbox account. It now only required my u/n and p/w - no authenticator code needed

DB confirmed the link to my computer, but it still wasn't done: it put up a message - something like:

"Dropbox will run in the background. if you want to use the sys-tray app, you need to install more software, see here → [more]"

I could have stopped here; a dropbox-folder had already appeared in my home-folder and was busy syncing, but I carried on researching…

The extra bit of software I needed was libappindicator-gtk3, known in suse systems as libappindicator3-1

Installed it.

Then, in a terminal, I did:

dropbox stop

That done, I re-started the app from my main app-menu

Almost immediately, the DB icon appeared in my sys-tray and awarded itself a "fully-synced" little green flag.

How very satisfying

Thanks again, Mark

POST SCRIPT

If anyone else wants to know how to install DB in OpenSuse Tumbleweed, I did the first part - correctly (I think) - like this

Installed dropbox-cli and  libgthread-2_0-0*

*a needed dependency

From a terminal

sudo zypper install dropbox-cli libgthread-2_0-0

When the install had completed:

dropbox start -i

The DB "daemon" then downloaded and installed, and my browser opened at the DB "link a device"-page

If I had previously switched-off 2-Factor Authentication in my DB account, I should have been able to link my computer with just my u/n and p/w, as described above (assuming I wouldn't then exceed my number of allowed devices)

Get the sys-tray app in Tumbleweed also as previously described

Mark · Answer

I have to use a "recovery code" to get into my account

My guess here again is that you do then have 2FA on your account - given you have the recovery codes you only get these when 2FA is set up.

I dont know if the attempts at logging in are being mistaken and blocking out the disabling of it maybe as a security tool or not. Hopefully it will work tomorrow though :)