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Forum Discussion
Desktop client stuck a "Syncing..."
Edit #2 tldr: Dropbox on Ubuntu works fine on fresh install, but quickly decides every file is "unwatched" and refuses to sync anything. ----------- Hey folks — I have Dropbox v100.4.409 ins...
Okey dokey, I seem to have fixed it. Here's a solution post.
Symptoms: Upon start-up, Dropbox was stuck perpetually syncing upon start-up. Every single file was "unwatched". This persisted through re-install. Fiddling with Inotify settings had no effect. However, a clean install, downloading select files to a clean Dropbox/ folder, worked as long as I deleted the .dropbox.cache/ folder right after setting up syncing.
Diagnosis: I believe the issue was that I had a full backup of my computer on Dropbox, which included hidden Dropbox settings files. I normally keep Dropbox on an external hard drive; it includes a directory called computer-backup/, where I periodically use rsync to backup my entire local disk. In a recent backup I copied hidden files as well as normal ones. This worked for the first upload, but I think after that the hidden dropbox files within computer-backup/ were causing chaos. This persisted on a clean install because when Dropbox started downloading, it included those hidden files in the list of files to download, that's why deleting .dropbox.cache/ helped.
My solution:
1) I fully uninstalled Dropbox
2) I removed both .dropbox and .dropbox.cache/ from my external disk Dropbox/ folder
3) I removed all hidden files from computer-backup/ (both on my external drive and on dropbox.com)
4) I re-installed Dropbox & re-aligned the Dropbox location with the Dropbox/ folder on my external drive
I did a couple of restarts, some general fooling around, and this fix seems to be stable.
Hi Walter,
I completed the advanced reinstall and the problem has persisted (i.e. Dropbox initially started indexing files, but as soon as I restarted Dropbox it was stuck again). The main difference between the "advanced reinstall" and a normal reinstall is making sure the permissions are all in order, I guess?
Things that came up:
- nautilus-dropbox could not be uninstalled as it was never installed; as far as I can tell, nautilu-sdropbox is no longer part of the normal dropbox package for ubuntu?
- chattr identified a variety of symlinks
- when I went to move Dropbox to a new location, it got stuck at 99% moved; I had to quit the application to move forward
Alright, another update. Progress is being made, I think.
1) I did ANOTHER full reinstall (getting very bored of this process).
2) I left Dropbox linked to the default location on my local disk. I changed the selective sync settings to include ONLY an empty test folder I had previously made using the web interface. Dropbox successfully settled having downloaded that one test folder + the three files that are loose in my Dropbox folder.
3) I restarted Dropbox. The syncing error was back. All the files were unwatched. [I take this to mean that there is something going on with Dropbox, not with my files.]
4) On a mere whim, I deleted the .dropbox.cache folder that is in the main Dropbox folder. I was surprised but delighted to see that the problem went away! I restarted Dropbox again to check — all good!
5) I moved the Dropbox location to my external disk. Restarted again — still all good!
6) I paused syncing. Changed the selected sync preferences to include my normal range of foldes.
7) I quit Dropbox. I did the rename dance to make my original Dropbox folder line up with Dropbox's location. I deleted .dropbox.cache from my original Dropbox folder. I restarted Dropbox. Sadly, my problem is back. Whomp whomp.
Okey dokey, I seem to have fixed it. Here's a solution post.
Symptoms: Upon start-up, Dropbox was stuck perpetually syncing upon start-up. Every single file was "unwatched". This persisted through re-install. Fiddling with Inotify settings had no effect. However, a clean install, downloading select files to a clean Dropbox/ folder, worked as long as I deleted the .dropbox.cache/ folder right after setting up syncing.
Diagnosis: I believe the issue was that I had a full backup of my computer on Dropbox, which included hidden Dropbox settings files. I normally keep Dropbox on an external hard drive; it includes a directory called computer-backup/, where I periodically use rsync to backup my entire local disk. In a recent backup I copied hidden files as well as normal ones. This worked for the first upload, but I think after that the hidden dropbox files within computer-backup/ were causing chaos. This persisted on a clean install because when Dropbox started downloading, it included those hidden files in the list of files to download, that's why deleting .dropbox.cache/ helped.
My solution:
1) I fully uninstalled Dropbox
2) I removed both .dropbox and .dropbox.cache/ from my external disk Dropbox/ folder
3) I removed all hidden files from computer-backup/ (both on my external drive and on dropbox.com)
4) I re-installed Dropbox & re-aligned the Dropbox location with the Dropbox/ folder on my external drive
I did a couple of restarts, some general fooling around, and this fix seems to be stable.
