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Forum Discussion
lynmac
3 years agoCollaborator | Level 8
Outage Oct 30 2022?
Seem to be getting an error message repeatedly telling me dropbox has to restart. Anyone else?
- 3 years ago
Exciting News!!!
Installed an older version of Dropbox (went back to August 2022), no restart, no pausing of the antivirus.
Launched the desktop app and presto, it started syncing!
Result: Everything is as it should be!!
Re-installed v160.4.4703 and everything seems to be working fine. Thanks for your help! 😁
Walter
3 years agoDropbox Staff
Hey lynmac, sorry to hear about this.
Can you please clarify your device's OS and the app's version as shown in your menu bar?
Also, did you reboot your computer since you first noticed this to see if it helps improve matters?
Keep us posted!
- lynmac3 years agoCollaborator | Level 8
@Walter Thanks for the message. Sent a note off to Dropbox support yesterday once I figured out how to do that 😉
Running macOS Big Sur v11.7 and Dropbox v159.4.5870 under a Dropbox Plus subscription.
And yes, did a reboot yesterday and am about to do another one now as the problem is persisting.
Happy Monday!
- lynmac3 years agoCollaborator | Level 8
Walter, an update .. Dropbox re-install (same version) and restart completed and no change - error message is still present.
- lynmac3 years agoCollaborator | Level 8
Update #2 - After Help from DB Support
This is becoming intriguing and I'm learning so much thanks to Walter and Dropbox Support.
DB Support suggested that some "symlinks" were the root cause. In fairly technical language, something along the lines of "Symbolic links, Junction Points, or "symlinks", occur when folders are added to Dropbox that reference directories outside of the Dropbox folder or inside of the Dropbox folder but in a different folder. Because these symlinks may reference locations where Dropbox may have limited accessibility, they can cause various issues."
As suggested by DBS I ran a terminal search for the symlinks, deleted the 2 files that were identified, emptied the trash, hard reboot of my Mac, started Dropbox and presto.... same error. The irony is that the 2 files that were deleted had been in DB since November 2021, with no issue until yesterday 🤔
If it weren't for the fact I use DB so extensively, I would be entertained. 😎
Fingers and eyes crossed that there's more that can be tried to debug Dropbox!
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