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newkis710's avatar
newkis710
New member | Level 2
6 years ago

Binary files instad of folders

Hi everybody

I have a problem that onw of shared folders in dropbox became binary file when I`m sync it with my local storage. From MAC OS or Windows it`s possible to open that file, it works like label, but from Linux I`m couldn`t open it anyway. What shall I do?

Linux
Sync
  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    5 years ago

    Yes, if you'd like to completely disable the Smart Sync option, you'll have to turn the system extensions off.  

     

    Let me know if that does the trick, zacanger!

  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    6 years ago

    Hey there newkis710, I'd be more than happy to help!

    I'll just need a bit more info, such as:

    • Are you getting any errors when you try to open the file from your desktop app?
    • If so, could you send me a screenshot (without personal info)?
    • Are you trying to preview the files in a specific third party app by any chance?

    Any further details would be very helpful. Thanks!

    • zacanger's avatar
      zacanger
      Helpful | Level 6
      5 years ago

      I know this is old but I believe I'm having the same problem. I'm running Ubuntu 20.04 on my two main computers, and have no problems with synced files. My work computer is a Macbook, and I recently tried to sync some new directories with selective sync. Every file that came down, whether it was a text file, video, PDF, whatever, synced as binary blobs. For a test, I did this:

      # Linux side
echo foo > ~/Dropbox/reading-now/test-file

# Mac side
file ~/Dropbox/reading-now/test-file
# test-file: data

      If I try to cat the file, I get nothing out of it.  This is the output of xxd:

      00000000: 0000 0000                                ....

      Files added from the Mac side come through on Linux correctly. Every file newly synced from the Linux side is similar to the above, adjusted for size. This doesn't seem to affect directories that have been synced for a long time. I believe the issue cropped up sometime in the last 6 to 9 months.

      • Lusil's avatar
        Lusil
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        5 years ago

        Hey zacanger, thanks for nudging us on this thread.

         

        Just to make sure that I have a better visual of your concern, could you let me know the following pieces of information?

        • Are you running the current stable version of the desktop app on your Mac computer?
        • Could you send me screenshots (without any personal info) showing what the files look like when they get synced?

        Looking forward to hearing back from you!

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