You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.

Forum Discussion

jacherian's avatar
jacherian
Helpful | Level 6
3 years ago

Couldn't start Dropbox - macOS Monterey 12.6.1

My Dropbox (currently at 159.4.5870) stopped syncing on Friday (Status shows "Can't sync") showing an error as it launches when my user account logs in. "Couldn't start Dropbox. This is usually because of a permissions error. Storing your home folder on a network share can also cause an error. For more information, cick the help button below. My mac recently updated to 12.6.1 and that's when I noticed the problem. This issue did happen before when I was at 12.6.0 and then I did an advanced reinstall and the problem went away even after I updated Dropbox to the version where it now stores its cache in ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox instead of the Dropbox folder under the user's home folder. I have already set the Full Disk Access permission for Dropbox in System Preferences, even before I had this issue pop up last week.

This is similar to last week's issue with eli1020 but they had more to report in the end of the dropbox_error...txt file than I do. The last line of my error file is:

dropbox.sync_engine.nucleus.thin_client.exceptions.NucleusConnectionTimeoutError: Nucleus clients are not running. Connection error: None

 

Here is my complete error log (redacted):

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
bn.VERSION: 159.4.5870
bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 55
bn.is_frozen: True
machine_id: 82c1d10f-c70e-5faa-b374-9bfda866e62e
pid: 831
ppid: 1
uid: 502
user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='jch****', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=502, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='Jch****', pw_dir='/Users/jch****', pw_shell='/bin/zsh')
effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='jch****', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=502, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='J****', pw_dir='/Users/jch****', pw_shell='/bin/zsh')
euid: 502
gid: 20
egid: 20
group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', 'admin', 'jch****'])
effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', 'admin', 'jch****'])
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: None
cwd: '/'
real_path='/'
mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
parent mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
HOME: '/Users/jch****'
appdata: '/Users/jch****/.dropbox/instance1'
real_path='/Users/jch****/.dropbox/instance1'
mode=0o40700 uid=502 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=502 gid=20
dropbox_path: '/Users/jch****/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox'
real_path='/Users/jch****/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox'
mode=0o40700 uid=502 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=502 gid=20
sys_executable: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
mode=0o100755 uid=501 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20
trace.__file__: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
not found
parent not found
tempdir: '/var/folders/p5/g3dq42dj7pq92fld_77hgp1h0000gp/T'
real_path='/private/var/folders/p5/g3dq42dj7pq92fld_77hgp1h0000gp/T'
mode=0o40700 uid=502 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=502 gid=20
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 810, in wrapper
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 6423, in finish_dropbox_boot
File "dropbox/client/message_queue.pyc", line 305, in _wrapped
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 5948, in _init_components_for_account
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 5872, in create_sync_engine
File "dropbox/sync_engine_boundary/factory.pyc", line 225, in make_sync_engine
File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/sync_engine.pyc", line 244, in __init__
File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/modern_client/modern_client.pyc", line 322, in __init__
File "dropbox/client/gandalf/legacy.pyc", line 296, in add_on_changed_callback
File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/modern_client/modern_client.pyc", line 475, in _update_feature_configs
File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/modern_client/modern_thin_client.pyc", line 286, in UpdateFeatureConfigForFswRules
File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/thin_client/fp_client.pyc", line 236, in __getattr__
dropbox.sync_engine.nucleus.thin_client.exceptions.NucleusConnectionTimeoutError: Nucleus clients are not running. Connection error: None



  • My Dropbox autoupdated (via Dropbox Update process) to 161.4.4923 (released Nov 9, 2022 ) and Dropbox no longer has an issue starting up and my files  are up to date. Walter pointed me to 161.4.4923 stable build and the offline installer updated the /Applications/Dropbox app as well.  See all the desktop builds by going to dropboxforum.co, under the "Do More with Dropbox" > "Desktop client builds" menu at the top of the website.

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hi jacherian, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

     

    Just for clarification, have you already performed an advanced reinstallation when you experienced this issue on your device?

     

    This will help me to assist further!

    • jacherian's avatar
      jacherian
      Helpful | Level 6

      Hi Jay,

      Yes, when it stopped working last time (around early Oct), I did an advanced reinstall and then Dropbox seemed to work.
      Fortunately for me (but unfortunately for this support forum post), my Dropbox seems to have auto-updated to 160.4.4703 this morning, and now Dropbox opens on user login and is able to sync now.

      • Jay's avatar
        Jay
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        I'm glad to hear that the issue appears to be resolved now.  If you need any further assistance in the future, please let me know.

         

        Enjoy the rest of your week!

         

  • jacherian's avatar
    jacherian
    Helpful | Level 6

    Unfortunately (for me), the Dropbox (160.4.4703) has stopped working again. When it launches, it shows: "Dropbox unexpectedly quit. Your files are safe. Restart Dropbox to resume sync and other features. <Restart Dropbox> <Close>" And the Dropbox menu shows "Can't sync". Any ideas other than an advanced reinstall ?

    • Walter's avatar
      Walter
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hey jacherian, sorry to hear about this.

       

      Would it be OK if we reach out via email to have a further look internally? 

    • jacherian's avatar
      jacherian
      Helpful | Level 6

      My Dropbox autoupdated (via Dropbox Update process) to 161.4.4923 (released Nov 9, 2022 ) and Dropbox no longer has an issue starting up and my files  are up to date. Walter pointed me to 161.4.4923 stable build and the offline installer updated the /Applications/Dropbox app as well.  See all the desktop builds by going to dropboxforum.co, under the "Do More with Dropbox" > "Desktop client builds" menu at the top of the website.

      • Walter's avatar
        Walter
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Thanks for updating the thread to let us know what worked for you in the end jacherian 

         

        See you around the Community and have a marvelous week ahead!

About Apps and Installations

Have a question about a Dropbox app or installation? Reach out to the Dropbox Community and get solutions, help, and advice from members.

Need more support

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!