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Forum Discussion

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

Dropbox + Ubuntu 22.04 - pop-up message at startup.

This persistent popup described here: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Apps-and-Installations/Dropbox-software-needs-installation-on-every-startup/td-p/284927 (but I can't post into that thread) still...
Install
  • Bwucie's avatar
    Bwucie
    3 years ago

    This does appear to work:

    1. Remove Dropbox and its configuration.
      sudo apt purge --autoremove dropbox
    2. sudo apt install nautilus-dropbox and allow it to automagically install the Dropbox binary.
    3. Run Dropbox from your menu or ALT+F2 'dropbox start'.
    4. Edit dropbox.desktop:
      In a terminal either
      pkexec gedit /usr/share/applications/dropbox.desktop OR sudoedit /usr/share/applications/dropbox.desktop and change line 5 to read:
      EXEC=dropbox start
    5. Save and exit.
    6. Go to Startup Applications, and edit the command for Dropbox to read 'dropbox start'
    7. Reboot.

    First reboot may produce a (different) popup saying Dropbox needs to restart to complete installation, click the button, get rid of the popup and that should work the magic. I've run multiple shut downs and boots now, and the Autostart command does not get rewritten after editing dropbox.desktop.

Bwucie's avatar
Bwucie
Helpful | Level 6

**bleep**, I was wrong! Turns out Dropbox resets the entry each time it starts, so on the second reboot after "fixing" the problem it comes back again.

Reading various posts in various forums it does seem to afflict mainly Ubuntu and derivatives distros, so I'd make a guess it is an Ubuntu problem rather than Dropbox. (Though I have one rig running Zorin 16, based on Ubuntu 20.04, using thunar-dropbox-plugin that DOESN'T do it!)

It doesn't seem to make any difference if you install the Dropbox app manually from the Dropbox site, or install nautilus-dropbox via a package manager, you only get one reboot after changing the command in Startup Applications before it resets. Sorry to raise false hope! We'll just have to g on clicking 'Cancel' on the popup until somebody a bit geekier than me comes up with a working solution.

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

This does appear to work:

  1. Remove Dropbox and its configuration.
    sudo apt purge --autoremove dropbox
  2. sudo apt install nautilus-dropbox and allow it to automagically install the Dropbox binary.
  3. Run Dropbox from your menu or ALT+F2 'dropbox start'.
  4. Edit dropbox.desktop:
    In a terminal either
    pkexec gedit /usr/share/applications/dropbox.desktop OR sudoedit /usr/share/applications/dropbox.desktop and change line 5 to read:
    EXEC=dropbox start
  5. Save and exit.
  6. Go to Startup Applications, and edit the command for Dropbox to read 'dropbox start'
  7. Reboot.

First reboot may produce a (different) popup saying Dropbox needs to restart to complete installation, click the button, get rid of the popup and that should work the magic. I've run multiple shut downs and boots now, and the Autostart command does not get rewritten after editing dropbox.desktop.

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