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Forum Discussion
Dropbox Apple Silicon (M1) install
Hi,
I recently purchased a MacBook Pro 13" with the M1 processor and I cannot seem to get a native install of Dropbox for this chipset. From searching the community, it seems like M1 support should be available in the latest installer. However, trying that plus the latest beta build all ask me to install Rosetta during installation. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks,
Warren
Hi all,
Native Apple silicon support is now fully available. All users with Apple silicon devices will receive the native version of Dropbox automatically. If you would like to update your device manually, you can do so by clicking on the latest Stable Build and downloading the Offline Installer (Apple Silicon) file. For more information, visit the Dropbox Help Center.If you need assistance with anything else, please feel free to create a new thread and our community team will be happy to assist.
I got my m1 today. Really surprised that Dropbox is not updated the app with M1 native yet.
The M1 Mac mini released on Nov 2020, and it is the 3rd round Apple release M1 products (mini, air, pro).
Interesting to know whether this company layoff most the programmer?
I almost always share with other mac users, who all seem to upgrading to Apple silicon. My machine is on order. Good think there are choices in the file sharing space these days.
- Mark
Super User II
Does the offline version work from https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-desktop-client-builds/Beta-Build-117-3-356/td-p/499856 ?
However, reading some other web pages it looks like Rosetta may be a requirement for install. I cant seem to find any info on that on the help centre, however.
I get the same notice to install Rosetta. Maybe this is a problem with the installer vs the Dropbox app, but how to tell?
I looks like you can use Get Info an an app via the Finder to see if it is Intel or Universal (M1). I did so for the 117 build recommended, and it says it is an Intel app. Does or does not Dropbox have a Universal version of the app native to Apple silicon? It does not seem so...
Every time I try to install Rosetta I get the same error. There could be a conflict between the Dropbox app and the installer, but how can I tell?
Something like, you can expect a beta in the next two months would be enough, but this silence seems to me a lack of respect towards customers. The Apple development kit could be obtained a year ago and I do not understand how a company of the size of Dropbox has not been able to adapt in a whole year when the present and the future of the Apple platform is Apple Silicon.
I am unable to install dropbox on my new "M1" Mac Mini (9.1) running OS 11.3.1.
I was unable to open the installer, I used "Unarchiver" successfully.
I added Dropbox to "Full Disc Access" in Security & Privacy.
I added myself to "Sharing & Permissions" in Dropbox.app info but the option to make me the owner was greyed out.
I checked "Open using Rosetta" but this was not helpful.
What should I do?
error message below
You do not have permission to open the application “Dropbox.app”.
Contact your computer or network administrator for assistance.
- Megan
Dropbox Staff
Hey nedludd, wishing you a great Monday!
I've moved your question under this thread, since it echoes the requests other users had.
Can I ask if you've tried installing the Beta build to your device?
If I were you, I'd also try the offline installer of the stable build, to see if this does the trick.
I hope this helps.
Sorry to go off topic a bit, but I cannot find a way to start a new thread.
So I just configured a new Macbook Pro 16 with the M1 Max chip. I ran Migration Assistant from my old MBPro, but then realized I needed to change my short User name (& therefore the name of my Home folder). I got that done successfully, but Dropbox can't seem to deal with this. It keeps throwing up a message about needing to change permissions for {former name of Home folder} - this is a simple window seeking input of user password, but no option to edit folder name or otherwise tell Dropbox which folder to use. Of course when I enter the password nothing happens, because in fact the old folder name Dropbox cites is long gone from my machine.
I have stripped out all Dropbox-related files from the hard disk, re-downloaded & reinstalled Dropbox, but nothing changes this behavior. Does anyone have any suggestions for how I might fix this? (oh yes, in every other respect this machine is a dream! and no other apps seem to have trouble with the changed User name)
Thanks,
John
Hey John,
I had the same problem from my migration. Oh, Dropbox... enjoy your inertia!
Here's how I fixed it, requires some terminal time so tread lightly
1. create an alternative admin user
2. reboot
3. login as the alternative user, not your main user
4. open the terminal fix permissions and relocate, depending on which folders are linked. I only linked my Desktop, Documents to Dropbox for auto-backups. You will need to change these commands for your account. If you do not understand, don't run these commands! (readlink Documents is to prevent you from operating on files that are not symlinks)
$ cd /Users/yourusername/Dropbox
$ OLD_TARGET=$(readlink Documents)
$ readlink Documents && sudo chflags -h nouchg Documents
$ readlink Documents && rm Documents
& cp -a $OLD_TARGET ~/
Do this for the remaining symlink folders you need to fix.
5. Log back in as your normal user, setup the backup process again. Make sure to rename your computer before doing this. My new MacBook kept the same name as my old one, so the new Dropbox backup directory was oddly named.
Hi Rob,
Hmm, I think I will need to learn a bit more about the specific references in Terminal before trying this. But thank you very much for this reply.
John
Seriously? Yikes. I just received my new 2021 M1 Max MacBook Pro and can't get the Dropbox installer to work. I appears I need Rosetta. Come on, Dropbox. Don't drop the ball.
As for Rosetta, it's my understanding that it's included in the OS (Monterey, in this case). Some apps need it, but I thought the first time you try to open one, it would stop & ask to use it?
Anyway, here's a clue - Photoshop 2021 on my mac has a checkbox in the Get Info dialog for selecting "Open using Rosetta". I enabled it and now Rosetta seems to be available for any app that needs it. Maybe look for an app (doesn't have to be Photoshop) with that checkbox available?
Good luck, and enjoy your new Mac!
John
I am considering getting a new M1 MacBook pro. Rosetta is built in within? If I read you well, you need to install rosetta to be able to access dropbox
Dropbox works on M1. Problem is that it eats memory.
I recently bought a M1 MacBook Air and tried installing drop box but couldn't. After checking whether I could found that dropbox still isn't compatible so now I have to move else where. I had 2 dropboxes and aim to drop both. I can't believe that dropbox has totally ignored the M1 fraternity. Sometime in 2002 just doesn't cut it for me.
Richard Hart former Dropbox user.
Hmm, my experience is different. Dropbox runs fine on my 16-in MacBook Pro (M1 Max chip), as well as my older Macs. The only negative is the 3-machine limit (somehow in years past, this didn't apply?).
I did need to get the current Dropbox installer to make sure a silicon-Mac-compatible version got installed on my new MacBook Pro, though.
Give it a try before you give up...
John
- It should run on an M1 we have it running on an M1 and an M1 pro. It works through Rosetta and is the worst piece of software I regularly use.
I get that Dropbox does not support Apple Silicon Macs AKA M1 Macs. Is there any list of what works and what doesn't work? I reorganized some folders on my MacBook Pro M1 and those changes just don't sync, meaning they don't show up when I log into dropbox.com and they don't show up on my old MBP.
Some people seem to be able to open the Dropbox desktop app using Rosetta, but I can't open it at all.
I had been accessing my DB folders through Finder, but if syncing is hit or miss, I'm concerned I'm going to lose or damage critical files.
Any idea what is safe?
- HannahHey xmarc999, thanks for posting on our Community.
At the moment, indeed, the Dropbox app should work with Rosetta. Are you having this issue while using it that way?
Do you have a Dropbox icon in your menu bar, that can give us some info on the sync status of the app?
Are you perhaps getting any error messages?
Keep me posted!In researching this further, a lot came up.
First, my setup: macOS Monterey
Version 12.1
MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021)
Chip Apple M1 Max
Memory 32 GBDespite being in my Login Items, Dropbox was not consistently starting at boot. Re-booted into Safe Mode and manually started Dropbox. *Now* I got a login window. So likely was not fully logged in before for whatever reason. Logged in. Went through System Preferences and made sure Dropbox had all the access it needed (at least one access was turned off in Security and Privacy). Restarted in normal mode.
Dropbox icon in menu bar now badged with numbers. Status shows several thousand updates pending (!). Let it sync.
Logged into Dropbox via web. Online view now shows updated files and folder organization.
So it looks like DB was in some odd state which was causing problems at startup. Everything now seems to work as I need it.
Thanks for pinging me on this.
Look into StrongSync from ExpanDrive. It seems to work fine on my new Apple silicon MacBook Pro Max. Just installed it a few days ago. Access to DropBox is a little different through StrongSync, but it gets me there.
Thanks for the tip, Jericho. I think using Migration Assistant to move over from Big Sur/Intel to Monterey/Apple Silicon did not do justice to DB. If I had it to do over again, I think I would have deleted DB completely and reinstalled it.
Kudos to StrongSync for being the first to implement Apple's File Provider extension. And for their new support for DB. Having said that, I'm not fully sure what its functions are. I'll have to look into it; I have started to look into Expandrive also
