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Forum Discussion
DropBox Locks Up System While Syncing (Linux)
For the last several days, every time I start my Linux system (Ubuntu 22.04) it locks up after a few minutes. DropBox appears to be the cause. It loads on startup and a few minutes into syncing the whole system freezes. If I close DropBox before the freeze, there is no freeze.
I suspect the problem is related to a very large folder I had created in my local DropBox folder. The folder was encrypted using cryfs, which breaks files into numerous smaller files. I did not realize this might be a problem for DropBox until I learned about the 300,000 file limit two days ago. I'm not sure, but I think there were over a million files in the cryfs folder.
I had planned to move away from cryfs anyway so I copied the files (decrypted) to another local folder (outside Dropbox) and then moved the local encrypted folder out of Dropbox. The encrypted folder no longer shows as present but there was still constant disk activity while Dropbox is open and the system continues to freeze a few minutes after syncing begins. The last time I looked it reported that it was downloading 17,000 files, but why is it downloading anything when all I've done lately is remove things from Dropbox?
I have tried reducing Dropbox's bandwidth on the theory that this might reduce its load on the system. I started with a 1 mbps (1024 kb) limit, but the system still froze. Then I tried 256 kbps, but the system still freezes. (If anything it freezes for a longer time -- presumably because it's taking longer for Dropbox to crash.)
I've run out of ideas for troubleshooting this. Help!!?!
Hi notredruide,
Try following list of commands:
killall dropbox sudo apt-get purge dropbox rm -rf ~/.dropbox* wget https://linux.dropboxstatic.com/packages/ubuntu/dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install $(realpath dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb) rm dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade dropbox start -iExecute the commands one by one in the order as shown. If some error brings up at some point post exact steps as they appear in the terminal together with the error message.
Hope this helps.
- Jay
Dropbox Staff
Hi notredruide, thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Could you try reinstalling the app, without uninstalling it first, to see if this helps?
Keep me updated with any progress!
Thanks Jay. Sorry for the late reply but I have not received any notifications that anyone had responded to my post. I tried reinstalling Dropbox over the top of the existing installation but have been unable to do so. Searching for Dropbox in Ubuntu Software produces a spinning wheel, and so does downloading the file and attempting to open it with Software Install. This is obviously an Ubuntu problem but instead of trying to troubleshoot it I am going to go ahead and try DerSpitz's solution.
Thanks Jay. Unfortunately I seem unable to reinstall Dropbox on my Linux installation at the moment. If I open Ubuntu Software and search for Dropbox, I just get a spinning propeller thingie. If I download the latest version and right click Open With / Software Install, I get a window that says "loading application details," and nothing happens. If I try the command line (sudo apt install dropbox), I get "Package 'dropbox' has no installation candidate." Is there a repository I need to install? Anyway, pending further suggestions on that front I'm going to dry using cpulimit as recommended by DerSpitz.
Hallo,
versuche doch bitte mit "sudo apt install gdebi" den paketinstaller "Gedbi" zu installieren. Dieser kann deine Original-Dropbox....den prüfen und zeigt dir vielleicht fehlende Pakete oder die Ursache der Fehler an.
DerSpitz
Okay, as suggested by DerSpitz I attempted to use Gdebi to install either dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb or dropbox_2024.01.22_amd64.deb over my existing installation. In both cases Gdebi reported, "Error: Breaks existing package 'nautilus-dropbox' conflict: dropbox ()" I guess this means I should uninstall the existing package and try one of the newer ones? Which package should I install, given that I'm running Ubuntu 22.04? And is there anything I need to do to preserve existing settings etc.?
Hi notredruide,
Try following list of commands:
killall dropbox sudo apt-get purge dropbox rm -rf ~/.dropbox* wget https://linux.dropboxstatic.com/packages/ubuntu/dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install $(realpath dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb) rm dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade dropbox start -iExecute the commands one by one in the order as shown. If some error brings up at some point post exact steps as they appear in the terminal together with the error message.
Hope this helps.
Hello notredruide
I am aware of the problem with DropBox's system load. Previously through Windows, later also with LINUX (my system: MX23.2 minimal - Debian based, 16GB RAM). Due to the high system load, I changed the cloud provider, but this didn't bring any improvement due to poor programming of the program. Now I'm back on DropBox. You can try to solve the problem with the system load as follows (that's how I do it); go to the menu, search for “session and startup behavior” and open it. The “Automatically started applications” tab contains, among other things, an entry for the automatic start for DropBox. It should look something like this: "Dropbox Sync your files across computers and to the web". The command line for this (you can access it by clicking on the edit icon) probably looks like this; "dropbox start -i". If this condition is met, we can continue. Next, create your own startup process by clicking on “New or Add”. An input field opens;
Surname:
Description:
Command:
Trigger:You fill these fields with the following data:
Name: CPU limit for Dropbox (freely selectable)
Description: Reduce CPU load (freely selectable)
Command: cpulimit -e dropbox-I 25
Trigger: when registeringThen save and check the box to start automatically.
However, the package: “cpulimit” must first be installed with the command line: “sudo apt-get install cpulimit”.
This command tells Dropbox to use a maximum of 25 percent of the CPU load. You can experiment with the value "25".
I hope I can help you with this, please report any successes or if you have any questions!
DerSpitz
