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Forum Discussion
Help! "Couldn't start Dropbox" error (Mac & Big Sur)
Dropbox won't start on my MacBook Air (13" 2018), with Big Sur 11.3.1.
Have uninstalled dropbox and reinstalled. Same error
Uninstalled again, advanced re-install. Same error
AFAIK, vanilla install, with dropbox folder in default location.
Used to work, but stopped when rebooted laptop after 11.3.1 upgrade
Help!
Error messages:
"Couldn't start dropbox"
"This is usually because of a permissions error. Storing your home folder on a network share can also cause this error."
Contents of error file:
"
bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
bn.VERSION: 122.4.4867
bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 48
bn.is_frozen: True
machine_id: 664c1217-e060-5667-8990-51d38e73896b
pid: 815
ppid: 1
uid: 502
user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='petercrow', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=502, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='Peter Crow', pw_dir='/Users/petercrow', pw_shell='/bin/bash')
effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='petercrow', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=502, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='Peter Crow', pw_dir='/Users/petercrow', pw_shell='/bin/bash')
euid: 502
gid: 20
egid: 20
group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', '_xcsbuildagent', '_serialnumberd', '_xcscredserver'])
effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', '_xcsbuildagent', '_serialnumberd', '_xcscredserver'])
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: None
cwd: '/'
real_path='/'
mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
parent mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
HOME: '/Users/petercrow'
appdata: '/Users/petercrow/.dropbox/instance1'
real_path='/Users/petercrow/.dropbox/instance1'
mode=0o40700 uid=502 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=502 gid=20
dropbox_path: '/Users/petercrow/Dropbox'
real_path='/Users/petercrow/Dropbox'
not found
parent mode=0o40777 uid=502 gid=20
sys_executable: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
mode=0o100755 uid=502 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=502 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/y5/nky42css7sbgmkskdqtx09q80000gp/T'
real_path='/private/var/folders/y5/nky42css7sbgmkskdqtx09q80000gp/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 807, in wrapper
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 6277, in finish_dropbox_boot
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 6497, in on_fresh_link
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 6534, in create_dropbox_folder
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 1236, in safe_makedirs
File "os.pyc", line 223, in makedirs
PermissionError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/Users/petercrow/Dropbox'
"
Ran these changes, but no different.
Tried once more, after double-checking firewall off.
uninstall DB
reboot
delete DB folders from local storage, and empty bin
reboot
search and delete every 'dropbox' named file in ~/library
reboot
advanced reinstall
reboot
logoff DB on webclient
reboot
start DB
login
accept all vanilla (recommended) options
and it started and seems to be sync-ing correctly.
Not sure what changed this time around, but DB seems to be working again.
Thanks for your help.
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hey there prc87, thanks for using Dropbox and welcome to our Community!
From what I understand it looks like your Home directory is “locked”. Can you please do the following steps to fix this?- Right-click on your Home folder → /Users/{your username}
- Select "Get Info" from the menu
- Uncheck the "Locked" checkbox.
If you have certain folders intentionally locked, then after doing the above you can go ahead and re-lock any folders within your Home directory that aren't the Dropbox folder.
Let me know how you get on, Peter!Thanks Walter
I checked as you suggested.
The home directory “locked” status is UNCHECKED. Also, none of the enclosed folders are locked as far as I can tell—and the Dropbox folder has been deleted too, as part of the advanced re-installed.
As a test, I checked the Locked status. Rebooted. Unchecked it. Rebooted. Then tried to open Dropbox. Same error persists, unfortunately
- Walter
Could you the try disabling any antivirus or firewall you may have and try again prc87?
Otherwise, you could also try the following:- Click on the apple icon in the top left hand corner of your screen.
- Select "System Preferences..."
- Then "Security & Privacy."
- Select the Privacy tab.
- Select "Files and Folders."
- Under Dropbox, ensure that all the folders are checked.
To make changes, you will need to click on the lock icon, and enter your macOS password.
Now, attempt to restart the Dropbox desktop app.
Let me know if this helped, Peter!
I just tried this "fix" and it failed. Error message was
bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropboxbn.VERSION: 124.4.4912bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 48bn.is_frozen: Truemachine_id: 4902f188-79dc-51ef-ab44-66e5c3af45e7pid: 1361ppid: 1uid: 504user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='ctk', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=504, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='C. T. Kelley', pw_dir='/Users/ctk', pw_shell='/bin/tcsh')effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='ctk', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=504, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='C. T. Kelley', pw_dir='/Users/ctk', pw_shell='/bin/tcsh')euid: 504gid: 20egid: 20group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', 'tim', '_nsurlstoraged', '_serialnumberd', 'ctk', 'bubba', '_sophos', '_xcsbuildagent'])effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', 'tim', '_nsurlstoraged', '_serialnumberd', 'ctk', 'bubba', '_sophos', '_xcsbuildagent'])DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: Nonecwd: '/'real_path='/'mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0parent mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0HOME: '/Users/ctk'appdata: '/Users/ctk/.dropbox/instance1'real_path='/Users/ctk/.dropbox/instance1'mode=0o40700 uid=504 gid=20parent mode=0o40755 uid=504 gid=20dropbox_path: '/Users/ctk/Dropbox'real_path='/Users/ctk/Dropbox'mode=0o40700 uid=504 gid=20parent mode=0o40755 uid=504 gid=20sys_executable: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'mode=0o100755 uid=504 gid=20parent mode=0o40755 uid=504 gid=20trace.__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 foundparent not foundtempdir: '/var/folders/9q/sddj5fcj2m729sjf5_hbnxb40000gr/T'real_path='/private/var/folders/9q/sddj5fcj2m729sjf5_hbnxb40000gr/T'mode=0o40700 uid=504 gid=20parent mode=0o40755 uid=504 gid=20Traceback (most recent call last):File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 821, in wrapperFile "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 6488, in finish_dropbox_bootFile "dropbox/client/message_queue.pyc", line 307, in _wrappedFile "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 6017, in _init_components_for_accountFile "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 5944, in create_sync_engineFile "dropbox/sync_engine_boundary/factory.pyc", line 225, in make_sync_engineFile "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/sync_engine.pyc", line 275, in __init__File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/modern_client/modern_client.pyc", line 219, in __init__File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/modern_client/base.pyc", line 149, in __init__File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/thin_adapter/in_proc.pyc", line 223, in __init__File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/thin_adapter/in_proc.pyc", line 597, in _init_new_engine_lockedFile "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/thin_client/client.pyc", line 182, in __init__File "extensions/nucleus/nucleus_python.pyx", line 76, in nucleus_python.NucleusSyncEngine.__cinit__nucleus_python.SyncEngineError: "Initializing engine |>> Initializing filesystem |>> Attempting to register icons |>> Opening dst |>> open syscall |>> Permission denied"Had same problem after installing Big Sur, if you look on hard drive there is a shared folder with a load of junk folders created by the install, deleting these and restarting dropbox forces it to unlink, you then login to dropbox again and synchronise from the cloud again.
Happened after Montery upgrade. Tried this solution, didn't work.
n.BUILD_KEY: Dropboxbn.VERSION: 134.4.4115bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 51bn.is_frozen: Truemachine_id: ddc1034c-a7af-5798-a128-21dbca2d510bpid: 1023ppid: 1uid: 501user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='larrygoldstein', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=501, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='Larry Goldstein', pw_dir='/Users/larrygoldstein', pw_shell='/bin/bash')effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='larrygoldstein', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=501, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='Larry Goldstein', pw_dir='/Users/larrygoldstein', pw_shell='/bin/bash')euid: 501gid: 20egid: 20group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', '_nsurlstoraged'])effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', '_nsurlstoraged'])DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: Nonecwd: '/'real_path='/'mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0parent mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0HOME: '/Users/larrygoldstein'appdata: '/Users/larrygoldstein/.dropbox/instance1'real_path='/Users/larrygoldstein/.dropbox/instance1'mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20dropbox_path: '/Users/larrygoldstein/Dropbox'real_path='/Users/larrygoldstein/Dropbox'mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20sys_executable: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'mode=0o100755 uid=501 gid=20parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20trace.__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 foundparent not foundtempdir: '/var/folders/cy/_dkr8xkn2b9g86jggm4ck2rw0000gn/T'real_path='/private/var/folders/cy/_dkr8xkn2b9g86jggm4ck2rw0000gn/T'mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20Traceback (most recent call last):File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 816, in wrapperFile "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 6537, in finish_dropbox_bootFile "dropbox/client/message_queue.pyc", line 313, in _wrappedFile "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 6070, in _init_components_for_accountFile "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 5994, in create_sync_engineFile "dropbox/sync_engine_boundary/factory.pyc", line 226, in make_sync_engineFile "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/sync_engine.pyc", line 278, in __init__File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/modern_client/modern_client.pyc", line 245, in __init__File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/modern_client/base.pyc", line 152, in __init__File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/thin_adapter/in_proc.pyc", line 209, in __init__File "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/classic_client/thin_adapter/in_proc.pyc", line 520, in _init_new_engine_lockedFile "dropbox/sync_engine/nucleus/thin_client/client.pyc", line 188, in __init__File "desktop/extensions/nucleus/nucleus_python.pyx", line 76, in nucleus_python.NucleusSyncEngine.__cinit__nucleus_python.SyncEngineError: "Initializing engine |>> Initializing filesystem |>> Attempting to register icons |>> fchflags syscall: _set_hidden |>> Permission denied"I already tried this- twice. Same problem.
