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jelerath's avatar
jelerath
New member | Level 2
3 months ago
Solved

Permissions error on desktop app as appdata points to non-existant location on Mac

I have done a complete uninstall using app cleaner, then deleted any library files containing the words dropbox. I then did a fresh reinstall. However dropbox desktop will not run since appdata points to a non-existant  location:  See appdata below. How do I repoint appdata????

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
bn.VERSION: 213.4.4597
bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 77
bn.is_frozen: True
machine_id: c1f3ed7b-b9b2-5ad4-b89d-4f5f66b7a99d
pid: 1100
ppid: 1
uid: 503
user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='Doug', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=503, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='Doug', pw_dir='/Users/Doug', pw_shell='/bin/zsh')
effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='Doug', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=503, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='Doug', pw_dir='/Users/Doug', pw_shell='/bin/zsh')
euid: 503
gid: 20
egid: 20
group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root'])
effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root'])
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: None
cwd: '/'
     real_path='/'
            mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
     parent mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
HOME: '/Users/Doug'
appdata: '/Users/dougeleratdough/.dropbox/instance1'
         real_path='/Users/dougeleratdough/.dropbox/instance1'
                not found
         parent not found
dropbox_path: None
                    not found
              parent not found
sys_executable: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
                real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
                      mode=0o100755 uid=503 gid=20
                parent mode=0o40755 uid=503 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/yg/mw9zvcl5741dbq55qtdr5bfm0000gq/T'
         real_path='/private/var/folders/yg/mw9zvcl5741dbq55qtdr5bfm0000gq/T'
                mode=0o40700 uid=503 gid=20
         parent mode=0o40755 uid=503 gid=20
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "desktop/dropbox/client/main.py", line 1384, in safe_makedirs
  File "desktop/dropbox/fsutil.py", line 709, in safe_makedirs
  File "../mac_arm64_dropbox_virtual_env/lib/python3.8/os.py", line 213, in makedirs
  File "../mac_arm64_dropbox_virtual_env/lib/python3.8/os.py", line 213, in makedirs
  File "../mac_arm64_dropbox_virtual_env/lib/python3.8/os.py", line 223, in makedirs
PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/Users/dougeleratdough'
 
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "desktop/dropbox/client/main.py", line 8514, in main_startup
  File "desktop/dropbox/client/main.py", line 2763, in initialize
  File "desktop/dropbox/client/main.py", line 1771, in startup_low
  File "desktop/dropbox/client/main.py", line 1393, in safe_makedirs
  File "desktop/dropbox/fsutil.py", line 709, in safe_makedirs
  File "../mac_arm64_dropbox_virtual_env/lib/python3.8/os.py", line 213, in makedirs
  File "../mac_arm64_dropbox_virtual_env/lib/python3.8/os.py", line 213, in makedirs
  File "../mac_arm64_dropbox_virtual_env/lib/python3.8/os.py", line 223, in makedirs
PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/Users/dougeleratdough'

 

  • The terminal command worked. I just didn't understand why the problem existed at all.  Thanks.  Repeat, the terminal command resolved the problem and dropbox is now working fine.

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

    Hey jelerath, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

    Can you try these steps here and let me know what happens?

    Thanks.

  • jelerath's avatar
    jelerath
    New member | Level 2

    Setting permissions doesn't seem to fix the fact that the app data location doesn't even exist. /Users/dougeleratdough is not a location on my computer and so setting access permission is not possible . I don't understand why dropbox continues to try to look for it,

      • jelerath's avatar
        jelerath
        New member | Level 2

        The terminal command worked. I just didn't understand why the problem existed at all.  Thanks.  Repeat, the terminal command resolved the problem and dropbox is now working fine.

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