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Forum Discussion
Selective Sync Conflict mess!
Hello,
I just did a fresh OS install on my Mac, with my Dropbox folder on an external drive (my startup disk is too small to hold this data). I thought that I setup my Dropbox correctly, pointing to the external drive and let the computer 'do it's thing' overnight. Next day, I see a big mess of duplicate and triplicate folders. To make matters worse, the folder sizes are different.
I am guessing that I am stuck with this problem and need to track down all of the extra files, but this will set me back countless hours. Is there a better way to merge these multiple folders into one, without losing any files?
I am passing along a screenshot from my finder window. How emabarrassing!
screenshot with Selective Sync Conflicts
- Jay
Dropbox Staff
I think this answer is a total fail to understand the impact to the customer. If you don't want to use diff tools to verify all the files are the same, at least prompt the user to select which files to keep and stop cloning directories. It's gotten so bad, I have conflict folders of conflict folders. My use case is 2 computers with dropbox folders causing nightmares. Why would we know that selective sync actually meant DropBox was deleting the folders locally? I will be looking for an alternative provider if this continues to be unresolved.
- Jay
I have a ton of "selective sync conflict" duplicate folders that appeared out of nowhere. It seems that the duplicate folders have some files and subfolders within them, so it is not a matter of just deleting them. It seems from your post (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that it is impossible for Dropbox to simply merge all the files and subfolders into the correct folder. And instead I have to spend the next day cutting and pasting all the files and subfolders back into the original folders that they were moved from for some unknown reason. And the Dropbox page that addresses this error message insists that I "created" a new duplicate folder with the same name (which I did not do). So there is apparently no way to stop this from happening again after I fix the Dropbox problem.
After upgrading to latest version of Dropbox and enabling Smart-Sync I found that 5,334 Folders with 43,980 Files in them had been "designated" as conflicted. Then Dropbox started to "UPLOAD". I have no idea what it was uploading - I didn't ask for it to do anything different at this point, I just simply installed the new app. But the process took overnight on my laptop using an ethernet connection (it could not be done in less than a week using WiFi). Without a shadow of a doubt I know that your explanation of "Accidentally naming a folder/file with the same name" is inadequate and is missing another major systematic cause. I could NOT have "accidentally" named 5,334 folders with the same name. Nobody, with the possible exception of my wife, thinks I'm that stupid. After using and praising DropBox since its inception, I'm now afraid to touch it. Almost anything I do now (e.g. checking or unchecking Online Only) starts an interminable upload process. I have no less than 7 PC computers and 5 mobile devices that are all linked to the same Dropbox account. It worked beautifully (i.e. as I expected) prior to the "upgrade." I wish I had checked with the community before enabling Smart-Sync. By the way, since the late 90's I been using a wonderful backup program called "SmartSync Pro" from www.smartsync.com. How did DropBox avoid a lawsuit over the use of the name SmartSync?
Greetings,
I have been working for a few days to try and get dropbox to sync.
Amazingly, after days of seeking support my drive is syncing for the first time (in 6 years).
Unfortunately, all of the synchronised folders are doubling up on my pc with the duplicate `Selective Sync Conflict'.
This is innane, insane and obviously and issue shared by others. I am completely shocked by the ongoing difficulties with the Dropbox app.
To make matters even worse = the duplicate and original folders are both different size !!!
...Dropbox, have you got a solution for this yet? All i want to do is reclaim my archive from your server and this is a seemingly impossible task? The best part of a week is gone trying to get the sync running (same issues on multiple PC's) and now for the few fodlers that have worked (most are greyed out) there is this baffling scenario of duplicate, mismatched files.
I know your stocks went down, you moved head office, lost two key players...but instead of responding to business failings by drainign existing customers = you should fix the service and a paying customer like me would be consolidating my service with pleasure. Instead I just want to leave dropbox (if only I could get my archive)- mr c and anyone else having these issues, my advice to you is just don't waste your time with them anymore. Dropbox does not work and they lost a lot of my $$$$$ because of it. Just don't waste your time here! And don't keep anything important on Dropbox. It's little more than a novelty now for me. (Ex-Dropbox pro user)
michael - thanks for the encouragement; I am trying to get my files from the dropbox servers and soon as I can I will be gone.
When a companies direction becomes inverse to the actual product and service they once represented, it is time to bail.I don;t think a $2b per year company is really going to miss me, nor are they going to change for the customer = to me Dropbox is driven by shareholder gratification and I don't want to encourage them at all.
This article interested me: https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/09/09/why-dropbox-shares-fell-24-last-month.aspx
"Dropbox hopes to inspire more of its users to pay for these upgraded services rather than sticking to a free but more bare-bones experience. If that plan works out as expected, it will boost both its top-line revenue and profit margins in a hurry. But until then, the company must spend money to execute on this vision -- marketing and tech support for the new service model isn't cheap.
The stock has now dropped 24% over the last 52 weeks. "
...With the Dropbox response being to force users into a new price tier, rather than improving the service, clearing historical problems or educating customers about new features, it becomes very clear that they want existing customers to suffer for the sit-at-home dreams of investors. It makes me hate the world.
I hope you have a much better experience with your new host.
