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Forum Discussion
Disaster: Dropbox removing external disk support for Mac users :(
In case anyone's unaware... if you're a Mac user storing your Dropbox on an external drive, you'll shortly lose that ability. https://talk.tidbits.com/t/dropbox-drops-support-for-storing-files-on...
I've been using OSX Catalina since I bought a Mac Mini a couple of years ago. The hard disk is only 250 GB, so the Dropbox folder has been located on an external 2 TB disk. This has worked perfectly.
But because Catalina is being phased out by Apple I decided to update to Ventura. Only after the installation did I discover that I could no longer use Dropbox on the external drive. So I used TimeMachine to go back to Catalina. I expected everything to work as before, but no, Dropbox wouldn't open at all. I was forced to update the Dropbox app and then I got the same problem: Dropbox could not be located on an external hard drive. All files were forcibly transferred to the internal disk, but now as “online-only”. At the same time, the Dropbox app informs me that there are currently problems opening online-only files, but that they are working on a solution. This is of course because many more customers have their files online-only now, and Dropbox does not have the capacity to deliver all the data. In addition, I get the question that I hate the most about Dropbox, whether I want to take a backup of the machine. It is not possible to click "NO, never ask that question again", only "not right now". The next time I plug in an external drive, the same annoying question comes up.
Then I have to start with "selective sync" to get the most important folders offline so that I can actually use them. Online-only files only cause the programs to freeze or crash with a spinning wheel. Dropbox then begins indexing. This should sort of happen in the background, in the same way as a TimeMachine backup, but it happens in the foreground. The fan on the Mac Mini is running full blast and I can barely open another program while Dropbox indexes and indexes endlessly. This is the big problem with Dropbox. The program tries to take over the entire machine. I can't find any solution other than to switch to another file sharing service, but which one?
It sounds like I left just in time. I went with Sync and since I got it set up, it’s been fairly seamless. Good luck.
This is my first and only post here. I have a successful business with exactly one employee. (The flexibility is great, but the boss is kind of an ass.) I've used Dropbox for well over a decade, maybe close to two. I've followed this saga for a few months now, after picking up a Mac Mini M2 back in February. (Recommended, by the way!)
I am bewildered by the posters who are certain Dropbox has an ulterior agenda. I guess it's possible, but I don't see any evidence of it, and I try to take people at their word. I believe the folks at Dropbox are frustrated too, and that Apple has screwed this up — they tend to guard their software aggressively, and to place strict controls on the way people can use their OS. It's entirely believable that Apple changed the API's, and that was the spark of the current conflagration. Mac software developers are at Apple's mercy.
I won't speculate on the reason that Dropbox has offered little or nothing in the way of adaptation and solution. Maybe they are really flummoxed by Apple's shifting gears. Maybe they've made a calculated decision that we solo power-users and the video houses that store 30TB in Dropbox aren't enough of a market to put in all the time to find a way to make it work for external drives that's not kludgy. Google seems to have found a way, but c'mon, Dropbox doesn't have Google's resources. Whatever the reason, Dropbox is moving too slowly for me in helping those of us who use Dropbox not just casually, but as an integral part of our work.
It's not just that they're moving slowly — their communication could hardly be worse. There are 47 pages in this topic alone, filled with desperation, anger, and frustration, and Dropbox has only posted a couple of times. I don't get that — unless it's part of their corporate strategy to let this corner of the market atrophy from neglect.
My files aren't huge — about 2TB total. As of today, I've moved everything from Dropbox to Google Drive, and it seems to be working correctly on an external drive. I'll keep Dropbox for a week or two just in case something goes wrong, but I'm just tired of waiting with no credible reply from a company whose products I've used with no hiccups for about 15 years.
That's my story. I wish it were different, because I've really enjoyed the seamlessness and utility of Dropbox. But I guess everything changes, right?
phantom tides it's so disappointing the lack of communication from @Dropbox. Sadly they've communicated so infrequently and so poorly that it's just gotten everyone's back up. I personally think the reason that maybe they're having such a hard time is all the extra bells and whistles they keep adding on to their software. Maybe the integration with the new API is just is too much for them to code all in at this present moment in time.
Again, maybe had they communicated with the customers about the challenges they were facing and what their roadmap was, i.e. maybe some finder integrations dropped off on the initial release, followed by updates over a period of x number of months, then I'm pretty sure most customers would've accepted that. But that wasn't the case and this is where we all are, moving away from a service many of us have used, and loved, for well over a decade, some even 2 decades.
It's a sad sad day but I am sorry to say that they don't have anyone else to blame except for themselves here. Whoever runs their PR division needs firing probably!
"I personally think the reason that maybe they're having such a hard time is all the extra bells and whistles they keep adding on to their software."
UKD I appreciate the support, and you are certainly entitled to any belief you'd like — but I don't know what evidence you have for your statement that it's the bells and whistles that have messed up Dropbox, especially when the Apple APIs are a fact. I'm generally more influenced by evidence than by speculation. and I try to be careful to keep the difference in mind.
What I do know is that other companies have addressed the challenge effectively, that Dropbox has not, and that the communication is insufficient for me. If it works for others, great — that's an opinion and a judgment call. Between the reality that it doesn't work, and the infrequent and uninformative communication, I am, sadly, going elsewhere. I respect if your judgment call is different from mine.
Cheers.
Which OS are you using? Ventura? Thanks
Does Sync work with a Mac external drive in Ventura OS? Thanks
