You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.
Forum Discussion
Kris J.
7 years agoHelpful | Level 5
Dropbox indicates 'downloading xx files' _forever_
Dear community,
I have a perfectly correct Dropbox installation, no noteworthy issues with illegal filenames and I have performed all possible kinds of troubleshooting.
Even so, every so often, m...
- 7 years agoHi Kris, generally symlinks are an issue for files that seem to endlessly download, especially on Macs since they are created often.Another thing to check out is if you’re running the beta version of the app.To install our latest stable version, visit here and uncheck the box next to "Early releases". Then redownload the app.Incidentally, which version of the Mac OS are you running?Keep me posted with any updates!
Jay
7 years agoDropbox Staff
Hi Kris, generally symlinks are an issue for files that seem to endlessly download, especially on Macs since they are created often.
Another thing to check out is if you’re running the beta version of the app.
To install our latest stable version, visit here and uncheck the box next to "Early releases". Then redownload the app.
Incidentally, which version of the Mac OS are you running?
Keep me posted with any updates!
- Kris J.7 years agoHelpful | Level 5
Thanks for the quick reply Jay
To give some more context:
I indeed know that symlinks can sometimes cause issues. It might even be the root issue here. That being said though, on different machines with identical selective sync settings, identical DB client SW and OS versions, one machine will get stuck while the other will not.
Only specific thing here was the DB client release, I was indeed using a pre-release one. I have since downgraded to the latest stable version which I am running, on all machines, on macOS 10.14 (18A377a). Oddly enough that _instantly_ resolved the issue so I am quite happy (and appreciative of the suggestion).
That being said, I assume there must be a way to figure out/display what the Dropbox client is trying to achieve by enabling some kind of Debug logging or by knowing which part of the Dropbox specific file attributes you need to look at.
It would make everything so much easier to troubleshoot... Is there really nothing to see such info?
- Jay7 years agoDropbox StaffGlad to hear that the syncing problem was resolved by downgrading to the stable version!Currently, there isn’t an option to see the actively syncing files via the desktop app. The only way would be to see the files in the Dropbox folder with the syncing icons to determine which ones were syncing, though if you have multiple subfolders and locations, this won’t be easy!
- Kris J.7 years agoHelpful | Level 5
Hi Jay,
I understand such functionality might not currently be available although, the fact that 'sync badges' are overlaid on file icons must indicate there is some kind of mechanism which allows sync status to be obtained (I suspect some kind of attribute). That should allow one to programatically obtain an overview of potentially problematic files...
Whatever may be the case, given how frequent reports of 'permanent syncing' or general sync issues are, it would be nice to consider this for a feature update of some sort.
Users (and often customers!) should be empowered to troubleshoot their system in the event of trouble instead of having to resort to the general 'stop dropbox/unlink/reinstall/ ...' scenarios. It would save a lot of time and effort.
About Apps and Installations
Have a question about a Dropbox app or installation? Reach out to the Dropbox Community and get solutions, help, and advice from members.
Need more support
If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.
For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.
If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!