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CodesAreHonest's avatar
CodesAreHonest
New member | Level 2
4 years ago

Unable to start dropbox in Ubuntu 20.04

Hi, I am unable to start the dropbox in Ubuntu 20.04 with Headless Mode with the following errors. I had read through all the forums and documents to find out the solution in order to fix this error but now lucks.

I had already perform `dropbox start` as root but still obtains:

 

Couldn't start Dropbox.
This is usually because of a permissions error. Storing your home folder on a network share can also cause an error.

Get more help at https://www.dropbox.com/c/help/permissions_error

 


The log of /tmp/dropbox_errorf0tk7axj.txt are shown below: 

 

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
bn.VERSION: 131.4.3968
bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 48
bn.is_frozen: True
machine_id: 20210623-1124-0478-1463-487467590001
pid: 30950
ppid: 1
ppid exe: '/usr/lib/systemd/systemd'
uid: 0
user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='root', pw_passwd='x', pw_uid=0, pw_gid=0, pw_gecos='root', pw_dir='/root', pw_shell='/bin/bash')
effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='root', pw_passwd='x', pw_uid=0, pw_gid=0, pw_gecos='root', pw_dir='/root', pw_shell='/bin/bash')
euid: 0
gid: 0
egid: 0
group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='root', gr_passwd='x', gr_gid=0, gr_mem=[])
effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='root', gr_passwd='x', gr_gid=0, gr_mem=[])
LD_LIBRARY_PATH: None
cwd: '/root'
     real_path='/root'
                mode=0o40700    uid=0   gid=0
     parent     mode=0o40755    uid=0   gid=0
HOME: '/root'
appdata: '/root/.dropbox/instance5'
         real_path='/root/.dropbox/instance5'
                mode=0o40700    uid=0   gid=0
         parent mode=0o40755    uid=0   gid=0
dropbox_path: None
                        not found
              parent    not found
sys_executable: '/root/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-131.4.3968/dropbox'
                real_path='/root/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-131.4.3968/dropbox'
                        mode=0o100755   uid=0   gid=0
                parent  mode=0o40755    uid=0   gid=0
trace.__file__: '/root/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-131.4.3968/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
                real_path='/root/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-131.4.3968/python-packages.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
                        not found
                parent  not found
tempdir: '/tmp'
         real_path='/tmp'
                mode=0o41777    uid=0   gid=0
         parent mode=0o40755    uid=0   gid=0
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 5397, in _setup_root_for_account
AssertionError: fresh link yet no preferences

 

 

Desktop
Linux
Setting up the apps
  • torga's avatar
    torga
    New member | Level 2
    4 years ago

    Still failing for me with client 131.4.3968. I have it working though using a previous build (125.4.3474)

    • Rodrigo Oliveira's avatar
      Rodrigo Oliveira
      New member | Level 2
      4 years ago

      For anyone still having this issue, it happened to me today when trying to install on Ubuntu 14.04, i got it working using build 125.4.3474 as Torga mentioned.
      Followed the steps in advanced reinstall here but when it tells you do download the latest client:

      cd ~ && wget -O - "https://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86" | tar xzf -

      I changed the link to get the older version:

      cd ~ && wget -O - "https://edge.dropboxstatic.com/dbx-releng/client/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-125.4.3474.tar.gz" | tar xzf -

      And it worked just fine!

       

      Still no updates on the latest build

  • feria35's avatar
    feria35
    New member | Level 2
    4 years ago

    I have the same problem on Debian 10.

    Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 5397, in _setup_root_for_account
AssertionError: fresh link yet no preferences

    I have tried many things :

    * export variables like LC_ALL="fr_FR.UTF-8", LANGUAGE='fr_FR.UTF-8', HOME="/path/to"

    * remove the folder  .dropbox

    but nothing works !

      • Walter's avatar
        Walter
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        4 years ago
        Hey there CodesAreHonest, feria35 & petardo, thanks for posting on our Community and sorry to hear you're having issues with this. 

        If you've ensured that your devices are meeting the minimum requirements as outlined here, you could try a clean, advanced reinstall at this point. 

        I hope this helps!
  • Evick's avatar
    Evick
    Explorer | Level 4
    4 years ago

    I am having the same problem on my server (Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS).

    • Walter's avatar
      Walter
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      4 years ago
      Hi all, thanks for your reports!

      I'd like to have our team investigate this a tad further, so would it be OK if I reached out via email?
       
  • torga's avatar
    torga
    New member | Level 2
    4 years ago

    Same trace on headless Debian 8 and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, same client build 131.4.3968
    Has this issue been observed with an older release ?

  • keeb's avatar
    keeb
    New member | Level 2
    4 years ago

    Same trace here. I've tried Ubuntu 18.04 & 21.10 as well as Debian buster and I get the same error with the latest dropbox client installed.

  • cuye's avatar
    cuye
    Explorer | Level 4
    4 years ago

    same issue here, running headless Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS. Tried as well on a new VM with the same OS, didnt work either

  • adw74's avatar
    adw74
    New member | Level 2
    4 years ago

    I can download and start the dropbox daemon. It generates a link to use to connect it to my Dropbox account.

     

    The link works fine, but then the daemon says:

     

    "This computer is now linked to Dropbox. Welcome XXXX
    Couldn't start Dropbox.
    This is usually because of a permissions error. Storing your home folder on a network share can also cause an error."

     

    I believe the issue is that a 'Dropbox' folder is never created in my home directory on the server. I've tried creating the folder myself with full permissions.

     

    This is on an AWS Lightsail instance, in case that matters. All help appreciated.

  • sumeetsk's avatar
    sumeetsk
    New member | Level 2
    4 years ago

    I was able to use dropbox fine till yesterday, but today it complains of the following error. 

     

    Couldn't start dropbox. This is usually because of a permissions error.

    I tried some steps in https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-files-folders/Why-am-I-getting-a-Couldn-t-start-Dropbox-permission-error/td-p/22462/page/4, but none of them helped.

     

    My file contents are:

    bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
    bn.VERSION: 131.4.3968
    bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 48
    bn.is_frozen: True
    machine_id: ec45be64-4b75-507e-92d6-80c5883f48e6
    pid: 34365
    ppid: 1
    uid: 216702978
    user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='katsumee', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=216702978, pw_gid=1896053708, pw_gecos='', pw_dir='/Users/katsumee', pw_shell='/bin/zsh')
    effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='katsumee', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=216702978, pw_gid=1896053708, pw_gecos='', pw_dir='/Users/katsumee', pw_shell='/bin/zsh')
    euid: 216702978
    gid: 1896053708
    egid: 1896053708
    group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='ANT\\Domain Users', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=1896053708, gr_mem=[])
    effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='ANT\\Domain Users', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=1896053708, gr_mem=[])
    DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: None
    cwd: '/'
    real_path='/'
    mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
    parent mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
    HOME: '/Users/katsumee'
    appdata: '/Users/katsumee/.dropbox/instance1'
    real_path='/Users/katsumee/.dropbox/instance1'
    mode=0o40700 uid=216702978 gid=20
    parent mode=0o40755 uid=216702978 gid=20
    dropbox_path: '/Users/katsumee/Dropbox'
    real_path='/Users/katsumee/Dropbox'
    mode=0o40755 uid=216702978 gid=20
    parent mode=0o40755 uid=216702978 gid=20
    sys_executable: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
    real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
    mode=0o100755 uid=216702978 gid=1896053708
    parent mode=0o40755 uid=216702978 gid=1896053708
    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/jl/n_00nb2529q4dqb0vl54h23r6fn802/T'
    real_path='/private/var/folders/jl/n_00nb2529q4dqb0vl54h23r6fn802/T'
    mode=0o40700 uid=216702978 gid=1896053708
    parent mode=0o40755 uid=216702978 gid=1896053708
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "dropbox/client/authentication/register_host_helper.pyc", line 478, in _try_register_host
    File "dropbox/client/authentication/register_host_helper.pyc", line 944, in handle_changed_host_secret
    File "dropbox/sync_root/helpers.pyc", line 359, in destroy_root_from_config
    AssertionError

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