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Forum Discussion
Couldn't Start Dropbox - macOS Monterey
After installing the new macOS Monterey I am getting the below error
Couldn't start Dropbox
This is usually because of a permissions error. Storing your home folder on a network share can also c...
Hi everyone, with the macOS Monterey update (macOS 12.0 and above), some stricter permissions have been enforced by Apple which have probably led to the issue you are experiencing.
The following steps should help to resolve this behavior:
- Click on the Apple icon in the top left hand corner of your screen
- Select "System Preferences..."
- Then "Security & Privacy"
- Select the Privacy tab
- Select "Full Disk Access"
- Under Dropbox, ensure that all the folders are checked. (To make changes, you will need to click on the lock icon, and enter your macOS password)
- Repeat these steps under 'Files and Folders' and 'Accessibility'
- Once you've completed this, please attempt to restart the Dropbox desktop app
If need be, a reboot of the Mac itself would also help.
I removed an old home folder which hasn't been used in 2 years, turns out dropbox app data was still stored on this user folder / home directory. I am now unable to run or re-install dropbox, I just get the following popups and messages:
the following folder was removed, the user account no longer exists and hasn't been used in years:
add pw and get this:
I then select the link and get this:
bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
bn.VERSION: 144.4.4491
bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 52
bn.is_frozen: True
machine_id: de9b9f98-bc2e-5975-b767-aedf8a415ca5
pid: 1792
ppid: 1
uid: 501
user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='Studio', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=501, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='Studio', pw_dir='/Users/Studio', pw_shell='/bin/bash')
effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='Studio', pw_passwd='********', pw_uid=501, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='Studio', pw_dir='/Users/Studio', pw_shell='/bin/bash')
euid: 501
gid: 20
egid: 20
group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', 'benni', '_xgridcontroller', '_xgridagent', '_carddav', '_xcsbuildagent', '_serialnumberd'])
effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='*', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root', 'benni', '_xgridcontroller', '_xgridagent', '_carddav', '_xcsbuildagent', '_serialnumberd'])
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: None
cwd: '/'
real_path='/'
mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
parent mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
HOME: '/Users/Studio'
appdata: '/Users/benni/.dropbox/instance1'
real_path='/Users/benni/.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=501 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 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/g4/6ff89mzj5v5c_84hvrd2swm80000gn/T'
real_path='/private/var/folders/g4/6ff89mzj5v5c_84hvrd2swm80000gn/T'
mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 1247, in safe_makedirs
File "dropbox/fsutil.pyc", line 655, in safe_makedirs
File "os.pyc", line 213, in makedirs
File "os.pyc", line 213, in makedirs
File "os.pyc", line 223, in makedirs
PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/Users/benni'
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 7916, in main_startup
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 2778, in initialize
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 1648, in startup_low
File "dropbox/client/main.pyc", line 1256, in safe_makedirs
File "dropbox/fsutil.pyc", line 655, in safe_makedirs
File "os.pyc", line 213, in makedirs
File "os.pyc", line 213, in makedirs
File "os.pyc", line 223, in makedirs
PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/Users/benni'
Megan
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHi Sandbox Studio, let's see what we can find on this!
Can you please run the following command through your Mac's terminal app?
sudo mv ~/.dropbox ~/.Trash/dropbox.old
Please note that once the prompt displays, the instruction completes the requested task. If the command returns an error, or does not respond after an hour, you may want to try restarting your computer and trying this step again.
From there, restart Dropbox from the Application folder and then sign in and apply any Selective Sync settings you may have had prior to this reset during the sign in process. Your account will take a few moments to reindex the files and sync any pending changes.
Keep me posted.
Can you please run the following command through your Mac's terminal app?
sudo mv ~/.dropbox ~/.Trash/dropbox.old
Please note that once the prompt displays, the instruction completes the requested task. If the command returns an error, or does not respond after an hour, you may want to try restarting your computer and trying this step again.
From there, restart Dropbox from the Application folder and then sign in and apply any Selective Sync settings you may have had prior to this reset during the sign in process. Your account will take a few moments to reindex the files and sync any pending changes.
Keep me posted.
thanks for your reply, I tried this but unable to run on our default mac user account as this is set as a guest user, I then logged in with admin and get the following message:
Last login: Sat Mar 19 14:33:16 on console
Sandbox-MacPro-Studio:~ admin$ sudo mv ~/.dropbox ~/.Trash/dropbox.old
Password:
mv: rename /Users/admin/.dropbox to /Users/admin/.Trash/dropbox.old: No such file or directory
Sandbox-MacPro-Studio:~ admin$
- JayHi Sandbox Studio, the command was meant to be used assuming you were able to login to that Mac account.
The error message is correct, since you don't have a Dropbox folder on the admin account. Try using the following command:
sudo mv "/Users/benni/.dropbox" ~/.Trash/dropbox.oldThanks very much, we resolved this by making the guest user an admin, we were then able to run the command and install the new dropbox. All is working fine now 🙂
Thanks for providding the commands and instructions!
Kind regards, Benni
Wow… That was great. I've been waiting since first installing Monterey for that to work, and finally.
