Issues with Dropbox File Provider on the Mac

[palebluedot1]

I am writing this both on behalf of myself (personal pro account), but also a company I am director (business account). But moreover,  as member of a large ongoing discussion with a number of other professionals who, like myself work in the music industry who are experiencing huge issues with the new file provider version of dropbox. Many of whom are already leaving dropbox

I appreciate that it is Apple that have enforced the new API. However, the new version is not fit for purpose for the following reasons:

1> Not being able to keep dropbox on an external drive is an essential for people like myself who have large projects that they need to share with other collaborators, but need ready access to. It is simply not realistic or possible to try and have all this data on the main SSD. In my case I have a Mac mini with 256GB SSD as a server for my assistants and I, connected to a much larger drive array.

2>uploads/downlaods are broken with the new fileprovider. I've been waiting 2 days for files to upload that should have taken 2 hours. Files randomly appear suddenly switch to online only, some files never upload and some never download. The basic function of dropbox is not working

3>Dropbox is deleting files randomly. This is the most worying of all. A number of files have either been deleted (and I've had to recover from deleted files and time machine) OR in the case of logic projects, the .logicx files are dissapearing randomly

My main computer is a Mac Studio M2, running Ventura but we are also experiencing the same issues on M1 Mac Studios on monteray and Mac mini M1 on monteray

Can dropbox tell us that there is a pathway in place to resolve this, or should we just cancel our subscriptions now

[tkk]

Could you elaborate on these deleted files? In what cases have they been removed? I am also full of concerns about the operation of the new Dropbox (File Provider) - I have a lot of files in Dropbox that are very rarely used (and may not notice their disappearance) but they are extremely important for my company.

[Walter]

Hey @palebluedot1, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on this with us. 

Did you get in contact with our support team to troubleshoot your issues in more depth and with account specific information by any chance? If so, please share your ticket ID with us so that we can look it up in our system as well. 

When it comes to your 1st point, you can have a look at this discussion for more information about this change and feedback around it. 

Regarding your 2nd point, we'd need more information to troubleshoot, such as your device's exact OS version, the status and version of the desktop app, the type and size of the files you're noticing this on etc. 

As for your last concerns, how are those deletions actually logged in your events page? In regards to your logic projects, perhaps you can use the walk-around outlined here. 

I hope this helps a tad and please keep us posted!

[palebluedot1]

Thank you for replying.

In answer to your questions:

1 Thank you, I had previously read this discussion. I again appreciate this is a technological limitation placed upon you by Apple but I would argue that you shouldn't even roll out a system if its not fit for purpose/functional.

To be more specific. I have now retrograded our Mac mini server back to the older system using the external dive. However our other machines are on Ventura and we dont as far as Im aware, have the ability to retrograde dropbox on these machines. The problem is that packages and certain files that are saved on file provider, do not appear on the Mac mini. Logic Pro files

2 OS version on this machine Im on is 13.5.1 the files are audio files from logic projects. These are saved in folders (rather than logic packages) but we're also experiencing the same exact issues on my staff members Mac Studio M1 running Monterey 12.6.8

I'll give you an example. We have a dropbox project folder which is set as a folder to "make available offline" within that folder are many logic project folders (not too many, 10-15). The logic project files themselves almost never sync (I've seen this listed by dropbox as an issue) but additionally the .wav files themselves are often not uploading or downloading. Out of say 50 files, there will be half that haven't downloaded. Or I'll come back to a project the next day and lots have become online only. 

I have nearly a TB of free space so it shouldn't be doing it to save space 

I often can't move these folder out of the dropbox folder even if they are downloaded because the file provider thinks files are still downloading and the move folder progress  dialogue just hangs indefinitely 

I did have a ticket number 2254660 - although this was more a conversation about how to retrograde a machine from the new AFP. which your colleague was very helpful with. 

As for the deletions, yes they are logged, I have one logic folder project that I came to work on today which was deleted. I know I have not deleted this and can see it was deleted in the middle of the night. So there's obviously an issue with the sync getting confused somewhere

I dont have any antivirus or 3rd party software that I expect could cause these kind of issues

Thanks

[Megan]

Hi @palebluedot1, sorry to jump in here! 

Unfortunately, syncing Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro libraries on cloud-storage services (including Dropbox) is no longer supported on macOS 12.5 or later.

As for the .wav files, are they in the same folder as your logic files, or outside in a different path? Can you clarify the app's syncing status, and version? 

In regards to the deletions, have you managed to restore them using your Events page at all? If you need to see more info as to how they happened, I'd also suggest you reach out to our Support team, to see if they have further info on the device that caused them. 

[dwearydc]

I don't use the Dropbox community for help but rarely. However, I recently inadvertently performed the upgrade to the new Dropbox for Mac that, according to the chat help advisor, is a required feature forced by Apple  on third-party storage applications. If you don't know, this requires a relocation of Dropbox files on your main drive to the home  systems folder, making them a bit harder to access, but most importantly, making an alias unavailable that I have frequently used on my desktop forever, in order to easily move documents around to Dropbox. 

I've been told I can revert to the old version, but that that will eventually be problematic. In the meantime, I found a helpful article at this link (I'm not sure if security policy on this website will allow me to post it, as the chat advisor noted a companywide policy about unsecure links when I attempted to forward it to him, but here goes) https://tidbits.com/2023/03/10/apples-file-provider-forces-mac-cloud-storage-changes/

These changes will make me rethink about the usefulness of Dropbox versus iCloud storage. I like the flexibility of not having to have people link to my personal iCloud storage locations, regardless of individual file security, but maybe that's not an issue. I have some work to do, and the above article helps to clarify some issues for me. You might find it helpful.

[grahamarcher]

We were able to sync Logic Pro X session files (.logicx) absolutely fine before the Dropbox File Provider Update and since the update it's not possible to do so within a Dropbox Team. Please can Dropbox fix this so we are able to sync Logic files again, we need this urgently and are having to use other Cloud Providers because of the issue.

[Hannah]

Thanks for reaching out to our Community, @grahamarcher.

We really appreciate your feedback on this and I've made sure to pass your comments along to our team.

If you need anything else, please let us know.

[grahamarcher]

Please can advise as to whether this is going to be fixed in the near term? We will be forced to move provider if this is the way it's going to stay.

Thanks,

Graham

[Megan]

Hey @grahamarcher, at the moment we don't have an ETA or know if this is going to change in the near future. 

But we'll make sure to update the thread if and when this happens. 

If you need anything else, give us a shout!