Unable install Dropbox in my new Dell AIO with UBUNTU 20.04LTS

[shibananda]

I just bought a Dell Optiplex 7400 All-in-One with pre-installed OS UBUNTU 20.04 LTS. I tried to install dropbox which is a must for but unable to do so. It says:
"trouble connecting dropbox servers - may be your internet connection is down or you need to set your http_proxy environment variable"

I tried the solutions at "https://askubuntu.com/questions/69434/cant-complete-dropbox-installation-from-behind-proxy" but it didn't help.

My internet is working absolutely fine. I do need to install Dropbox as all my works are there. I felt there might be some changes in the network I am required to do as the application can't connect to the server itself but I must admit that I am a novish. Please help me with solutions accordingly. I would be really grateful.

[Megan]

Hi @shibananda, welcome to our Community! 

In regards to the installation not being able to take place, it might sound trivial but have you tried rebooting your device at all? 

It seems you're able to access your account online without an issue, would that be the case? If I were you, I'd also try to download the app, using the offline installer. Can you give this one a go?

Let me know of any updates! 

[shibananda]

Dear Megan,

Thanks a lot for your reply! I have tried rebooting but it did not work and yes, I am able to access my account online without an issue. I would surely try out your offline solution by downloading the x86_64 Offline Installer and would let you know. Since, I am novish in installing, could you please suggest a link which I could follow line by line in the terminal? Sorry to bother you and intrude on your time but I do hope that you will understand.

Thaking you again,

With best regards,

Shibananda.

[Megan]

Hi @shibananda, feel free to check out the info here and let me know if there's a specific place you're getting stuck. 

[shibananda]

The instructions at https://help.dropbox.com/installs/linux-commands seems to be for a different file than the one in https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-desktop-client-builds/Stable-Build-168-4-4802/td-p/661979... I have been trying with the command

tar -zxvf dropbox-lnx.x86_64-168.4.4802.tar.gz 

or tar xvf dropbox-lnx.x86_64-168.4.4802.tar.gz

but now new director is coming up where I can give the command   

./configure (it says: shibananda@shibananda:~/Downloads/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-168.4.4802$ ./confgiure
bash: ./confgiure: No such file or directory

make
sudo make install (this says: make: *** No rule to make target 'install'. Stop.)

I am totally lost...

[Здравко · Accepted solution]

Hi @shibananda,

Do something like following (step by step - line by line):

$ curl -L https://www.dropbox.com/download?dl=packages/ubuntu/dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb > ~/dropbox.deb
$ sudo apt-get install ~/dropbox.deb
$ rm ~/dropbox.deb
$ dropbox stop
$ rm -rf ~/.dropbox*
$ dropbox start -i

Execute all commands as they are - without any change, in the same order. After the last command you will be invited to authorize the application. Does the Dropbox application work now? 🧐 If any error appears, post the exact appearing in the terminal (together with commands and results - including the error text).

Good luck.

[shibananda]

Thanks a lot @Здравко !

My heartiest wishes...

With regrads,

Shibananda.

[ferrous]

I'm having very similar problems.

When I do this, it still tries to install the proprietary daemon when I start Dropbox on the final step. It gets part-way through, then it pops  '"Dropbox" is not responding. You may choose to wait a short while' etc.

Then - this is new - a separate window pops up saying "Dropbox Start Required

Start Dropbox to finish installation." But if I click the button to start it, I get yet another 'you must download the proprietary daemon' dialog box. 😑

The already-running proprietary daemon installer is now on 84%, it tells me if I ask it to wait even though it's stopped responding.

Then it froze my computer for several minutes before something apparently killed it automatically. Meanwhile, here's what the terminal is saying:

dropbox start -i
Starting Dropbox.../usr/bin/dropbox:303: PyGIDeprecationWarning: Since version 3.11, calling threads_init is no longer needed. See: https://wiki.gnome.org/PyGObject/Threading
  GObject.threads_init()
/usr/bin/dropbox:453: PyGTKDeprecationWarning: Stock items are deprecated. Please use: Gtk.Button.new_with_mnemonic(label)
  self.ok = ok = Gtk.Button(stock=Gtk.STOCK_OK)
/usr/bin/dropbox:458: PyGTKDeprecationWarning: Stock items are deprecated. Please use: Gtk.Button.new_with_mnemonic(label)
  cancel = Gtk.Button(stock=Gtk.STOCK_CANCEL)
/usr/bin/dropbox:348: DeprecationWarning: setDaemon() is deprecated, set the daemon attribute instead
  t.setDaemon(True)
/usr/bin/dropbox:334: PyGIDeprecationWarning: GObject.idle_add is deprecated; use GLib.idle_add instead
  GObject.idle_add(self.loop_callback, *ret)
^[[CKilled

[Здравко]

Hi @ferrous,

The warnings, you received in terminal, denote some "old fashion" practices still used by Dropbox are already deprecated. This is not an issue yet; in spite deprecated, they are still NOT dropped.

You description sounds like one other OLD bug, I signaled long time ago, but it's still not addressed. Better don't rely the issue to be addressed; Linux is NOT first class "citizen" here, as you probably know already. Try some workarounds to avoid starting multiple instances simultaneously (the work environment can start in such way to guarantee that every particular application wont stay stopped - including Dropbox); try to avoid to simultaneous running, at least (i.e. delay) - Dropbox application is buggy one and cannot avoid multiple instances to run, so falls in deadlock.

Good luck.

[ferrous]

Thanks, but none of that solves my continuing problem!

It worked fine before I reinstalled Ubuntu. 😞