Audio files not showing on Linux (Fedora) mounted directory.

[fredleason]

I used headless install to install 178.4.4811 and executed .dropbox-dist/dropboxd. The folder shows the directory structure that I see when I use the browser. However some directories on the browser contain audio and .pdf files but the Linux directory only shows .pdf files. 
Browser Image:

Linux:

[*******@fedora Awake My Soul]$ ls -la
total 264
dr-xr-xr-x. 1 ******* *******    234 Jul 28 14:49  .
dr-xr-xr-x. 1 ******* *******     96 Jul 28 14:49  ..
-r--r--r--. 1 ******* *******  51097 Jun 27 22:22 'Awake My Soul - Bass Guitar.pdf'
-r--r--r--. 1 ******* *******  43193 Jun 27 22:33 'Awake My Soul - Drum Set.pdf'
-r--r--r--. 1 ******* *******  56340 Jul 25 10:01 'Awake My Soul - Guitar.pdf'
-r--r--r--. 1 ******* ******* 114555 Jul 28 12:15 'Awake My Soul - SATB w: SOLO.pdf'

My enviornment:

[*******@fedora Awake My Soul]$ uname -a
Linux fedora 6.4.6-200.fc38.x86_64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon Jul 24 20:51:12 UTC 2023 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[Walter]

Hey @fredleason, thanks for using Dropbox and welcome to our Community!

There's a more recent version of the desktop app out, but could you run the status command and let us know if the app is 'up to date'  or still syncing? 

Keep me posted!

[fredleason]

I tried downloading and installing 179.4.4917. It does not install. When I run

[*******@fedora ~]$ sudo ./.dropbox-dist/dropboxd

it stops processing 12 steps down at 

dropbox: load fq extension '/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-179.4.4917/PyQt5.QtDBus.so'

It appears others are having similar problems with that release.

[Здравко]

Hi @fredleason,

Yes, of course, it stops once all external modules get loaded. You posted the last module loaded that Dropbox Python interpreter loads. 😉 Since then (the initialization finish) regular Dropbox application work starts.

Why do you use 'sudo'? Dropbox usually use regular user context and no need to run it in superuser mode. Actually for any application (if not some system management tool), it's never good idea to run in superuser mode (can be dangerous). Dropbox definitely doesn't need it.

You didn't post your folder owner (it's masked), but is the owner there match to you? This can be an issue. If needed, reset all Dropbox file/folder properties (including owner). You can get additional info using 'dropbox status' (here 'dropbox' is the control script - it's preinstalled if you have installed using official package too; here can be downloaded by hand).

Good luck.

[fredleason]

I removed sudo and the browser opened

Not sure how to check the client for a new one.

[Здравко · Accepted solution]

Ahahh...😯 @fredleason, you're falling in trap of one old Dropbox application bug. It's signaled multiple times for (I personally too), but nobody take care about yet. 🤷 Linux is not so important for Dropbox; this is confirmation once again.

The issue is that Dropbox rely on opening browser with script written in temporary file in temporary folder. All good, but in latest browser releases, working on Linux, this practice is considered insecure and is forbidden already. That's it; better don't rely this bug to be fixed soon.

Fortunately there is a workaround. Run in your terminal something like:

export DISPLAY=
~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd

Next the initialization, you will be invited to open printed link. Using this link you can link your new install to your account. 😉

Hope this helps.

Add: There is chance the link not to work immediately; refresh your browser frame next couple of seconds.

[fredleason]

Thanks. Unfortunately, I got a Qt:Fatal

[*******@fedora ~]$ export DISPLAY=~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd
[*******@fedora ~]$ ./.dropbox-dist/dropboxd
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-179.4.4917/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._openssl.abi3.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-179.4.4917/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._padding.abi3.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-179.4.4917/apex._apex.abi3.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-179.4.4917/psutil._psutil_linux.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-179.4.4917/psutil._psutil_posix.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-179.4.4917/tornado.speedups.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-179.4.4917/wrapt._wrappers.cpython-38-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-179.4.4917/PyQt5.QtCore.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-179.4.4917/PyQt5.sip.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-179.4.4917/PyQt5.QtGui.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-179.4.4917/PyQt5.QtWidgets.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-179.4.4917/PyQt5.QtDBus.so'
b'!! (Qt:Fatal) QXcbConnection: Could not connect to display /home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd'
XXX lineno: 938, opcode: 4
Segmentation fault (core dumped)
[*******@fedora ~]$ echo $DISPLAY
/home/*******/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd

It's strange because in my initial installation I did get a browser open with a key.

[Здравко]

Yes, of course. You assigned invalid value to DISPLAY! After try to connect to a fake display, crash is something possible. Execute the lines exactly as they are (there are 2 lines), don't change anything! The first line clears the display (empty after equal sign), doesn't assign something. As alternative you can unset/wipe out the DISPLAY variable (the same effect).

[fredleason]

Thank you. That allowed me to install Dropbox. And the audio files are displaying. Outstanding!

[Briain]

Thank you for this cool solution! 🙂

This trick worked perfectly, but it's worth noting that you need to first close the Dropbox application (right click on the application icon on your task manager, then elect to 'Quit Dropbox'), then you can run the two lines in the terminal, wait for a wee while until it generates a few links (from memory, the first two were different, from each other, then the third and subsequent links were the same as each other) then copy and paste the link into the browser and when prompted, elect to link your computer to the account. Then you can open the Dropbox application and it will be signed in.

For information, the above successfully worked on my laptop running Kubuntu 23.04 with Plasma 5.27.04

Thank you once again, and as commented (by fredleason) in the post above this one, outstanding!

NB I've edited the above to correct an ambiguity (see Здравко's post on next page about it already being installed) and I've corrected a typo (Close Dropbox should be Quit Dropbox) so hopefully that will help anyone chancing upon this post. 😉