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Wietse V.'s avatar
Wietse V.
Helpful | Level 5
7 years ago

Dropbox keeps (re)indexing and syncing after activating smart sync

I've recently activated the smart sync functionality for my teams account. When I did, Dropbox started indexing and syncing a huge number of files which made sense to me because it needed to download...
Sync and upload
  • Wietse V.'s avatar
    Wietse V.
    7 years ago

    Hi Minato, 

     

    Thanks for your reply. I decided to reinstall the Dropbox desktop application yesterday. After I did, I waited another couple of hours for a full sync, but once that was done the issue seems to have disappeared. The Dropbox app now reports that it's fully up to date and seems to stay that way (except for normal syncing behaviour when a file is changed).

     

    I propose I wait to see if the problem reoccurs, and if it does I will create a ticket at the support page as per your suggestion. 

     

    Kind regards, Wietse 

MrV's avatar
MrV
Explorer | Level 3
In addition to the above.
The same behaviour on my Surface Go (fastest version), surface book i7 16gb ram 1tb, old Samsung laptop and 13inch MacBook pro... I actively avoid restating the computer I'm using to avoid DBs frustrating process of starting checking and then synking the world.
Lusil's avatar
Lusil
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
6 years ago

Hi MrV, thanks for nudging us here and welcome to the Dropbox Community!

As a first step, I'd recommend checking out this article in case one of the ways listed helps tackle this behavior. 

Let me know how it goes!

  • MrV's avatar
    MrV
    Explorer | Level 3
    6 years ago

    Hi Lusi,

    Had a quick look and I have to say that the problem isn't as much the high resource draw (well just time as it doesn't slow down the device that much) from the computer rater the general behavious of Always needing to sync once the computer starts up. The fact that it has to go through this process Every time creates a great delay in synking actuall files I need and also chews up battery. 

    I will check more in depth re number of files etc as per artice, but overall, even on my 1t 16gb ram SurfaceBook it's taking it's time Every time you restart the computer and DB desktop start up fresh.

    To test it for myself again, I left my Surface Go to fully complete sync over night. Then in the morning I restarted the device and observed the following.

    6.35 device restart
    6.36 device up and running
    6.37 db desktop app started
    6.42 db complets startup sequence and begins to check for changes
    6.47 db check for changes complete - now starting to synk 34.000 files (!!!!)
    7.03 db 16.500 files left to sync (I have fast fibre btw)
    7.12 db 3000 files left to sync
    7.15 db sync complete
    Total run time: 40min

    Now, how is it possible that 34.000 files need synking when I know that nobody is using our filing system at that time (guarateed) and minutes prior, before restarting the device, DB was up to date. 

    I went through almost the identical timeline this evening when starting up the surface. I don't ever remember experiencing the same issue when I used to have our entire DB folder stored on my drive, just now when I have started using smart sync to save space. 

    I only run smart sync and no selective sync as all folders are ticked. 

    Many thanks for any thoughts or comments. 
    V

     

    • Lusil's avatar
      Lusil
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      6 years ago

      Thanks for keeping me in the loop, MrV! 

      Hmm. :thinking: Could it be by any chance a third party app that's effecting the syncing process during startup?

      In any case, let me know what you find and I'll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible!

      • MrV's avatar
        MrV
        Explorer | Level 3
        6 years ago

        That's not a bad thought but my surface go is almost brand new with absolutely minimal software installed. Just bare essentials Office and browser sort of thing. Struggling to think that there is anything wrong with the filing structure as the device is new with a clean install and has behaved like this straight away.

        My samsung laptop is also bare bone install and behaves the same. My surface book has a fair bit on it but still... they all behave the same. 

        I have tried reinstalling the desktop app on both surfaces with no effect. Took 30min with 30k files synking again this morning. 

        Nothing smart about the smartsynk haha :slight_smile:

         

        Btw, i never really engage to write to support etc but this is definetly getting to me that much that I am!

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