Files aren't fully syncing between Windows and Kbuntu

[donheff]

I am using Dropbox to share working files between a couple of computers, on Windows 11 and the other on Kbuntu Linux.  Everything worked fine for a while but now, the files I save from the Linux box do not appear to file explorer on the Windows box.  The files are available to Linux - I just downloaded one from Dropbox and copies it to a USB drive and brought it to the Windows box where I copied it up to Dropbox.  It went into the Dropbox file it just came from as if new.  If I go back to linux and try to copy it, it sees a copy already there.

Any suggestion on how to fix this?

[Mark]

Does Dropbox report any errors if you mouse over its icon on your status bar?

[donheff]

The only Dropbox icon on the Windows task bar is in the hidden icons section.  When I roll over it, it reports, "all files up to date" or something and now switched over to reporting on the number of files it is indexing.

It seems to get stranger and stranger.  Earlier I could not find a file I saved from the downstairs Linux box when I wanted to open it in the upstairs Windows box.   I brought that up on a USB key.  Now as a test I saved an Open Office doc from Linux and I could see it right away upstairs.  I saved a .txt file from upstairs and can't see it in Linux.  So, it seems like the problem has reversed.  I'm looking at the Linux box in a remote window on Windows and it seems like Linux sees most files, but a couple don't show up in the Dolphin graphical file browser.  They also don't show up when I change to that directory in a console window and list the contents.

I have the link 

[donheff]

I don't know what I was going to say following I have the link, seems like phrase typo.

Also, I just noticed that the KDE desktop has Dropbox icon.  When I mouse over it, it just reports that some files are downloading.  No errors.

[Jay]

Hi @donheff, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Could you try uploading a file directly to the Dropbox site, and see if that file syncs to both machines?

This will help me to assist further!

[donheff]

Now we are getting somewhere, although I'm still a bit confused.  I uploaded a file to the public directory by browser.  I could see it in the Windows file explorer but not in the Linux.  The Linux box was acting a little hinky so I rebooted it.  (It's been about 20 years since I used Linux so I am blundering around a bit.)  When it came back up, I looked in the file explorer and it couldn't see my new file.  So I launched Chrome and went to Dropbox.com and clicked on the sign in button but suddenly Dropbox let me in without the need to provide credentials.  I was a bit perturbed to see it was asking me if I want to upgrade from my 2G account.  It seems it jumped into an account under my Gmail address that I didn't even know I have.  I logged out and entered my 2T yahoo address account and there was my new file.  Then I went back to the Linux file explorer and, voila, the new file is there.

Is it possible that the Linux box was somehow switching between these accounts?  I'm reluctant to mess about too much but I would like to explore this gmail account and make sure I didn't stick anything important there and then, maybe close it.  If I log onto that account with a browser in windows, will it jump my non-browser connection over like it appears to have done in Linux?  Am I hallucinating all of this?

[donheff]

One more note.  Checking the icon on the task bars, I confirmed that Windows and Linux are now logged into the same account - 2T under [email removed as per Community Guidelines]

[Jay · Accepted solution]

It does sound like the Linux machine was signed into the wrong Dropbox account. 

Logging into a Dropbox account on the browser on Windows won't affect your desktop connection, since they are completely separate.

[donheff]

Can I reopen this thread, or do I need to start a new one.  <y problem is back again.  I created a new Dropbox folder and pasted an image into from Windows file explorer.   From the Windows box I can move the file into and out of the folder. From Linux, iOS, and from a browser in Windows I don't see the folder and I don't see the file if I move it elsewhere like Public.  Other than the new folder and files I see all the same stuff that I see in Windows explorer.  I don't have another account with 2T of space so I can't just be logged into different accounts.

[Jay]

You can keep this thread open. Are you certain that the files have synced to the site? Is the Dropbox desktop application running and syncing on Windows?