Having problems syncing with File Provider on Mac OS

[-caffeinated-]

Ok this thing just never seems to work anymore. I've updated to the new File Provider system, hoping to alleviate some of the pain of using Dropbox on MacOS (I use Ableton a lot and supposedly synced files often, although randomly, end up missing or displaying as 'zero bytes'). Now I've updated to the new File Provide system things are either stuck syncing for literally days, or they magically complete syncing, and then I drag a file in from my hard drive and we're back to syncing forever. It has every firewall exception it needs and full access to my hard drive. 

I get that Apple have changed the ways files are accessed by apps a while back, but it shouldn't be this hard!

[-caffeinated-]

Not wanting to confuse the issue, but this was never resolved for me regardless of OS or version of Dropbox or whatever. I think the problem is that a program (i.e. Ableton) is adding files to a 'synced' folder rather than the user, and somehow Dropbox doesn't then sync these files. 

[FesT]

I am running macOS 14.5 (23F79). The circumstances are not clear to me some times it's running just fine and then all of the sudden it stops working for a while. What helps is rebooting the computer, quitting dropbox and restarting it.
I didn't try logging out or reinstalling so far. 

[FesT]

@Walter any news on this?
Right now it happened again. I added a file to the dropbox folder, it synced just fine, then i wanted to make some folders "make available offline" and it's not doing anything anymore.

[Walter]

Thanks for the nudge on this @FesT 

Does this persist after rebooting your computer? 

When you say it's not doing anything, do you mean that it's not responding at all? 

Let us know more information when you get the chance and we'll take it from there. 

[FesT]

@Walter  restarting the dropbox app as well as rebooting seems to fix it for a while.
An dwith "Not doing anything" I meant, that the app it self is responding, but the process of syncing is not working properly. Especially if you try to sync files, wich are in the dropbox and you want make them available offline is not working really stable.

[Jay]

Hi @FesT, could you clarify exactly what you mean by the syncing not working properly, or not being stable?

[FesT]

@Jay as I mentioned before, my observations so far: the app is randomly not syncing while trying to make folders "available offline". And sometimes it stops syncing completely.

[Jay]

Thanks for the info, if you're continuing to experience these issues, could you contact the support team directly for them to investigate this in more detail?

[Stunna55]

This started happening to me about a week ago. It takes forever to process small files to "make available offline" also - and I'm not sure about anyone else, but dropbox was able to show a preview of the file, and that stopped happening about a year ago. Please make this app work again.

[Nancy]

Hey @Stunna55. What’s the app version and syncing status of your Dropbox app at the moment? 

Also, if you check your app’s Sync tab, is the Dropbox folder stored under ~/Library/CloudStorage?

Finally, is the preview missing from your online-only files, or files you've made offline and which have been fully downloaded/synced to your device?