Disaster: Dropbox removing external disk support for Mac users :(

[Jon C.10]

In case anyone's unaware... if you're a Mac user storing your Dropbox on an external drive, you'll shortly lose that ability.

https://talk.tidbits.com/t/dropbox-drops-support-for-storing-files-on-an-external-drive-and-onedrive...

https://help.dropbox.com/installs/macos-support-for-expected-changes

Just confirmed this with DB support (see below).  Gutted - been with Dropbox for years and our entire video team flow is based around it 😕

>Hi there, I read today that you are scrapping the ability to store the Dropbox folder on external disks, on OSX. I'd like to ask more about this please.

> Hello Jon, and thank you for contacting Dropbox Support. My name is Joseph, and I will be more than happy to look into your request, right away.  

That is correct Jon, as part of the Dropbox for macOS update, the Dropbox folder must be located in ~/Library/CloudStorage.

>This is a showstopper for us, and will mean we have to move to another service. We have a large distributed team using DB for video work, no way it'll fit within internal drives.
Is there a workaround?

> I totally understand and I apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, there is no workaround on this as changing the location of your Dropbox folder is no longer supported by macOS.

>This change doesn't seem to have hit us yet - we're running a variety of machines inc Ventura
What will trigger its enforcement? Can we stay on an earlier OS or Dropbox version?

>The updates happening automatically every time the Dropbox app is restarting, for example if your device never restarts it should maintain the older version but we can't guarantee full functionality on older versions of the application.

>So what will happen - if we have a Dropbox folder on an 8TB drive and a tiny internal drive - will it try to clone stuff across and eat up the space? What's the mechanism?

>That's right, it will try to move the content on your internal drive until it has no space and gives you an error.

>Is Smartsync still supported? I.e. will it move stuff to being online only if it won't fit?

>It is, however it is now known as online-only.

[TheMainOne]

Hi @ArthurPix,

Half the time I think these publications rank things based on either nonsense or kickbacks. Although I have no evidence to prove any of it. But when I see things like you linked, I just have to shake my head. 

Like I said as well, I really wish I could stay on dropbox. The fact is it just won't work for me anymore. Also I no longer trust them. But that's a story for another day. 

I understand what you are saying about sync dot con. The problem for me is that their tech-support was absolutely useless. Dumb as rocks. So it didn't help me. I never could get about 400 GB uploaded. It's spewed errors and choked constantly. I later figured out that I had a file type that I didn't like. But at that point I was done. 

And I do understand that pcloud is not the biggest. But it is blazing fast. At the same level as dropbox for me. And it competes with sync by allowing you to put up files that are encrypted in a special folder. And that's free at the business level. You pay more for it at the personal level. But I came to realize with all that I have been searching for, that I really don't need much of anything encrypted. So the few documents that I might want to encrypt I can. The rest of it I choose blinding fast speed. 

I intend to continue to monitor this space. I really appreciate your thoughts on this. If any of us find anything of value, I hope we post here because it is really helpful.

I'll do the same. 

[ArthurPix]

@marcosdutra good question. I'll have to research this. I'm pretty sure you can put the entire boot drive on an external Disk, but am not sure if there's any solution short of that drastic step. I really wouldn't want to entrust my entire build to a striped RAID, which is what I do with my cloud storage, but I'll have to look into your question, @marcosdutra .

[marcosdutra]

I just set up my new MacMini M2, Dropbox installed the OLD version. 
Now it bothers me to update to the new version, but it's not automatic, I have to click/approve it.
The question is if it will be mandatory soon. Apparently the option to transfer the DB folder is there.
I didn't transfer my Dropbox folder to my new external drive (it hasn't arrived) but I will try and post here.

[ms25]

Where do we sign up to be notified the minute this issue is resolved?

[ms25]

I've been cursing this issue for a couple of days now, as my shiny new M2 Studio's 2tb drive will never contain my 4+TB Dropbox files. I see some people are reporting that new installs are using an old version, but my download appears to be version 176.4.5108 which is the very latest. I've also seen that Dropbox is holding off on updating to File Provider API for those users using external drives... What I'd like to know is: which version would be compatible with Ventura 13.4 AND still allow me to use an external drive? I've found the link to different builds, I just don't know how far back I need to go...

[marcosdutra]

That's still the old version. 

[ms25]

Alright, thanks. The web page says it was just released Wednesday (6/14)... only the beta versions appear to have higher version numbers. I'll give it a shot.

[ArthurPix]

@TheMainOne Sync is certainly not perfect, but their support for me has been almost immediate. It could be that my problems were simpler to resolve. I was having terrible trouble with an apparent slowdown, but they came back at me and admitted lots of users had been having trouble with the latest release of the new desktop app on May 23. They gave me an uninstall app and a link to the previous release. It solved everything, and I kind of wonder if at least some of your troubles stemmed from this. In any case, their pricing suits me and their speeds are just fine for my purposes, plus I never need to upload multi-hundred gigabyte files, which really does require special abilities, Good luck with pCloud and I’ll keep it in mind for the future.

[ArthurPix]

@marcosdutra YES, Sync works on external drives. I have its running on external drives with 2 different Macs.

ALSO, Google says it IS possible to run iCloud on an external drive. I am quoting their instructions and take no responsibility for failures here. That said, Google reports:

"Can you put iCloud on external drive?

"Step 1: Open Finder and click “iCloud Drive” in the left sidebar. Step 2: Select the content that you are willing to sync and right-click on it. Then choose “Copy 'Documents'” in the menu. Step 3: Paste the copied content to your external hard drive and wait for it done.May 10, 2023"

[ms25]

Leaving Dropbox is not an option for me at this time. I have multiple clients who share their folders with me - all of them would need to be on board with moving to another service. And the same service at that… just to be where we have been before this fiasco.