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Forum Discussion
Adobe not downloading online only files from projects
Hi All,
after updating to MacOS 12.3 I have not been able to open project files (Premiere/After Effects) without errors of not finding files that are in dropbox as 'online only'. Prior to the Mac update all files would auto download to be on my machine locally. I know there's an issue with full support for OS 12.3... any updates or solutions folks have found?
thanks
Hi there,
In order for this fix to be applied, you need to opt into Dropbox for macOS on File Provider. The latest version of Dropbox for macOS utilizes Apple’s updated File Provider API and fixes issues related to opening online-only files in third-party applications for users on macOS 12.5 or higher. You can read more about opting into Dropbox for macOS File Provider here. Please note that not all users are eligible at this time.
This is being rolled out to Dropbox Teams at the moment, but the team admin must choose to opt-in for the entire team when they are told it has been made available. If you are experiencing this issue, and are a member of a Dropbox team, then we recommend to align with your team admin and ensure that they opt-in as soon as they can, so that this issue is fixed for you. You can find out more here.Regards,
Emmet
Hello,
We recently upgraded our Macs to macOS 12.3.1 through clean installs and reinstalled Dropbox, but ever since then, Adobe After Effects has become unusable. From what I can gather, Smart Sync is no longer available and we only have online/offline modes, but they no longer automatically open the files our AFX workfiles are linking to. Whenever I open an AFX workfile, I get the '86 :: 1' and '3 :: 6' errors that he can't open the source file. All files on the server are 0 bytes (so thinks they're damaged) untill I manually set them to offline mode, which is impossible given the complexity of our workfiles to manually sync each file.
I did come across this: https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/desktop/macos-12-monterey-support
Could this have something to do with it?
A temporary workaround seems to be to create packages of those workfiles on a Windows PC, then move them locally on our Macs. But that's really no long term viable solution. Is there an update expected that will address this? Or fix anyone is aware of? We'd really appreciate it. Prior to this everything worked fine ...
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hi Konrad_Dobson, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.
As you probably know, we're actively working on full support for macOS 12.3 (Monterey) and higher.
If you choose to update to macOS 12.3, you may notice some issues with opening online-only files in third-party applications -like Adobe After Effects- on your Mac. As a temporary workaround, you can open online-only files directly in Finder.
To make an online-only file available to open in third-party applications:
1. Open your Dropbox folder in Finder.
2. Right-click the file you want to have available.
3. Click Make available offline.
The file will be downloaded within your Dropbox folder and can be opened through any third-party application.
Note: Online-only files have a cloud icon next to them. Once an online-only file has been downloaded in Dropbox, you’ll see the cloud icon change to a green checkmark.I hope this helps to some extent!
This issue is ongoing and greatly affects those using After Effects. I cannot work with the project regardless of the download status of the linked files, they continually give errors in After Effects even after downloading all the missing files. Why is your process breaking everything, Dropbox???? This was not happening before, now it's screwing up my entire pipeline!
Not yet a solution for this? is really awful to work with this issue... I lose hours getting a single After effects project to work
Yeah, not a word from Dropbox, I just forked over another $2000 for our business's service and here we are, still suffering with this issue and losing tons of time so many months later. This should be one of their top priorities, I don't understand what's going on here.
This is how is working for us. We changed the name of the main project folder, just added a "_1" to the end. If you change it and you reopen the AE file, everything works. So weird, but it works, is not the best solution. But much better than downloading all the folder to your local server.
I am having the same issue after the OS update. I get errors with any online-only Adobe file that I launch from DropBox, I have to download them to open. Syncing is working fine. Other non-Adobe files open no problem (word, preview, excel).
Ah, just found out it's a known error.
https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/desktop/macos-12-monterey-support
Yea, I was more wondering if they have a timeline for a solution. Or if i should just backup everything on my computer and downgrade the OS back to Big Sur to get the auto download 'feature' when using 3rd party programs with the cloud only files
Okay seriously is this update just not happening?
This has gone on far too long, and then some. All the while we've been paying the same price, wasting so much time on a daily basis having to manually click to sync files - something that DID work properly when I first became a Dropbox customer.
If it's not coming I'd prefer to just know and begin the process of switching to something else. We're coming up on a year of this thread existing, for most of which time Dropbox has given timelines for implementation that never did happen.
I think it's fair to say we've been more than patient with Dropbox here and I'm quite shocked at this coming from such a big company, seriously what is going on???? Hello????
- Megan
Hey j2762mm, sorry to hear about that, and I see where you're coming from!
We definitely listen to your needs because it allows us to fully appreciate how Dropbox fits into and influences your daily routine.
I wanted to ask if you're using macOS on File Provider, where your Dropbox folder must be located in ~/Library/CloudStorage.
Let me know more, thanks!
To my knowledge, no. In fact, in the settings I can now see a message saying I'm not eligible for File Provider at this time.
I get the same problem. Before the Mac update any files that were online only would download automatically when opened in Adobe products but now they just show an error. This is really frustrating. I'm not sure if it is a Dropbox, Adobe or Apple issue but it really needs fixed ASAP with collaboration from all 3 companies.
Dropbox have updated their macOS Monterey page to indicate that a private beta is being trialled now to resolve this issue. However, there's no info on who is being invited to this private beta.
Via our IT partner's discussions with our DB account manager, it sounds like the release is due for "early Q4" this year, which would imply some time in October if it's true. They're refusing to give us access to the beta. We're another few months away from finding out if this is even gonna roll out then.
Did you find a solution to this? I just got the same error and it's going to be a big real pain if I can't go back to automatically download files off dropbox. cheers
Dropbox's support page indicates they're testing a beta now, and it'll (hopefully) be rolling out widely in November 2022. You might be lucky to qualify for a beta release in October. By then macOS 13 will be out, so who knows what new adventures await us.
Full support for macOS 12.5 and higher has started rolling out. This update fixes issues related to opening online-only files in third-party applications for users on macOS 12.3 and 12.4.
Broader availability will begin in November as we work to preserve the reliability and quality of our sync experience. When you’re eligible, you’ll receive a notification from the Dropbox icon in your menu bar. As a workaround, users on these versions of macOS can open online-only files directly in Finder.
We currently have a private beta, which will be more widely available in October. If you’re interested in joining, you can turn on early releases.
I have a different, but kind of the same problem. Ever since the last update of Dropbox there is this problem. Because of the update of Dropbox, all offline files were online-only again. Ok, fine. But indeed, when opening an Adobe project with linked files, the linked files are not downloaded. But even then when I downloaded all missing files, I still got the 86::1 issue in Adobe apps. It looks like the links are now broken forever. Even if I create a new project, these downloaded files will not import. Other files will. Only when I copy paste the 'broken' file out of my Dropbox folders, I can import it. Please fix this! Also asked Adobe to look into this, but I think it is a Dropbox issue: https://community.adobe.com/t5/after-effects-discussions/can-t-import-any-files-after-update-after-effects/m-p/13181604#M210192
This is my system report if that is of any help:
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro16,1
Processor Name: 6-Core Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 2,6 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 6
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 12 MB
Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled
Memory: 32 GB
System Firmware Version: 1731.140.2.0.0 (iBridge: 19.16.16066.0.0,0)
OS Loader Version: 540.120.3~19
Serial Number (system): C02DC65ZMD6R
Hardware UUID: 7B66719D-345D-5169-86FD-F6535E510CF9
Provisioning UDID: 7B66719D-345D-5169-86FD-F6535E510CF9
Activation Lock Status: Enabled
That doesn't seem to work. The files open in finder/explorer but not linked/missing in adobe programs, even after downloaded and on the machine locally. The convenience of not having to manually go through various file trees to download certain files was really nice, just wondering if there's any update to dropbox fixing this or if i have to revert to an earlier version of MacOS (or a different cloud storage all together)
Hello-can anyone assist me in granting permissions to Adobe Indesign, Incopy, Illustrator and Photoshop so I can work with them with my files are Online? I can only work with these currently when they are OFFline
- Megan
Hi Dpollard, I hope you're doing well today!
It's interesting that the files on these third-party apps open, only when the files are available offline. Which version of our app do you use on your end?
You should be able to find that by locating your Dropbox icon on the menu bar, next to your WiFi and hovering your mouse over it.
Also, do you get any specific error messages when trying to open the files in the relevant apps?
Keep me posted!
Hello!
169.4 is the version of DB that I am using currently.
I get a lot of "invalid interchange" when using Indesign and Incopy. Also "invalid file" when trying to import from Photoshop into Indesign. All of my links in an Indesign file, both text and images are always broken and have yellow triangle warnings
Thanks
Projects that are shared among teams or old projects that require adjustments means that linked files will probably be offline.
Opening an after effects project with linked files that are offline should not be a problem.
The suggestion to manually download each linked file is not practical, as the amount of offline linked files can be quite large and this is extremely time-consuming. Also, when an offline file is located and then "made available online", a "bad header" popup appears and the workaround for that is to re-export the footage and rename the file. In a project with over 200 linked files, how is that a solution?
From previous forums, I gather that once upon a time, opening an after effects files with linked assets would trigger their download, but it seems this is no longer the case. Why oh why????? We desperately need this to work.
- Walter
Hey Zone Studio - thanks for taking the times to share your thoughts on this.
Your feedback has been noted in our system; please let us know if you have anything else to add.
I have one thing to add, if I may be presumptuous. Could you please fix this issue? Please and thank you.
