DropBox Locks Up System While Syncing (Linux)

Hi notredruide, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Could you try reinstalling the app, without uninstalling it first, to see if this helps?

Keep me updated with any progress!

Hello notredruide

I am aware of the problem with DropBox's system load. Previously through Windows, later also with LINUX (my system: MX23.2 minimal - Debian based, 16GB RAM). Due to the high system load, I changed the cloud provider, but this didn't bring any improvement due to poor programming of the program. Now I'm back on DropBox. You can try to solve the problem with the system load as follows (that's how I do it); go to the menu, search for “session and startup behavior” and open it. The “Automatically started applications” tab contains, among other things, an entry for the automatic start for DropBox. It should look something like this: "Dropbox Sync your files across computers and to the web". The command line for this (you can access it by clicking on the edit icon) probably looks like this; "dropbox start -i". If this condition is met, we can continue. Next, create your own startup process by clicking on “New or Add”. An input field opens;
Surname:
Description:
Command:
Trigger:

You fill these fields with the following data:
Name: CPU limit for Dropbox (freely selectable)
Description: Reduce CPU load (freely selectable)
Command: cpulimit -e dropbox-I 25
Trigger: when registering

Then save and check the box to start automatically.

However, the package: “cpulimit” must first be installed with the command line: “sudo apt-get install cpulimit”.

This command tells Dropbox to use a maximum of 25 percent of the CPU load. You can experiment with the value "25".

I hope I can help you with this, please report any successes or if you have any questions!

DerSpitz

Thanks Jay. Sorry for the late reply but I have not received any notifications that anyone had responded to my post. I tried reinstalling Dropbox over the top of the existing installation but have been unable to do so. Searching for Dropbox in Ubuntu Software produces a spinning wheel, and so does downloading the file and attempting to open it with Software Install. This is obviously an Ubuntu problem but instead of trying to troubleshoot it I am going to go ahead and try DerSpitz's solution.

Thanks Jay. Unfortunately I seem unable to reinstall Dropbox on my Linux installation at the moment. If I open Ubuntu Software and search for Dropbox, I just get a spinning propeller thingie. If I download the latest version and right click Open With / Software Install, I get a window that says "loading application details," and nothing happens. If I try the command line (sudo apt install dropbox), I get "Package 'dropbox' has no installation candidate." Is there a repository I need to install? Anyway, pending further suggestions on that front I'm going to dry using cpulimit as recommended by DerSpitz.

Hallo,

versuche doch bitte mit "sudo apt install gdebi" den paketinstaller "Gedbi" zu installieren. Dieser kann deine Original-Dropbox....den prüfen und zeigt dir vielleicht fehlende Pakete oder die Ursache der Fehler an.

DerSpitz

Okay, as suggested by DerSpitz I attempted to use Gdebi to install either dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb or dropbox_2024.01.22_amd64.deb over my existing installation. In both cases Gdebi reported, "Error: Breaks existing package 'nautilus-dropbox' conflict: dropbox ()" I guess this means I should uninstall the existing package and try one of the newer ones? Which package should I install, given that I'm running Ubuntu 22.04? And is there anything I need to do to preserve existing settings etc.?

Thanks Здравко, that seems to have worked. I used the "apt" command because I understand "apt-get" has been deprecated. I did get one notification after running "sudo apt update": "Download is performed unsandboxed as root as file '/home/[user]/dropbox_2020.03.04_amd64.deb' couldn't be accessed by user '_apt'. - pkgAcquire::Run (13: Permission denied)." (Is this because there was already a copy of that file in my home Downloads directory?) Also the last command was unnecessary because Dropbox launched itself and offered to complete the installation by downloading the daemon. When I first did that it reported an error that I forgot to copy but I think it said the file couldn't be verified or the key didn't match -- something to that effect. But when I repeated the process everything seemed to install and it now seems to be working properly. Many thanks, or if I can trust the translator,

Oh, also, for the record, your second command produced this response which I responded to by changing the target from "dropbox" to "dropbox-nautilus":

[user]@[computer]:~$ sudo apt purge dropbox
[sudo] password for [user]: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Package 'dropbox' is not installed, so not removed
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 5 not upgraded.
[user]@[computer]:~$ sudo apt purge nautilus-dropbox
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  nautilus-dropbox*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 5 not upgraded.
After this operation, 288 kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
(Reading database ... 284304 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing nautilus-dropbox (2019.02.14-1ubuntu1) ...