How do I fix a "Can't access Dropbox folder" error?

Question

I'm having a rather strange problem with Dropbox that started a few weeks ago.

Dropbox will stop syncing with the message "Can't access Dropbox folder", and refuse to sync until I reboot.

I've tried restarting Dropbox and logging out, but nothing I seem to do will allow it to sync again short of a reboot.

This is not a permissions problem, as the permissions don't change when I suddenly lose access.

I've checked lsof for anything related to dropbox that might still be hanging on when I stop it. As far as I can tell nothing else other than Dropbox is accessing it's folders when this happens.

score 56 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 09 '18 at 14:57

if you put these in /etc/sysctl.conf:

fs.inotify.max_user_watches = 1048576
fs.inotify.max_user_instances = 256

it will fix the issue. You may have to run sudo sysctl -p for these settings to take effect.

Alternatively, if you are not interested in making these settings permanent, you may try the following commands...

sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_instances=256
sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_watches=1048576

In this case the settings will be lost after a reboot.

The problem is that the system has run out of inotify instances. You can check your syslog (e.g. by using tail -f /var/log/syslog) and if you see...

tail: inotify cannot be used, reverting to polling: Too many open file

then you know this is your issue. For me it was nepomuk.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 05 '13 at 18:20

The fs.inotify.max_user_instances=256 fixed my immediate "Can't access dropbox folder" problem (Ubuntu 12.04).

It also cleared up an odd behavior I'd noticed, where the dropbox systray icon continually indicated file activity: The arrow circles cycling continually, though nothing was changing in my dropbox, and the "recently changed files" list remained unchanged.

A few moments after I changed fs.inotify.max_user_instances=256, the pointless cycling stopped.

score -1 · Answer 3 · edited Jan 26 '13 at 07:11

-1

In one of the forums, someone mentioned it is due to inotify. They have this solution/workaround.

disable desktop search (in kde nepomuk+tracker, in gnome tracker)
reboot (logout didn't help)

edited Jan 26 '13 at 07:11

fossfreedom

174,526

answered Jan 26 '13 at 04:21

TuEk

1

score -1 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 19 '17 at 05:24

-1

This usually happens because sysctrl has run out of inotify instances. The following 2 commands will normally fix the issue.

sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_watches=1048576
sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_instances=256

edited Sep 19 '17 at 05:24

Community

1

answered Sep 21 '13 at 22:58

Silas Palmer

109
2

How do I fix a "Can't access Dropbox folder" error?

4 Answers4