dropbox

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dropbox

Dropbox mac app causes mac os failed to start?

I had the following problem with the dropbox app, which I would like to see if anybody else has the same issue.

I have been using dropbox for a few years but never tried their app. A few days ago I decided to give it a try and indeed it is very nice. However yesterday I had to power off the mac. And it failed to restart: afte the logo page, I got the "spinning beachball" on grey screen, and never got to the login window. I forced the system to power down and restart, and this time it worked. I uninstalled the dropbox app, and "purged" all the bread crumbs it left behind. Tried to restart the computer and the symptom persists: spinning beachball, no login screen. And again it is purely random: sometimes I could get to the login window, and sometimes I couldn't. Try all different ways suggested on the support webpage: reset NVRAM, repair hard drive, AHT,.... everything seems to be OK, except that one out of three times, I cannot get to the login screen. Finally I realized that the dropbox app might have left something else behind. And indeed it has: in "System Preference"->"Users and Groups"->"Login items", it has left not only one but *three* items with names such as "dropbox ....". After removing all of them, my MBP is back to normal. And even more, my subjective feeling is that the machine is also faster. So my conclusion is that dropbox has installed three pieces of s**t which will be restarted everytime the MBP restarts, and failed to remove them when it was uninstalled. For those dropbox users, can you check your configuration to see if this is the case?

HW: 15 inch MBP, 8G mem

SW: OS X 10.8.5

dropbox-OTHER, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), dropbox causes OS X failed to boot

Posted on Nov 16, 2013 3:06 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 10, 2014 3:40 AM in response to mac_user_8934131

I have this spinning wheel too as of today.

I think Drobox is creating some problems within the desktop file because everytime I try to put an alias from the Dropbox folder on my desktop it seems to be some problems. Either the icon is incorrect or it does not help clicking on the symbol it self.

So that is a theory. I think Dropbox does not sync the "DS_Store files" and that might cause problems.

Anyway according to the activity monitor dropbox are "not responding" (in red). Even though strangely enough it is still syncing files in the background.

This is how it looks when I try to clik the Dropbox application symbok in the top menu:

In my System Preference"->"Users and Groups"->"Login items there were only one file namet Dropbox. That is how I acessed it from the Control Panels / System Preferences. But i could not find the folder on my harddisk. Is that what you meant by more files called Dropbox (applications). That you located it manually on the hardrive?

Btw I do use Osx 10.5.8.

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Answer 2

Mar 10, 2014 3:56 AM in response to Norwegian_Macfan68

Another interesting thing. As i restart with my ethernet cable plugged in, the Dropbox app freezes up ("not responding", but when I restart without an internet connection (ethernet unplugged) the app seem to work normally (I can click on the icon)...... Strange?

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Answer 3

Mar 10, 2014 3:57 AM in response to Norwegian_Macfan68

Not having any problems with Dropbox either on Mac OS X 10.9.2 or WIndows 7 Pro, here.

Clinton

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Answer 4

Mar 10, 2014 5:11 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

I have upgraded to Mavericks, at the same time completely removed the Dropbox app. The issue is gone. I have decided to avoid the app and use the browser interface only. This reminds me of the issues with Windows OS: the OS itself can be clean and fast, but if you let the third party software packages to come in and drop their crap all over the place, in no time it will become unusable. Looks like drobox is one of those packages which like to drop the crap ...

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Answer 5

Tawniey

Level 1

0 points

Jun 10, 2014 9:30 PM in response to mac_user_8934131

I was having the same issue. Since I couldn't click on the dropbox icon, I couldn't turn it off to uninstall it.
To uninstall it, I turned off AirPort, then restarted my computer. Dropbox was fine, as it couldn't connect to the internet, so it didn't beachball when I hovered over it. I managed to shut off dropbox and uninstall it. Then I reinstalled Dropbox. It works fine now!

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Answer 6

6LIX061

Level 1

8 points

Oct 20, 2014 3:43 PM in response to Norwegian_Macfan68

I had the same issue. To resolve the issue I went to Activity Monitor, check Energy and look for Dropbox. It was at the top of the list for me. Select the file, delete using top left x icon.

When the file is deleted, go to Applications and open as normal and the icon reappears in the top dropdown menu and syncs as normal.

Hope it works for you.

😉

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Answer 7

Oct 23, 2014 5:06 PM in response to mac_user_8934131

Same issue. My Dropbox freezes approximately once a day. It stops responding and then I restart via Activity Monitor. It is annoying.

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Answer 8

Oct 24, 2014 3:27 AM in response to bbb1239999998

Hello,

Mine freezes sometimes, and the shared links don't work properly 😟

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Answer 9

webgypsy

Level 1

8 points

May 7, 2015 9:54 AM in response to mac_user_8934131

I'm having an issue trying to get Dropbox to open. I tried from Launchpad first and when that didn't work I tried from the Applications folder and nothing. Uggghhhh😠 I have Yosemite.

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Answer 10

May 7, 2015 10:01 AM in response to webgypsy

Strange behavior sometimes since Dropbox 3.4.4 (have you also got this version ?).

Best

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