How to get Dropbox to work with non-Ext4 filesystems

sudo apt install git build-essential

git clone https://github.com/dark/dropbox-filesystem-fix.git cd dropbox-filesystem-fix make

libdropbox_fs_fix.so

dropbox-filesystem-fix

make

dropbox-filesystem-fix

/opt

dropbox_start.py

sudo mv dropbox-filesystem-fix /opt/ sudo chmod +x /opt/dropbox-filesystem-fix/dropbox_start.py

dropbox_start.py

libdropbox_fs_fix.so

/usr/local/bin/

dropbox stop

/opt/dropbox-filesystem-fix/dropbox_start.py

dropbox_start.py

dropbox_start.py

Start Dropbox on system startup

Dropbox Preferences

General

dropbox autostart n

Startup Applications

Startup Applications

Exec

~/.config/autostart/dropbox.desktop

Exec=dropbox start -i

Exec=

sed -i 's/^Exec=.*/Exec=/' ~/.config/autostart/dropbox.desktop chattr +i ~/.config/autostart/dropbox.desktop

Startup Applications

Dropbox fix

/opt/dropbox-filesystem-fix/dropbox_start.py

dropbox-fix.desktop

~/.config/autostart/

[Desktop Entry] Type=Application Exec=/opt/dropbox-filesystem-fix/dropbox_start.py Hidden=false NoDisplay=false X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true Name=Dropbox fix

/opt/dropbox-filesystem-fix/dropbox_start.py

/opt/dropbox-filesystem-fix/dropbox_start.py

~/.local/share/applications/

Dropbox should have ended support for synchronizing files on uncommon file systems on November 7, 2018. I still receive the old notification from Dropbox, saying "" though. However, some users have already begun receiving a new notification that mentions "", with buttons to either quit Dropbox, see requirements, or move the Dropbox location.dropbox-filesystem-fix should "fix" this, making your Dropbox folder appear as if it's on an unencrypted Ext4 filesystem.The process of getting Dropbox to work on non-Ext4 partitions via dropbox-filesystem-fix involves stopping Dropbox from using its original autostart entry, and replacing it with a python script that preloads a library, both shipped by the dropbox-filesystem-fix project. Using this doesn't require moving the Dropbox folder or mounting a file formatted as Ext4, etc.;Below you'll find step by step instructions for how to use dropbox-filesystem-fix.The project page mentions: "", so keep this in mind when using it. The workaround may also stop working at any time due to Dropbox changes.It should also be noted that you may run into issues if the filesystem you're using doesn't support extended attributes, as that's the reason Dropbox mentioned for dropping support for non-Ext4 on Linux. When enabled in the kernel configuration, there are multiple filesystems that support extended attributes though, including Ext3, Ext2, Btrfs, XFS, JFS, and others.[Updated]These instructions assume you had Dropbox installed on your Linux desktop. If Dropbox is not installed on your system, install it before proceeding.1. Install Git (to grab the latest dropbox-filesystem-fix code) and build-essential (to compile it).In Debian, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, elementary OS and other Debian or Ubuntu-based Linux distributions, install Git and build-essential using this command:2. Get the latest dropbox-filesystem-fix source code via Git and compile it:A file calledshould be created in thefolder after runningYou may also download the code by using this ZIP download 3. Move thefolder toand markas executable:needs to be in the same folder as, so don't move it toor some other folder.You can now try it. This is not how you'll use dropbox-filesystem-fix, but only a one time try to see it actually fixes the Dropbox non-Ext4 filesystem sync issue on your system. To give it a try, make sure Dropbox isn't running - you can stop it using this command:And now start Dropbox by using this command instead of running it directly:If you don't receive any filesystem-related notifications from Dropbox, it means dropbox-filesystem-fix works, and you can proceed to replace the original Dropbox startup entry with the dropbox-filesystem-fixscript.4. Stop Dropbox from autostarting.The original Dropbox autostart entry needs to be removed / disabled, so we can use thescript instead.Stop Dropbox from running on startup by unchecking thecheckbox from the, on thetab. You can also run this command to stop Dropbox from autostarting:The Dropbox help mentions that this command may only work on current Ubuntu distributions. You can verify if Dropbox was removed from your startup applications by launchingor equivalent from your menu - it shouldn't display Dropbox any more.If Dropbox still shows up inor runs or startup, you can force it to stop autostarting by changing itsline infromto, and making the file immutable so it can't be overwritten by Dropbox. You can do these two operations by running the following commands:5. Add a custom Dropbox startup entry.Now you'll need to openor equivalent from your applications menu, and add a new entry calledwith the following in the command field:You can also do this manually, by creating a file calledinwith the following contents:Now logout / login and Dropbox, which starts automatically on login just like before, should be working with your Btrfs, Ext3, ecryptfs on top of Ext4 and so on.In case you close Dropbox, don't run it from the menu as that entry doesn't make use of dropbox-filesystem-fix. Run it usingor make a new desktop file for Dropbox withas the command, and place it in. But in most cases, Dropbox is not launched from the application menu, so the autostart changes made above should be enough for most users.via preining.info