MacOS – Why does Drop Box not work after 10.8 upgrade

macossmb

Setup: I got SMB shares on my old-old Mac Mini (running 10.5). I have Drop Box folder/directory with Write-only permission – it is used to be called "Dropbox". Recently I upgraded my laptop (MacBook) from 10.6 to 10.8. It was clean install – meaning format drive, install new OS.

Issue: Running 10.6 on my laptop, "Dropbox" use to work great – no issue whatsoever. Used it for over 5 years. However once I got 10.8, I can't seem to write to the remote (Mac Mini) SMB Write-only folder.

Scenario: Drag a file to "Dropbox" folder. Finder shows active window of copying a file. Once the transfer is done, I look under the folder (from a server side via VNC) and there are no file's.

I am certain the issue is with my laptop running 10.8, not a Mini. However I can't figure out what is wrong.

Best Answer

To be honest it sounds like it could be a bug in DropBox, and you should contact them to find a solution (and please post the solution here if they give you one).

Why do you have the DropBox folder on the server? Why not have a dropbox folder on the server and a completely separate one on your notebook?

Perhaps it's not what you want, but it seems like that should work perfectly. DropBox usually sends files across to the other machine within a few seconds.

Considerations

For the partition, in its entirety, at the server you grant read and write privileges to everyone:

may be comparable to guest access, which does not require authentication.

Consider the following possibilities:

some communication, or attempted communication, by Windows 7 may be anonymous, without authentication (whether/how such communications would be logged by the server in a non-Server build of the OS, I don't know)
writes, or attempted writes, by Windows 7 are inappropriate for something at/around the root of the partition.

Suggestions

Increase the verbosity of logging for SMB

This may be easier to achieve with a Server build of the OS.

Diagnosis at the server when the client perceives a problem

Enable the stackshot daemon then use the key chord for sysdiagnose

Preparation: enable the daemon

sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.stackshot.plist

When the problem occurs: use the key chord for sysdiagnose.

For at least ten seconds after the chord, touch nothing.

After Finder brings to front the result of sysdiagnose: decompress the archive, consider the files that comprise the diagnosis.

References

stackshot(1) OS X Manual Page

sysdiagnose(1) OS X Manual Page

MacOS – Why is it that I can no longer access some folders in the old time machine backups and how can I get access

Have you tried repairing the disk permissions via Disk Utility?

If that doesn't work, try enabling the root account, logging in, and attempting to access the files.

Use the "System Administrator" account to access the files:

navigate to the folder "/System/Library/CoreServices/" and open "Directory Utility.app"

Click the padlock

in the "Edit" menu, choose "Enable root user"

from the Apple menu, choose "Log out"

log in as "System Administrator" (or "root") and you will have access to the files in "/Users/Abby"