Sunday, January 24, 2010

Simple fix for the looping "Dropbox daemon not installed!" problem

I performed an Ubuntu update the other day, and my dropbox stopped working.

It kept asking me to install the dropbox daemon, even though I had already installed it.

I fixed this problem by removing the hidden dropbox folders in my home directory, and then reinstalling the dropbox package.


Short answer:

Remove the two hidden dropbox folders (~/.dropbox and ~/.dropbox-dist) from your home directory, and try running dropbox again.


Long answer:

Step 1 - Remove the two hidden dropbox folders:

  • rm -rfd ~/.dropbox-dist/
  • rm -rfd ~/.dropbox/

Step 2 - Reinstall dropbox:

Step 3 - Open dropbox:

  • Open dropbox, dropbox is usually found in your applications drop-down under internet.

Step 4 - Install daemon and configure:

  • When you run dropbox, it will install the dropbox daemon. Once it has completed that step, it should ask you to log out and in again. Log out, then log back in.
  • Once you have logged back in, re-run dropbox. This time when you run dropbox, it will ask you for your login details. Provide your login details.
  • Dropbox will now ask where you want to sync your dropbox to. Select the same folder as you previously used.

Step 5 - Finished

  • Dropbox should now be working again!