I’ve had to reinstall Ubuntu Mate yesterday and I have the broken Dropbox indicator issue again.
I know there is a fix to force Dropbox to use the systray rather that the indicator (though I thought it was included by default in 16.10). Anyway, now that Mate has been ported to Gtk3 and can use indicators, do we know why the Dropbox one doesn’t work and if it can be fixed? Has anybody checked how it performs in the current Ubuntu Mate 17.04 (i.e. if the issue is still there)?
Looks like Dropbox has similar issues on Ubuntu (Unity) 17.04 because of a change in the XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP env var. Just found a fix on WebUpd8, tried it on Ubuntu MATE 16.10 and it turns out that it works: Dropbox can use its indicator on MATE rather than the systray!
Check the article for detailed infos but basically, the solution is to start Dropbox while setting the XDG Desktop to “Unity”:
env XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=Unity dropbox start -i
I’ve edited the launcher in /usr/share/applications, disabled the autostart from the Dropbox settings and manually copied the launcher to ~/.config/autostart. I haven’t restarted my session yet but that should do the trick.
I’ll fix caja-dropbox to do this internally.
I’ve just noticed an issue, though: after a reboot, the indicator doesn’t show up because the dropbox launcher isn’t in ~/.config/autostart anymore. Dropbox is apparently launched anyway, it just doesn’t show the indicator and I have to stop it then restart it manually with the env var.
I’m not sure why the .desktop file is removed from the autostart dir: is it a consequence of the Caja-dropbox “hack”? or maybe a general issue of MATE that removes it for some reason? or Dropbox that removes the file because launch at start has been disabled in its prefs?
So, not sure what is happening but the fix might not be that straightforward.
I fixed caja-dropbox and nautilus-dropbox in 17.04 last night. Those updates have landed.
hello i am still having this problem do i reinstall caja dropbox thanks for your help dropbox is not in the the startup settings,
Check in your ~/.config/autostart dir if you have a dropbox.desktop file (in that case remove it) and copy caja-dropbox.desktop from /usr/share/applications there. Better check through the terminal, as in Caja, .desktop files are ineterpreted and show the application name without the .desktop extension rather than the file name.
Also, be sure that the autostart feature is disabled in Dropbox prefs (or it’ll recreate the dropbox.desktop in ~/.config/autostart).
As mentioned here, this is still an issue in 17.10. Are there any new steps to take in order to get it working?
My workaround is simply using the nautilius version of dropbox.
Mine hasn’t stopped working after the upgrade to 17.10 (don’t know about a fresh install). AFAIR, I followed these steps to setup Dropbox properly on MATE a few weeks ago:
disable autostart in the Dropbox prefs (you’ll probably have to start it manually as in my message from march 21 to have access to the prefs)
install caja-dropbox
copy caja-dropbox.desktop from /usr/share/applications to ~/.config/autostart so that it starts Dropbox when you login
Thank you vor your reply. I did a fresh install.
Unfortunately, your procedure does not change anything. And I do think that this is normal, as you only explain what you did concerning autostart 
I guess I’ll just stick with using the nautilius version and check from time to time, if caja-dropbox is fixed. After all, that version works perfectly fine and even the icons showing the sync state in caja work.
Unfortunately, your procedure does not change anything. And I do think that this is normal, as you only explain what you did concerning autostart
Well, it would explain your issue if the indicator is started by the original Dropbox rather than Caja-Dropbox, so autostart can be related. Caja-Dropbox works fine on my side on UM 17.10, so the issue is likely on your side and related to that mess that is the Dropbox indicator.
What happens when you stop the Dropbox daemon (dropbox stop)? Does the indicator disappear? If so, if you then run caja-dropbox, is it sill broken?
Again, thank you for your reply. I appreciate your effort in making this work the correct way
I just purged everything related to dropbox (caja-dropbox and nautilus-dropbox). Nothing else was installed (as far as I know). I also cleared autostart. I also restarted.
What should I do now? Should I install caja-dropbox and just start it? (AFAIR this was the first step I took when installing 17.10) Or is there another step to take?
I also tried dropbox stop (and caja-dropbox stop) and env XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=Unity dropbox start -i as you say in the other thread (I also already found that somewhere else) but that did not work either.
Don’t reinstall caja-dropbox yet, we want to check if Dropbox works when started properly. Caja-dropbox is mainly a hotfix to automate the launch without the need to fiddle with env vars (AFAIK, it also handles the emblems in Caja but that’s not important for now).
So, when you start Dropbox with XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=Unity dropbox start -i the indicator menu doesn’t work? Do you have the packages libappindicator1 and libappindicator3-1 installed?
To start Dropbox, I need to install it. What exactly should I install?
Oh, I thought it was already installed. Go to https://www.dropbox.com/install and grab the deb package (64 or 32 bit, depending of your Ubuntu MATE installation), then install it.
It will launch and the indicator should be broken. Stop Dropbox (dropbox stop) and restart it with the above command (with the XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP var set to Unity), then, tell me if the indicator menu works. And check if you have the two libappindicator packages installed beforehand.
I downloaded and installed it. The indicator was working, but it was the other symbol (not the new one with non-working context menu). There are also no icons in caja marking the sync state.
I stopped Dropbox and started it with the mentioned command:
christophe@cXPSmate:~$ XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=Unity dropbox start -i
Starting Dropbox...dropbox: locating interpreter
dropbox: logging to /tmp/dropbox-antifreeze-SkbDEf
dropbox: initializing
dropbox: running python 2.7.11
dropbox: setting program path '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/dropbox'
dropbox: setting home path '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23'
dropbox: setting python path '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23:/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/python-packages-27.zip'
dropbox: python initialized
dropbox: running dropbox
dropbox: setting args
dropbox: applying overrides
dropbox: running main script
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._constant_time.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._openssl.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/cryptography.hazmat.bindings._padding.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/psutil._psutil_linux.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/psutil._psutil_posix.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/linuxffi.pthread._linuxffi_pthread.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/tornado.speedups.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/cpuid.compiled._cpuid.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/linuxffi.resolv.compiled._linuxffi_resolv.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/posixffi.libc._posixffi_libc.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/librsyncffi.compiled._librsyncffi.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/linuxffi.sys.compiled._linuxffi_sys.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/PyQt5.QtWebKit.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/PyQt5.QtCore.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/PyQt5.QtNetwork.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/PyQt5.QtGui.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/PyQt5.QtWebKitWidgets.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/PyQt5.QtWidgets.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/PyQt5.QtPrintSupport.so'
dropbox: load fq extension '/home/christophe/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-38.3.23/PyQt5.QtDBus.so'
Done!
The icon is now the fancy one, but context menu has no text and is not clickable.
Both mentioned packages are installed.
The difference between the “old” icon and the “fancy” one is that in the first case, Dropbox doesn’t start as an indicator, it uses the systray, while in the latter case, it does use an indicator.
It’s a bit weird that it doesn’t work with the command with the env var.
Maybe try this, though I doubt it’ll change the behaviour:
Stop Dropbox (dropbox stop).
Delete the .dropbox and .dropbox-dist hidden dirs in your home directory (don’t delete the “Dropbox” dir or you’ll lose your synced files).
Start Dropbox (XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=Unity dropbox start -i). It’ll probably reinstall Dropbox, it’s normal.
Is the indicator menu still empty?
I did what you wanted. The window asking me to download the daemon appeared. I confirmed and soon after a browser window requesting me to enter my credentials showed up.
Unfortunately, the menu is still empty.
I’m a bit out of ideas, then. Out of curiosity, is it a fresh 17.10 install or an upgrade from 17.04?
Do you have the possibility −and a bit of time to lose− to check the installation of Dropbox in a live session (from an Ubuntu MATE 17.10 LiveCD) to see if the indicator behaves the same way? It would help to find if the issue is with UM 17.10 or some settings in your session. You can also try to create a new user account to check if the indicator behaves the same way in it (just to check, don’t replace your current user account with it).
Anyway, you can reinstall caja-dropbox, at least the emblems in Caja should be functional.
It is a fresh install.
I will try it with a LiveUSB and will get back to you.
Thank you for your time.