iOS/Dropbox not working no matter what I do

[Tromano]

I’ve been trying to get my project to sync to scrivener on iOS. I have been working with the staff of both dropbox and scrivener; on dropbox’s side I get an error message ‘1 file might not update’ on the app. in scrivener it’s Invalid file.
I have moved the file out of the App folder, let it sync, unlinked dropbox, relinked dropbox, moved it back in and let it sync etc. nothing is working. I am on the latest everything, but have not updated the Mac to the 12.4 iteration just yet.

maybe it’s the file itself that has something in it that’s snagging it but it’s working great on the desktop.

[gr]

It will be hard to help you without more information of where things have gone with Scrivener tech support. It will be not so helpful for you if the community has to start from scratch. (Saying you have tried everything, from a tech support perspective, does not move us off the post, since it is most likely that something you have tried has not been tried/done right.) In my experience, Scrivener tech support is excellent, so that make me extra curious about where things got to.

[rms]

@Tromano

1 file might not update’ on the app. in scrivener it’s Invalid file.
I have moved the file out of the App folder,

As @gr mentions, difficult to really comment as you’ve not provided details of the problem, what your experts have suggested, etc. But i’ll start by asking a few of questions.

1. What is the name of the troublesome file? that seems to be the main clue.

2. What do you mean “unlinked/re-linked” Dropbox? The nomenclature you use in that paragraph about Dropbox are not known to me. Please clarify.

3. You have tagged this post in the iOS section for Scrivener, but you mention that you are also using a Mac (with a version prior to 12.4). Is Dropbox working on the Mac? Is Scrivener and Dropbox working on the Mac?

4. Any particular reason you have not upgraded to macOS 12.4? It may or may not have impact on your problem, but then it is the current macOS version.

[GoMach]

I’m totally with @gr and @rms in the difficulty of supporting without explicit details (e.g. it’s hard to begin without the name of the file, and specific exact text from any warning/error with numbers, and preferrably screen shots). Sometimes, the exact message is even more clear when one sees the screen shot because the context can reveal clues. Be as specific as you can, with error numbers/messages and screen shots with filenames.

Support can certainly help. The Mac experts here likely can too, but you should do all they ask and provide screen shopshots/captures so they can SEE the issues. The below is from a non-expert on the MAC though it can’t hurt to try and post the results with specific errors and screenshots.

MY WILD GUESSES (answers from you may help):

• You have the file open in some application… you may not have closed scrivener on EVERY machine that has access, thus the file is locked in use.
• Any file hold/lock from any machine that can use it, will stop DB from updating it.
• Consider as an experiment, shutting down all OTHER machines that have access, then closing the project and even all apps that may use the file… see if it sync’s that way. (Yes, I know the machines don’t have to be shut down… but something may be holding the file open without you knowing it’s happening and shutting them down will assure that nothing has it open on that machine. If it works, you can try it again by only exiting all the apps that can use it and narrow it down from there. If it doesn’t work, focus on locks within the only machine that is on.
• By “sync to scrivener on iOS” I’m guessing - and can easily be wrong - that you mean "after closing the project (hopefully, on every machine on which it could be openned) the project should sync to the Scrivener project in DB on the cloud. IF YOU DID NOT MEAN THAT, then explain in detail what you meant.

I’ll follow and learn.

[Tromano]

trying to answer all. I have done all of the steps outlined in the pinned posts about dropbox and syncing.
I have only one machine that would have it open, it is closed and fully synced.
Other non scrivener files (word docs) sync perfectly on the iOS dropbox app.
the scrivener file, no matter how many times I have renamed it, downloads and then says “file type might not update,” in dropbox’s iOS app.

then I go to iOS scrivener: sync with dropbox and then after it syncs I get “Invalid file. The project can not be opened because it does not contain a valid binder structure file. please ensure that the project has been fully uploaded from other devices and then try syncing with dropbox again” message and will not open.

this is not true. It’s been synced and finished.

I have tried unlinking and relinking dropbox/scrivener on iOS, clearing caches, on scrivener iOS. nothing is working. there might be some file inside of the project that is causing the hiccup but I have no way of knowing which one.

Everything works fine on the Mac. so I am not sure what to do

[scarlock]

Is your computer running MacOS or Windows?

If I had read the earlier posts more carefully, I would have realized you had said you are on a Mac. My apologies.

Two things you can check:

Under System Preferences → Apple ID → iCloud make sure “Optimize Mac Storage” is off

Also under the Dropbox Preferences menu → Sync make sure Smart Sync is set to not “Save hard drive space automatically”.

Either (or both) of these could cause issues.

[JimRac]

@Tromano

there might be some file inside of the project that is causing the hiccup

Yes, this is what I was thinking as well.

If @scarlock’s good suggestions don’t fix the issue, then I recommend doing the steps below, to determine whether a new, mostly empty project will sync -

On the Mac, create a new Scrivener test project using the “blank” template, and place it inside the Dropbox folder you use for Scrivener. Open the project, add a new document and type some text into it. Close the project and wait for Dropbox to finish syncing on the Mac.

On the Mac, just for kicks, navigate to Dropbox.com using your browser, sign into your account, and make sure you see the test project there.

On your iDevice, make sure you see the test project in the Dropbox app. Let’s see if you get the “file type might not update” message. If you do, please take a screenshot and post the message here.

On your iDevice, open iOS Scrivener, let it sync, then try to open the test project and see if your text is inside. If there is an error message, please post it here.

Let us know how it goes.

Best,
Jim

[rms]

As it is your iOS device causing the issue … maybe:

• restart it to allow it to fix whatever …

• what is the file? Is it the name causing the problem? Possible. Or is it the content of the file. Is that file readable in Scrivener on Mac?

• if you Export that file to, say, the Desktop folder, then in Finder do an “Open with …” and pick an appropriate app. What happens?

[kewms]

@JimRac’s suggestion of a test project is good. That’s one way to confirm whether synchronization itself is working independent of this particular project.

You can also confirm the integrity of the project itself by transferring it outside of Dropbox.

From the iPad side, tap the Edit button above the project list, select the project, and then choose the Export option. This will allow you to create a ZIP archive and email it to yourself. Unzip the archive on the Mac, and open as normal.

From the Mac side, you can use Apple File Sharing to transfer the project directly to the iPad.

Finally, if you examine the Dropbox folder in Finder, you’ll be able to tell whether the project has synchronized completely or not. A fully synchronized project will have a white checkmark in a solid green circle. (At least with my color scheme.) A green checkmark in a white circle indicates that some files have not synchronized, while a cloud icon indicates that the entire folder is stored exclusively in the cloud.

[narrsd]

@Tromano , it occurred to me when I first saw your post, forgot to mention…

If your project is working well on the Mac, why not Save As to a modified name, also in Dropbox?

It’s quite worthwhile making and observing how a test project operates, per @JimRac and @kewms , but then you’re interested in recovering a fully useful version of your work, and I suspect this would do it.

You’d find out, of course, when you could open, work with, and see synced the freshly named project, whether adding to it on either iPad or Mac.

If you had ‘stranded’ edits you couldn’t sync on the iPad, then after assuring all is working, you can copy-paste from the old to new project on the iPad.

Scrivener iOS doesn’t do multiple windows yet, so you’d do this updating by text copy-paste between the projects. If you have a lot to transfer, then using Apple Notes (pops up from diagonal stroke from bottom right corner), or another notepad in dual-window, would let you capture many changes, then go to the fresh project and paste them in.

[Tromano]

So I’ve already done this— the name change. Twice. Didn’t work.

I did send the project from the Mac over airdrop to the iPad on Files and it didn’t open or work. Gave me the same ‘invalid’ file messages.

However, I sent the project from the iPad to the Mac and it opened fine. So that would indicate this is an iPad/scrivener/dropbox-sided problem but not a MacOs or corrupted file problem. ???
If any of you would like to try with my file on your iPad/Mac and let me know. (It is a quite large file).

"If you had ‘stranded’ edits you couldn’t sync on the iPad, then after assuring all is working, you can copy-paste from the old to new project on the iPad.

I’ve never had the opportunity to even work on the iPad so this isn’t the issue —

I was trying to see if a test project would work and am using some older projects that are much smaller and when I was trying to open them, I am getting a -this project is open in another place- messages, and the weird thing is that computer hasn’t been turned on or used for three months.

However, I have been able to open a test project from the dropbox on the iOS and it worked just fine.

The dropbox is fully synced —green bubbles btw

but I did also try to sync this project which opens totally fine again on the Mac, on iCloud and try and open that one in scrivener on the iPad and it didn’t work. same error message.

[Tromano]

I didn’t change optimize Mac storage because I have a ton of space and I am not actually saving any thing in this folder for scrivener. it’s all through dropbox. dropbox is correct.

[narrsd]

@Tromano

So I’ve already done this— the name change. Twice. Didn’t work.

I did send the project from the Mac over airdrop to the iPad on Files and it didn’t open or work. Gave me the same ‘invalid’ file messages.

However, I sent the project from the iPad to the Mac and it opened fine. So that would indicate this is an iPad/scrivener/dropbox-sided problem but not a MacOs or corrupted file problem. ???
If any of you would like to try with my file on your iPad/Mac and let me know. (It is a quite large file).

A little confusing here, but I know the status is hard to describe.

• you sent the new-name copy from Mac to iPad, and it didn’t work on iPad?

• if you sent a Mac-working project over using Airdrop, and it didn’t work on the iPad, then Dropbox is not the problem, as Airdrop doesn’t use it. But then it’s interesting which project you sent via Airdrop – the bad one, its renamed copy, or the unblemished test project??

None of this is supposed to happen, of course, nor normally would. The fate of the test project sent by whatever method to the iPad ought to tell us something, vs. that of the Save As project transferred similarly.

If your test project transfers in working fashion, I think you are to the point of sending the bad project in a zip to Support – they will tell you how.

One more point - if you create a project on the iPad, transfer to Mac, does it work; and if you make a small edit, let it transfer back, does it work on the iPad still?

I’m hesitant to guess about what the issue might be, but it feels as though a file might be ‘frozen’ in an unreadable state somehow on the Mac, so that Dropbox, but perhaps Airdrop also if that fails, can’t read it to send it, which is sort of what’s suggested by the odd messages you are getting. Hence it’s very important to understand what happens with the test project(s).

I’ll just ask – have you rebooted both the Mac and the iPad, each from Power Off state? This is a first port of call for things either could have going wrong, and often will clear the problem. It isn’t just Windows which needs reboots…

[kewms]

If you allow Mac OS to “optimize Mac storage,” it will “optimize” the entire disk, whether also managed by Dropbox (or similar) or not.

[Tromano]

the original copy was named after a date in April; I changed that to say June_2022. Then I changed it to say June2022. so the renamed version is the one that I am working on now. Airdrop does work with dropbox—if you are on an iPad or Mac, and you click share from the file and choose airdrop you can then airdrop that file to anywhere on your Mac, including dropbox. I airdropped the file on the iPad–one of the ones that would not open in scrivener nor ‘update’ on iPad, to my Mac in the downloads folder. I was easily able to open it in scrivener on the Mac. I then airdropped a file to the iPad from the Mac, straight to the iPad’s files, which is a local copy. And that again would not open it in scrivener. so I am thinking is a scrivener file problem/ scrivener problem, rather than the dropbox problem. because the one on my iPad doesn’t need to ‘sync’. still won’t open.

I have sent a copy to support but assuming they are out for the weekend.

I have not tried the final suggestion. I have restarted the computer and iPad yes.
is there a console log somewhere I can look at?

[Tromano]

optimize Mac storage only applies to icloud drive folders which do not include my dropbox account.

I have looked at the folder contents of the project and everything appears to be synced (green bubbles). it’s very odd.

[gr]

@Tromano

on dropbox’s side I get an error message ‘1 file might not update’ on the app. in scrivener it’s Invalid file.

This passage from your first post struck me, because it suggests you are using the Dropbox app on iOS somehow in all this. So, just in case, let me say this (which, of course, you may already well understand):

The dbx APP on ios has NO role to play here. You can’t use the dbx APP to tell Scriv to open your project. Scriv on iOS works directly with the dropbox server — no middle man — to find and sync with your projects there.

((Similarly on MacOS, if the dropbox engine is installed and active, then the dropbox APP has no role to play (nor their web interface) in syncing your project file with their server.))

[Tromano]

Understand that — I just used Dropbox to go and see if it had shown any errors and it was on the iPad. No errors on mac side

[narrsd]

@Tromano

Airdrop does work with dropbox—if you are on an iPad or Mac, and you click share from the file and choose airdrop you can then airdrop that file to anywhere on your Mac,

Hmm – a flag sort of went up here. Let me try to be clear about it, as it’s possible this is your actual problem.

• if I understand you are Airdropping the file…which is also in Dropbox, so you put it there on the Mac. I’m not sure whether you have that control from Mac to iPad, but maybe you are doing the similar thing.
• I think that either way, you are asking for problems, if in a perfect world, this ‘should’ work. But software is seldom like that, and especially in the case of syncing systems, which are the most difficult things in network-land to make work.
• So, it’s possible that this odd message (it is) that you get from Dropbox is indicating it’s confused by what you’re doing, getting Airdrop involved in its business. Which needs to be quite separate…

What I’d do is make one more pair of test projects, each with own name, on Mac and on the iPad. See that they work where they are created, in the Scrivener there. Then let them transfer, and check the results. But here is where the tricky part comes. So it’s really two pairs of test projects, if you do it complete.

I don’t know if you have a reason to use Airdrop, but if you do, create the project for that Not on Dropbox, but in the file system on each machine. Notice that there’s an ‘On my iPad’ area lower on the side menu of the iPad, which allows you to do that. Then you’d find the project using the Files app in the On my iPad area, and Airdrop it from there.

For Dropbox, creating the project on one of the machines will have it transfer over to the other machine as soon as you close it. Dropbox I have found to be entirely reliable, even iPad to Windows machine and back, so this is a most convenient way.

If you try all the possibilities, you’ll have four file names, two each transferred…into the separate places…in a pair starting on either end of the two machines.

Then you can see. I imagine that if you do this, all creations will work. And for the project you have, if you only keep and transfer it on one of the two methods and their places, Dropbox or Airdrop, that should then work properly also. You might have to use one of those renamed Save As copies to get an undamaged version to send over.

And if Support doesn’t find there’s something damaged which doesn’t get replaced by the Save As because it belongs to only one platform, and in that case I’m sure they’d send back a repaired copy to you.

Given it works, you’ll have practiced and proved to yourself. Which is what we do.

Hope this gets you on a track, and compliments on sticking with it

[narrsd]

Sorry, never mind the deleted post — it was just a mistake, and the unchanged information is in the long one just above.

But if I did add anything, it would be just mention what you’ve probably understood from what I’ve said, that Dropbox is well recommended to be the way you use for syncing. It is reliable, and automatic, with nothing you have to touch to make it happen. Scrivener was very carefully designed to use it, with features that might also help with Airdrop, but with Dropbox they are sure.

Not hard line, just in recognition of what we see, and over time…