Dropbox howto

corenominal · 2008-11-29 02:04:14

NOTE: There is an updated Dropbox installation guide available on the wiki, see: http://crunchbanglinux.org/wiki/howto/h … up_dropbox

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First off, what is Dropbox? Well, according to the Dropbox website:

Dropbox is the easiest way to share and store your files online.

Having tried Dropbox myself, I have to agree that it is pretty sweet, and that is coming from a guy who runs rsync everyday. Anyway, if you are interested, you can find out more at: https://www.getdropbox.com/tour

The problem with Dropbox, from the perspective of a CrunchBang Linux user, is that it is developed to be used in conjunction with the Nautilus file manager. Nautilus is great, but it is not particularly well suited to a lightweight Openbox environment. No fear, by following the instructions in this howto, you should be able to get Dropbox working under Openbox without having to invoke Nautilus, at least not once the main installation is complete.

Note: We will still be installing Nautilus, and obviously everything it has listed as dependencies. If you are bothered about having unnecessary packages/libraries on your system, this howto is probably not for you. However, if you do not mind giving up a little bit of your disk space, read on. Remember once the installation is complete, we will not actually be calling on Nautilus, so system performance should not be affected.

Right then, here goes...

1: We will be using GDebi for ease of use, so if you do not already have it, enter the following terminal command to install it:

sudo apt-get install gdebi

2: Visit https://www.getdropbox.com/install and download the Dropbox package. You will most likely want the Ubuntu 8.04 or 8.10 package.

3: Open Thunar and browse to where you saved the download. Right-click on the file, select "Open with GDebi Package Installer". Perform the installation. Close GDebi when the installation is finished.

4: Hit Alt+F2 and enter the command:

nautilus

If successful, Nautilus will start and the Dropbox icon will appear in your panel's system tray.

5: Right-click on the Dropbox icon in your system tray and select "Start Dropbox". Dropbox will now download some required components before running its own user installation screens. Follow the Dropbox instructions to create a new account, or login to your existing account. Close the Dropbox and any Nautilus windows once complete.

6: Hit Alt+F2 and enter the command:

killall nautilus

7: We will now create a fake Nautilus script, which will in fact launch Thunar when Dropbox requests it. We will placing the script in ~/bin. If you have deleted this directory, you will need to recreate it. When ready, open a terminal and enter the following command:

touch ~/bin/nautilus && chmod +x ~/bin/nautilus && gedit ~/bin/nautilus &

Paste the following into the new file:

#!/bin/bash
exec thunar $@
exit 0

Save the file and exit.

8: We now need to set-up Openbox so that it will automatically start the Dropbox daemon when we login. Enter the following terminal command:

gedit ~/.config/openbox/autostart.sh &

And add the following lines to the end of the file:

# Just in case some random app calls on Nautilus, lets set some safeguards to minimise the impact:
# Disable Nautilus desktop, because we really really do not want it!
gconftool-2 -s -t bool /apps/nautilus/preferences/show_desktop false &
# Do not let Nautilus set the background, because we really really do not want this either.
gconftool-2 -s -t bool /desktop/gnome/background/draw_background false &
# Make Nautilus use spatial mode, should start-up quicker.
gconftool-2 -s -t bool /apps/nautilus/preferences/always_use_browser false &
# Make Nautilus show the advanced permissions dialog -- if it has to start, lets at least make it usable :) 
gconftool-2 -s -t bool /apps/nautilus/preferences/show_advanced_permissions true &
# And finally...
# ...start dropbox daemon, but give it a minute so we can establish a net connection.
(sleep 60s && ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd) &

Save the file and exit.

9: Reboot your system. You should now have a working Dropbox without having to invoke Nautilus smile

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I have tested this on both CrunchBang Linux 8.04.02 & 8.10.01. It has worked for me quite well. I would be interested to know if it works for you too and whether or not is causes any problems. I know it is a bit of a hack, but I feel it fits well with the whole CrunchBang philosophy/mentality smile Anyhow, I hope someone finds this howto useful.

arpbook · 2008-11-29 03:02:17

hi corenominal,
as you maybe remember, idon't have thunar, so i tried with rox-filer but it doesn't work hmm
i got my dropbox icon, but it still open nautilus.
i tried different scripts:

#!/bin/bash
exec rox-filer $@
exit 0

or

#!/bin/bash
exec rox $@
exit 0

or

#!/bin/bash
exec rox ~/DropBox
exit 0

without result.
i use my mac-account to synchronize folders on-line. i use davfs2 and mount my idisk with fstab. so i really appreciate a Free soft that could do the same smile
could you please test it with rox? i did all what you 'code'.
thanks
arp
-
-
edit: in fact, i think we have to remove --purge nautilus to make it work, because the dropbox-tray-icon first call /usr/bin or /bin and secondly ~/bin/nautilus.. am i right ?

Last edited by arpbook (2008-11-29 03:05:32)

corenominal · 2008-11-29 03:13:15

Hi arp

Did you test it with Thunar first? If so, did it work?

I have just tested it with ROX-Filer and it works for me. Either of the first two of your examples should do it.

Could you look through the process again and check everything is okay. For example, your ~/bin folder should be in your system $PATH and ~/bin/nautilus should be executable. If you deleted your bin folder, you will probably need to reboot after recreating it.

arpbook · 2008-11-29 03:16:24

[SOLVED]
all works fine now with rox... it was my fault ( as usual on linux, 99% of bugs come from the man under the keyboard:D ) my ~/bin folder was a ~/Bin folder, linux is case-sensitive...
so, if you have rox, it works with this script:

#!/bin/bash
exec rox ~/DropBox  #the dropbox target folder
exit 0

thanks a lot for this box, 20G of free disk on-line................. great big_smile
and thanks for your quick answer smile

Last edited by arpbook (2008-11-29 03:17:27)

corenominal · 2008-11-29 05:46:48

Hi arp

Please note that I have made an edit to the original post, specifically to section 8, concerning ~/.config/openbox/autostart.sh. I have included some gconf settings so that if some random application actually calls on /usr/bin/nautilus, the resulting fallout should be minimal.

arpbook · 2008-11-29 06:08:27

@corenominal: thanks but no issue to notice for me ( but i add 'sleep 60s like on the conky-line)
you really take care of us smile

Master One · 2008-11-29 08:52:38

Isn't there an easier way to prevent the installation of nautilus altogether, by creating a fake nautilus package, that just sets a link to thunar? Isn't something similar done with the fake mono package (mononono), to prevent any mono stuff to be installed?

Last edited by Master One (2008-11-29 08:53:12)

fabsh · 2008-11-29 10:05:28

Thanks for that corenominal! I can live without dopbox but it is sure sweet to have the option!! smile

corenominal · 2008-11-29 15:53:39

Master One wrote:

Isn't there an easier way to prevent the installation of nautilus altogether, by creating a fake nautilus package, that just sets a link to thunar? Isn't something similar done with the fake mono package (mononono), to prevent any mono stuff to be installed?

I am not sure that creating a fake Nautilus package would be easier smile Besides, Nautilus is needed to perform the initial Dropbox set-up. Also, I am not keen on the idea of creating fake packages as they tend to lead to other potential/unseen problems. Having said that, the mononono package looks interesting, I will check it out, thanks smile

fabsh wrote:

Thanks for that corenominal! I can live without dopbox but it is sure sweet to have the option!!

No problem smile I have been meaning to try the above for a while. When I read your dent, it was just the excuse I had been looking for. I am actually really quite impressed with Dropbox. It is working well and I have not noticed any performance issues since performing the set-up.

fabsh · 2008-11-29 19:48:06

Yeah, it really works quite well. Dan and I use it to push the raw podcast files around, as you saw on identi.ca. smile

rizzo · 2008-11-29 20:46:12

I think I'll have to check dropbox out. Not much use to me at the moment though. Did I mention my teenage daughter discovered how to use bittorrent recently. My 12gb adsl usage eaten up in 2 weeks. I've been throttled to dialup speeds at home for two more lol lol lol !

"Sorry dad, I didn't know", she said.

Last edited by rizzo (2008-11-29 20:46:28)

bobobex · 2008-11-29 20:53:03

@ Omns - LOL, that's so funny! Kids - who'd have them smile

michaelramm · 2008-12-05 04:31:15

It now seems to be broken. I am trying to install the Dropbox .deb and I get an error everytime:

Could not download all required files

When I looked at the file, I see:
Failed to fetch http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/poo … 2_i386.deb 404 Not Found

When I look at the archive, low and behold:

[ ]    gnome-settings-daemon_2.22.1-0ubuntu2.dsc    06-May-2008 10:06     1.1K     
[ ]    gnome-settings-daemon_2.22.1-0ubuntu2_amd64.deb    06-May-2008 10:06     248K     
[ ]    gnome-settings-daemon_2.22.1-0ubuntu2_i386.deb    06-May-2008 10:06     227K     
[ ]    gnome-settings-daemon_2.22.1.orig.tar.gz    07-Apr-2008 15:05     1.8M     
[ ]    gnome-settings-daemon_2.24.0-0ubuntu3.3.diff.gz    25-Nov-2008 22:04     13K     
[ ]    gnome-settings-daemon_2.24.0-0ubuntu3.3.dsc    25-Nov-2008 22:04     1.8K     
[ ]    gnome-settings-daemon_2.24.0-0ubuntu3.3_amd64.deb    25-Nov-2008 23:05     307K     
[ ]    gnome-settings-daemon_2.24.0-0ubuntu3.3_i386.deb    25-Nov-2008 22:04     286K

That .deb file is NOT there.

So, I am not sure what I am supposed to do about it now.

Any ideas?

Michael

corenominal · 2008-12-05 04:55:36

Hey Michael smile

When was the last time you ran the following command?

sudo apt-get update

It appears as if the package has had a recent update, check: http://packages.ubuntu.com/intrepid/gno … ngs-daemon

Run an update and try again.

Hope this helps smile

michaelramm · 2008-12-05 05:04:46

Hey Philip,

Um never, cause I just finished installing and was trying to find the command to update. I remember that there was some peculiarities in previous !#.

BTW, I am really loving the 8.10 release. I may stick with it and move it to my new work laptop when I get it.

Thanks for the tip, I am on it now.

Michael

Last edited by michaelramm (2008-12-05 05:05:50)

ShaqArif · 2008-12-05 10:53:53

Hi Philip,

just a quick question - rather than creating a script /usr/bin/nautilus to call thunar, wouldn't it be easier to just set up a link:

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/thunar /usr/bin/nautilus

Or am I (quite likely) missing something?

corenominal · 2008-12-05 11:49:09

ShaqArif wrote:

Hi Philip,
just a quick question - rather than creating a script /usr/bin/nautilus to call thunar, wouldn't it be easier to just set up a link:
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/thunar /usr/bin/nautilus
Or am I (quite likely) missing something?

Hi ShaqArif

I think I understand where you are coming from with this smile Yes this should be possible, but you would first have to backup and remove/move the current file located at /usr/bin/nautilus, or use the -f --force ln command option. This would be fine in a single user environment where the user is certain that Nautilus will not be required; however, on a system which is shared by multiple users, it would be advisable that hacks like this only affect the user concerned. By creating the script in the users personal bin directory, only that user would be affected.

Having said that, your method used within a users account would do the job just as comfortably as creating the script:

ln -s /usr/bin/thunar ~/bin/nautilus

The only advantage to using a shell script, that I can think of, would be to include some conditional statements which detect the current session/environment and launch a preferred file manager; under some conditions, for example when operating within a GNOME session, it might be preferable to actually start Nautilus as opposed to Thunar.

#!/bin/bash

if [ $DESKTOP_SESSION = "openbox" ]; then
    exec thunar $@
else
    exec nautilus $@
fi
exit 0

Anyhow, it is a good point, thank you for the tip! smile

moriancumer_12 · 2008-12-06 15:34:33

I think there is a much easier way to do this. I just copied ~/.dropbox* from another box I had running dropbox. Then ran

./dropbox-dist/dropboxd &

to start the deamon. Signed into dropbox.

added the daemon to start in autostart.sh

EYo · 2008-12-11 02:43:55

yawtrdb - yet another way to run dropbox
dbcli.py from http://wiki.getdropbox.com/TipsAndTrick … nuxInstall.

Usage: ./dbcli.py <command> [options] ... <command> [options]
Available commands:
   status - Get overall status for the daemon.
   copypublic <file> - Copies the url to the clipboard (? I guess)
   install <x86/x86_64> - Tries to download the daemon and install it in your home directory.
   browse <folder> - Browse the specified folder in your browser.
   copygallery - Copies the gallery url to the clipboard.
   share <file> - Open the browser and shows share-information.
   file <file> - Get information about a file/folder.
   folder <folder> - Get information about a file/folder.
   help - Gives this.
   revisions <file> - Opens the revisions page in your browser for the specified file.

"ln -s /usr/bin/thunar /usr/bin/nautilus" to launch thunar when the db icon is clicked.

pbsMind · 2008-12-17 08:09:26

I did this:

1. Download just the bin files here: http://www.getdropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86
2. Extract and move .dropbox to ~/.dropbox
3. Add this line ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd & to your ~/.config/openbox/autostart.sh file

source

corenominal · 2008-12-17 08:43:20

pbsMind wrote:

I did this:
1. Download just the bin files here: http://www.getdropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86
2. Extract and move .dropbox to ~/.dropbox
3. Add this line ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd & to your ~/.config/openbox/autostart.sh file
source

Nice tip! Your method certainly seems cleaner, I will give it a go the next time I set-up Dropbox. Thank you. smile

pbsMind · 2008-12-18 07:26:03

corenominal wrote:

Nice tip! Your method certainly seems cleaner, I will give it a go the next time I set-up Dropbox. Thank you.

Thanks, it works well the only thing is the Open My Dropbox menu item doesn't work since there nautilus isn't installed, but the other then that it seems to work fine.

nipeng · 2008-12-18 22:01:50

No way I'm installing nautilus. tongue

I used pbsMind's tip. Worked perfectly. Built a "nautilus" script like the one mentioned earlier but instead of rox I'm using pcmanfm.
It seems I'm missing the sharing functions with pcmanfm which doesn't surprise me. Is this sharing of stuff only supported when using nautilus of is this a web interface only thing?

On my system the dropbox client opens w3m instead of a graphical browser. big_smile

razienwolf · 2008-12-19 01:10:37

So I installed the .deb, installed, opened nautilus and when I tell dropbox to start nothing happens.

What am I doing wrong?

corenominal · 2008-12-19 01:21:45

razienwolf wrote:

So I installed the .deb, installed, opened nautilus and when I tell dropbox to start nothing happens.
What am I doing wrong?

Hmm, the first time you run Dropbox it will download some files in the background. If you move your mouse cursor over the Dropbox system tray icon it should provide a status dialog? It can take a while, depends on your connection speed.

CrunchBang Linux

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