Dropbox is making itself unusable for some with confusing file system changes
![Dropbox has sent out highly technical messages that some file systems will no longer be supported.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180905041821im_/https://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/h/1/4/v/0/n/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.h14srb.png/1535987805391.jpg)
![Peter Moon AFR Woodcut](http://web.archive.org./web/20180905041821im_/https://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/y/z/h/e/v/image.imgtype.afrWoodcutAuthorImage.120x120.png/1507775529834.png)
Many Dropbox users have just received an unsettling message: "On November 7, 2018 the Dropbox system requirements are changing. To make sure that your files continue to sync, you'll need to move your Dropbox folder to a drive that meets the new requirements."
Mysterious? It gets worse. "What to do next … Choose a new location for your Dropbox folder: coserver.local, Mac OS X 10.12.6 … Move Dropbox to an APFS or Mac OS Extended drive."
Meanwhile, administrators for affected accounts have been mailed: "Dropbox will support the following desktop file systems ... HFS+ or APFS".
That's for Mac folk. Windows users may be instructed to ensure their synced files are on an NTFS drive.
![The world won't know until November 7 whether network storage units such as Synology will stop syncing with Dropbox.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180905041821im_/https://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/y/0/e/k/z/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1503278439529.jpg)
Note to Dropbox: Not all of your customers are that tech-savvy. The service sells because users don't need to be techies to set up synchronised cloud-based storage on their home or office computers. If you're going to tell them that sync might sink in a few weeks' time, send more than an abrupt note crammed with jargon.
What it means
What's coserver.local? What are APFS and NTFS and how would you know if your current Dropbox folder is or isn't one of them? And why does one message tell Mac users to move to Mac OS Extended drive, and another that HFS+ is the solution?
The answers matter. If you rely on Dropbox for off-site backup, or to synchronise files between multiple machines, it may all scream to a halt on November 7. If you've received a message from Dropbox, you need to decode it and take the right action.
Every storage drive has a format. Old-fashioned Windows versions used one called FAT16 until FAT32 arrived in the mid-90s. NTFS displaced them both. Macs have their own formats. The first thing that Dropbox is trying to tell you is it has detected a computer that's syncing to it is using a drive format that may not be compatible after November 7.
Which computer is the problem? If your Dropbox account only links to one Mac or PC, the answer is obvious. If you sync multiple machines, the name that Dropbox's email cites may or may not mean something to you.
If you recognise it as one of your devices, great. If not, you'll need to check each linked computer.
Finding the problem
For a PC, look under computer properties for each computer's name. Mac users should refer to Sharing, found under system preferences. You'll turn up the hardware that Dropbox soon won't be playing nicely with. For us, "coserver.local" was the name of the main office file server.
Once the problem device has been identified, use Dropbox's settings icon to confirm the location of its Dropbox folder. All you then need to do is to set up a new Dropbox drive for that machine, following the linked instructions in the email from Dropbox.
But back up the old folder first. This operation involves 100Â per cent of your Dropbox data. If it goes wrong, it goes horribly wrong.
That's all well and good if your incompatible Dropbox folder is stored on a 1TB external USB drive that can be replaced for under $100. Buy a new drive, format it in one of Dropbox's supported ways, switch your synced folder across.
But if you've been using a pricey, high-capacity network drive to store Dropbox data, the company's announcement is a concern indeed.
Some of the market leaders in high-volume local network file storage can't be formatted in any of the file systems that Dropbox will soon require. For instance, the popular Drobo 5N networked storage unit won't format as Windows NTFS or Mac APFS or HFS+ or Mac OS Extended drive.
In passing, HFS+ and Mac OS Extended are really the same thing. Dropbox was just being careless in using different terms in different emails.
The world won't know until November 7 whether network storage units such as Drobo and Synology really will stop syncing with Dropbox, but we've been warned. While the company's cryptic mail means a little file reorganisation for some users, it could lead to a lot of pain if you have linked mass storage devices to Dropbox.
Peter Moon is a technology lawyer with Cooper Mills. peter.moon@coopermills.com.au
AFR Contributor