Wherever you see an icon indicating the presence of errors, clicking on that icon will bring up an itemised list of the relevant errors.
Errors are grouped into related error types and help on each error can be obtained by;
This should bring up a tooltip with a brief suggestion about how to resolve the error
This will take you to a slightly more detailed help view with information about the error.
Note that some errors will only appear when an attempt is made to modify files. Such errors only appear during the actual sync and will not be shown in a preview.
Occurs when connecting to a folder pair via ssh
Messages:
Double check that the hostname is correct and that you are connected to the internet.
Occurs when executing a sync (not during preview) in cases where DropSync does not have permission to create or modify files in the destination directory, or it does not have permission to read a file in the source.
Messages:
The method of resolving this issue depends on the details of the folder pair setup.
The main things to watch out for in this case are
In this case you will need to set the permissions for the folder pair folder so that they include both reading and writing for the user whose login details are used by DropSync to connect.
Select the folder in Finder and select File > Get Info using Finder. In the info window that appears, change permissions for the user of DropSync to Read and Write
Messages:
This error appears for various reasons when DropSync has been configured to delete files/folders during a sync but is unable to delete a directory. Common reasons for this are:
The first class of problem can be solved by editing DropSync's Filter Rules.
First identify the protected file that is causing the issue. (Note. This file might be a hidden file such as .DS_Store or other system file). Then choose between the following methods:
Messages:
This error appears because dropsync is attempting to create a symbolic link in place of an existing directory
This requires some manual intervention with your files
Typically this problem happens when one side of a sync has a symbolic link with the same name as a directory on the other side. Because DropSync cannot make this change, the easiest option is to do it manually.
Messages:
Occurs when the syntax provided to rsync is incorrect. Common scenarios where this might occur are:
Resolve the error by turning off the offending option using the Advanced configure tab. If the error still occurs please contact support.
Messages:
Occurs when a file at the destination is locked because it is being run as an executable or is required by another process.
Quit all processes that might lock the file.
Messages:
Occurs when one of the files being transferred is a non-regular file. These include device files and other special files.
Non-regular files are often created as part of operating system functions. DropSync should generally not be used to sync or make backups of system files. If you are seeing this error it is worth considering whether DropSync is the right tool for the job.
Messages:
Occurs when a sync is prematurely terminated (possibly on purpose by cancelling it) or for some other reason.
Reconnect to the remote host and rerun the sync.
Messages:
Occurs when one of the files being transferred is a symlink and points to a directory outside the Folder Pair root.
This error only occurs if the --safe-links option is turned on using Advanced options. If copying the linked file is important, then it may be preferable to transform the unsafe link into its referent file using the --copy-unsafe-links option instead.
Messages:
Occurs when one of the files being transferred is a symlink and points to an empty path. DropSync will avoid copying these symlinks, which results in this warning being generated.
Either exclude these dead links using An Exclude rule, or ensure that the links are valid. If these links are unimportant on the destination you can safely ignore this warning.
Messages:
At the start of the transfer DropSync generates a file list for the source and destination directories and then compares them. It then proceeds to update all of the files in these lists which require updating at the destination. If, during this process a file is deleted at the source (either by the user or by another program) this warning will be generated.
Generally, repeating the sync should resolve the issue. If the issue recurs often it is worthwhile considering what programs may causing these unexpected deletions.
Messages:
Occurs when the destination filesystem does not support extended attributes.
The resolution to this issue depends on your goals. If syncing extended attributes is essential then you will need to ensure that the destination folder uses a filesystem (such as HFS+) that supports extended attributes.
Messages:
Can occur for a variety of reasons. The most common is that a file or directory has made it into DropSync's include list for a sync, but was deleted before the sync could occur.
Retry the sync. Contact support if the error persists
Messages:
Occurs when a location for temporary files is specified using the --temp-dir option but the location does not exist.
Ensure that the directory specified using --temp-dir exists
Messages:
Occurs when rsync checks that an updated file at the destination is identical to the file at the source and finds that the two files are not the same. The most likely cause of this error is that the file has been modified at the source during a sync. The first time this occurs, rsync tries the transfer again. If a second failure occurs the update is discarded.
Ensure that files at the source are not modified during a sync.
Messages:
Generally occurs if rsync fails to read or write data for a file that it has open.
Check that the files being copied are not corrupted and that the hard-drive hosting the data is formatted properly.
Messages:
May occur if the network is too slow to respond during a sync. In this case the time required to generate file lists can be longer than the timeout value, causing a premature timeout.
If an rsync timeout value has been set, it may be possible to resolve this error by increasing the timeout value, or setting it to 0 (infinite). The default in DropSync 3 is not to set a timeout.
Occurs when the folder exists at the destination but not at the source. You may need to sync in the opposite direction first.
Messages:
Please contact support for help with these errors. Please include as much detail as possible about your Folder Pair setup as well as the full text of the errors.