[Solved] Install Dropbox with CLI Only

solamour · Last edited by solamour on Tue Jan 08, 2019 7:26 pm; edited 1 time in total

I'm trying to install Dropbox on a machine that has command line only (i.e. no X), but none of the methods I tried worked.

First, "pygtk" tried to pull a bunch of X-related packages, so that's a no-go.

Hu · Moderator Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 21633

For the first two, the ebuild that provided dropbox-cli should have insisted you install the appropriate Python modules. Did you bypass the ebuild's dependencies?

For the third one, that is easy. The binary was compiled to use instructions that your CPU does not understand. You can upgrade your CPU to support those instructions or recompile the program to use only instructions your CPU accepts. The latter would unquestionably be cheaper, except that it appears you are running a prebuilt program. Therefore, you must get the person who built it to recompile it for you, or provide you with instructions on how to recompile it yourself. The latter is likely impossible if the program is proprietary.

solamour · Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 2:53 am Post subject:

"net-misc/dropbox" has "X" flag, but it's off by default, so it doesn't bring in X unless I ask for it.
"net-misc/dropbox-cli" is just a Python script.

solamour · Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 7:26 pm Post subject:

After much fiddling, I found a few things that I didn't know before. I'll summarize them here in case someone else encounters similar problems.

1) Despite "cli" in its package name, looks like "net-misc/dropbox-cli" requires X, there is no way around it. You can install "net-misc/dropbox" without X, but that doesn't seem to be the case for "net-misc/dropbox-cli".

2) If "DISPLAY" is set anything other than nothing, Dropbox will try to load X (i.e. "PyQt5.QtWebKit" and related modules). If your system doesn't have X, Dropbox will fail to start.
To go around that problem, use "DISPLAY= ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd" instead. If it's the first time you run it, it will show a URL to link your system to Dropbox.

3) If your system is an old 32-bit machine, Dropbox might fail to start with mysterious "Illegal instruction". This is a known issue, and https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Installation-and-desktop-app/Linux-Dropbox-doesn-t-start-Illegal-instruction/td-p/319640 is a temporary solution. In short, remove "nucleus_python.cpython..." file.
This can lead to a truly annoying problem. Let's say you install Dropbox via either Portage or directly downloading it from Dropbox. You remove "nucleus_python.cpython..." file and it runs OK. Then Dropbox tries to download an updated version and unzip it in "/tmp" directory. But that will fail to start, because the updated version in "/tmp" has "nucleus_python.cpython..." file. So it tries again and fails again. You will be stuck with everlasting "Upgrading Dropbox..." state.
If that ever happens, check "/tmp/.dropbox*" directory and what the latest version Dropbox is trying to upgrade to. For me, that was "65.3.160", so I just download it directly from "https://clientupdates.dropboxstatic.com/dbx-releng/client/dropbox-lnx.x86-65.3.160.tar.gz", unzip it, remove ""nucleus_python.cpython" file, and use "dropbox.py" (from Dropbox site) instead of "dropbox-cli".

Thanks everyone for taking time to share your opinions and suggestions.
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sol