Dropbox eating up a huge chunk of my CPU

shyam09 · Apr 22, 2012, 12:02 AM

I heard a weird sound in my room, and figured it was something small. then i checked a bit closely and realized my MBP's fan was on (my MBP was supposed to be sleeping). It was really hot, and the fans were around 4000 RPM.

I opened activity monitor and saw that DROPBOX was eating about 60 - 80+% of my CPU. The moment i quit it, everything returned to normal. I relaunched it and the same thing occurred. I re installed the program, but to no use. the problem still exists...

Currently dropbox isn't running, but i do sync files between my computers and iPad. Is it just me? or is this a bug of some sort that just appeared randomly? [it just started now [as in maybe 10 minutes ago at the latest, i would assume.]

shurcooL · Apr 22, 2012, 12:11 AM

Was Dropbox doing any syncing? I've seen it use a lot of CPU when converting photos from your mobile device to be uploaded (a recent feature they've added), perhaps it was doing that?

You can always do a clean reinstall of Dropbox, which includes deleting the /Users/<User>/.dropbox folder.

steve knight · Apr 22, 2012, 12:12 AM

never had that problem at all in all the years I have used.

cuestakid · Apr 22, 2012, 01:22 AM

what was syncing and how much was being synced?

shyam09 · Apr 22, 2012, 08:27 AM

uh, it wasn't syncing. It was just indexing about 1000 files. But it's been doing that for a few days (ie. a couple days ago, it was indexing, etc; yesterday it was indexing, ) ... and it never ate up any of my CPU

shurcooL · Apr 22, 2012, 09:28 AM

If it's not syncing something new, it shouldn't really be indexing either.

I'd suggest you do a full uninstall and reinstall Dropbox. It's likely some rare bug that you ran into. Dropbox should only use a lot of CPU when you change a lot of files, or during the initial sync.

blatopilot · Apr 22, 2012, 01:37 PM

Check to make sure dropbox is up to date.

Make sure no files are corrupt. Also make sure all files are properly named (.doc, .pdf. .jpg etc). I had one that was named wrong like word.do instead of word.doc and it caused problems.

Also go to your Dropbox account online (dropbox.com) and click the little trash can to show deleted items. You can try permanently removing the deleted items. If there are a lot it may help.

One last tip, take all of the contents of your dropbox folder, drag it to your desktop, and sync it so its empty. Then drag it back to have it reupload. It will reindex and may clean up any issues.

pcryan5 · May 16, 2012, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shyam09

I heard a weird sound in my room, and figured it was something small. then i checked a bit closely and realized my MBP's fan was on (my MBP was supposed to be sleeping). It was really hot, and the fans were around 4000 RPM.

Exactly same problem here with late 2010 MBA. I thought my fan had berserk - running over 6000RPM. I was not able to detect problem. Apple store spent 5 minutes on it and dropbox was the culprit.

multimiler · Jan 7, 2013, 02:23 PM

Came into office, heard MBP fan screaming, and found Dropbox consuming 150% of cpu capacity. Dropbox was indexing. I quit dropbox and restarted, and things are back to normal.

I've seen this happen multiple times. Weird!

bitblue · Jan 9, 2013, 06:17 PM

I had a similar issue with the CPU being so busy that my MBP became a hair dryer. However, it wasn't Dropbox indexing. The problem was simply that a Finder window with the Dropbox directory was open. As soon as I closed the Finder window, the CPU went back to normal. Weird.

NateJC · May 15, 2013, 04:20 PM

See the official Dropbox article on this issue here.

opinio · Yesterday, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shyam09

I heard a weird sound in my room, and figured it was something small. then i checked a bit closely and realized my MBP's fan was on (my MBP was supposed to be sleeping). It was really hot, and the fans were around 4000 RPM.

I opened activity monitor and saw that DROPBOX was eating about 60 - 80+% of my CPU. The moment i quit it, everything returned to normal. I relaunched it and the same thing occurred. I re installed the program, but to no use. the problem still exists...

Currently dropbox isn't running, but i do sync files between my computers and iPad. Is it just me? or is this a bug of some sort that just appeared randomly? [it just started now [as in maybe 10 minutes ago at the latest, i would assume.]

I only have that problem when dropbox does the intial sync after I rebuild from time machine?

You could try a reinstall of dropbox and 're-add' your files from another drive. I.e. build afresh?

Apr 22, 2012, 12:02 AM	#1
shyam09 macrumors 65816 Join Date: Nov 2010	Dropbox eating up a huge chunk of my CPU I heard a weird sound in my room, and figured it was something small. then i checked a bit closely and realized my MBP's fan was on (my MBP was supposed to be sleeping). It was really hot, and the fans were around 4000 RPM. I opened activity monitor and saw that DROPBOX was eating about 60 - 80+% of my CPU. The moment i quit it, everything returned to normal. I relaunched it and the same thing occurred. I re installed the program, but to no use. the problem still exists... Currently dropbox isn't running, but i do sync files between my computers and iPad. Is it just me? or is this a bug of some sort that just appeared randomly? [it just started now [as in maybe 10 minutes ago at the latest, i would assume.]
	0

Apr 22, 2012, 12:12 AM	#3
steve knight macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jan 2009	never had that problem at all in all the years I have used. __________________ CNCrouting.biz
	0

Apr 22, 2012, 01:22 AM	#4
cuestakid macrumors 65832 Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: San Fran	what was syncing and how much was being synced? __________________ 15in 2.2ghz i7SB, 750GB HD,16GB RAM Apple TV Hockey PuckiPhone 4S 32GB Verizon iPad3 WiFi 32GB
	0

Jan 7, 2013, 02:23 PM	#9
multimiler macrumors newbie Join Date: Nov 2012	Same result in January 2013 Came into office, heard MBP fan screaming, and found Dropbox consuming 150% of cpu capacity. Dropbox was indexing. I quit dropbox and restarted, and things are back to normal. I've seen this happen multiple times. Weird!
	0

Jan 9, 2013, 06:17 PM	#10
bitblue macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2013	Dropbox impacting Finder I had a similar issue with the CPU being so busy that my MBP became a hair dryer. However, it wasn't Dropbox indexing. The problem was simply that a Finder window with the Dropbox directory was open. As soon as I closed the Finder window, the CPU went back to normal. Weird.
	0

Apr 22, 2012, 12:11 AM	#2
shurcooL macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2011	Was Dropbox doing any syncing? I've seen it use a lot of CPU when converting photos from your mobile device to be uploaded (a recent feature they've added), perhaps it was doing that? You can always do a clean reinstall of Dropbox, which includes deleting the /Users/<User>/.dropbox folder.
	0

Apr 22, 2012, 08:27 AM	#5
shyam09 Thread Starter macrumors 65816 Join Date: Nov 2010	uh, it wasn't syncing. It was just indexing about 1000 files. But it's been doing that for a few days (ie. a couple days ago, it was indexing, etc; yesterday it was indexing, ) ... and it never ate up any of my CPU
	0

Apr 22, 2012, 09:28 AM	#6
shurcooL macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2011	If it's not syncing something new, it shouldn't really be indexing either. I'd suggest you do a full uninstall and reinstall Dropbox. It's likely some rare bug that you ran into. Dropbox should only use a lot of CPU when you change a lot of files, or during the initial sync.
	0

Apr 22, 2012, 01:37 PM	#7
blatopilot macrumors regular Join Date: Sep 2011	Check to make sure dropbox is up to date. Make sure no files are corrupt. Also make sure all files are properly named (.doc, .pdf. .jpg etc). I had one that was named wrong like word.do instead of word.doc and it caused problems. Also go to your Dropbox account online (dropbox.com) and click the little trash can to show deleted items. You can try permanently removing the deleted items. If there are a lot it may help. One last tip, take all of the contents of your dropbox folder, drag it to your desktop, and sync it so its empty. Then drag it back to have it reupload. It will reindex and may clean up any issues.
	0

May 15, 2013, 04:20 PM	#11
NateJC macrumors newbie Join Date: May 2013	See the official Dropbox article on this issue here.
	0


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