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Sync Files on 2 PPC Macs

B

bavbavis

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 4, 2010
27
7
I have 2 Powerbooks and I would like some way of keeping files on both in sync in a similar way to iCloud for recent macs. Ideally I would like to sync browser bookmarks (I am using Webkit) and selected folders.

I have tried using Dropbox to do this, but it either stops responding or uses too much resource. Can anyone recommend anything else?
 
bavbavis said:
I have 2 Powerbooks and I would like some way of keeping files on both in sync in a similar way to iCloud for recent macs. Ideally I would like to sync browser bookmarks (I am using Webkit) and selected folders.

I have tried using Dropbox to do this, but it either stops responding or uses too much resource. Can anyone recommend anything else?
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I'm using Dropbox for my Firefox (Ten Four Fox) Profiles. I have a redirect on each Mac that goes to the appropriate folder in Dropbox. With the profiles, everything is stored there in Dropbox. Preferences, bookmarks, addons, etc.

Since most of the stuff that T4Fx does is write cache files, which are generally small it doesn't heavily use resources for me. However, the one thing I do have to do is make sure that the browser is closed on one Mac and that Dropbox has updated all files on the other Mac that I intend to use before I open T4Fx on that other Mac.

I also have to make sure that the browser is the same version on each Mac. If I don't do this, Dropbox has the very bad habit of rendering my profile folder invisible on all the Macs. That tends to cause problems.

I don't know how you got webkit to link to Dropbox, but maybe that is part of your problem? Running webkit on both Macs at the same time I think would tend to burden Dropbox anyway as it has to figure out which version of what file is the most current and it's being hammered twice (or more). Add in the fact that webkit is hardly the lightest user of resources (IMO) and that could be what's dragging you down.
 
Thanks eyoungren, however I found that the latest version of Dropbox isnt happy on my Powerbook 1.67 DLSD. It installs fine and I can configure it and get it to initially sync, but after a while I notice that my Mac is running slowly and that Activity Monitor reports that Dropbox is not responding.
 
bavbavis said:
Thanks eyoungren, however I found that the latest version of Dropbox isnt happy on my Powerbook 1.67 DLSD. It installs fine and I can configure it and get it to initially sync, but after a while I notice that my Mac is running slowly and that Activity Monitor reports that Dropbox is not responding.
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When you say you have the latest version do you mean the latest that you can download direct from the site, or the latest beta?

I ask because I have the latest downloadable on my 1Ghz 17" PB G4 and I'm not experiencing any issues.

Dropbox always pulls 100% CPU whenever you first start it and stays that way until it's done indexing. After a restart I usually let it run until it's done indexing. It's just better that way. But once it's done it only grabs CPU again when it's uploading/downloading files. As I mentioned, most of the files I'm uploading are small cache files so this is momentary.

Is your problem happening at startup or does it just startup and hang? Activity Monitor will show it not responding though even if it is working simply because it's pulling down 100% CPU. But unless your downloading massive files it shouldn't take all day.

Running your cursor over the Dropbox icon and letting it sit there (don't click) will show a tooltip and tell you what Dropbox is doing. If you do that a couple of times and all you get is a beach ball each time then you know that it is hung.
 
Just one further note here. I will state what I see as being obvious, but maybe not to others…

Dropbox is meant to be started and left running. If you are in the habit of closing it as an app and then restarting it each time you need/don't need it then this could explain it's constant resource hogging.

Start it, let it index, leave it running.
 
You can use Terminal commands such as rsync or unison to sync files between two (or more) computers. They are simple to install via macports or fink.
 
I know that Dropbox is intended to run all the time and thats how I was using it. I have just reinstalled it and its finished syncing, so i will continue to use it
and see what happens.

When I tried it before, it would start up and sync fine and then at some point after that it would start hogging resources and activity monitor would highlight it in red with not responding. I have changed my disk since then though (the original one's SMART information indicated it was failing), so I will see how I get on and let you know.

Thanks
 
bavbavis said:
…the original one's SMART information indicated it was failing), so I will see how I get on and let you know.
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That right there is probably the problem. A lot of what Dropbox does is in the background. There's an invisible Dropbox folder you never see and inside that folder it writes it's own cache files for what needs to be uploaded/downloaded and/or overwritten or deleted. If the cache files become corrupt or screwy things happen Dropbox can stop working.
 
I have been using dropbox for a couple of days now without any problems, so it looks like the issue I was having before was indeed down to the failing drive.

Thanks for your help.
 
bavbavis said:
I have been using dropbox for a couple of days now without any problems, so it looks like the issue I was having before was indeed down to the failing drive.

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Cool, glad you found the problem!
 
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