# DropBox node not responding to new file in DropBox

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [3 April 2020 12:59 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155 "2020-04-03T12:59:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 14\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DamianosS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/damianoss/32/16990_2.png) [@DamianosS](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/DamianosS)\
**Post date:** [3 April 2020 12:59 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/1 "2020-04-03T12:59:20Z")

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Hi all,

Before opening an issue, I'd request for advice regarding any logging or monitoring means, to allow a better issue description and issue reproduction.

What is happening: I have a DropBox node watching for any new files. After some time (days to weeks) the node does not react to file changes anymore. The only way to re-active it is to change a node property (eg. the `Name` property). Then, it initializes and workes again as expected.

Any hints or shall I open an issue?  
Thanks, Damos

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**Author:** ![DamianosS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/damianoss/32/16990_2.png) [@DamianosS](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/DamianosS)\
**Post date:** [24 April 2020 11:03 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/2 "2020-04-24T11:03:24Z")

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Anyone?

I've also opened an issue [#260](https://github.com/node-red/node-red-web-nodes/issues/260) on GitHub, but it looks pretty quiet there.

Please help, the whole flow became unreliable.

Thanks,  
Damos

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**Author:** ![zenofmud](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/zenofmud/32/316_2.png) [@zenofmud](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/zenofmud)\
**Post date:** [24 April 2020 11:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/3 "2020-04-24T11:44:29Z")

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You might want to add a `catch` node connected to a `debug` node (set to display the complete msg object) to see if anything shows up.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DamianosS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/damianoss/32/16990_2.png) [@DamianosS](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/DamianosS)\
**Post date:** [24 April 2020 12:12 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/4 "2020-04-24T12:12:11Z")

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Thanks, @zenofmud, will do.

I had a status node connected to it, but nothing came back. It's like the node was "sleeping".

I'll check and come back.

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**Author:** ![DamianosS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/damianoss/32/16990_2.png) [@DamianosS](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/DamianosS)\
**Post date:** [25 April 2020 11:31 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/5 "2020-04-25T11:31:55Z")

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As I speak, files are coming to Dropbox and the node is not reacting.  
I just re-deployed the flow and now it's working.

This is really annoying. I even created a new access token on the Dropbox developer platform, no success.

Can anybody help, please? Is the developer of the node maybe listening? Who could this be?

Thanks,  
Damos

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**Author:** ![knolleary](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knolleary/32/3_2.png) [@knolleary](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knolleary)\
**Post date:** [25 April 2020 12:03 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/6 "2020-04-25T12:03:23Z")

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Hi Damos,

The node is one we inherited in the project from other developers who contributed it but have long since moved on.

I have done occasional fixes in the past with it, but as it isn't a node I use, it isn't one I can easily dive into.

This is true of a lot of the nodes in the same web-nodes repository in GitHub.

I may be able to take a look at it this weekend, but I can't promise it.

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**Author:** ![DamianosS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/damianoss/32/16990_2.png) [@DamianosS](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/DamianosS)\
**Post date:** [25 April 2020 12:06 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/7 "2020-04-25T12:06:14Z")

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That would be fantastic, Nick!  
Tell me if I can help in any way.

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**Author:** ![DamianosS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/damianoss/32/16990_2.png) [@DamianosS](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/DamianosS)\
**Post date:** [25 April 2020 12:12 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/8 "2020-04-25T12:12:51Z")

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I just had a look into the dropbox code (assuming it is that one: [https://github.com/node-red/node-red-web-nodes/blob/master/dropbox/dropbox.js](https://github.com/node-red/node-red-web-nodes/blob/master/dropbox/dropbox.js)) and discovered that it outputs trace messages if trace is on.  
So, I'll switch trace on an have a look as well.

Having said this, my developing activities halted a decade ago so I didn't want to go out on a limb 😉

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DamianosS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/damianoss/32/16990_2.png) [@DamianosS](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/DamianosS)\
**Post date:** [25 April 2020 13:22 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/9 "2020-04-25T13:22:12Z")

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Nick, based on the log I discovered some strange behavior. Let me do some tests, maybe my findings can help you narrow down the potential bug.

One question: would

```auto
node-red-node-dropbox
Node-RED nodes to watch and download files from Dropbox
 1.0.2 2 years, 5 months ago

```

and

```auto
node-red-node-web-nodes
A collection of Node-RED nodes for popular web services.
0.3.2 5 years, 5 months ago

```

be the same?  
I'm working with the first.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DamianosS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/damianoss/32/16990_2.png) [@DamianosS](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/DamianosS)\
**Post date:** [28 April 2020 08:38 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/10 "2020-04-28T08:38:43Z")

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@knolleary, here's what I have so far:

I have two Dropbox nodes, one watching the "camera" directory the other the "backup" directory. I restarted both nodes and watched the log:

```auto
# tail -F messages -s 30 | grep dropbox
Apr 27 11:26:19 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox camera directory] draining files emit=false
Apr 27 11:26:19 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox backup directory] draining files emit=false
Apr 27 11:26:19 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox camera directory] polling backoff=0
Apr 27 11:26:20 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox backup directory] polling backoff=0
Apr 27 11:26:59 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox camera directory] polling backoff=0
Apr 27 11:27:13 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox backup directory] polling backoff=0
Apr 27 11:27:45 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox camera directory] polling backoff=0
Apr 27 11:27:58 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox backup directory] polling backoff=0
Apr 27 11:28:35 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox backup directory] polling backoff=0
...
...
Apr 27 18:16:33 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox camera directory] polling backoff=0
Apr 27 18:16:57 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox backup directory] polling backoff=0
Apr 27 18:17:12 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox camera directory] polling backoff=0
Apr 27 18:17:52 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox backup directory] polling backoff=0
Apr 27 18:18:17 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox backup directory] Error polling:Error: getaddrinfo EAI_AGAIN notify.dropboxapi.com notify.dropbox api.com:443
Apr 27 18:19:28 ccu3-webui daemon.debug node-red[1111]: [dropbox in:Dropbox camera directory] Error polling:Error: connect ETIMEDOUT 162.125.19.131:443

```

After the two errors at 18:18 and 18:19, both nodes stopped any activity. The `catch` node (as suggested by @zenofmud) didn't throw any error.

Productive environment: node-red v1.0.5, running on the `Homematic` home automation platform (Linux) as `Redmatic`.  
For the sake of reproducing the node's misbehavior, I ran the same scenario in parallel (node-red v1.0.6 on Windows on a local PC), polling the same Dropbox directories. Here I couldn't identify any anomalies so far, which is strange.

Node-red was thankfully ported to Homematic by @hobbyquaker, so I'm involving him. @Sebastian, maybe you can suggest something.

Thanks and tell me if I can support.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DamianosS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/damianoss/32/16990_2.png) [@DamianosS](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/DamianosS)\
**Post date:** [25 May 2020 07:48 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/11 "2020-05-25T07:48:53Z")

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This issues still exists. I have to restart the DropBox node at least once a day.

Anyone?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![knolleary](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knolleary/32/3_2.png) [@knolleary](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knolleary)\
**Post date:** [25 May 2020 07:50 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/12 "2020-05-25T07:50:45Z")

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Sorry @DamianosS, I completely forgot to come back to this. I won't have time to investigate until later this week.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DamianosS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/damianoss/32/16990_2.png) [@DamianosS](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/DamianosS)\
**Post date:** [25 May 2020 10:16 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/13 "2020-05-25T10:16:38Z")

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Sure, Nick, thanks. As long as you will have a look. Until then I'll re-initialize the node.  
I can't do that programmatically, can I?

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/1X/d073cd938eafa2e558d7c2cd59003b3ef4963033.png) [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [24 July 2020 10:16 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/dropbox-node-not-responding-to-new-file-in-dropbox/24155/14 "2020-07-24T10:16:40Z")

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