Because of the wide variety of local computer environments as well as a variety of network and server configuration, there can be sometimes issues when the synchronization occurs. 

This can also make troubleshooting complicated. Use the following topics to find steps that will help you troubleshoot and resolve issues.

General Strategies

  20.1 Files that don't sync

20.1 Change Sync Folder Location

 Changing FileCloud Sync Cache Folder

20.1 FileCloud Sync icon overlays not appearing

Specific Issues

(lightbulb)  Click an issue in the following list to read more about it.


Cause

The shared folder must have permissions set in order for you to sync with it.

Resolution

Make sure the shared folder has Sync permissions enabled.

Sharing Folders




Cause

FileCloud treats Team Folders in the same way as Managed Storage.

  • This means that synchronization uses the all-or-nothing model.
  • If one file fails to synchronize because it is locked, FileCloud does not continue.

Resolution

Verify the files on the server that you are trying to sync are not locked.




Cause

When starting up for the first time on a new computer, Sync will:

  1. Download all the files from the FileCloud server and
  2. Store the files in the temporary sync cache folder
  3. Copy the files into the sync folder

If there is a large number of files and data on the FileCloud server, this initial sync will take a long time to download the files.

(star) Subsequent file synchronization will be pretty fast.

Resolution

  • In Sync, click the Home tab to see the Status. It indicates the current syncing status. If syncing is enabled, it displays ON. 20.1 Sync Settings
  • In Sync, click the Home tab, then click View Errors to see if there are any reported errors. If there are errors, please follow the steps mentioned below depending upon the error.



Cause

After downloading files, Sync finds an inconsistency with the downloaded file from the server. This could be due to several factors:

  • An interruption in the download
  • A temporary interruption in network availability
  • A problem with the file on the server

Resolution

  • Download the same file via the web browser and see if it downloads correctly.
    • Note the size of the file. Does the size match the size displayed in the web browser listing? 
    • If matches then it could be a transient network condition. Retry to sync the files again.  
    • If the file size doesn't match then there is something wrong with the storage. Please contact FileCloud support.



Cause

Sync is unable to upload a file back to the server.

Resolution

  • Try uploading the same file to the exact same location using the web browser
    • If the upload fails, then note the error.
    • The problem could be the location you are trying to upload has no permissions or there could be a server configuration or environment issue.
    • Check with the administrator to see if the server has sufficient disk space in the drive FileCloud is installed on.
    • If you are storing files on a network path, make sure the network path is available and that FileCloud server can write to the network share. 
  • Check the file name for any special characters that could make the upload fail.
    • If this is the issue, try renaming the file and see if the upload works.




Cause

The computer requires a reboot after installation.

Resolution


  • Check if the Windows Explorer integration was installed and the PC was rebooted
  • Check the troubleshooting options shown here.




Cause

FileCloud restricts the use of certain special characters in file names. If a file contains one of these characters they do not get synchronized.

  • ..
  • \
  • /
  • :
  • *
  • ?
  • "
  • <
  • >
  • |

FileCloud allows an administrator to restrict certain types of files for security reasons.

Resolution



Cause

If you try to share a folder that contains other folders already being shared, Sync might continuously try to sync those folders.

For example:

  • You share /SHARED/john/toplevel
  • And a sub-folder inside the toplevel folder is also being shared /SHARED/john/toplevel/subfolder

Resolution

Check if to see if there are two shares that are setup inside one folder with sync permissions.

  • You only need to sync the top-level folder to get the subfolder synchronized.




Cause

Sync uses file sizes to detect file changes and then upload them. Some file formats like XLS don't change the file size when content is changed so these files might not be uploaded.

Resolution

  • Try changing to XLSX format if possible
  • FileCloud 13.0 has optional parameters to detect changes using File Checksums or Modified timestamps (or both)




Cause

Finder includes Files and Folders in the total list of items. So that number will be different from the number of files reported in sync.
Also .DS_Store files are not synced by sync app, so those files will not be synced.

A = 'find . -type f | wc -l'
B = 'find . -type f -name ".DS_Store" | wc -l'

Number of files in sync will match A - B

Finally, the size reported by Finder uses a different way of calculating GB size vs FileCloud.

Windows uses the standard GB while Macs use a GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes.


Filecloud Sync does not show an error every time a user copies and then pastes a file or folder into the parent folder. In FileCloud Drive, the same action displays an error that the parent folder is Read-Only. The user can be confused when no error is shown in FileCloud Sync but is shown in Drive.

Cause: In FileCloud Sync, these errors are shown only every 3 hours.

  • The user will see the following message: Skipping top level files or folders that are not inside a sync-able folder
  • The message is displayed in the Activity log and also as a pop-up notification
  • Only the name of the very first folder or file that cannot be synchronized is displayed in the Activity log and pop-up (Instead of every file and folder name)