# Troubleshooting Start with `pdfs diagnose`, then find your symptom below. If nothing here helps, [open an issue](https://github.com/narrrl/proton-drive-linux/issues/new/choose) with the information listed under [Reporting a problem](#reporting-a-problem). - [First checks](#first-checks) - [Signing in](#signing-in) - [The Proton Drive folder](#the-proton-drive-folder) - [Uploads and sync](#uploads-and-sync) - [Disk space](#disk-space) - [Desktop integration](#desktop-integration) - [Start over with a clean local state](#start-over-with-a-clean-local-state) - [Reporting a problem](#reporting-a-problem) ## First checks ### `pdfs diagnose` Checks the installation and prints a report. It does not need the service, because the state worth diagnosing is often the one where the service will not start. When you are signed in but the service does not answer, it also asks Proton which of your keys open, under **Keys**: each account key, each address key, and the address key your My Files share is encrypted to. A key that does not open is named with the key it depends on. The section shows key IDs, which are not secret, so you can post it in an issue. ```console $ pdfs diagnose Paths [ok ] state dir: /home/you/.local/state/proton-drive-linux [ok ] cache dir: /home/you/.cache/proton-drive-linux [ok ] state dir writable: write and fsync succeeded [ok ] database: /home/you/.local/state/proton-drive-linux/cache.db (473.1 MiB) FUSE [ok ] /dev/fuse: /dev/fuse [ok ] unmount helper: fusermount3 or fusermount on PATH Account [ok ] keyring session: you@proton.me Daemon [ok ] control socket: /home/you/.local/state/proton-drive-linux/control.sock [ok ] daemon responding [ok ] active mount: /home/you/ProtonDrive (fuse.protondrive) [ok ] network: online [ok ] queued writes: none [ok ] database integrity: SQLite integrity_check passed [ok ] configured mountpoint: /home/you/ProtonDrive No problems found. ``` It exits non-zero when a check fails, so it also works in a health-check script. ### Logs ```bash journalctl --user -u proton-drive.service -f # follow the service journalctl --user -u proton-drive.service -b -p warning # warnings since boot ``` For more detail, raise the log level with a drop-in (see [Configuration](CONFIGURATION.md#the-systemd-service)) and restart the service. ### Service state ```bash systemctl --user status proton-drive.service pdfs status ``` ## Signing in ### Proton is asking for a CAPTCHA Proton wants to check that you are human, usually on a VPN or an unfamiliar network. The app shows the page in its own window. `pdfs login` prints the page's address instead: open it in your browser, complete it, then press Enter. ### "Verify in Your Browser" WebKit, which shows the CAPTCHA page in the app, could not start its sandbox. Hardened systems such as secureblue keep its bubblewrap away from the journal socket. The log then shows `bwrap: Can't get type of source /run/systemd/journal/socket: Permission denied` and `Failed to fully launch dbus-proxy`. 1. Choose **Open Verification Page** and complete the page in your browser. 2. Choose **Continue**. If that sign-in is refused too, check that `bwrap` and `xdg-dbus-proxy` are installed. As a last resort, quit the app and sign in once with the sandbox switched off for this one run: ```bash WEBKIT_DISABLE_SANDBOX_THIS_IS_DANGEROUS=1 pdfs-app ``` The page then runs without WebKit's isolation, so use this only for the sign-in. The stored session keeps working without it. Signing in from your usual network, without a VPN, often avoids the CAPTCHA in the first place. ### "This version of the app is no longer supported" or "Proton is temporarily refusing sign-in from this device" Proton blocks sign-in for a while after too many attempts, or from a network it distrusts. It sends the first message even when your version is current. Do not retry for several hours, up to a day, then sign in once. If it still fails, run `RUST_LOG=debug pdfs login` and look for `code=` in the `proton api request failed` line. 2028 is this block; 5003 is a release Proton no longer accepts. ### Sign-in works but is forgotten after a restart No Secret Service provider is running, or its keyring is locked. Install and unlock GNOME Keyring, KWallet or KeePassXC (with Secret Service turned on). `pdfs diagnose` then shows `keyring session` as failing. When the app finds a saved sign-in it cannot read, it says so above the sign-in form, and opens by itself once the keyring is unlocked. You do not have to sign in again. ### Asked for the mailbox password after every reboot The account has a separate mailbox password (two-password mode). Such accounts are locked by default: the unlock lasts until you log out or restart. To stay unlocked, turn on **Keep unlocked on this computer** in the unlock dialog, or run `pdfs unlock --remember`. Either one stores the unlock in the system keyring. The [security model](SECURITY_MODEL.md) explains what that trades away. ## The Proton Drive folder > [!TIP] > When the service hangs, any program that touches the Proton Drive folder can hang with it, > including `ls` and your shell's prompt. Put `timeout 5` in front of commands you try. ### `Transport endpoint is not connected` The service stopped without unmounting. Unmount and restart: ```bash fusermount3 -uz ~/ProtonDrive systemctl --user restart proton-drive.service ``` ### The folder is empty or missing Check that the service runs and is signed in, with `pdfs status`. The service waits for a stored session before it shows your files. ### `fetch My Files root: … failed to decrypt: missing key` in the log Your account keys cannot open your Drive, which happens after a password reset: Proton locks the files that were encrypted with the old keys. Since 3.4.1 the client then starts a new, empty My files. Your old files are still there, locked: open [drive.proton.me](https://drive.proton.me) and restore them with your previous password. If your files are not locked and the error stays, run `pdfs diagnose` and post its **Keys** section in an issue. ### Everything in the folder hangs Find out what the service is doing, then restart it: ```bash timeout 10 pdfs diagnostics systemctl --user restart proton-drive.service ``` The service restarts by itself when it stops answering for two minutes. Attach the `pdfs diagnostics` output to a bug report; it shows which part is stuck. ### A change made on another device does not show up Changes from other devices normally arrive within seconds. To fetch a folder again at once: ```bash pdfs refresh Documents ``` ### "Permission denied" when writing The item is in a share where you are a viewer, or directly under `Shared with me/`, which is read-only. Check your role with `pdfs shared-with-me`. ### `ln` or another program fails with "Operation not permitted" Proton Drive cannot store symbolic links, hard links, device files or FIFOs, so creating one fails at once. This is on purpose. For projects that need them, use a [synced folder](SYNCED_FOLDERS.md) and exclude those paths. ## Uploads and sync ### A change shows here but not on other devices Changes are recorded on this computer first and sent from a queue. List what is still waiting, and what needs you: ```bash pdfs sync queue pdfs sync issues ``` The app shows the same on **Sync → Overview**. A change waits while the service is offline or sync is paused (`pdfs status`), and waits longer after each failure. To retry at once: ```bash pdfs sync retry # every failed change pdfs sync retry 42 # one change ``` A change Proton Drive refuses (storage full, access taken away, folder gone) is listed by `pdfs sync issues` with what to do. It stays queued until you fix the cause or drop it. Dropping it undoes it here, so save a file's content first if you want to keep it: ```bash pdfs sync export 42 ~/Desktop/ pdfs sync discard 42 ``` [Changes waiting for Proton Drive](SYNCED_FOLDERS.md#changes-waiting-for-proton-drive) explains the choices. If you suspect that the instant, queued changes introduced in 3.0.0 are the problem, `"local_first": false` in `config.json` makes the Proton Drive folder wait for Proton Drive again while online (see [Configuration](CONFIGURATION.md#local_first)). Please report the problem too. ### A file in a synced folder does not upload Check that: - it is not excluded by `.pdfsignore` or `ignore_patterns`; - no program still holds it open for writing (such files wait until closed); - sync is not paused (`pdfs status`, or the tray); - the folder shows no error on **Sync → Folders**. `pdfs sync now` starts a sync pass at once. ### A synced folder stays in error and nothing downloads The log says `every one of the N synced paths is missing locally; refusing to trash them on Drive`. The folder synced before, and now none of its files are on this computer. The sync stops so that it does not delete them on Proton Drive too. Check that the folder is the right one and that its disk is mounted. To get the files back, choose **Sync From Scratch…** in the folder's menu on **Sync → Folders**, or run: ```bash pdfs sync list # find the folder's ID pdfs sync reset 1 ``` This downloads what Proton Drive has and uploads what only this computer has. Nothing is deleted. If you deleted the files on purpose, delete them on Proton Drive too, or stop syncing the folder. ### Files named `(sync-conflict …)` appeared The file changed in two places at once. Nothing was lost. See [Conflicts](SYNCED_FOLDERS.md#conflicts) to pick a version. ### Photos show the wrong date after a Google Takeout import Run `pdfs redate-photos --dry-run`. See [Fixing photos filed under the wrong date](PHOTOS.md#fixing-photos-filed-under-the-wrong-date). ## Disk space | What | Check | Reduce | |---|---|---| | Cache of opened files | `pdfs cache inspect` | Lower **Preferences → Storage → Cache size limit**, or `pdfs cache clear` | | Available-offline files | `pdfs pins` | `pdfs unpin PATH` | | Metadata database | `pdfs cache inspect` (reclaimable) | `pdfs cache vacuum` | | Synced folders | `pdfs sync list` | Switch large folders to online only: `pdfs sync mode ID ondemand` | `pdfs cache vacuum` locks the database while it runs, and needs free space for a second copy of it. ## Desktop integration ### No tray icon on GNOME Install and turn on the [AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support](https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/615/appindicator-support/) extension. Other desktops show the icon without help. If you hid it from its own menu, turn it back on under **Preferences → General → Appearance**. ### The search launcher does nothing `pdfs-prompt` needs the service. Run it from a terminal to see its error. For `--fzf`, install `fzf` and a supported terminal. ### The app shows "Not responding" The service runs but does not answer within five seconds. See [Everything in the folder hangs](#everything-in-the-folder-hangs). ## Start over with a clean local state This removes the local database and cache, so they are built again from Proton Drive. It fixes a damaged database, and it is the only way to go back to an older release. > [!WARNING] > Content in `staging/` and `recovery/` has not reached Proton Drive yet. Deleting it loses those > changes for good. Wait until `pdfs sync queue` is empty. ```bash pdfs sync queue # must list nothing systemctl --user stop proton-drive.service mv ~/.local/state/proton-drive-linux ~/.local/state/proton-drive-linux.bak mv ~/.cache/proton-drive-linux ~/.cache/proton-drive-linux.bak systemctl --user start proton-drive.service ``` Your session is in the keyring and your settings in `~/.config`, so you stay signed in. Synced folders are not attached again by themselves. Restore them with `pdfs sync restore`, as described in [Recovery](RECOVERY.md#2-restore-your-synced-folders). Delete the `.bak` directories once everything is back. ## Reporting a problem Include: - `pdfs --version`, your distribution and desktop; - the output of `pdfs diagnose`; - relevant log lines from `journalctl --user -u proton-drive.service`; - for a hang, the output of `timeout 10 pdfs diagnostics`; - the steps that make it happen. Logs contain file names. Remove anything private before posting. Report security problems privately, as described in [SECURITY.md](../SECURITY.md).