My most recent sync resulted in a long list of over 40 files ‘not allowed’.
For instance this one:
F:\odrive\Google Drive - myname.dsin\DSiN - overig\Congres 2017\Programmacommissie
Illegal file name
I don’t understand why so many files suddenly create error (not allowed) messages.
Especially since some of this files previously synced fine.
Also, I don’t understand the error ‘illegal file name’. After checking I see just a regular file name, no special characters etc.
For instance ‘Programmacommissie’ seems a perfectly normal file name to me.
I see the option ‘Delete your change’ in these ‘error’ messages.
I also don’t understand this.
What would be deleted if I press that button?
Would the total file disappear ? (in this case files on Google Drive)
Hi @karinvdbosch,
Can you send a diagnostic from the odrive menu so I can take a look? For remote files that end up in this list, the problem is usually that the operating system is refusing to let the file be written to disk. Is it possible that the folder is read-only?
The “Delete your change” option on a remote file will remove the item from the list, but it will eventually come back as odrive tries to refresh the folder again and add the placeholder file.
Hi @karinvdbosch,
I took a look at all of the files in the not allowed list have named that are not allowed by Windows.
The “Programmacommissie” actually has a space at the end of the name ("Programmacommissie "), which isn’t being allowed by Windows.
It looks like there are several names that have this same issue, as well as some ending with a period and others having illegal characters like ‘:’ and ‘?’.
Thank you. I still wonder why I get this message now, and haven’t gotten it before (unless I totally missed it myself). Because most files are old ones.
I still have some questions:
what is the best way to resolve this issue? Should I manually check and correct all the names?
And how can I get a list of all the files that I should look at? I can see the list by going to ‘not allowed’ in the tray icon , but the moment I leave this (sub)menu the list disappears.
I would like to have an export or something of this list in a (separate) document or so, which makes it easier for me to go over them one by one.
Which characters are allowed for Odrive? And which ones are not?
Can I use commas?
(…) 4. Onderzoek autisme en arbeid\Artikelen Engels\Nesbitt_2000_Why and why not? Factors influencing employment for individuals with asperger syndrome.pdf.cloud
Illegal file name
–> I can not find this file on my local hard disk. It also sais it’s a .cloud file.
What does this mean? And why do I get an ‘not allowed’ message for a file that does not exist?
(…) Bevestiging workshop DSiN_UWV_11-10
What’s wrong with this name? I think all characters are allowed?
odrive\Dropbox\BIJEENKOMSTEN\2015\NNDR 13th Research Conference - Event Summary | Online Registration by Cvent.pdf.cloud
another .cloud file, that does not exist on my computer
(…) Materiaal\Plaatje Pandora-haan ‘Ooit een haan horen zeggen dat hij vroeger een eitje was?’.jpg.cloud
Also a .cloud file
Ad 1) I have manually checked and corrected all files. This helped me now, but if there is a better way for doing this, I would still like to hear that.
Ad 2) Questions still open. Maybe it’s a feature request: get a list/ export the list of all ‘not allowed’ messages. Also I direct link from the message to the file would be nice. That way I wouldn’t have to switch back and forth between the message in Odrive tray, Windows Explorer, Google drive and dropbox all the time.
Ad 3) Question still open. Where can I see which characters are allowed?
Ad 5) message has gone… (haven’t done anyting)
Ad 4 + 6 + 7)
about the .cloud files:
I found out that some files actually exist in my Dropbox cloud, but for some reason haven’t been synchronizing with my Dropbox on my computer. (although I thought that Dropbox synchronizes everything automatically)
Yes. For every item listed that you want to download, you will need to correct the naming issue on the cloud. You can try to preemptively find the offending files and folders by searching for the common illegal characters on Google Drive’s web client. For example, to search for any items that have the ? character, you can type: title:?
into the search box. You can then rename the file/folder on the cloud and odrive will be able to sync it properly.
Unfortunately this is currently the only way to get the list, but I understand how helpful it could be and have passed it on to the product team.
odrive always tries to write the file/folder, and only when it can’t do so will this error be generated. This means that the characters/patterns that are not allowed are the ones that are restricted by the operating system (Windows, in this case). Here is the full list of naming conventions on Windows, including what is not allowed: Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces - Win32 apps | Microsoft Learn
This usually comes down to : " / \ | ? * < > and leading/trailing spaces and periods.
For 4., that file has a question mark in it
For 5. The folder may have a leading or trailing space in the name.
for 4. 6. and 7. you are seeing .cloud files listed because they are placeholder files that odrive is attempting to write to your system, but your system is not allowing it to be written, so they end up in the “not allowed” list.
Thank you.
I noticed something strange with (not) synchronizing Dropbox, but that has to do with Dropbox and not with Odrive. (.4 and.7 - variant without ? and no illegal characters was also not synchronized)
Anyway, currently all ‘not allowed’ items are resolved. So thank you for your help.
Now I need to figure out why I get a list of items in the Trash bin. I opened another topic for that: