Using Insync in Dual-Boot (Win/Linux) to sync to the same drive

#1

I have been trying to do this for years without much success. I was wondering whether in the mean time a good solution has come out.

The title says it all, this is my setup:

  • NTFS partition with “Drive” folder
  • Win 7 with Insync 1.2.x
  • Linux Mint with Insync 1.2.x
  • Either Win OR Linux access drive at one time (dual boot)

What I have tried:

  1. Setting up each copy of Insync on the respective OS => does not work (files get downloaded twice etc.). This is expected.
  2. Use a symlink in Linux (in Insync config dir) to point to the “Windows” db files (“config.db” and “gd2-123456789.db”). In this way Insync only has “one configuration” and files do not get downloaded twice. This works in principle BUT:
    a. When switching between OSs Insync cannot find the “root folder” and asks to locate it manually (given the different structure of Linux and Win file system a common name cannot be chosen). This is totally acceptable and not much work.
    b. Once in a while another error comes up “Initialization failed!” and no further action is possible, apart from setting up the account again (which of course triggers a new download of the whole drive and requires an empty folder). Booting into the other OS and launching Insync with a backup copy of the db files usually solves the problem. It seems like the db files occasionally get corrupted, so I regularly back them up.

Do you have any suggestions? Is there an “official” way to handle dual-booting with Insync? I think this should be a rather common issue.
Thank you
Also what is the content/function of the two db files? I would think config.db holds information like location of drive folder etc. This doesn’t seem to be true as only simlinking the other db file (keeping the “OS native” config.db) did not avoid the “root not found” problem.

Thanks for any help. Solving this problem would make Insync almost perfect for me :wink:

#2

@marcojovi This set-up will be available once file compare feature is out. It will be in version 1.4 or earlier. No ETA for the release :smile:

The config.db is for the app settings like if the notifications is turned-on, if the user is using a proxy, etc. It also list the connected accounts.

While the gd2-… db is used for Insync to keep track the local folder and the remote drive folder.

Thank you.

#3

This compare feature is what I am missing, look forward to it! Google official client has it (while not having many of the features Insync has).

Thanks a lot also for the other explanations.

#4

If you have questions or issues, you may email us at support@insynchq.com :smile:

#5

I’m also looking very forward to a solution to this issue–I want to put my Google Drive data files on one separate data partition that can be accessed by operating systems on other partitions: Windows 10, Ubuntu, and possibly Linux Mint. I then want to have each OS running Insync so that files are kept synced b/t my local drive and Google. I want to avoid having a duplicate copy of all my Google Drive files for each individual operating system. Thanks for creating a wonderful product, and I’m glad to hear that upcoming updates might make this possible!

2 Likes
#6

Very much looking forward to this as well

Please help, duplicated folders!
#7

Thank you for your support!

#8

Are there any updates on this?

#9

no new updates yet @Aidoboy

#10

I have a similar problem…

A dual-boot system with Windows 10 and Mac OS with synchronization on an external hd drive that is shared and accessed by both OSes…

I’ve downloaded and installed v1.3 of InSync on both systems (the one that supposedly has the ‘file compare’ feature), but I’m still experiencing problem with duplicate files…

Is this normal? Any update on a release date for a version fixing this problem?

#11

Hi @rflmota,

We have to investigate your issue, if your specific use-case is support with the latest version. Please send us your logs.db and out.txt to support@insynchq.com.

Please include the link of this post.

Thank you.

#12

same problem here :disappointed_relieved:

#13

Thanks for adding to this, our engineers are still investigating the possibility of this for now, no ETA yet.

#14

Same here, I would like to use insync in dual boot.

#15

I am looking forward to this feature as well. I have dual-booted Windows 10 and macOS Sierra which access to the same exFat data partition. Currently InSync produces duplicated files as reported.

#16

New year and I want to say this is still one of the most needed quality of life functionalities.

#17

Just want to add my thoughts to this! Linux users are I think most of the insync user base - and a a very high proportion of us have at least one desktop or laptop that dual boots .

At them moment my desktop has a full linux system(s) on one hard drive and windows on another.
My Google drive sync folder is on the windows had drive and is synced to google drive with Google Software.

That folder is also mounted to my linux system and i can access it and work on an files there

However it is an absolute pain to have to boot back into windows to sync when i am working in the linux environment .

I have insync installed on my linux laptops where it works fine but for the moment have left Google software doing the job in windows - and have not used insync on my desktop because of fear of duplication. It would really help your users to have a fix for that - but in the meantime a clear simple FAQ for dual booters saying what is is not possible and warning of potential pitfalls would be really helpful (and possibly somewhat overdue)

Thanks

Mark

#18

Just to be certain: you have all tried copying gd2-1234567890123456789012.db after every boot from the previous OS to the newly booted OS and it still duplicated the files?

#19

If you have not already started to develop this, can you please add it to the road map?

It would add a huge piece of functionality to Insync.

1 Like
#20

Hi @runswithascript, I’ll +1 you on this request since we’ve gotten a lot more feedback regarding dual boot support. Feel free to share how this will fit your workflow or if you have a specific use case! :slight_smile: