Can´t autosave MS-Word document on a mounted folder

Help and Support
1

What is the problem you are having with rclone?

Why I can´t save a Word document while editing it on a mounted folder?
So I'm running Microsoft Word in linux (Wine) and editing some word documents saved in dropbox. Strangely, it seems Word is opening the document as read only and when I hit save it gives the message:
"Word can´t finish saving due to a permission error"
Libreoffice can save it just fine, but it messes with formatting.

Run the command 'rclone version' and share the full output of the command.

rclone v1.60.1-DEV

  • os/version: debian kali-rolling (64 bit)
  • os/kernel: 6.10.11-amd64 (x86_64)
  • os/type: linux
  • os/arch: amd64
  • go/version: go1.23.2
  • go/linking: dynamic
  • go/tags: none

Which cloud storage system are you using? (eg Google Drive)

Dropbox

The command you were trying to run (eg rclone copy /tmp remote:tmp)

rclone mount dropbox: /home/samus/dropboxxx --vfs-cache-mode=full --cache-dir=/var/cache/rclone --file-perms=0777 --vfs-fast-fingerprint --vfs-cache-max-size 512M  --vfs-cache-max-age 500h --rc --rc-addr 127.0.0.1:5572 --rc-no-auth -vv

Please run 'rclone config redacted' and share the full output. If you get

[dropbox]
type = dropbox
token = XXX

A log from the command that you were trying to run with the -vv flag

2

Update rclone and try again.

3

same thing

rclone v1.68.2

  • os/version: debian kali-rolling (64 bit)
  • os/kernel: 6.10.11-amd64 (x86_64)
  • os/type: linux
  • os/arch: amd64
  • go/version: go1.23.3
  • go/linking: static
  • go/tags: none
4

Can you share an updated log file.

5

here.

6

Seems to be a snippet and it's mising the juicy parts which is the beginning.

7

You are also hitting dropbox naming challenges since it's a straight remote with no crypt.

2025/01/05 11:58:09 ERROR : Dropbox root '': sync batch commit: failed to commit batch length 1: batch had 1 errors: last error: upload failed: path/disallowed_name
2025/01/05 11:58:09 ERROR : ~$test.docx: Failed to copy: upload failed: batch upload failed: upload failed: path/disallowed_name
2025/01/05 11:58:09 ERROR : ~$test.docx: vfs cache: failed to upload try #2, will retry in 20s: vfs cache: failed to transfer file from cache to remote: upload failed: batch upload failed: upload failed: path/disallowed_name

Those file names have illegal characters in them for Dropbox.

Naming Dropbox files and folders - Dropbox Help

8

no, no. my document is named test.docx. when word opens a document, it creates a temp file, hence the ~$test.docx. so this is normal, libreoffice also does that.
but when a document is being saved, first another temp file is created (like ~WRD1667.tmp), then test.docx is deleted and the temp file renamed to the original. but since it's identified as read only for some reason, it can´t autosave.

9

I am aware how auto saving works :slight_smile:

It’s read only as you cannot write the temp file since it’s against Dropbox naming standards.

You’d have to configure around it in the app or figure something else out.

10

I've captured the log for doing the same thing with libreoffice writer.
the differences is that libreoffice temp file doesn´t have a tilde, so the rename runs fine:

2025/01/06 13:31:11 DEBUG : /: Rename: oldName="lu1009665id34.tmp", newName="test.docx", newDir=/
2025/01/06 13:31:11 INFO : lu1009665id34.tmp: vfs cache: renamed in cache to "test.docx"

but word temp file has a tilde. IDK why word, when saving, is renaming the document to a temp file first.
2025/01/05 11:58:11 DEBUG : /: Rename: oldName="test.docx", newName="~WRL0001.tmp", newDir=/
2025/01/05 11:58:11 DEBUG : /: Attr:
2025/01/05 11:58:11 DEBUG : /: >Attr: attr=valid=1s ino=0 size=0 mode=drwxrwxr-x, err=
2025/01/05 11:58:11 ERROR : test.docx: Couldn't move: move failed: to/disallowed_name/

maybe because it is opening the document inside the vfs as readonly.
2025/01/05 11:58:11 DEBUG : test.docx: Open: flags=OpenReadOnly+OpenNonblock

how to bypass this?

11

I doubt you can as that's how MS works.

12

Help to implement: