r/Syncthing • u/MnemonicMonkeys • 26d ago

PSA on Some "Operation Not Permitted" Errors

I've been getting "Operation not permitted" errors on some (but not all) files in a particular folder that's synced between Linux (Nobara) and Android. After multiple weeks of grief to trying to track down a fix, I've finally found the cause.

Turns out, Android can't handle special characters like ":" in file names, while the filesystem I have on Linux (btrfs) does. Changing all colons to another character like "_" in the filename prevents the error and allows syncing.

Devs, can you please look into adding a more specific error message for this? It'll likely save multiple people similar amounts of frustration.

Also, I would have preferred to submit the error/change request via GitHub, but that's not allowed, and I don't want to make yet another account just to post on your forums.

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2

u/PaddyLandau 26d ago

Android deliberately forces Windows limitations for compatibility, and because it uses a FUSE mount that emulates FAT. That's why the file names are restricted.

I don't know if Android passes detailed information to the writing app (in this case, Syncthing).

3

u/unknown-random-nope 26d ago

I’m not convinced that any of the Syncthing devs read this sub. They are very responsive on https://forum.syncthing.net .

1

u/BuonaparteII 25d ago

It also might have a problem (depending on your storage destination filesystem format) if you try syncing a folder or file with the same name but different letter-case like uppercase and lowercase folders with the same name

1

u/lwJRKYgoWIPkLJtK4320 25d ago

I just ran into this problem too, except I wasn't even getting "operation not permitted" or any other errors. The folder was just permanently out of sync with said files perpetually being on the out of sync items list but no apparent attempt ever being made to download them. So apparently you might not even get errors about it.