rclone errors, checksums and modification times

Why rclone copies the same files again, ignores checksums or modification times, refuses some names or large streams, and how to fix sign-in errors with Drime.

Updated October 20, 2026Web

This article explains the behaviours of rclone that are specific to Drime, and what to do when rclone reports an error. To set rclone up, see Rclone, Drime CLI and WebDAV.

#What the Drime backend supports

Drime is an official rclone backend (Tier 1), available from rclone 1.73. It supports server-side copy and move, moving folders, purging a folder, showing your quota (rclone about), empty folders and multipart uploads.

Two things work differently from many other storage services:

No checksums. Drime does not give rclone a hash of each file.
No settable modification times. rclone cannot write the modification date of a file to Drime.

The problems below mostly come from these two points.

#A sync copies files again, or misses changed files

Because Drime has no settable modification times, rclone decides whether a file changed by comparing sizes.

What happens	What to do
A file you changed is not copied again	Its size did not change. Use `--update`, which compares upload times instead, or copy that file again on its own.
`--checksum` changes nothing	Drime has no checksums, so rclone cannot compare files by hash. Use `--size-only` or `--update`.

#Some files are refused or renamed

What happens	Why, and what to do
A file with a very long name fails	Drime accepts file names up to 255 bytes in UTF-8. Accented letters and other non-ASCII characters take more than one byte. Shorten the name.
A name with a backslash, or with spaces at the start or end, looks different in Drime	rclone replaces these characters with look-alike characters so that the name is accepted.

#A large streamed upload fails

When rclone uploads data without knowing its size in advance, for example with rclone rcat, the upload is limited to 48 GiB with the default part size. To send more, raise chunk_size in the remote's advanced settings.

#Deleted files still use your storage

By default, files that rclone deletes go to the Drime Trash, where they still count toward your storage. To delete them permanently, set hard_delete to true in the remote's advanced settings, or empty the Trash in Drime.

#rclone uses the wrong workspace or folder

To work in a workspace instead of your personal Drive, set workspace_id in the remote's advanced settings.
To restrict the remote to one folder, set root_folder_id.

rclone uses an API token. The Drime API answers with these messages, which rclone shows in its error:

What you see	What to do
`Unauthenticated.` (HTTP 401)	The token is wrong or was deleted. Create a new token, then replace the remote's `access_token` with `rclone config`.
`This API key is missing the required scope: files.write` (HTTP 403)	The token cannot write files. Create a token with All, or with Write for files.
`This endpoint cannot be accessed with a restricted API key.` (HTTP 403)	This command needs a token with All.

When you create the token in Settings > Developers, choose what it can do:

The Create new token dialog with a token name and restricted access selected

See Create an API token.

#If it still doesn't work

What you see	What to do
`drime` is not offered at the Storage prompt of `rclone config`	Your rclone is older than 1.73. Update rclone, then run `rclone config` again.
Your Vault files do not appear in rclone	This is expected: rclone and the other tools you connect with an API token do not reach your Vault. Vault files are only available in Drime's own apps. See What is Vault?.
Files of a workspace do not appear	The remote works in your personal Drive. Set `workspace_id` in its advanced settings.
An error that is not on this page	Contact Drime support with the command you ran and the error rclone showed. Never send your API token: remove it from anything you copy.

#Next steps

Was this helpful?

Contact support