Managed to get it working, instead of importing my 1password export (from mac) I started fresh on the linux side with a new database, added one entry and sync'd to dropbox (clearing the old app folder first), sync'd to mac to ensure it worked and then imported the 1password backup and sync again, now it's all working.
I think it didn't like it when I tried syncing with dropbox where the data was on a mac first, so cleared everything and did it the other way around and it seems be working.
We can close this.
I also had an email from support related to this but lost track of the email, any chance someone can find it and close that too?
Many Thanks