Can't Get My Zotero Library onto a Second Machine

I cannot get my Zotero library onto a second (or third) machine.

I've tried three methods:

1. Sync: Zotero times out after several minutes and says, "Last error: Invalid response from server."

2. Restore from Zotero Server: Zotero times out after several minutes and says, "Last error: Invalid response from server."

3. Import: When I try to import My Library.rdf, which I exported from my working Zotero library, after a few minutes Firefox pops up with this: "Warning: Unresponsive script: A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can continue to see if the script will complete. Script: chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/data/tag.js:46." If I select "Continue," I get the same thing over and over. If I select "Continue" and check the "Don't ask me again box," Firefox cranks away at nearly 100% CPU usage for hours and does nothing. If instead I click "Stop script," Zotero acts like it's importing and says "Importing items...," but I don't think it's actually doing anything. I let it run all last night, but nearly 8 hours later it was still trying. I killed the process after both methods, and not a single entry had imported.

I've tried various methods dozens of times from two different computers (my home laptop and my work desktop), but no matter what I do, it fails every time.

My Zotero library has 12,000+ entries in it, but I was told via the Zotero Twitter account that I "should be able to sync with tens of thousands of items."

I'm using 1.5 Beta 1, but have had this same problem since 1.5 Sync Preview 3.6.
  • Anyone else having this problem?

    Any suggestions on how to fix this, or do I just wait for the next beta?
  • edited February 26, 2009
    Update: Based on some great instructions from another thread, I deleted all of my tags, since they were mostly autogenerated and unuseful.

    I then tried to sync on my main machine, which was working fine to this point, but it didn't appear to take, so I reset the server and tried to do a fresh sync. Big mistake. I've since tried dozens of times to sync, and now I can't sync on any of my three machines.

    I'm convinced that it has something to do with the size of my database: 12,000+. The reason it worked before is that I imported a chunk, synced, imported another chunk, synced, etc. It just can't handle a 12,000+ entry sync. Sure wish it could.
  • I'm convinced that it has something to do with the size of my database: 12,000+.
    It does. But as I said on another thread, we're working on changes that will allow people with larger libraries to sync (and to sync without disrupting smaller syncs). We'll be rolling out those changes in the next few days.
  • Awesome. Thanks, Dan.
  • Has there been any progress in this subject? I am unable to import to my home machine. The process is exactly as described by philgons first post. I have a large library but under 1000 so it doesn't seem like the large library thing should be a problem... Any thoughts? Thanks for a great program.
  • no, not the same issue - large doesn't start until at least 5000.
    Post an sent an error report and post an error ID - but do so in another thread, since you're not dealing with the same issue.
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