PDF Reader is stuck reopening pdf files after relaunching

GuilloV
I have been experiencing a recurrent problem since Zotero failed to open a big pdf file on its pdf reader. After some minutes of failure, I decided to close the file by closing the specific tab. But everytime that I relaunch Zotero, the same failed tab is coming back, Zotero is still being unable to open the pdf file related. Then I think that a lot of errors are following, like the impossibility of introduce new documents by isbn, or the impossibility of linking pdf files to any document...

I searched in preferences a way to deactivate the Zotero Pdf Reader, but I didn't find something like that. Is there a way to do this ? It should be a good setting I think...

I already uninstall/reinstall my Zotero but nothing changed.
Someone here can give me some ideas for this ?
  • dstillman
    Can you not just close the PDF tab quickly before it loads?
  • GuilloV
    edited October 3, 2022
    Hello @dstillman, thank you for your advice.

    I am definitely closing the tab quickly, as you said. And the same tab is coming back again and again, even if I am not using the pdf reader anymore. This has been happening for about three weeks…

    Unfortunately, I think that the stuck tab could be the first bug in a sequence of errors. For example, right after the stuck tab is closed, the window with "my Library" is also stuck in loading. In order to continue, I have to click on a specific collection of documents. Only then I come back to "My library" and all the references loads "normally".

    But, for example, I know now that I am unable to create new "Attach Link to File's", that is probably one of my favourite functionalities in Zotero…

    I don't know what is the "issue" here, what I can do to make zotero work again as it should. I think that maybe the possibility of deactivating the pdf reader could help in some way… even if it suppose to turn off a function, and that doesn't change the bug. What do you think ?
  • GuilloV
    After updating to the last version of Mac Os, Zotero became useless

    It is now completely stucked in loading. But this error is following the previous descriptions.

    So finally I did a report ID : 1242242409
  • martynas_b
    Can you access Help menu and do Debug Output Logging → Restart With Logging Enabled…, and then submit debug log?
  • GuilloV
    Hello @martynas_b

    Thank you for your attention. I Just did what you asked !
    ID : D12566830
  • martynas_b
    How big is the PDF file?
  • GuilloV
    6.16 GB
  • GuilloV
    @martynas_b and @dstillman

    I just decided to :
    1. Erase the pdf link that was stuck
    2. Erase the pdf file that was stuck
    3. Close and reopen Zotero

    This simple operations were enough to make Zotero work again !!!!
    Thank you for your attention !!!
  • dstillman
    A single PDF was 6 GB? Yeah, that's probably not going to work.
  • GuilloV
    Dear @dstillman

    My personal conclusion on this experience is more related to the fact that, for some strange reason, Zotero was not able to close this big file, event after a complete deinstallation/reinstallation.

    The size of PDF Files could definitely be a matter of interest, specially if Zotero has a pdf reader that could be broken with big files. In this case, it should be written somewhere where is the acceptable limit for the files.

    At the end, it could be interesting to have a simple solution when something like this happens. My opinion is to consider the possibility of introduce a button to turn on/off the pdf reader. This way, Zotero will be able to simply close and reopen without to be stuck in this crazy blockage. Zotero's pdf reader is definitely a new interesting function, that I really like, but other apps can do this job.
  • dstillman
    Yes, we'll try to fix the closing/reopening problem. That's just obviously towards the extreme end of PDF file sizes, so I wouldn't be surprised to encounter some problems.

    If you're able to share that file (where does one even find a 6 GB PDF file?), email a link to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread and we can try to reproduce this.
  • martynas_b
    Yes, it exceeds Zotero memory limits and won't work. We will try to properly handle this error, but for now you can:
    1) Move that file out from Zotero data directory. That should allow you to load Zotero without errors.
    2) Compress the file. I don't know what is inside this PDF file, but in most cases files like this have uncompressed scanned images, and are just wasting storage. With a proper compression it could be just tens of megabytes.
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