Error: 'setState'

raelli

Hi there,

I transferred my zotero library from a Mac to a Windows Computer (per copying not sync). Now most (however not all) pdfs show (when I open them in the zotero pdf editor):

Error 'setState'
PDF.js v2.8.0 (build: fdde957)

Debug ID: D2094223361

When I select "show hidden files" in the File Explorer and delete the ".zotero-pdf-state"-file in my library (a suggestion from the discussions below), the error disappears and a new ".zotero-pdf-state" is created.
The one peculiarity all of the pdfs share that don't show the error seems to be that this special file seems to be created just the moment I open them for the first time in the editor.

Is the solution to delete all of the "older" ".zotero-pdf-state"-files safe? What information do they carry?

Other discussions on the same error:
- https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/91904/new-pdf-error-setstate-zotero-pdf-state-file-used-by-another-process
- https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/94315/error-setstate-with-empty-error-message
- https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/95269/zotero-6-0-pdf-reader-show-me-an-error
- https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/103407/error-setstate#latest

Thanks in advance!

dstillman

[JavaScript Error: "Win error 5 during operation open on file C:\Users\[…]\Zotero\storage\6Q9PS2GJ\.zotero-pdf-state (Zugriff verweigert

Sorry for the delay. If you didn't figure this out, this was a permissions problem with the files you transferred — Zotero just couldn't access the hidden files, which it uses to store state for the PDF reader. The fix would just be to make sure all files within the Zotero data directory are writable by your OS user account. There's no need to delete them.

raelli

Hi, thanks a lot for your reply!
I don't understand the fix, however. My current zotero library lies on the Windows computer. How do I make sure that all the (now hidden) files are writable?

dstillman

Sorry, we can't provide general OS support here — there are better resources for general Windows questions. Zotero just needs to be able to read and write to all the files in its own data directory.