Word could not communicate with Zotero. Please ensure that Zotero is open and try again.

Nanaiaa

HELP! Dissertation is due 11/5/2023
Mac Sonoma 14.0
Zotero 6.0.30
Word 16.78.3
In an attempt to try to get Zotero to format a federal regulation I downloaded Juris-M and it broke Zotero! Now over 200 references vanished from my paper and every time I try to open Zotero in Word I get the "Word could not communicate with Zotero. Please ensure that Zotero is open and try again." error. I have quit Word and Zotero, restarted the computer. Still get the error. I exported my Zotero library, opened Juris-M, imported my Zotero library and continue getting the same error.
I pray to God someone is monitoring this forum because I am freaking out. I don't have time for this! I have to get this dissertation done and sent to my committee by tomorrow!

Nanaiaa

Persistence prevails.
I started a new document and it works. I am profoundly disappointed that this is the 7th time Zotero has corrupted my dissertation file. I now have 8 copies of my dissertation just fighting to keep the references and citations in it. I will not be recommending this software to any of my up and coming classmates. There is enough stress going through the research, attending school full time and working. We should not have to deal with software ruining our papers. The amount of time it takes to recreate the paper is a time-suck and we don't have time for it. At some point we need to get some sleep too.

Nanaiaa

Problems continue; there are 18 threads to this...
"The macro executed in this file caused Word to hang. Contact the author of the macro to revisit its functionality

Microsoft Error Reporting log version: 2.0

Error Signature:
Exception: SIG_HANG_QUIT
ExceptionEnumString: 33554432
Exception Code: 0x00000001 (0x000000049607c000)
Date/Time: 2023-11-04 18:01:56 +0000
Application Name: Microsoft Word
Application Bundle ID: com.microsoft.Word
Application Signature: MSWD
Application Bitness: x64
Application Version: 16.78.3.23102801
Crashed Module Name: merp
Crashed Module Version: 16.78.23102801
Crashed Module Offset: 0x0000000000009568
Blame Module Name: Visual Basic for Applications
Blame Module Version: 16.78.23102801
UnsymbolicatedChecksum: 40415D742A885B4421797D2E0942E43A
Blame Module Offset: 0x00000000001c8b38
StackHash: 9587cca633147909_33554432_main_bw_arm
Application LCID: 1033
Extra app info: Reg=en Loc=0x0409
Build Type: Release
Crashed thread Stack Pointer: 0x_000000016d61b3b0
Crashed thread: 0
Blocking Thread ID: 0x1c6fa


Microsoft Application Information:
Tenant_Id: 4130bd39-7c53-419c-b1e5-8758d6d63f21
Audience: Production
SHSuffixKey_0: _arm
AudienceChannel: CC
AudienceGroup: Production

Nanaiaa

"The pipe that Zotero uses to communicate with the word processor could not be initialized. Would you like Zotero to attempt to correct this error? You will be prompted for your password."

dstillman

I am profoundly disappointed that this is the 7th time Zotero has corrupted my dissertation file.

To be clear, you installed something that isn't Zotero — we don't make Jurism. I have no idea why you're blaming Zotero when you said yourself "I downloaded Juris-M and it broke Zotero".

If you remove everything related to Jurism from your computer and from Word, we can help you.

Nanaiaa

Done. Jurism is gone.

dstillman

OK, so now explain exactly what you're doing and what's happening.

Nanaiaa

When I click on any icons in the Zotero tab, Word freezes.

Right clicking on the Word icon in the tray it says Word is not responding.

When I open Zotero's Tools and the Error Console, it has a stack of errors. The last one says;

[JavaScript Warning: "unreachable code after return statement" {file: "resource://zotero/loader.jsm -> resource://zotero/bluebird/util.js" line: 205 column: 4 source: " eval(obj);
"}]

dstillman

Does this happen in a new, empty document as well?

If so, go to your Word Startup folder, delete Zotero.dotm, restart Word and confirm that everything related to Zotero (and Jurism) is gone completely, and then reinstall the Word plugin from the Cite pane of the Zotero settings. Then try again.

Nanaiaa

If I force quit Word, it gives an error message

"The macro executed in this file caused Word to hang. Contact the author of the macro to revisit its functionality."

Nanaiaa

Yes it happens with empty Word documents.

I removed the Zotero.dotm from the Word Startup folder.

I restarted Word and Zotero.

Since it's a new Word document (I pasted the 163 pages from the other document) I selected Zotero>Document Preferences and received this error:

"Zotero could not perform this action. Please ensure that a document is open. If you have performed a custom installation of Office, you may need to run the installer again, ensuring that "Visual Basic for Applications" is selected."

Nanaiaa

However it does not give the same error when I attempt the same thing using an new, empty Word document.

Nanaiaa

Blargh! That means the 9th recreation of the dissertation document is corrupt now.

dstillman

See Troubleshooting Errors in Word Processor Documents, and particularly the last step. As explained there, unless you can still reproduce this after completely deleting the contents of the document, you should be able to quickly identify the source of the problem.

dstillman

(And just to note, this is the first time you’ve posted to these forums. I understand you’re frustrated, but we can only help you if you come here and ask for help, so referring to previous problems isn’t really relevant (and you also seem to have had some trouble with Jurism, which is not our software). We’re happy to work with you to debug this now that you’re here.)

Nanaiaa

It is not the first time I've posted in this forum. Previous posts were under a different ID because I didn't realize I had created two of them.
Frustration stems from having to keep recreating the document because there is a timeline that must be adhered to and if I have to keep recreating the document and reformatting the new document I can't get much work done on the contents of that document.
Jurism was a new attempt to try to get federal regulations to appear correctly in the reference list of a document that requires APA 7 formatting. I ran across a comment in a 2017 Zotero forum (no I do not have the link to share at this time) where a user said that it had helped them get legal formatting to appear correctly, so I tried it. Lesson learned.
My issue - and a reason I don't typically go to forums - is because I do not work on this stuff during what people would consider normal hours. I work full time and attend school full time so it is typically late nights and weekends when I run into problems. Please note what time this post was started and when I received a response. That downtime meant that I had to spend the time that was previously dedicated to completing the dissertation to troubleshooting software.

dstillman

You don’t have to recreate the document. You just have to follow our troubleshooting steps.

(And you received a response directly from a developer within a few hours of posting here on a weekend. You realize that’s an extremely high, almost bizarre level of support?)

Nanaiaa

Your troubleshooting page is referred to frequently enough for my browser to consider it a favorite.

As someone who previously spent several years providing technical support to consumers, I disagree that it would be considered extremely high or bizarre to want support available when it is needed. If that support wasn't needed (meaning this wasn't a time critical situation), it wouldn't matter as much how long it took to respond.

dstillman

I mean, you can want support whenever you want it, but if you think you can get support from any of our competitors — or most software — on a weekend (let alone directly from a developer, ever), you’re quite mistaken. I’m happy to quote you their support hours, but that doesn’t seem like a good use of anyone’s time.

In any case, if you want our help, you should follow the troubleshooting steps and provide what it asks for.

alexriedlinger

I disagree that it would be considered extremely high or bizarre to want support available when it is needed. If that support wasn't needed (meaning this wasn't a time critical situation), it wouldn't matter as much how long it took to respond.

I see where you're coming from, and having robust support when needed is ideal. Yet, I must express my amazement at the expectations being set here. Considering it's the weekend, the response times we're seeing are quite remarkable, particularly when you factor in the competitors support hours and pricing structures. In the realm of tech support, the kind of round-the-clock, immediate assistance that seems to be expected here is typically a premium service — one that comes with a premium price tag to match, often affordable only by larger corporations. The developers are likely doing their best within the constraints they have.

For the future, a clear indication of the urgency in your discussion title could indeed assist in prioritizing issues. It's crucial to recognize that the efficiency of issue resolution also hinges on our own time management. Sometimes what might seem like slow response times could also be a reflection of one's planning—ensuring there's a buffer, particularly when finalizing documents or meeting deadlines, to mitigate any unforseen issues that may arise.

That said, managing expectations is a two-way street, and while customer support is crucial, a little patience can sometimes make all the difference, especially during weekends.

~ just another user