Sync Problem - Report ID: 2012158119

For about the past week I've had a persistent problem with sync'ing from one of the two computers I use with Zotero. Each day I've received an error alert that the sync didn't work and to retry. When I do I get a three column conflict report. I've looked at the local, remote, and merged versions on the report and don't see any differences on any of the conflicts (there've been from 25 - 40 reported conflicts in each report). The sync error occurs whether or not I've added references from the second computer. I occasionally have a similar problem with that second computer, but not as consistently as on this one. I've checked the database integrity and it's reported no problems. The report ID is 2012158119. On this computer I'm running on a Dell Latitude D630 running Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 and Firefox 3.6. Thanks in advance.
  • Are you going through the conflicts (whether or not you see differences) and finishing the sync?
  • Yes. Have done it a number of times and have always closed with the Finish. That seems to clear up the problem until the next sync after I've added a new reference (although I haven't systematically checked when the problem reappears). In any case, by the next day I have the same problem with conflicts (although the number of conflicts will have changed) even when I haven't added anything from the second computer.
  • Are you sure the sync is actually completing without error? Sounds more like you're simply getting a sync error after finishing the conflict resolution. Look for an error icon next to the sync icon.
  • No -- it's not completing without error. I do get the icon which gives me the Error ID above (report ID is 2012158119). It also tells me to try again, which is when I get the conflict resolution dialogue. Sorry this wasn't clear.
  • Yes, but what's the actual error you're receiving? There's no Zotero error in that report.
  • Sorry - my bad. I thought that the report ID was an error ID. I don't recall receiving any other kind of message, but assuming it happens again, when I'm back in the office tomorrow, with the computer having the problem, I'll look more carefully for any other messages I'm receiving and let you know what I find. . Thanks.
  • The Report ID should include the error you received if you sent in the report after receiving the error and before restarting Firefox, but yours didn't. (This appears to happen sometimes, but we've never seen it not work ourselves, so we don't know whether it's a problem in Zotero's error reporting feature, a conflicting extension, or user error.)

    So if you get a sync problem again, provide the error message from the dialog that shows up when you click the sync error icon and then click Report Errors in that dialog and provide the Report ID.
  • Hi Dan -- So this morning I've got a different (although possibly related) problem -- the sync won't end, so I never get to the point where I might get the conflict dialog. The Green Arrow has been spinning for about 1/2 an hour now with a hover message of "Sync with Zotero Server Upload accepted -- waiting for sync server" I just upgraded to 2.02 this morning, so maybe that has something to do with it. I also upgraded the OpenOffice integration (to version 3.0a7) but that seems to be working fine (as does Word integration). Everything else seems to be working OK, it's just the sync won't stop.
  • Thanks -- I'll just let it continue running, then. Something I've always wondered about, though. Will the sync continue even if the Zotero pane is not open, i.e. does Zotero only sync when the Zotero window is open or does it sync as long as Firefox is open (regardless of the view of Zotero)?
  • edited March 19, 2010
    Yes, it will sync even if the Zotero pane isn't open.

    If hovering over the sync icon says that an upload is queued on the server, you can even close Firefox and it'll continue to sync, though for various reasons it's preferable to leave Firefox open if you have the option. (If you close Firefox and open it later, Zotero only knows the previous sync time, so if the sync went through in the meantime it will pull down the new changes (which it already has) and attempt to merge them. This should generally work fine, but you might see some spurious conflicts. If there's a sync error that indicates something needs to be corrected, you also won't see it to know what to correct before syncing again.)
  • Sync completed and everything seems to be working fine now. No conflicts reported even after adding new references. Thanks for your help with this.
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