Constant Download Failure (the "Some data in My Library could not be downloaded..." error)

mdt_

I am constantly seeing the message:

"Some data in My Library could not be downloaded. It may have been saved with a newer version of Zotero."

https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u2645878/mpc137f9evqthq14bx4e.png
The message above came while running the Zotero Beta (as recommended here: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/unknown_data_error). So the error persists and it cannot be that is a more recent version given this is the beta, right? Here is the "about" popup:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u2645878/myptufw6pjjoc6xjw5us.png
My library is only currently used by me, and I exclusively use it from 2 computers. Apart from installing the beta today on my primary computer, I have always kept Zotero up to date from the main release channel. I do still have some groups, but they have not been active for a long time, certainly before I started seeing this error. (My groups were with former students who have all moved on.)

Is this a known problem? Is there a fix? Is there even a way to just get the list of items that won't download? For all I know it is just one thing that I could delete and fix.

Thanks for any guidance, I would like to keep using Zotero but bugs like this not being taken seriously tend to make me concerned that I need to move on to another solution. I have been seeing this notification for at least 6 months now.

Thanks for any advice!

adamsmith

Thanks for any guidance, I would like to keep using Zotero but bugs like this not being taken seriously tend to make me concerned that I need to move on to another solution.

Why do you think this wouldn't be taken serious? I don't believe anyone has posted about this in months -- if this is a bug, it's not one anyone has been aware of.
Can you restart Zotero and then provide a debug ID (see https://www.zotero.org/support/debug_output ) for a manually triggered sync (click on the round sync arrow icon at the top right). Also, did you ever run Juris-M?

mdt_

Thanks for following up. I generated a debug ID for the action of syncing, it is: D1227606194. I did not know that procedure before now. According to the dump, it looks like an invalid field, 'reportNumber', for type 'dataset'. It looks like there are two items in my database with this problem. Not sure how to go from Zotero's internal item identifiers to items, but since it appears to be just two items that would be fixable if I could go to them.

Re: "seriousness", given that there is a link at zotero.org about this error that has been there since 2023/02/11 and this is an error that I have been getting for at least 6 months, I'd say that looks like it is not a serious concern. Unfortunately, from the outside, it is hard to know what is being attended to and what isn't. If z.org had not had a page listing the error for so long, I would have reported it earlier, but the existence of a page saying essentially that this is a known error gives outsiders the idea that reporting it is not necessary. Maybe someone should add to that page that it should still be reported?

dstillman

You're misunderstanding this.

That page isn't about some unfixed error — it's a permanent documentation page about a normal situation that can occur anytime you're running different versions that span data-model changes.

If you're getting this error on the latest beta, that's obviously a bug and something you would have to report here if you want our help.

Not sure how to go from Zotero's internal item identifiers to items, but since it appears to be just two items that would be fixable if I could go to them.

You can paste the 8-character keys (CE9F8J97 and KVW6LH22) in the search bar in All Fields & Tags mode to find the items in question.

It looks like you have type: dataset in Extra for these two items, which were added in 2019 and 2020, before there was a Dataset item type. If you switch them to actual Dataset items in the online library or on the computer where you created them, this should go away.

We'll fix the sync issue from this situation in an upcoming version.

mdt_

Well it was obvious based on the previous comments that I was not fully understanding something. Perhaps that documentation page should point out that if it keeps happening people should report it. I actually know another person who has the same problem and they thought the same thing that I did.

Thanks for working on this and for telling me how to find the items.