Report ID: 387479172

serdunham
I have been facing repeated crashes since upgrading to Zotero 8.

These crashes happen intermittently when typing in the annotations sidebar. The sequence is usually as follows:

1. I open Zotero and begin highlighting a document in one of my open tabs.
2. I click on "Add comment" in one of the created annotations in the left-hand sidebar.
3. I type out my comment.
4. Sometimes, usually after having made a few annotations and comments, the program hangs and is labeled "Not Responding."

I then have to close the program and restart. Usually, most of the comment that I was typing prior to the crash is missing upon reloading.

Note that the problem does not seem limited to situations in which I have many document tabs open. The most recent crash happened when I had three tabs open alongside the navigation tab.

Any guidance you might have would be greatly appreciated!
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Did you submit that Report ID after the error occurred and before restarting Zotero?

    If you can reproduce it in Troubleshooting Mode (Help → "Restart in Troubleshooting Mode…”), which temporarily disables all plugins, we'd want to see a Debug ID (different from a Report ID) for doing so.
  • serdunham
    Thank you for your response. I cannot recall whether I submitted the Report ID before or after restarting Zotero.

    I've managed to replicate the crash in troubleshooting mode. I was making an annotation when the program hung. After closing the program and restarting, I opened the Debug Output window and clicked "Submit..." Here is the Debug ID: D698788425
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Report IDs and Debug IDs aren't useful after restarting the program. If it's not responding at all and doesn't come back, you'll need to use View Output, keep the debug output window positioned such that you can still see it, and then take a screenshot when Zotero freezes. You can then post that image here.
  • serdunham
    Thank you again for your help. It took me a little while to replicate the bug - it happens inconsistently - but I have replicated the bug with the Debug window open. I am attaching a screenshot below.

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5405674/vw1au3y04ro48dzo891k.png
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Nothing odd there. How long did you wait?
  • serdunham
    I waited a few seconds. I will try to replicate the bug again and wait a bit longer before I take the screenshot.
  • serdunham
    Hello again,

    I have run into the same problem again. This time, I waited a bit before clicking in the Zotero window, at which point I got the error message depicted in the picture. Again, this hang seems to happen when I am writing a longer-length annotation after highlighting text in a PDF.


    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5405674/fz0kkzpa1jx7le38ofjf.png
  • Sine.Niceanraig
    I am also experiencing something similar in PC operation of word. When I click on a highlight in a pdf text and start typing in the comment box Zotero stops responding. So far today it has happened three time. I will need to work out how to do the debug thing so I can add here.
    I had just come online to see if there were any reports.
    Running Zotero 8.0.4 and Windows 11 version 25H2 on a Lenovo LOQ 15 IRX9 laptop.
    I have used task manager to stop Zotero when it has done this.
  • serdunham
    I wanted to bump this thread to say that I am still having this issue - Zotero hanging while typing notes in the annotation pane after highlighting text in a PDF. The annotations feature is borderline unusable for me now, unfortunately. Have others had this same issue?

    I am attaching the debug output from my most recent crash below.
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5405674/6k38248pej9czb7ny7i9.png
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    @serdunham: That's what you saw when it hung? That just looks like debug output for Zotero startup, before doing anything.
  • serdunham
    Yes - I believe that one happened soon after startup. Here is another one that happened after Zotero had been running for a bit longer.
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5405674/42a2oy73h04q4jpsg0ex.png
  • serdunham
    edited yesterday at 5:03pm
    A little more information: it seems like the problem tends to occur when I am adding to the last annotation in the left hand column, and the column is already "full" with other comments. (I've blacked out the highlighted text because the document I am reading
    is pre-publication.)

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5405674/7vg4wdou3lp7arsi500s.png
  • serdunham
    More information - the freezes are associated with a rapid spike in CPU usage. When Zotero hangs while I am making an annotation, the program suddenly rises from ~0-5% CPU utilization to 20-28%. After this rapid increase, the CPU utilization hovers around this point and does not decrease. Trying to interact with the program leads to a "Zotero is not responding" message and the option to force quit.

    This spike does not happen as soon as I start making an annotation. I can sometimes type 50-100 characters with no sudden increase in CPU usage occurring. I am not sure if the annotations themselves are causing this spike, or if a spike for some other reason occurring concurrently with my annotating is leading to the crash.

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5405674/q1vxea0z3trtn5tgg5hj.png

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