Upgrade StorageZotero seems to have disappeared after Firefox update
I have a similar problem as JB1873 http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/18430/zotero-seems-to-have-disappeared/#Item_0
Most likely problems are related with the last automatic Firefox update (I already had 4.0 installed before without any issues). At least, Zotero seemed to have disappeared since I got the info that Firefox had been updated
problem in detail:
- Zotero icon disappeared from add-on bar
- shortcut does not work anymore
- if I click on Preferences in add-on manager, firefox crashes
what I tried to do:
- reinstall Zotero: did not change anything. However, I am not sure if I did it correctly, because even after removal Zotero still showed up in the add-on list and reinstallation did not seem to have done anything
- deactivate all other add-ons and plugins: no effect
- Windows sytem recovery to pre-update status: did not work, Windows not able to recover Firefox profile
- reinstall firefox with personal settings, add-ons, cookies, history etc. saved: no effect
- reinstall firefox and remove all personal settings: Zotero could be reinstalled and worked properly - until another automatic firefox update took place a week later (=yesterday) and the same problem there again
Of course I could turn off automatic firefox updates, but this does not sound like a feasible long-term solution to me.
When I read through the forum, I do not seem to be the only one with such problems. Any ideas how this can be resolved?
Most likely problems are related with the last automatic Firefox update (I already had 4.0 installed before without any issues). At least, Zotero seemed to have disappeared since I got the info that Firefox had been updated
problem in detail:
- Zotero icon disappeared from add-on bar
- shortcut does not work anymore
- if I click on Preferences in add-on manager, firefox crashes
what I tried to do:
- reinstall Zotero: did not change anything. However, I am not sure if I did it correctly, because even after removal Zotero still showed up in the add-on list and reinstallation did not seem to have done anything
- deactivate all other add-ons and plugins: no effect
- Windows sytem recovery to pre-update status: did not work, Windows not able to recover Firefox profile
- reinstall firefox with personal settings, add-ons, cookies, history etc. saved: no effect
- reinstall firefox and remove all personal settings: Zotero could be reinstalled and worked properly - until another automatic firefox update took place a week later (=yesterday) and the same problem there again
Of course I could turn off automatic firefox updates, but this does not sound like a feasible long-term solution to me.
When I read through the forum, I do not seem to be the only one with such problems. Any ideas how this can be resolved?
Which Firefox and Zotero and OS versions do you have right now?
If you're on windows, make sure this can't be a virus.
Are you sure you don't have a custom theme or persona installed? (if you do, deactivate).
It's pretty clear from your troubleshooting that something in your FIrefox personal settings is messing with Zotero (and likely not just with Zotero - if de-installing zotero doesn't work properly that likely indicates a larger issue) - this is close to impossible to troubleshoot from the distance - I'd go with eliminating different components.
But anyway...
I have Firefox 4.0.1, Zotero 2.1.7., Windows 7 Enterprise
Not absolutely sure about viruses, but unlikely because it's a firm-sponsored machine with quite good symantec security running. And the problem is a quite isolated one.
(Although it's a firm machine I have full admin rights and never had problems so far)
I have no personal themes etc. installed.
Other add-ons installed (no apparent coincidence between installing/using them and then Zotero problems though): Scrapbook 1.4.5, Download Status bar 0.9.8, IE Tab 2 3.5.9.1 and Java Console 6.0.20
Two follow-up questions:
- Regarding trying reinstalling Zotero: I removed Zotero via add-on manager, but this has no effect on the installation itself (all Zotero files in the appdata/roaming/mozilla/.../... still there) Is there any "cleaner" way to remove Zotero?
- Following the complete firefox reinstallation I now have a second profile in the firefox folder ("xxxxx.default") with some empty subfolders, e.g. Zotero. Can this cause any conflict? Can I safely delete this second profile?
- doesn't sound like your issue.
Yes, the Zotero folder stays around on purpose so that you don't lose all your data on de-installing the add-on. I understand from Dan that that's standard behavior for FF add-ons. The add-on manager is the right way to de-install.
To make sure I understood your first post correctly, though: You de-installed Zotero, re-started Firefox and it still showed up in the add-ons, right? That certainly shouldn't happen.
As for profiles: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Managing-profiles
Firefox is just looking in one place, so you can delete the other profile, though I'd do that through the profile manager to be safe. You could also try switching to see if Zotero works there.
Virus does sound unlikely with up-to-date Norton (though I do hope you're not surfing the web on an administrator account).
You should update Zotero to 2.1.8 just to be sure. Check Zotero's database integrity in the advance tab of the Zotero preferences.
Switiching profiles didn't make a difference.
Then I retried reinstalling Zotero. Here is what happened (not 100% sure if it's the same as happened last time= first post, but probably yes):
- add-on manager correctly shows "zotero removed"
- download and installation zotero 2.1.8. seemed to work, in add-on manager it says current version 2.1.7 and prompts "restart FF to update Zotero"
- however, after restart it's not installed/working, but instead showing "zotero removed" again in add-on manager
I both tried with and without deleting the Zotero folder in the FF profile, which doesn't make a difference. The folder is not affected by the reinstallation procedure.
Any ideas?
Are you sure you tried a completely new Firefox profile?
After completely removing FF incl. existing profiles and add-ons and reinstalling it with new profiles the problem temporarily disappeared (did that about a week ago, see first post). However, after a recent firefox update the problem was back as described here.
I haven't run through this complete menu again so far because I suspect that this will again only help temporarily and loosing all personal settings is always a nuisance.
Anyway, if anything comes to your mind what I could still try to resolve this (anything in about:config / personal settings maybe?) or if you run into this problem somehwere else, I'd greatly appreciate your support.
Something about your FF set-up is broken. It's hard to say what exactly, but people over at mozilla have much more experience and resources troubleshooting that. The fact that Zotero is concerned is likely more secondary than you seem to think it is.
This is not a Zotero compatibility issue. Several thousands of people are using Zotero without problems on your set-up. If this were a general issue the forum would be ablaze.
I have Firefox 25.0.1, and my Zotero is suddenly gone. I checked it in the add ons, and it says there are no add ons. I'm scared that if I re install a new zotero, I'll lose everything from before. I have been synching, but can't tell if what's on the website zotero of my account is up to date. Any suggestions/help!????
In either case, if you locate the old data directory, you can restore it (after reinstalling Zotero) by following http://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data#restoring_your_zotero_library_from_a_backup1
If you don't find the old Zotero data directory (that's quite unlikely), then resintalling Zotero and syncing with zotero.org is your best bet.
Edit: for further help, please start a new thread.