zotero updating all the time (online)

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  • I found your report in the database, but please include the ids for future reports, since it takes us much longer to look them up manually.
  • ok, sorry.
    can't do the standalone thing right now. will do it as soon as i have more time.
  • OK, no difference with or without extensions.

    The issue appears to be the same as before:

    (3)(+0000001): Beginning ZFS file sync

    (3)(+0000000): Checking for locally changed attachment files

    (5)(+0000000): Beginning DB transaction

    (3)(+0000000): Beginning Notifier event queue

    (5)(+0000000): SELECT itemID, linkMode, path, storageModTime,
    storageHash, syncState FROM itemAttachments JOIN items USING
    (itemID) WHERE linkMode IN (?,?) AND syncState IN (?,?)

    (5)(+0000000): Binding parameter 1 of type int: 0

    (5)(+0000000): Binding parameter 2 of type int: 1

    (5)(+0000000): Binding parameter 3 of type int: 0

    (5)(+0000000): Binding parameter 4 of type int: 2

    (3)(+0016464): No synced files have changed locally

    (5)(+0000001): Committing transaction

    The "+0016464" means it's taking 16 seconds to scan all your local Zotero files and check their timestamps to see if they've changed. While you do have a large number of synced files, and we should probably change this to not check all files on every single auto-sync, that's still a very long time.

    When you have a chance, I do think Standalone is the first thing to try so that we can see if this is specific to Firefox. (Since Standalone shares your existing data directory, it's very easy to test. You'll see your existing library when you open it, so you'll just need to enter your details in the Sync pane of the preferences.)
  • (And you're probably doing this already, but remember that you can disable auto-sync to prevent this if you need to get work done in Zotero. While we don't recommend leaving that off in general, in this case it's your best option until we can figure out why this is happening.)
  • ok, thanks a lot, i will keep you informed
  • hi, i installed zotero standalone. seems nice. but it freezes there too.
  • but on the whole, it seems to block far less often then with the online version.
  • (Zotero for Firefox isn't the "online" version—it's a Firefox extension running locally on your computer within Firefox. The "online" version is the website.)

    If you can reproduce a freeze in Standalone, I'd be interested in seeing a Debug ID for it, just to see if it's behaving similarly. (It should, unless this is due to some software on your system that's interfering with Firefox.)

    Beyond that, we'll see what we can do about this, though it may take a little while. In the meantime, you could keep auto-sync disabled in Zotero for Firefox version and enabled in Standalone, which at the very least will keep Firefox itself from freezing. Switching back and forth between the two is as simple as opening and closing Standalone. (When Standalone is open, Zotero for Firefox switches into "connector" mode and will save items to Standalone. When Standalone is closed, Zotero for Firefox will function normally.)
  • The Debug ID is D319823899.
  • That actually doesn't appear to be freezing in the same spot at all (though it also shows a lot more output, so I'm not sure what that covered).
  • should i try another one?
  • The Debug ID is D1898086962.
  • Are you actually still experiencing a freeze? If so, for how long? It's definitely not doing the same ~16 second freeze you were seeing in Firefox, which suggests that some software on your system is interfering with Firefox's disk access but not Standalone's.
  • yes there is a freeze. i've got the impression that it is not as frequent. but it takes like 16 seconds. sometimes even the picture of the attached item that i have opened is blocked
  • Ah, OK, sorry, I see it now:

    (3)(+0017568): No synced files have changed locally
    It is indeed freezing at the same spot, so this is a more general issue on your system or with your library.

    It's actually unlikely that there's any difference—in frequency or duration—from Zotero for Firefox, but Zotero Standalone won't freeze Firefox while it's hung.

    For the time being I'd recommend leaving auto-sync disabled and just syncing manually.

    We'll have to do some tests to see if we can get anywhere close to this sort of delay. Out of curiosity, how old is this computer?
  • this one (table pc) is from 2008, laptop is from 2011. computer at work is from 2012.
  • And are you seeing the same thing on all of them, or just on this one?
  • as i said, the problem is on my two private computers, not on the one from my work. although i find, that with the last one, the frequent syncing gets disturbing the bigger the collection gets, it does not block as the other two do.
  • Hi, for what it's worth, I have this exact same issue, and it appears on different computers and whether using Zotero Standalone or the Firefox plug-in.

    I will be typing a note, and Zotero will do a sync, and I will have to wait for the sync to finish before I can continue typing. The delay is usually more like 3-4 seconds (and not 16), so I just deal with it.

    If there were a setting to reduce the frequency of auto-syncing, however, I certainly would employ that. As with the original poster, I am uncomfortable with turning off auto-sync.
  • msw22: Can you also provide a Debug ID for such a freeze?
  • Debug ID: D715113406

    Brief freeze when I first created a new note; brief freeze before I turned off the debugging as I was typing in that note. Sync arrow was circling (and freezing partway) in both cases. Freeze time was quite short -- just one or two seconds.
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