Zotero not starting

stre0185

Hi,

I'm running Firefox 16.0.1 and Zotero 3.0.8 on Windows 7. A few weeks ago Zotero started not working. When I launch Firefox I get the error message "There was an error starting Zotero" when I hover over the Zotero icon. The icon has a triangle with an exclamation point superimposed over it.

Haven't found much helpful info when searching past discussions.

Thanks for any help.

Stephen

adamsmith

http://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_bugs#reporting_startup_errors

stre0185

I followed the instructions at the link. There was no extensions.cache file to delete, but I deleted the rest. Upon launching Firefox, the window filled with tabs for each of my extension asking for permission to install. I installed Zotero and restarted. Below are the error messages from the console:

Timestamp: 10/15/2012 7:20:48 PM
Error: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80630002 (NS_ERROR_STORAGE_IOERR) [mozIStorageService.openDatabase]" nsresult: "0x80630002 (NS_ERROR_STORAGE_IOERR)" location: "JS frame :: chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/db.js :: :: line 1104" data: no]
Source File: chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/zotero.js
Line: 749

dstillman

Is that the only error? An I/O error indicates a problem with your disk, but it could also be due to some temporary condition on your system.

I assume you've restarted your computer since the problem started?

dstillman

(Well, not necessarily a problem with the physical disk per se, but a problem accessing the Zotero database on it.)

stre0185

Okay, I needed to start this over. Firefox didn't like my re-enabling too many extensions at one time and consequently began to crash everytime I tried to launch it. I restored my system to an earlier state and started over.

I repeated the instructions above from adamsmith. I didn't have the files extensions.ini, extensions.sqlite, or extensions.sqlite-journal to delete.

I have only re-enabled Zotero, i.e. it's the only extension running and I'm still having the problem. Below is what shows up in the Error Console--sorry if I was a bit liberal in what I pasted (I left lines beginning http:// per the instructions).


[unrelated errors removed — D.S.]

Timestamp: 10/20/2012 8:43:12 PM
Error: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80630002 (NS_ERROR_STORAGE_IOERR) [mozIStorageService.openDatabase]" nsresult: "0x80630002 (NS_ERROR_STORAGE_IOERR)" location: "JS frame :: chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/db.js :: :: line 1104" data: no]
Source File: chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/zotero.js
Line: 749

[unrelated errors removed — D.S.]

dstillman

OK, that's still the only relevant error.

Is your Zotero data directory on your local hard drive or something like a network share?

Is there a zotero.sqlite-journal file in the root of your Zotero data directory with Firefox closed? If so, close Firefox, delete it, and try again. [Edit for posterity: Don't do this. It could result in database corruption, and if it helped it'd be due to some other root cause that needed to be fixed.]

stre0185

My data directory is on a partition of my local hard drive, separate from the OS. I found the zotero.sqlite-journal file and deleted it, but same result when I started Firefox.

dstillman

If you have security software on your system, try disabling it.

You can also try moving your Zotero data directory to another location. You can access the Zotero prefs even if you can't open Zotero by going to Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions -> Zotero -> Options, though it's possible the buttons won't work.

You can also try just setting a new data directory without moving your data to see if it's a problem with the existing data directory. Be sure to disable auto-sync in the Sync pane of the preferences before you change the data directory.

stre0185

Moving the directory into a new folder on the same drive solved the problem. Interestingly, during the process Zotero asked me if I wanted to update (and warning this was a major update). I'm wondering if it was in issue w/ the automatic update?

dstillman

There hasn't been a major database upgrade in a very long time. It sounds like you may have pointed Zotero to a very old version of your database and it then pulled down your latest data from the server via auto-sync.