Zotero has not synced for the last month

anaselli

Firefox keeps crashing when Zotero tries to sync. It's been doing this for over a month.

Report ID on 12/30/2012 = 2013052079
Report ID on 1/19/2013 = 245698627

The error message has been the same each time:
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Could not read chrome manifest 'file:///C:/Users/Andy%27s%20Desktop/AppData/Roaming/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/ymcaf4n5.default/extensions/en-US@dictionaries.addons.mozilla.org/chrome.manifest'.

Could not read chrome manifest 'file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Mozilla%20Firefox/extensions/%7B972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd%7D/chrome.manifest'.

[JavaScript Error: "this.docShell is null" {file: "chrome://global/content/bindings/browser.xml" line: 323}]

Note: The error log may include messages unrelated to Zotero.
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Do you have any idea what could be wrong and how I can fix it? In the past I've had syncing problems, and I've been able to pin the problem to notes I had added to resources that were too lengthy.

Thanks for your help.

Warmly,
Andy Naselli

adamsmith

What do you mean by crashing exactly? Shutting down or freezing?
(the errors aren't related, unfortunately, so those don't help).

anaselli

Thanks, Adam.

Both.
1. First Firefox freezes.
2. Then Firefox crashes.

Here's a 50-second video I made to illustrate the problem: http://screencast.com/t/tdyHoRhwvbe

BTW, I LOVE Zotero! I regularly recommend it to students and colleagues. E.g., see this article I wrote about it: http://andynaselli.com/personal-theological-library

dstillman

That video doesn't show Zotero freezing or crashing—were those supposed to be shown in the video?

(Also, your right-hand pane is way too big, which is why you're not seeing the sync button. Just shrink it down from the column divider to the left.)

anaselli

Thanks, Dan. In reply:

1. The video doesn't show Firefox crashing because it takes about 4 or 5 minutes to crash. But every time I try to sync Zotero, Firefox completely crashes: it shuts down and pops up an error message asking me if I'd like to restart Firefox.

2. My right-hand pane is too big only for that video; I use large monitors and minimized the window to capture the video.

I'd welcome your advice on how to proceed. Thanks!

dstillman

OK—I watched it without sound at first, so I thought you were indicating that the sync icon should've been there.

Judging by server logs your copy of Zotero is performing a large sync and has been trying to for a while, seemingly from a very large import (or similar) you did at the beginning of November.

How much RAM do you have in this computer? Have you tried after a fresh restart, with no other programs running? It seems likely that Firefox is being killed by the system for using up all available memory. (Right now Zotero can use a lot of memory during very large syncs, and we're in the process of overhauling how Zotero syncs in part to fix that.)

anaselli

Thanks, Dan.

1. I'm using 6 GB of RAM. More details:
Windows 7 Home Premium
Model: Dell Studio XPS 435T
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz 2.67 GHz
System type: 64-bit Operating System

2. Yes, I've tried this many times after a fresh restart with no other programs running. Firefox crashes every time.

3. I use Zotero a lot (pretty much daily). E.g., I've added 215 new items (not to mention updating other ones) since November 2012.

dstillman

Actually, on the server you have 16,400 items modified on November 12th (though all created earlier), which is what's causing this. Did you sync a separate library from another computer on that date?

In any case, if it's crashing there's not much we can do about that at the moment, though I'm not really sure how it could be using that much RAM. (Maybe this is related to your using 64-bit Windows? Are you using a 64-bit Firefox build? If not, you could try that.) You could also try installing Zotero Standalone, which will share your existing Zotero data directory by default, and see if that's able to complete the sync without crashing.

anaselli

Thanks, Dan. Please see my question at the end of #3 below.

1. I have no recollection of what happened with my Zotero library on Nov 12. That's really odd. I currently have 18,216 total items in my Zotero library, so 16,400 items is almost all of it. Strange. (Maybe I accidentally dragged a large folder when I didn't mean to and then righted the wrong? I don't know. I last synced Zotero successfully 70 days ago, which is just before Nov 12.)

2. I don't think that there is currently a 64-bit Firefox build for Windows. I just Googled it, and everything I found in the Firefox forums confirms that.

3. I installed the Zotero Standalone, restarted my computer, and tried syncing my library in the Standalone version without any other programs running. I started syncing at about 4:00pm on Jan 19, and the program is apparently still syncing (it's about 8:30pm on Jan 20). It's been consistently taking up about 5 GB of my 6 GB of RAM, and Windows Task Manager has listed Zotero's status as "Running" the entire time. Zotero has been shaded just about the entire with a pop-up box that says "Processing updated data from sync server."

I'll leave this sync running all night (for the second night in a row). If in the morning it's still syncing, what do you recommend I do? Keep syncing? That seems like an unusually long time.

Thanks,
Andy

dstillman

I currently have 18,216 total items in my Zotero library, so 16,400 items is almost all of it. Strange.

16,400 includes both parent and child items. You have 24,000 items total on the server. http://www.zotero.org/support/kb/item_count

I don't think that there is currently a 64-bit Firefox build for Windows.

They're supposedly still building 64-bit nightly builds after a backlash, but they're unsupported.

If in the morning it's still syncing, what do you recommend I do?

It's pretty unlikely that it'd still be doing anything worthwhile happening at that point, though you could check with Task Manager whether there was CPU/disk activity. If you're able to access the Standalone menus you may be able to send in another error report, which might contain some info.

anaselli

Thanks, Dan.

A few minutes ago (at about 6:20am on Jan 21) I shut down Zotero Standalone. (It has been syncing since about 4:00pm on Jan 19.)

The Report ID for the error is 346021509.

Here's what the error box said:

The following errors have occurred since starting Zotero:

[unrelated errors removed — D.S.]

dstillman

Error reports only include info since the last time Firefox/Zotero was restarted, so if you generated that after force-restarting Standalone that wouldn't contain anything about the hang.

Unfortunately on Windows it's not really feasible to display real-time debug output for this to see what exactly Zotero is doing, but you could run Zotero Standalone with the error console showing to see if anything gets logged during the sync. (And again, you can check Task Manager to see if there's actually CPU/disk usage.)

You can also browse your library on zotero.org to see if there's data you're not expecting and don't need. Beyond that, your main options are to try syncing from another computer with more RAM (or another OS, which might have better memory management) or to wait for the improved syncing we're working on, though that's probably at least a couple months off.

If you were able to sync from another computer, you could either transfer the Zotero data directory over or delete data you didn't need and sync with the server.

anaselli

Thanks, Dan.

I followed the directions for running Zotero Standalone with the error console showing, but I don't think an error console showed.

I suppose I'll wait for the improved syncing you're working on. Also, I'm planning to switch from Windows to a Macbook this summer. Maybe that will help.

anaselli

Dan, on January 21, 2013, you wrote that one of my options is to "wait for the improved syncing" that you're "working on, though that's probably at least a couple months off."

Have you improved the syncing?

I ask because I still haven't been able to sync my Zotero library (since fall 2012).

I'm planning to switch to a MacBook Pro when Apple releases the new model (hopefully not more than a month or two away).

adamsmith

While there have been some small improvements, the major change in syncing that Dan mentioned that'd likely fix this hasn't been rolled out yet, no.

dstillman

What adamsmith says—we're currently hoping for a beta this fall—but I'd say there's a decent chance you'll have better luck after switching to OS X even with the current architecture.

anaselli

I just switched to a MacBook Pro (a model from summer 2012) last week, and today I moved my entire Zotero library to the Mac. (I used an external hard drive and carefully followed the directions at https://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data.)

My library (20,332 items) transferred over to the Mac without a problem. At first I received an error message when I tried to sync (after two hours of syncing), but the second time it synced successfully! (My last successful sync was 311 days ago.)

I plan to use Zotero only on this Mac now, not the PC. Is there a setting I need to change so that I don't receive a warning message every time I sync on the Mac? After every sync on the Mac, I receive this warning: "You have reached your Zotero File Storage quota. Some files were not uploaded. Other Zotero data will continue to sync to the server." I'm backing up my data in other places (it's over 30 GB), so I'm choosing not to pay to back up data via Zotero.

adamsmith

uncheck file syncing in the sync tab of the Zotero preferences. (note that file sync isn't intended as a back-up as much as making your files conveniently available on every computer you're using Zotero on)

Rintze

If you don't wish to sync your files via Zotero, but only your item metadata, just disable File Syncing in the Zotero Preferences. See http://www.zotero.org/support/preferences/sync