syncing error ID 170155625

I use zotero (3.0.11) with firefox (18.0.1) and produce a bibliography in openOffice.

I'd like now to synchronize it but i obtain an error "invalid response from server" with the following detail :

[JavaScript Error: "This method may not be used." {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/sync.js" line: 2358}]

[JavaScript Error: "[Exception... "'Invalid response from server. Please try again in a few minutes.' when calling method: [nsIDOMEventListener::handleEvent]" nsresult: "0x8057001e (NS_ERROR_XPC_JS_THREW_STRING)" location: "native frame :: <unknown filename> :: <TOP_LEVEL> :: line 0" data: no]"]

thanks for your help
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited January 19, 2013
    Disable any other Firefox extensions you have installed and try again.

    If that doesn't help, provide a Debug ID for a sync attempt that produces this error.
  • It's the same behavior without Firefox extensions.

    The Debug ID is D1094320241.
  • This is an incredibly bizarre error. (Technical explanation: your large HTTP "POST" requests are ending up as "OST" requests on the server. We haven't seen anything like this before.)

    I'd recommend installing Zotero Standalone—which by default will share your existing Zotero data directory—and seeing if you get the same error. If not, this is an issue in Firefox.

    If you do get the same error in Standalone, and this is a laptop, can you try from a different network? While the network really shouldn't make a difference (and if it does it's a serious problem), it'd be good to eliminate that as a variable.
  • I have installed Zotero Standalone.

    It's not the same error : "SSL certificate error connecting to sync.zotero.org"
    I follow the page : http://zotero.org/support/kb/ssl_certificate_error for more information.
    I obtain the message : "Nothing to see here."

    I disable my security software and this is the same issue.
    I precise that i use Zotero in home network.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited January 20, 2013
    OK, so there's something going on with your HTTPS connection to the servers.

    As a basic sanity check, go to https://sync.zotero.org/ in Firefox, click on the lock icon in the address bar, click on More Info, and then click View Certificate. For the SHA1 Fingerprint at the bottom, do you see the following?

    A5:AF:19:7C:70:A1:DB:1C:0D:60:86:A1:51:2D:BC:7F:14:3D:E4:9E
    If not, take a screenshot of that window and send it to support@zotero.org.
  • It's not the same SHA1 Fingerprint.
    I send you the screenshot.
  • Just to confirm, this is on your home Internet connection? Do you mind telling us what Internet service provider you're using?
  • Yes, this is a home Internet connection with 2 Computers. I use Orange (livebox) provider.
  • Just to follow up on this, as best as I can tell this was caused by some ("security"?) software installed on one of pl18's home computers that was acting as a Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) HTTPS proxy—badly, since it was also breaking the request. The proxy had a fake SSL certificate claiming to be zotero.org, with a custom root certificate authority identifying itself as NordNet.fr, a subsidiary of Orange. The custom root had been installed in Firefox, but since it wasn't a public root CA and it hadn't been installed in Standalone, Standalone was getting a certificate error.

    This is pretty questionable behavior for an ISP (or nearly anything else), since you have to trust that the software isn't intercepting your otherwise secure traffic, but I wasn't able to find any other references to it online. Obviously, the fact that it's breaking connections is pretty bad, too.

    pl18 was able to get Zotero working on another computer, where he received Zotero's genuine certificate.

    Excerpts from the cert chain, for posterity:

    Fake zotero.org certificate:

    Version: 3 (0x2)
    Serial Number:
    9c:20:a0:af:35:a8:fc:c0
    Signature Algorithm: sha1WithRSAEncryption
    Issuer: O=NordNet/emailAddress=cert-ssl@nordnet.net, L=HEM, ST=HEM, C=FR, CN=Nordnet.fr
    Validity
    Not Before: Jan 22 09:32:08 2013 GMT
    Not After : Oct 10 12:14:05 2014 GMT
    Subject: OU=GT03802562, CN=*.zotero.org
    X509v3 extensions:
    X509v3 Subject Alternative Name:
    DNS:*.zotero.org, DNS:zotero.org

    CA:

    Version: 3 (0x2)
    Serial Number:
    c2:cf:e5:6d:69:4b:cc:5c
    Signature Algorithm: sha1WithRSAEncryption
    Issuer: O=NordNet/emailAddress=cert-ssl@nordnet.net, L=HEM, ST=HEM, C=FR, CN=Nordnet.fr
    Validity
    Not Before: Feb 14 15:36:14 2011 GMT
    Not After : Feb 13 15:36:14 2016 GMT
    Subject: O=NordNet/emailAddress=cert-ssl@nordnet.net, L=HEM, ST=HEM, C=FR, CN=Nordnet.fr
    X509v3 extensions:
    X509v3 Basic Constraints:
    CA:TRUE
    X509v3 Subject Key Identifier:
    8F:92:CB:A8:8D:3C:99:A1:FC:2D:CC:35:48:E0:09:0A:BD:EE:BE:79
    X509v3 Authority Key Identifier:
    keyid:8F:92:CB:A8:8D:3C:99:A1:FC:2D:CC:35:48:E0:09:0A:BD:EE:BE:79
    DirName:/O=NordNet/emailAddress=cert-ssl@nordnet.net/L=HEM/ST=HEM/C=FR/CN=Nordnet.fr
    serial:C2:CF:E5:6D:69:4B:CC:5C

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