WebDAV Synch problem

goldberghiller

Zotero debug: D2076367287

I am using Zotero 4.06.r11282 (following suggestions on other discussions) on Firefox 20.0, OS X 10.8.3. The WebDAV server is CrushFTP that I am running myself on the same machine (and there are similar problems, described below, when I contact it from outside the University network).

About 60 files will download and then the synch process stalls. I have had CrushFTP check their program's log files and they find no errors.

Synch seems to work with Zotero servers (Group Libraries will synch attachments) but endless fails with WebDAV.

Thanks for any advice you may have.

JON

dstillman

This output appears to just be midway through a file sync, with no indication that it stalled yet.

You can hover over the blue progress bar to see file sync progress. If it's stalling, we'll need the debug output to go until after it stops doing anything.

goldberghiller

Thanks, Dan. I have been watching the progress bar and it shows rapid synching (the WebDAV server is running on the same machine) but then it simply comes to a halt and there is no more progress and a spinning green arrow. If there is no error on the log, might this indicate that the problem lies with the server?

Zotero does query the server successfully and tell me it is set up correctly. It also does exchange a few files before stalling. I'm just trying to figure out which component is having the trouble.

I can tell you that I used CrushFTP as a WebDAV server on my former computer with success for about 18 months. I have only used it to store and serve my Zotero files.

Thanks.

JON

dstillman

We will need a Debug ID here—I'm just not convinced that it had stopped syncing before you submitted that one. Try again, make sure all progress has stopped in the blue bar, and then watch the "lines logged" counter in the debug output prefs to make sure it's not going up. (It updates every 10 seconds, so wait at least that long.) Once you're sure it's not increasing, press View Output to log a couple extra lines at the end (which will show the time elapsed after syncing stalled), close the output window, and then submit it.

goldberghiller

Thanks, Dan.

D646061700

JON

dstillman

File syncing changed in a bit in 4.0, which may have triggered a rechecking of all your files for changes, but ultimately this appears to be a problem with your server. The debug output is ending with this:

(3)(+0000000): HTTP GET https://[...]/zotero/5FA84HTJ.prop

This means that it's not receiving a response for that request, and since it syncs a limited number of files at once, it will hang once this happens a few times during a sync. You can check the server log to see if that request is actually finishing according to the server.

We could address the stall by having these requests time out, but that wouldn't fix the underlying problem, which is Zotero not receiving responses. (Eventually we'll have Zotero retry failed requests, but that won't happen until Zotero 4.1 at the earliest.)

One thing you should check is whether it's making more progress each time—that is, whether the total files being synced is decreasing. It may be, in which case you just have to let it sync enough times until it gets through all the files once.