Standalone crashes when syncing after large database import

bwiernik
I recently imported a large database (5702 entries, about half with attachments) from Endnote (RIS format, keywords disabled). Now, when I try to sync, it will attempt get updated data from the server for about 20 minutes and then the program will hang. This has happened four times now.

Any thoughts on how to fix the problem?
  • dstillman
    How long have you let it go? It's mostly likely just preparing the upload.
  • dstillman
    Or is this on a different computer from where you added the items? It looks like it's just downloading the new items (repeatedly, since you're killing it), in which case there could easily be a temporary hang while it processes them.
  • dstillman
    (And there are actually 15,000 new items, including child items.)
  • dstillman
    Anyway, the next major version of Zotero should be better about not freezing during long syncs, but the answer here is almost certainly just to let it go for a while.
  • bwiernik
    The issue is that the program itself is crashing. I'm not manually killing it. Thanks.
  • dstillman
    But what do you mean by crashing? Quitting completely, or freezing? In your original message you said "will hang".
  • bwiernik
    Sorry for the lack of precision in my wording. After 20 minutes or so, the program displays "Not Responding", then a popup opens saying XUL Runner has stopped working, and eventually the program closes.
  • dstillman
    It's possible it's running out of memory. You can try immediately after rebooting with nothing else running. If that doesn't help, you can avoid the initial sync of this data by transferring the data directory from the computer where imported the new data (assuming there's no new data on this computer).
  • bwiernik
    Thanks a lot for your help.
  • bwiernik
    Update: I am encountering frequent hangs of Zotero Standalone that last 5-10 minutes. If I try to interact with the program during a hang, I receive a message "XULRunner is not responding".

    I had previously thought this was due to an issue with syncing, but this behavior persists even after disabling file syncing via WebDAV and auto-syncing the database with zotero servers. I have tried to disable full-text indexing and to check the database integrity, but the program hangs indefinitely whenever I try to do so.

    Any thoughts? Is it simply that I am running out of RAM to process a 15000 item library or is something unusual going on with the database process?
  • dstillman
    How long have you let the database integrity check run? That could easily take a good long while, but it would be extremely unlikely for that to actually freeze permanently.

    What are you doing when it freezes? You're positive that auto-sync is disabled?

    Have you installed any third-party Zotero add-ons?

    Can you provide a Debug ID that covers such a hang? (If possible, keep the preferences window open before a hang occurs and periodically clear the output to limit what's in there to relevant parts.)
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