"Notes" section blank + unresponsive

nayr497

I'm having a problem with my "notes" section in my window/library. This is the area where you can write, below the file info, to the right of the main viewer area.

I've been taking notes in here, placing excerpts from files, quotations, etc.

Right now it is totally blank, none of my notes are showing up.

Additionally, the area is unresponsive - I am not able to add any new notes right now.

I have restarted my computer twice. I have closed and opened Zotero. I'm not sure what is going on...my end? Something going on with Zotero at the moment?

I have my files synced and also back up on an XHD, so they're not lost. But, I'd like to try and sort this out before I go through recapturing them.

Ideas? Hopefully I've just done something dopey and this is an easy fix.

Thank you in advance!

adamsmith

try disabling all other Zotero/Firefox add-ons, restart and see if the problem persists. If so, provide an error report ID with still all add-ons disabled:
https://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_bugs#provide_a_report_id

nayr497

Hi Adam,

Okay, I went to Tools/Add-ons/ and disable both Zotero Integrations.

I restarted Zotero, still no notes. I restarted my computer, re-opened Zotero, still nothing.

Shucks. I'm going to follow through on the error report.

Thanks for your help.

nayr497

It doesn't look like there is an error report. I went through the Chrome extensions step...no errors to report either.

I used Zotero all day yesterday, started to work today...and now can't see my notes.

I can't seem to find/generate a report.

Please let me know what I should try/do/provide next.

Thank you.

dstillman

It doesn't look like there is an error report.

Meaning "Report Errors" is grayed out in Zotero's gear menu after you reproduce this? To be clear, you need to follow the steps for Zotero Standalone, not Chrome, which is unrelated to this.

nayr497

Hi Dan,

Yes, the "Report Errors" is grayed out.

I'm trying to follow the steps.

Here is some info that is requested.

Zotero version: 4.0.20
Firefox version: 29.0.1
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.8.5

dstillman

Is this in Zotero for Firefox or Zotero Standalone?

nayr497

I'm now trying to follow the steps listed below.

I have restarted my computer.

I'm not sure what it means to open it via the command line. I can click on Finder, then go to Applications, and then open Zotero, but I'm not sure if this is the proper process.

I can also get to preferences once Zotero is open, via Zotero>Preferences. I do not see the Settings>Window though.


Zotero Standalone

1. First, be sure you've tried restarting your computer. Many startup errors will go away after a computer restart.

2. Start Zotero via the command line. The steps for that depend on your platform:

Mac OS X

Open Terminal in /Applications/Utilities (or open it using Spotlight).
Go to the Terminal menu and open Preferences. In Settings→Window, make sure Scrollback is set to “Limit to available memory”.
Paste the following into the terminal and hit return.
/Applications/Zotero.app/Contents/MacOS/zotero-bin /Applications/Zotero.app/Contents/Resources/application.ini -jsconsole

dstillman

So if this is in Zotero Standalone, can you see if it also happens in Zotero for Firefox? (If you don't have that installed, it will share the same database by default.) You'll need to close Zotero Standalone before trying.

nayr497

Hi Dan,

I downloaded and opened Zotero for Firefox. How can I tell/make sure I'm opening the Firefox Zotero and not just the standalone?

I restarted Zotero, no change. I restarted my computer, no change.

And actually - things have gotten worse. My tags used to show up, but nothing in the notes section. Now the notes section is blank (and unresponsive) and my tags also are not showing up. Argh...I seem to be making things worse.

Ideas?

dstillman

Close Standalone completely. Zotero for Firefox will then open up as a pane within Firefox.

nayr497

Okay, I closed it, closed both Zotero and Firefox. Then I went to my application and opened Zotero. It still seems to open though as a "stand alone" and not as a pane within Firefox. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Still no notes or tags though.

nayr497

Might I need to totally uninstall the Standalone Zotero?

nayr497

Ah, okay...I see it. When I have Firefox open I have a Z icon at the top, over to the right side. I opened Zotero this way.

But, still no notes.

dstillman

Can you provide a Report ID from Zotero for Firefox?

dstillman

Also check your database integrity from the Advanced -> Files and Folders pane of the Zotero preferences (in either Standalone or Firefox — it doesn't matter).

adamsmith

Then I went to my application and opened Zotero. It still seems to open though as a "stand alone" and not as a pane within Firefox.

no, you need to open Zotero for Firefox from within Firefox, by clicking on the Zotero icon at the top right of Firefox. If you go through your applications folder, you're opening Zotero Standalone.

dstillman

(And if you have Zotero Standalone open and click the Z icon in Firefox, you'll still just bring Standalone to the front. Standalone needs to be closed for Zotero to open within Firefox.)

nayr497

"No errors found in database integrity."

dstillman

And the Report ID?

nayr497

1360554767

With this info:

[JavaScript Error: "Database permanently closed; not re-opening" {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/db.js" line: 1082}]

[...]

dstillman

OK, but that still shows you as having had Zotero Standalone open. Close Standalone completely for now, and then restart Firefox, and then reproduce the problem and provide another Report ID.

dstillman

At least, I think that's the cause of that message. If not, there's something else wrong that we'll need to figure out.

nayr497

285044886

nayr497

Okay, I quit Firefox, I quit Zotero, reopened...and that is the new error report ID.

dstillman

OK, nothing in there, so this is getting pretty bizarre.

Can you provide a Debug ID (different from a Report ID) for an attempt to view a note?

dstillman

Also, does this happen for all notes, or only some? If instead of trying to view an existing note, you just create a new one, can you do so, and type in it?

nayr497

Hi Dan,
Thanks for getting back to me.

I agree this is bizarre, especially because I used Zotero all day yesterday, closed my computer for the night, came back today....and this is going on. I didn't run any updates, new programs, nothing.

Nope, I can't make new notes. The entire "notes" box/area is unclickable, untypeable...can't even get the cursor to appear there.

And, no tags are showing up either.

nayr497

Debug ID: D1454520495

Not sure about the 2nd step of that Debug Report though...perform any actions immediately. I didn't see what/where it wanted me to do, but I did click the "submit to Zotero server" button.

nayr497

In case this is useful:

[JavaScript Error: "Database permanently closed; not re-opening" {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/db.js" line: 1082}]

[JavaScript Error: "Database permanently closed; not re-opening" {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/db.js" line: 1082}]

[JavaScript Error: "this.editor is null" {file: "chrome://browser/content/urlbarBindings.xml" line: 161}]

[JavaScript Error: "this.editor is null" {file: "chrome://browser/content/urlbarBindings.xml" line: 161}]

version => 4.0.20.2, platform => MacIntel, oscpu => Intel Mac OS X 10.8, locale => en-US, appName => Firefox, appVersion => 29.0.1

=========================================================

(4)(+0120632): Registering observer for [collection,search,share,group,trash,bucket] in notifier with hash NP'

(4)(+0000006): Registering observer for [item-tag,setting] in notifier with hash MX'

dstillman

Not sure about the 2nd step of that Debug Report though...perform any actions immediately.

The relevant action here is the thing you're reporting: clicking on a note. Can you try again?

Also, have you opened Standalone at all? You're getting that "Database permanently closed" message again, which shouldn't be happening if you didn't try to open Standalone. So leave Standalone closed for now, restart Firefox to clear those errors, and then try this again.