Pdf files do not appear on all my computers

lokacee

Hello all,

I have a Zotero account with 2gb storage. I use Zotero inside Firefox browser. I attach .pdf articles to most of my library items.

Yet, it seems that although data syncing works well, file syncing has an issue. Indeed: some .pdf articles are not accessible from one of my 3 computers (which are well synchronized it seems).

On the main panel, for instance, I can see a blue circle at the right of an item mentioning that there is an attached file. Yet the .pdf file won't open as Firefox won't find the location of the file. Other .pdf files work well, when the blue circle on the right is filled.

Could you please help me?

lokacee

Let's say I have two computers (computer 1 and computer 2).

I'd just precise that some .pdf files are on computer 1 and not on computer 2, while other .pdf files are on computer 2 and not on computer 1!

dstillman

Start here: Files Not Syncing

lokacee

I have done "Reset File Sync History" on computers 1 and 2.

There has been some exchanges between these 2 computers and the server. If the files between these two computers now seem well synced, others still miss in both. I guess it's the files I have uploaded through computer 3.

If you think this is a good idea, I'll do "Reset File Sync History" on computer 3 to see what happens.

Thank you again for your help and long live Zotero!!

dstillman

I guess it's the files I have uploaded through computer 3.

There's no real harm in doing Reset File Sync History, but you can verify this by trying to open the files on Computer 3. If they open there and don't open on the other computers, that's almost certainly the computer where they were added. (As for why they weren't uploaded (or are no longer there), I can't tell you. If you ever did a Restore to Zotero Server (a different, much more risky reset option) that could cause these sorts of problems.)

lokacee

Hello again,
I have done "Reset File Sync History" on all computers but the same issue appears again. What should I do?

Your help would be very much appreciated as I need my bibliography everywhere to write my research articles.

dstillman

You'll have to be more specific about the issue (e.g., the info on the Files Not Syncing page).

lokacee

Hello Dan and thank you for your efforts!

Actually, the initial problem remains:
Although data syncing works well, file syncing has an issue.
Some .pdf articles are on computer 1 and not on computer 2, and vice-versa.


To be more specific, and as I said in a previous post: "In the main panel, for instance, I can see a blue circle at the right of an item mentioning that there is an attached file. Yet the .pdf file won't open as Firefox won't find the location of the file. Other .pdf files work well, when the blue circle on the right is filled."

adamsmith

If you've performed all these steps, see the file on the server, and still can't access the file on Computer B, then go to the Sync→Reset pane of the Zotero preferences on Computer B, choose Reset File Sync History, generate a Debug ID for the next sync attempt and an attempt to open the file, and post the Debug ID to the forums. Do not use the other options in the Reset pane.

(that's from the instructions, which in turn contain links to how to generate said Debug ID).

dstillman

Some .pdf articles are on computer 1 and not on computer 2, and vice-versa.

That's closer to what we need. I understand that some files aren't accessible, but the specifics matter — reread the linked page to understand what we need to know to help you with this. And can you provide example Debug IDs for opening the files, as requested there?

dstillman

(But skip the Reset File Sync History step, in this case, since you've done it recently.)

lokacee

Thank you. It seems everything is fine now.
Regards,