Zotero library not opening

CC007

I recently had to move my zotero database to a network drive. I had some problems with the move, but have since reverted to a backed up version of the database in order to overcome the problem of corrupt files. This intially worked fine on the network drive.

2 days later, having been away from the network, zotero is no longer finding my zotero database. When I first tried to open, I got some error messages about zotero not opening properly and "zotero was launched but is not accessible - restart".

I have checked in both firefox and in standalone that the file path is correct. And have also reset the filepath and restarted / rebooted everything. However, I am still getting an empty directory.

Does zotero not work on a networked drive? I am trying to get admin privileges for my C drive - will this solve the problem? And do these error messages suggest that the zotero files have been corrupted in my current database?

adamsmith

I'd generally stay away from using Zotero on Network drives. If the Network drive is accessible from multiple computers, then indeed you're likely to see corruption and database lock issues. This sounds like what's going on in your case. If it's just used from one computer, there still may be issues with having the network drive mount in time leading to weirdness..

For the current issue, check your Zotero data folder and list all the files that have sqlite in the filename and their respective sizes in MB, we should be able to tell you more with that info.

CC007

I was trying to access from the same computer but off the network, and I think that is what caused the problem.

I have sorted a fix for myself by copying a previous version of the zotero directory (before the problems started) onto my newly accessible C drive, and this now seems to be working. Decided on the cautious approach.

Would it be a good idea to publicise on the website that users shouldn't use network drives? It would have been useful particularly when liaising with my IT dept who demanded that I put it on there! Sorry if I've missed it somewhere :/

aurimas

The explanation is quite simple, really. When you were away from the network drive and were trying to open Zotero, it couldn't access the data directory, so it reverted back to the default. When you got back to the network drive, you could have pointed it again to the original location, which should have worked (though what adamsmith said above still applies and it's not a good idea and we don't generally support this kind of setup). We should probably include a warning about this in the documentation as you suggest. Which directions were you following?

CC007

Thanks for that. I don't think it was that simple though. I have access to the network drive (albeit the latest version which is not syncing to the network) when I am away from the network. And I did try repointing to the correct drive when I got back on the network, and it refused to find it even after restarting, rebooting etc. I think something must corrupt the zotero files? Which has in turn meant that I have had to revert to backup versions to deal with it.

I think I've read most of the zotero website now! But specifically looking at pages on storage, and moving storage. A similar issue applies to syncing to the zotero server. My insitutional setup seems to cause conflict with the syncing, so it means I have to store locally, which isn't a big problem, but would have saved a lot of time if I'd known about potential syncing and network problems from the start.

Thanks for considering this. The forum support is the reason I have stuck with zotero when it is unsupported by my university. Always timely and helpful.

aurimas

I think something must corrupt the zotero files?

It's possible (for a setup involving a network drive). Check the Zotero data directory for a zotero.sqlite.corrupted (you can also take a screenshot of the directory, upload it somewhere, and post it here). Try using https://www.zotero.org/utils/dbfix/ to fix that file if you find it. (Post the upload ID here)