Not finding attached files

caobao

I am having a recurring problem, which I cannot seem to find a fix for: Zotero for Firefox (both on my Mac and on my PC) can't find my attachments, telling me they've likely been moved. However, if I copy-paste the name of a missing PDF into the search bar on my computer, it'll find the file in my Zotero folders. What can be the cause of this?

caobao

Ps. I am also getting an error code 443718672

adamsmith

could you paste the filepath of a file that you find via your computer's search here?

dstillman

Along with that, a Debug ID for an attempt to open the file from Zotero would be helpful.

caobao

Debug ID is D1979109660. What do you exactly mean by filepath?

caobao

By filepath do you mean something like: /Users/Caobao/Desktop/Gamle Firefox-data/rpenmotb-1.default/zotero/storage/ITT5DFXD ???

adamsmith

filepaths is where the file is on your OS, something like /user/caobao/files/pdfs on a Mac etc.

edit, so yes, that exactly. And the debug above is for trying to download that same file from Firefox?

caobao

The debug is from trying to open that very attached file in Zotero for Firefox.

adamsmith

great, that's what I meant, thanks. @Dan - can you take a look?

dstillman

Attachment file '/Users/Caobao/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/jxaqn0dw.default-1444071623591/zotero/storage/BUTZ9EI6/sdarticle-1.pdf' not found

OK, so it looks like your Firefox profile was reset. (What you're finding in the search, on your Desktop, isn't your active data directory.) You may have then synced Zotero down data from the server, but some or all of you files weren't synced back down (or were never synced up from before the reset). (You can compare the number of folders within 'storage' in your Zotero data directory to the 'storage' directory on your desktop.)

You'll likely want to move your old Zotero data back into your current data directory. Instructions here: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/restore_after_firefox_reset