"Server did not accept username and password" shows every time

MattM

Hi,

Recently, the Zotero Firefox plugin on one of my computers started complaining every time I start Firefox that "The Zotero sync server did not accept your username and password.". I then have to go into the sync preferences and enter my password. It works fine until I re-start Firefox.

I've been using Zotero for a long time and this has not happened before. I recently added a second profile to my Firefox -- could the issue be related to that?

I'm using Zotero 4.0.29.10 and Firefox 47.0.

Thanks,
Matt

dstillman

Probably either you're using a master password in Firefox or there's a problem with your Firefox login manager database. You can try closing Firefox and removing signons.sqlite from your Firefox profile directory. (This will also clear your saved Firefox passwords, but those might be broken as well.)

MattM

I tried this, but it doesn't solve the problem. Maybe this is because I'm using LastPass as a password manager. I have the problem on two different computers now.

dstillman

If you have a LastPass extension installed, you should certainly try with it (and other extensions) disabled.

But Zotero uses the same mechanism as saved passwords in Firefox. So test if you can save a password for a website, restart Firefox, and then have Firefox auto-fill that password (all without using LastPass).

MattM

Well, I'm using a password manager because I do not want to save passwords in Firefox. Can Zotero not handle this situation? Can I set up Zotero so that it stores the password itself, rather than relying on the Firefox password manager?

dstillman

No, Zotero uses the Firefox password manager like any other responsible Firefox extension — that's the only semi-secure place we have access to.

But to be clear, disabling other extensions and entering a password for a site into Firefox is just a troubleshooting step to see if something is interfering with the Firefox password manager.

MattM

I'm pretty sure the issue is that I use a password manager plugin (LastPass) that replaces the Firefox password manager. It would be great if Zotero were made compatible with LastPass or at least if an option were provided to make Zotero not rely on the Firefox password manager. Perhaps it shouldn't be the default, but I'd be fine with a less secure solution if it meant that I can use Zotero without having to enter the password every single time.

dstillman

I'd recommend just switching to Zotero Standalone if this is an issue for you. The full Firefox version is going away soon anyway for technical reasons. (There'll still be a Firefox connector, as there is for Chrome and Safari, but Zotero Standalone will do the syncing.)

pat05gle15

I have a similar problem except I can log in fine on Firefox and on the Zotero web site; but I get the same message as MattM when I try to log into Zotero Standalone. Really don't want to keep changing passwords. What's going on? How can I fix this? Thanks