Neither Zotero for Firefox plugin nor Zoter standalone work

GiovanniS

Hello,
I current problems starting either Zotero for Firefox plugin or Zoter standalone. I would like to know how to solve the problem.
I thank you in advance.

adomasven

We will need more information to be able to help. See here https://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_problems

GiovanniS

I tried to follow the reporting startup errors but I could not find any errors. I have the screenshot of the error but I do not know how to update it.

adamsmith

upload screenshot to a free image hosting site (dropbox, imgur.com) and link to it from here.

GiovanniS

https://drive.switch.ch/index.php/s/Vc4KA2q5w2rjStJ

adomasven

It's a bit of a difficult error. It is always recommended to restart the computer if you haven't yet, but otherwise, we'd need to see startup real-time debug output.

If you follow the instructions on this page https://www.zotero.org/support/debug_output
and email the output to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread, we can take a look.

dstillman

NS_ERROR_FILE_NO_DEVICE_SPACE

This error is from something else in Firefox, but it suggests that you're out of space on your hard drive. I'd start by checking that.

GiovanniS

I checked the HD and there is still space.

dstillman

You're actually getting a whole bunch of different disk-related errors. If you're sure there's space (how much?), it could be due to security software on your system interfering with Zotero/Firefox's disk access or having your Zotero data directory on a network share or within a server-mirrored home directory.

GiovanniS

I have almost 200 Gbyte of available space. However I am not the administrator of this computer since it belongs to the university. I do not know if this can cause the problem.

dstillman

Not being an administrator shouldn't be a problem, but the other things I list could be.

I'm going off the other non-Zotero-related errors in your error report — of which there are a lot — but I realized you also didn't actually provide real-time debug output in your email. You should see a lot more output. Can you try again, from either Standalone or Firefox? You should see lines like "Using data directory […]".

dstillman

zotero(3)(+0000004): [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80520010 (NS_ERROR_FILE_NO_DEVICE_SPACE) [mozIStorageConnection.executeSimpleSQL]" nsresult: "0x80520010 (NS_ERROR_FILE_NO_DEVICE_SPACE)" location: "JS frame :: chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/db.js :: Zotero.DBConnection.prototype.query :: line 149" data: no] [QUERY: DELETE FROM itemTypesCombined] [ERROR: database or disk is full]

OK, that same error is definitely what's affecting Zotero too.

zotero(3)(+0000000): Using data directory \\files2\AppData\[...]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\[...]\zotero debug.js:100

You have your Zotero data directory (or your Windows AppData directory, more accurately) on a network share. Assuming that share isn't out of space, you'll need to move the Zotero data directory to a local drive and point Zotero there from the Advanced → Files and Folders pane of the Zotero preferences. Network shares can break normal file operations that Firefox and Zotero depend on.

GiovanniS

Is the zotero data directory the folder where all the papers are saved? Or the folder where information about my account are? I have just noticed that in my case these two folders are not in the same place; moreover the folder with the papers is inside my cloud folder.

adamsmith

Is the zotero data directory the folder where all the papers are saved?

yes; and having that on a network drive can (depending on the exact setup, but very frequently) cause issues.

GiovanniS

I am trying to change the position of that folder. The procedure that I do is:
-move that folder in another position
-start firefox-plugin-zotero-option-advanced-files and folder-data directory location-custom-> here I put the new position.
-firefox asked to be restarted
-I do it but when I go to check the data directory folder, it is not in the custom path.

adamsmith

I do it but when I go to check the data directory folder, it is not in the custom path.

meaning when you go back into the Zotero preferences, they point to the old folder or say default?

GiovanniS

I meant that after restarting firefox the data directory folder is set to "use profile directory folder" and the custom field is empty. If I click on "show data folder" it always shows the old path.

GiovanniS

I managed to solve the problem. I needed to uninstall zotero for firefox and standalone. Since I could not install again zotero for firefox, I needed to remove the zotero profile folder from the folder of firefox. Then I installed again zotero for firefox, I set the right path for the data direcotory folder an d executed the login. I checked if it was working and it was, thus I installed again Zotero standalone and repeated the same procedure for the folder. Also for the standalone version there are no problems. I thank you for your help!