Help! I cant synch my group folder contents on a new laptop!

meglovejoy

I had my laptop stolen and am trying to recreate and synch up a zotero group folder on my new laptop, but its not working. The group folder has about 800 items and is key to a book project, so its urgent. I am working on a PC using the latest version of zotero (downloaded today 9/23/16). I can see the items in my group library on the cloud but I cant get it to synch to my new laptop. I signed in under preferences/synch and then pressed the green synch button and I get the following message:

The file XXXX cannot be created. Check that the file is not currently in use, that its
permissions allow write access, and that it has a valid filename. Restarting your
computer or disabling security software may also help.
I tried restarting my computer and that didnt work. I am the "owner" of the group folder. Anyone have any suggestions?
ML

dstillman

Can you provide a Report ID?

But generally speaking there's not much we can suggest beyond what the error message says — those are the known causes of this. If you need a quick workaround, you can identify the item in question (if you're having trouble with that, provide a Debug ID for a sync attempt and we can look), delete the attachment, and empty the trash.

meglovejoy

Thanks for your response Dan. Here is the Report ID:
1531016093
I went back to re-confirm that number and repeated the action and got a new Report ID as follows:
1424182141

dstillman

There are no relevant errors in there, but you're running McAfee WebAdvisor. Did you try disabling that, as the error message suggests? That's the most likely problem. If Zotero (via Firefox) can't save files to the disk, file syncing won't work.

meglovejoy

I just turned of the McAffee firewall protection including web advisor and tried again. I got the same error message.

The other suggestions in the message don't seem relevant as follows: 1) I assume since I am the owner I DO have the permissions that allow write access; 2) the file is only very infrequently used my another user so I assume that is not the problem; 3) not sure what they mean by a "valid file name", but none of the file names have changed since the last time I successfully used the group library.

Any other suggestions?
Thanks!
Meg

dstillman

Can you provide a Debug ID for a sync attempt that produces the error?

Also, to be clear, this is a file sync error, but Zotero syncs data first, so you should see all the data in your libraries regardless — this just might prevent some files from being accessible.

meglovejoy

Here is the debug ID

Debug ID is D1233771709.
I didn't understand you last point. I do see all the data in my library online it is just not syncing to my computer, and so I cannot cite while I write.

dstillman

With the above error, your library data itself should be syncing — Zotero syncs all data before it syncs files. You just wouldn't be able to open attached files, which have no effect on the word processor plugins. What do you see when you click on My Library or the group library?

In any case, the file in question is a .js file from a web snapshot, so this is almost certainly still because of security software on your system that thinks that file is dangerous. There may be other files affected as well, but as a quick workaround for this one you can paste "QF8NRVVM" into the search bar in All Fields & Tags mode (you may have to check multiple libraries), delete the attachment that shows up, and empty the trash for that library.

meglovejoy

when i type that code in the all fields and tags window, nothing shows up. But the problem is not just with a single file. My whole group folder is not showing up on my laptop. Its as if my computer cannot find this folder even when it is appearing in zotero online. Is there anyway I can talk to someone by phone about this. This is a very piecemeal way of communicating.

dstillman

If you're not seeing your group libraries then the error you reported above wouldn't be the cause — groups are synced immediately before any other data is transferred.

Are you sure you don't just have "Group Libraries" collapsed in the left-hand pane?

dstillman

To clarify, if you're getting that error about that file, your group library already exists on your computer, so you're just not seeing it for some reason. Restart Firefox, look for Group Libraries in the left-hand pane, make sure it's expanded, and you should see the group.

If you don't, check your database integrity from the Advanced → Files and Folders pane of the Zotero preferences. If that doesn't find anything, take a screenshot of your Zotero collections pane, upload it somewhere (e.g., Dropbox), and provide a link here, and we'll try to figure out what you're seeing.

meglovejoy

Hi Dan, I feel a little silly. I clicked on the arrow next to group folders and the missing folder appeared. I was expecting it to show up automatically and didnt realize what that arrow was. In any case my library does seem to be there now. But that red exclamation mark still pops up every time I synch. Why would it be doing that? Are there any other problems I should know about?

dstillman

OK, good.

The error is the file sync error we've been discussing. Fully disabling any security software would quite likely fix it, but now that you can see the items in the library, you can follow my workaround above, at least for that file.