Upgrade StorageCan't sync, can't delete, can't start over.
I understand the 1.5b2 that's driving me crazy is beta, but I’m in it for the sync or not at all. I reckoned on going slow & safe, becoming expert before becoming dependent.
Setup: Zotero 1.5b2, Intel iMac, OS 10.5.6, Firefox 3.0.8. Only 58 records, maybe half with attached PDFs. No idea if I have long tags or not.
Because it’s beta, I read lots of background info on the site. The basic sync doc at www.zotero.org/support/sync is thin with no clear steps delineated, so I tried using the steps at ../support/using_a_folder_synchronization_service instead. Big mistake. Everything slowed down by a factor of maybe 100. Firefox restart with saved windows & tabs took 5, maybe 10 minutes. Reread the doc, managed to infer there are 2 KINDS of sync, one via the preferences Sync tab, one via Advanced.
Reset Prefs>Advanced>Storage location to ‘Use Firefox profile directory’ and everything sped up again. But why can’t I delete the WebDAV directory specs? Later.
At Prefs>Advanced>Storage location, I had to create a self-named folder (ZoteroLibrary) and then browse to it to select it. The regular method, at Prefs>Sync, required a folder named “zotero” (which I eventually realized I also had to create) and it required that I type in the rest of the WebDAV URL, in my case at MobileMe, plus my username and PW. Server verified (but why a yellow triangle?), so I clicked ‘Enable file syncing’.
I might have been here, or might have been earlier at the “folder sync” that I got half way through a sync, judging by the progress bar, before I canceled for the night, thinking to pick it up again the next day.
Picking it up again? Impossible. Clicked the green spinner, let it run for hours, and nothing budged on the progress bar. Tried multiple times. Looked in the zotero folder. Bunches of Unix executable files, paired or grouped with other extensions I didn’t recognize. Nothing like the files in my Firefox library, or in the old mis-synced ZoteroLibrary folder. Deleted them and tried again. Nothing. ‘zotero’ remained empty.
Twice tried Pref>Sync>Reset>Restore to Zotero server. Message claimed success, but nothing changed. Twice tried GearMenu>Reset Storage History. No message, no effect.
Alright, so be it. I somehow screwed things up from the start, either by the folder sync method or by interrupting the sync. I’ll just delete everything on the server and start over.
BUT NO!!! Try to rename ‘zotero’ or ‘ZoteroLibrary’ and the changes are rejected as in use. Quit Firefox, ‘zotero’ is renamable, but not ‘ZoteroLibrary’. Quit everything else, no change. So reboot. ‘ZoteroLibrary’ is still in use, even after reboot! Won’t rename and WON’T DELETE!
So:
1. Multiple forum and blog discussions, where the confused mumble and the gurus speak jargon, cannot substitute for clear, complete, explicit instructions. Yours are clear, but neither complete nor explicit. Hire an English major.
2. Is there some obvious place where I derailed? Is there a recognizable, or at least plausible remedy I missed somewhere in the forums? Any diagnoses or suggestions?
3. Gimme back my iDisk!!! How do I delete this @#!$!% folder ?!?!?!?
Zotero looks like, should be, and I expect will be a miracle when it is a finished work. If this is the learning curve, though, with a new problem around every corner, maybe I should just uninstall and wait until 1.5 comes out of beta.
BTW, I originally posted this in the Troubleshooting, then brought it over when I realized all the action on Sync was here in 1.5 Beta. Sorry for the cross-posting.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Tom
Setup: Zotero 1.5b2, Intel iMac, OS 10.5.6, Firefox 3.0.8. Only 58 records, maybe half with attached PDFs. No idea if I have long tags or not.
Because it’s beta, I read lots of background info on the site. The basic sync doc at www.zotero.org/support/sync is thin with no clear steps delineated, so I tried using the steps at ../support/using_a_folder_synchronization_service instead. Big mistake. Everything slowed down by a factor of maybe 100. Firefox restart with saved windows & tabs took 5, maybe 10 minutes. Reread the doc, managed to infer there are 2 KINDS of sync, one via the preferences Sync tab, one via Advanced.
Reset Prefs>Advanced>Storage location to ‘Use Firefox profile directory’ and everything sped up again. But why can’t I delete the WebDAV directory specs? Later.
At Prefs>Advanced>Storage location, I had to create a self-named folder (ZoteroLibrary) and then browse to it to select it. The regular method, at Prefs>Sync, required a folder named “zotero” (which I eventually realized I also had to create) and it required that I type in the rest of the WebDAV URL, in my case at MobileMe, plus my username and PW. Server verified (but why a yellow triangle?), so I clicked ‘Enable file syncing’.
I might have been here, or might have been earlier at the “folder sync” that I got half way through a sync, judging by the progress bar, before I canceled for the night, thinking to pick it up again the next day.
Picking it up again? Impossible. Clicked the green spinner, let it run for hours, and nothing budged on the progress bar. Tried multiple times. Looked in the zotero folder. Bunches of Unix executable files, paired or grouped with other extensions I didn’t recognize. Nothing like the files in my Firefox library, or in the old mis-synced ZoteroLibrary folder. Deleted them and tried again. Nothing. ‘zotero’ remained empty.
Twice tried Pref>Sync>Reset>Restore to Zotero server. Message claimed success, but nothing changed. Twice tried GearMenu>Reset Storage History. No message, no effect.
Alright, so be it. I somehow screwed things up from the start, either by the folder sync method or by interrupting the sync. I’ll just delete everything on the server and start over.
BUT NO!!! Try to rename ‘zotero’ or ‘ZoteroLibrary’ and the changes are rejected as in use. Quit Firefox, ‘zotero’ is renamable, but not ‘ZoteroLibrary’. Quit everything else, no change. So reboot. ‘ZoteroLibrary’ is still in use, even after reboot! Won’t rename and WON’T DELETE!
So:
1. Multiple forum and blog discussions, where the confused mumble and the gurus speak jargon, cannot substitute for clear, complete, explicit instructions. Yours are clear, but neither complete nor explicit. Hire an English major.
2. Is there some obvious place where I derailed? Is there a recognizable, or at least plausible remedy I missed somewhere in the forums? Any diagnoses or suggestions?
3. Gimme back my iDisk!!! How do I delete this @#!$!% folder ?!?!?!?
Zotero looks like, should be, and I expect will be a miracle when it is a finished work. If this is the learning curve, though, with a new problem around every corner, maybe I should just uninstall and wait until 1.5 comes out of beta.
BTW, I originally posted this in the Troubleshooting, then brought it over when I realized all the action on Sync was here in 1.5 Beta. Sorry for the cross-posting.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Tom
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noksagtThis should be easy enough to check visually in the tag selector, especially for so few references. Seems unrelated to your current dilemma, though Please specify how you found it lacking; it points out that you create an account (which you've obviously figured out how to do) & then you put your username/password in the appropriate zotero setting. Did you try to do this? Note that this third-party sync has nothing to do with the 1.5 beta. You could use it with the stable release if you were so-inclined. Why do you think that everything slowed down? Were you trying to use a network drive? Was the third-party sync tool active when you were running? There is no sync in the advanced tab. You can customize the location of your database, but this setting has nothing to do with syncing (either Zotero's built-in syncing or through use of a third-party tool). It is possible (though almost certainly not desirable) to customize the location to a network drive. Did you do this? Do you mean a folder on the WebDAV sever? Zoteor should prompt you whether you want it to create it; you shouldn't have to do it manually. (The built-in syncing does not require your local storage location to be anything in particular. Zotero will create your local storage directory on installation.) Yes, I guess this alert box should be changed. In your firefox profile or on your WebDAV server? If the former, the directory layout should be simple & is described in the documentation. If the latter, you should see .zip and .prop files. This does not impact the storage on your WebDAV server; only the database sync to zotero.org. So you are renaming your local directories, rather than deleting your server directories? I do not think this is not specific to Zotero, but to your third-party syncing. If it is a local directory you are trying to delete, perhaps idisk is keeping it open? Turn off/stop idisk syncing in your system preferences. I understand your frustration, but I think that the documentation is fairly good (especially for a beta product). In any case, much is written by volunteers & can be amended easily. You can improve the documentation yourself, or at least try to be specific and constructive with your criticism.