"Unable to Update" message from Zotero 5.0.21 stand-alone on Gentoo Linux

tgliou

Hi,

I keep getting messages via pop up window that:

"A recommended update is available, but you do not have permission to install it. To update automatically, modify the Zotero program directory to be writeable by your use account."

I run Zotero 5.0.21 with LibreOffice and with a connector to Firefox under Gentoo Linux, but I installed it using the script on github found at: https://github.com/smathot/zotero_installer.

As root, I run the lines:

wget https://raw.github.com/smathot/zotero_installer/master/zotero_installer.sh -O /tmp/zotero_installer.sh
chmod +x /tmp/zotero_installer.sh
/tmp/zotero_installer.sh

The script asks what version I would like to install and whether I want global or local installation. I currently specify 5.0.21 and specify global installation. The installation goes without problem, and Zotero works perfectly. (I installed the connector to Firefox manually.)

However, I'm mildly worried about the message because I think I have the most current version installed, and I wonder if I'm doing something that frustrates the software version check? If this problem won't lead to anything more serious than needing to ignore the warning, then I'm fine.

The whole system continues to work amazingly well for papers, grants, etc otherwise. So thank you for all the ongoing efforts to maintain and improve.

Ted

tgliou

Just to be complete.

I usually run as a user. Zotero is installed in /opt/zotero which has the permissions drwxrwxr-x but the Owner of the directory is my user account, not root, so the solution suggested by the warning is already in place (I think).

dstillman

Make sure all files and folders within the program directory are owned and writable by you, not just the directory itself.

adamsmith

But there shouldn't be a recommended update, should there be?

dstillman

No, but it might check permissions before checking (and there will be one today).

tgliou

Just ran down the /opt/zotero tree. All files and directories are owned by me. Permissions change depending on the files, but I tried to open various with restrictive permissions as the user (not root), and I was able to see contents in emacs.

The program directory seems to be /opt/zotero/ itself. Subdirectories include: extensions, defaults, components, chrome, icons, gtk2, gmp-clearkey, fonts, dictionaries. A sampling of files from within those directories were readable into emacs by me as user.

Listed permissions seem all to include write, but I issued the command (as root this time):

chmod -R u+w *

I'll update if the error message reappears or if it goes away (after a day or two).

Thank you.

tgliou

After additional thought, I issued the command:

chown liou -R *

as root just to make sure that I wasn't missing something when I scanned the file permissions and ownership by eye in my file manager.

tgliou

It's been a couple of days, and the warning has reappeared despite doing the steps above. I reinstalled zotero 5.0.22 this morning using the method also above with one refinement: I also ran chgrp liou -R zotero in /opt/. We'll see if I continue to get the warning, but in the meantime, zotero continues to work just fine.

tgliou

OK, it's been even longer. Zotero is now updating itself, after politely asking. The changes above were successful!