Debug ID D1658855980 - Problems in a large file

livvyswann
Hello,

I am (almost) at the end of my 300 page PhD thesis and Zotero has been faultless up until now. I have ~400 references and I have been working in one single file to avoid formatting issues. I am using Word 2013 and the Frirefox plugin.

However, now when I try and add a new reference, Zotero freezes and the green "thinking" bar continues to flash without adding the citation to the document.

I have closed / restarted / updated everything

Opening a new document and adding citations using Zotero works perfectly, so it is just this large document.

I can see that this has been an issue for others. I am very close to finishing this work and I would really like to avoid having to create multiple new documents. I would be very grateful for any advice.

Many thanks,
Livvy
  • adomasven
    You are on Zotero 5.0.35. The next version introduces a significant speedup of the citing plugin if you disable automatic citation updates. You will still have to perform the final citation update which will take a long time, but it will allow you to work on the manuscript in the same document without having to split it up into multiple files. You should update to the latest version of Zotero, which currently is 5.0.43
  • livvyswann
    Thank you very much, this is really helpful. I looks to me like I am already running 5.0.43, is this not the case? I have just tried disabling "Automatically update citations" and it has not made a difference. Should I uninstall and reinstall?

    Thank you again, hugely appreciated.
  • livvyswann
    The Word standalone plugin is 5.0.43 but my Firefox connector is 5.0.35, might that be the problem?
  • livvyswann
    I would be grateful for any more help on this - I have uninstalled and reinstalled both the Firefox connector and the standalone plugin for Word with the latest versions and disabled the automatic updates and this has made no difference.

  • livvyswann
    The debug ID for the situation I am now in is 406153974
  • adomasven
    Oh, sorry, on a quick glance I didn't realize the ID you had submitted was from the Connector and not Zotero. Could you produce a Debug ID from Zotero?

    1. In the Help menu, go to Debug Output Logging and select Enable.
    2. With automatic citation updates disabled attempt to add a citation to the document in a way that produces the infinitely processing bug.
    3. In Zotero return to Help → Debug Output Logging and click Submit Output, which will disable logging and submit the output to zotero.org. A window should pop up containing a Debug ID. Click “Copy to Clipboard” and paste the Debug ID into this forum thread.
  • livvyswann
    Thanks for your help. That is what I have just done and the updated Debug ID is 406153974
  • livvyswann
    Apologies, that is another connector ID, one moment ...
  • livvyswann
    I am now completely unable to add a citation. When I click add / edit citation, no text box appears.

    This is the debug ID from the Word plugin
    D452920359

    Thank you
  • adomasven
    edited April 4, 2018
    Sorry, seems like we introduced a bug that makes the initial citation after restarting Zotero very slow in a recent update. We will fix this soon, but in the meantime you may download the earlier 5.0.41 version that does not have the bug.
  • livvyswann
    Thank you so much for your help. I will try that and get back to you if things still aren't right.

    Very best wishes,
    Livvy
  • adomasven
    Actually, it would be very helpful if you installed the Zotero beta where we have released a potential fix for this and see whether it works well for you.
  • livvyswann
    OK. I now have the Word plugin 5.0.41 and the connector 5.0.36Beta5

    Disabling the automatic updates, the Add/ Edit citation button in Word still appears non-functional in my large document, but works fine in a new document.

    Is there anything else you think I can try or do I just need to wait for the bug to be fixed?
  • livvyswann
    Ah ha! Actually, if clicking the add / edit citation button does bring up a text box after two minutes and I can now add a new citation (still very slow but much better).

    As you suggested, adding the next citation after this was quicker again, so hopefully this will work for now.

    Thank you
  • adomasven
    I meant the Zotero Client (not the connector) Beta above. It would still be very helpful if you installed the Zotero Beta and tested whether you still get a slow first insert.
  • livvyswann
    OK. Now running 5.044-beta4+ac180c232.
    Unfortunately, now back to no response from the add / edit citation button after waiting 10 minutes.

    Should I just go back to the 5.0.41?
  • adomasven
    Before going back to 5.0.41 could you produce another Debug ID from the Zotero Beta?

    1. Restart Zotero (this is important!)
    2. In the Help menu, go to Debug Output Logging and select Enable.
    3. Attempt to insert a citation and wait for a couple of minutes.
    3. In Zotero return to Help → Debug Output Logging and click Submit Output, which will disable logging and submit the output to zotero.org. A window should pop up containing a Debug ID. Click “Copy to Clipboard” and paste the Debug ID into this forum thread.
  • livvyswann
    D2054915696

  • livvyswann
    That was after waiting 3-4 minutes
  • livvyswann
    Is that OK? Should I go back to 5.0.41?
  • adomasven
    edited April 4, 2018
    It seems that you did not capture the beginning of the action (which is crucial). You should do this in exactly the order described above. First restart Zotero, then, before interacting with Word, enable Debug Logging and only then attempt to insert a citation.

    Could you please submit another Debug ID?
  • livvyswann
    OK
  • livvyswann
    Ok, this is the new ID following instructions above:

    D1397702035
  • adomasven
    I am so sorry Livvy, but it seems that there was an active Zotero sync running while you were creating this Debug ID and the important information in the log got truncated. Could you ensure that there is no active sync happening in Zotero while producing this Debug ID? You might need to disable automatic syncing in the Zotero preferences and restart (which you should do anyway). Could you produce another Debug ID?
  • livvyswann
    I have just re-installed the other version and restarted my computer, how crucial is it that I do this? I really need to get some writing done.
  • livvyswann
    Version 5.0.41 is now working fine with the automatic updates turned off. I will try adn reinstall the beta version at a later point and do another debug ID, is that OK?
  • adomasven
    That is fine. We want to make sure that we fix this bug for good in the future, which is why we need a Debug ID from someone experiencing issues with the current Beta.
  • livvyswann
    Great, thanks I will do as soon as I can.
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