Zotero doesn't open any longer

tmohnike
After a long time without any problems and only pleasure of fine work, my Zotero-stand-alone on MacBook High Sierra does not open any longer but tells me :

Error: Error(s) encountered during statement execution: disk I/O error [QUERY: SELECT ROWID AS id, libraryID, key FROM items] [PARAMS: ] [ERROR: disk I/O error]
Zotero.DBConnection.prototype.queryAsync<@chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/db.js:703:10
From previous event:
ZoteroService@file:///Applications/Zotero.app/Contents/Resources/components/zotero-service.js:347:4
@chrome://zotero/content/include.js:4:14

I tried to install zotero anew, same result.

Can anybody help me?

Thanks!
  • adamsmith
    a disk I/O error typically indicates a problem with your harddisk. Do you have the Zotero data directory in a custom location?
  • tmohnike
    Yes, and, as far as I know, I have not changed anything lately. I've checked the preferences in Zotero (that I can open while the error message is shown), and everything seems to be in the default mode...
  • adamsmith
    Sorry, that's contradictory -- is the data directory in a custom location or is everything in default? If you have it in a custom location, where is that (e.g. external HD, network drive, Dropbox folder)?
  • tmohnike
    Sorry, I'm not an English native... To say it as clearly as I can: Some months ago, I installed zotero on my computer with everything in default. Did not change anything, everything went well. Since yesterday or so, it does not. I have not consciously changed anything on my computer except of some microsoft office updates.
  • adamsmith
    Maybe obvious question, but you've tried just restarting your computer?
  • tmohnike
    yes. Didn't help. Perhaps I try to uninstall zotero completely with all files and then reinstall it with import from the database from the web.
  • bwiernik
    No, that probably won't be necessary. Let's wait for @dstillman to see if he can help.
  • dstillman
    If possible, can you provide a Debug ID for Zotero startup using the "Restart with Logging Enabled…" option?
  • tmohnike
    Where can I find the option ? When I start Zotero, I have only access to the menu point zotero with the options About Zotero, Preferences, Services etc, Quit Zotero. No access to the help function as described under the link "Debug ID" you provided.
  • dstillman
    OK, alternative instructions here if you can't access the menu:

    https://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_problems#reporting_startup_errors
  • tmohnike
    I could not copy from the window generated by Applications/Zotero.app/Contents/MacOS/zotero -ZoteroDebug

    so I used :
    prt-19105:~ tmohnike$ /Applications/Zotero.app/Contents/MacOS/zotero -jsconsole
    giving
    JavaScript warning: resource://gre/modules/commonjs/toolkit/loader.js -> resource://zotero/bluebird/util.js, line 201: unreachable code after return statement

    the Error console does not allow me to copy-paste, but states the same sentence, adding eval (obj);

    And than comes the error message already quoted :
    Error(s) encountered during statement execution: disk I/O error [QUERY: SELECT ROWID AS id, libraryID, key FROM items] [PARAMS: ] [ERROR: disk I/O error]
    Source file : chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/db.js line 703

    Does this help you?
  • dstillman
    You can use -ZoteroDebugText to log to the terminal, and then email that to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread.
  • tmohnike
    Done! thanks!
  • tmohnike
    Hello, I wonder if you have found the solution. I tried to reinstall zotero, without success... Best,
  • dstillman
    We never received anything. You might need to ZIP the text file first to keep it small enough.
  • dstillman
    Hmm, so that looks alarmingly like actual disk drive damage (or file corruption, but that usually shows a different error).

    I would make a copy of the zotero.sqlite* files in your Zotero data directory, and then try scanning your disk for errors in Disk Utility. Whether or not that finds errors, you should then upload your database to the DB Repair Tool to see if it finds errors. (It will tell you if it did, and repair them if possible. If it doesn't say it found errors, you can ignore the DB copy it produces.)
  • tmohnike
    thanks a lot! Its quite a new hard disk...
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