Upgrade StorageChanging directory problem
Hi,
After several years of using Zotero 4 (standalone), I have moved into a work situation where I need to work from two separate machines (my old machine and a new machine). I wanted to use the suggested method which is to use Zotero sync and then have a shared files folder (for pdfs etc.)
FYI old and new machines are both Debian based Linux distros.
To do so I installed Zotero 5 on my new machine and then, because sync was not supported for Zotero 4, updated to Zotero 5 on my old machine.
When I open Zotero 5 on my old machine it no longer points to my bibliography but at ~/.zotero/zotero/0dibinrk.default/zotero/
So I want it to point at my old data at, say, ~/Bib/zotero/. When I change the directory in preferences/advanced/files_and_folders/data_directory_location to my old bibliogaphy a pop up shows stating:
"Zotero must be restarted for the change to take effect.
Be sure to move files from your existing Zotero data directory to the new location before reopening Zotero."
Which gives me no option but to close zotero.
When I open it again, the directory location has not changed, with it till pointing to ~/.zotero/zotero/0dibinrk.default/zotero/
Moreover, whenever I open Zotero it behaves as though it is the first time I have ever opened it. I.e. it
1) Opens a brower tab pointing at "https://www.zotero.org/start"
2) It attempts to install openoffice plugins even if I have "installed them" when I had previously opened Zotero.
I am a bit stuck here. What should I do?
Thanks,
R.
After several years of using Zotero 4 (standalone), I have moved into a work situation where I need to work from two separate machines (my old machine and a new machine). I wanted to use the suggested method which is to use Zotero sync and then have a shared files folder (for pdfs etc.)
FYI old and new machines are both Debian based Linux distros.
To do so I installed Zotero 5 on my new machine and then, because sync was not supported for Zotero 4, updated to Zotero 5 on my old machine.
When I open Zotero 5 on my old machine it no longer points to my bibliography but at ~/.zotero/zotero/0dibinrk.default/zotero/
So I want it to point at my old data at, say, ~/Bib/zotero/. When I change the directory in preferences/advanced/files_and_folders/data_directory_location to my old bibliogaphy a pop up shows stating:
"Zotero must be restarted for the change to take effect.
Be sure to move files from your existing Zotero data directory to the new location before reopening Zotero."
Which gives me no option but to close zotero.
When I open it again, the directory location has not changed, with it till pointing to ~/.zotero/zotero/0dibinrk.default/zotero/
Moreover, whenever I open Zotero it behaves as though it is the first time I have ever opened it. I.e. it
1) Opens a brower tab pointing at "https://www.zotero.org/start"
2) It attempts to install openoffice plugins even if I have "installed them" when I had previously opened Zotero.
I am a bit stuck here. What should I do?
Thanks,
R.
A 'zotero' subdirectory within the profile directory is the default Zotero 4 data directory location, and, when it can, Zotero 5 automatically migrates the data directory to a new default location of ~/Zotero. And all the other things you're describing would happen if the preferences in the profile directory couldn't be written.
You could try just closing Zotero and renaming ~/.zotero to ~/.zotero-old. Hopefully, Zotero will then create a new profile directory and a new empty data directory at ~/Zotero, and you'll be able to update it to point at your custom location and delete ~/Zotero and ~/.zotero-old. If that doesn't work, something on your system is preventing Zotero from writing to the profile directory location. (You can also just try figuring out what that is — e.g., file permissions, security software — but if you don't mind losing a few settings then deleting it is probably the easiest option.)
No idea what would have prevented writing over ~/.zotero. No security software. Oh well.
Many thanks,
R.