Upgrade StorageStuck on 'applying updates'
Running into some trouble here. Attempted to begin inserting citations into a new document, and I am prompted with the 'error updating your document' window from Zotero. The first trouble shooting tip is to check if I have the latest version of Zotero. When I select to 'Check for updates' in Zotero app, a window pops up declaring it is 'applying update', but it never seems to actually do anything. I have tried both restarting the app, and restarting the computer. The current version of my app is 5.0.79. Is there indeed a new one that for some reason I am unable to update to? If so, any tips for how to do this? Thanks.
I'd just re-install Zotero (which is functionally the same as updating). This won't touch your existing database (though of course you'll always want to have an up-to-date backup)
1. By up-to-date backup do you mean to have my library synced with Zotero's cloud storage? I have done this, but a small yellow triangle with an '!' in it tells me that one of my group libraries has exceeded its space limit and can no longer update, but that the rest of the files will continue to sync to the server. There is no button from me to press that says 'okay', or 'resume' or anything, and the little green arrow has stopped spinning. I pressed it again, only to get the same notice a few minutes later. Does this mean it is finished apart from that one library? There is nothing to indicate that it has completed.
2. I've tried to also create a manual back up of my Zotero library, but my computer is telling me it will take over a day to copy over the 5gb of data in my storage. This doesn't seem right to me, and i wonder if it's something to do with my machine. I dont' really have time to investigate this, so I'm hoping the sync will do as a way of restoring my library.
3. When I reinstall, will Zotero automatically repopulate with my library as it is synced online, or will I need to prompt it to do so in some way? Does syncing include all PDFs, notes and tags that I've added to my items?
Thanks again, you folks are so incredibly helpful.
The point is just that, as a general rule, you should have a backup of all important data on your computer, including Zotero data. Syncing is not equivalent to a real backup of a program's data.
Ideally you would back up your entire hard drive in a regular, automated way — on a Mac you would use the built-in Time Machine for that — but if you're not doing that then you should at least regularly back up your Zotero data directory.
Is it a problem with my OS or with my current Zotero version ?
Over the years, this behavior has not changed for me, but it is really not a problem. If you see the unending "Applying Update" message in the Software Update window, just quit Zotero (when you're done with your work). When you restart Zotero, it will be updated.
This happens to me only if Zotero has already downloaded the update and is applying it. If you search for updates, and Zotero finds a new one, the update downloads and proceeds normally upon approving it.
Furthermore, often, but not always, I cannot quit Zotero, only force-quit. And sometimes - but not every time - each new launch of Zotero creates an additional icon of it in the dock. (I am on MacOS 11.1, and have installed the word processor plug-ins for LibreOffice and Word, and the extensions Zotfile, Scite, PubPeer, and Zotero Open Citations.)
If I delete and re-install Zotero, will I lose my preferences?
If that doesn't work, go to ~/Library/Caches/Zotero from Finder → Go → "Go to Folder…" and delete the "updates" folder, and then restart Zotero.
(This might happen if you run Zotero with a non-admin macOS account, which is fairly rare configuration we haven't done much testing on.) No. Reinstalling something into Applications on a Mac never affects your data.
An hour ago, to upgrade to Zotero 6, I asked to update. It got stuck on "Applying update" for an hour, which made me nervous. I found this thread, and was reassured that this might not be a big deal. So, I took your advice, quit Zotero, and relaunched. Bingo. Zotero 6 opened and is working. Thank you, Zotero community.