Firefox crashes when importing library

grzes
Hi everyone,

I just got a new Computer (changed from a Mac to a PC). I´m now trying to import my zotero database, but whenever I do so, Firefox crashed a after restarting there`s only a small amount of the entire library imported. I tried the same with another PC but it's the same ...

What can I do about that?
Thanks for helping

Greg
  • dstillman
    Do you mean "crashed" or just (seemingly) frozen? If frozen, it's actually still importing—the progress indicator just isn't moving.
  • grzes
    I'm actually not sure. Windows says that firefox "doesnt react" (working with a german system not sure, what an englisch windows version would say) the only solution is to shut down firefox and start it ones again. The progress indicator is frozen after 1 or 2 secounds!
    i waited this time quite long (4 minutes ...) with the shut down in order to try out if it import the entire library but it doesnt. there was more import (approx 1/3 of it) but thats still a lot to go.
    Any ideas what to do?
  • dstillman
    It most likely was still importing. For a large library, you might try letting it go overnight, or at least for a few hours.

    Imports will be dramatically faster in the next release.
  • noksagt
    Yes--firefox can become unresponsive when importing. That doesn't mean anything crashed & you probably killed it about 1/3 of the way through the import. Have a bit more patience when importing larger files. For very large files, some have had to wait overnight.

    If you can't be more patient or let it run when you're away & are comfortable editing the file, break it into smaller chunks.

    (I suppose a RFE might be to specify which records to import from large files (though it might or might not actually be needed with the improvements that have been coming to import efficiency).)

    Lastly, you might be able to just move your sqlite file over from your old installation. I've played a bit in the past with cross-platform sharing of the database, but not for very long & I don't know what problems to expect.
  • grzes
    It worked overnight. I never really considered my library to be that huge ;)

    so thanks a lot, looking forward to the next release and the import-improvement,

    Greg
  • dpgetman
    I have been trying to move a 3,500 file library from Scribe to Zotero. Having failed a few times, I limited my Scribe export to a few hundred files and successfully imported them into Zotero. However, when I tried to export and then import about 1,000 files at a time, Firefox just crashed. Any advice on exporting and importing large libraries from Scribe to Zotero (newest version). Thanks, David
  • erazlogo
    How exactly does Firefox crash in your case? It takes a long time to import a large file so it may look like Firefox froze, but in fact the import is going on fine.
  • dpgetman
    Two things have happened. First, the import just stopped after about 15 minutes, the dated import file folder remained under my library, but with no files in it at all, only a message in the window that said an error had occurred. Second, Firefox gave me a message that Firefox had crashed and allowed me to send in a report to Mozilla.
  • erazlogo
    There must be a problem with one of your records then. Can you try this:

    In rare cases, your export may contain control characters that are invalid in XML files. One solution to this problem is to delete them after export: use search-and-replace feature in Oxygen, Zap Gremlins feature in BBedit, or use any other text editor that deletes XML-invalid control characters.
  • darrask
    I have a similar problem:
    When importing a Zotero-generated RDF library with >10 000 References inside (23 Mb, no files inside), Firefox crashes after 5 minutes with the following message from Microsoft Visual C++:
    "Runtime error"
    picture here:
    http://i50.tinypic.com/w8419z.png

    I have 2 Gb RAM and 2.5 Gb of virtual memory, run on Vista SP2.

    Any workaround?
    I'd like to say that having Zotero being able to export big libraries is pretty convenient but makes no sense if you can't import them.
  • dstillman
    darrask: Have you tried immediately after restarting your system, with all other programs closed (and other Firefox extensions disabled)?
  • darrask
    Yes, I (re)tried, it's the same. Do you want to try on your system? I can upload the file to an FTP server.
  • dstillman
    I'd be happy to try. You can upload it somewhere and e-mail support@zot....org with a link to this thread and the file.
  • dstillman
    Takes a while, but it works for me—but, then, I'm on OS X and have 8GB of RAM, so that's not too surprising. On my system Firefox takes up 1.5GB of RAM during the import.

    In future versions of Zotero we'll see if we can reduce the memory footprint during large imports, but in the meantime you probably won't have much success without more RAM.
  • darrask
    OK, thanks that you tried. I actually tried increasing virtual memory without success up to 4 Gb.
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