Translators not working across wide swath of web pages

ValiantSkipper
I have gone through all the troubleshooting steps 1 - 10.

1. Check Known Translator Issues - checked.
2. Check your Zotero version - have 2.18
3. Have the latest version of Firefox. 6.0
4. Updated translators
5. If you see a Zotero icon ...none seen
6. Make sure your system clock is set to the correct time - checked.
7. Using Firefox 6.0, “Accept third-party cookies” - done
8. All Extensions uninstalled except Zotero - done.
9. Don't see the address bar icon on any supported sites.
10.Selected “Reset Translators and Styles”

I have been through all the steps. Only one left is to uninstall Zotero, and reinstall. FYI, there is no translator shown for this page - http://forums.zotero.org/post/category/6/

Please advise!

Mark Schneider
  • ValiantSkipper
    I did find an error log - #1763240005

    [JavaScript Error: "translator is undefined" {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/translation/translate.js" line: 794}]

    [JavaScript Error: "translator is undefined" {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/translation/translate.js" line: 794}]

    [JavaScript Error: "translator is undefined" {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/translation/translate.js" line: 794}]
  • adamsmith
    There is no translator for the Zotero forum.
    Does this work for you?
    http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Nations-Library-Essential-Reading/dp/0760757615/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1314833495&sr=8-5
  • adamsmith
    yeah, but that error doesn't look good.
    If you don't see anything on amazon.com and are sure that you really have reset translators and restarted Firefox, you might have to re-install
  • ValiantSkipper
    Hello adamsmith - no translators for that link, nor any for NYTimes.com articles, etc. Do you recommend that I uninstall Zotero? I am assuming that I will not lose User Data - or if I do I can backup with what is synced to Zotero server...?
  • ValiantSkipper
    Dear Mr. Adam Smith - when looking for the data files to back up, found the Translators folder and surprise - only one translator, "Gulag Many Days". Perhaps my translators simply disappeared. Is there a way to update them? I have tried to "reset" translators. How do I get them back, or reinstall them?
  • adamsmith
    Reset should really do that - I don't know why it doesn't in your case. Could be a permissions issue (check the permissions for the translator folder, especially if you're running Windows)?

    But yeah, I'd just try re-installing Zotero. Do a back-up for what it's worth
    http://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data?s=export#backing_up_your_zotero_library
    but under normal circumstances you won't need it - Zotero will find your old data folder when you re-install it.
  • ValiantSkipper
    Darn. Reinstalled Z, found library - but no translator on NYTimes.com.
    Just checked the Translator folder and still there is only one translator there - the very weird "Gulag Many Days". Will now reset Translators,shut down and restart. Back soon.
  • ValiantSkipper
    OK. Now Translator folder is well populated, but still no icon in the address bar of NYTimes or Amazon. Ideas? I am running the debugger output, I'll report what happens.

    Mark
  • adamsmith
    have you restarted FF since the folder got populated? If not, do that.
    Also, see if that error report you got earlier still comes up.
  • ValiantSkipper
    OK, very interesting.

    Restarted FF. Watched carefully the address bar and when loading WashPo.com saw the translator <b>flicker</b> in the address bar.

    Tried it several times. Sometimes I saw the flicker, mostly the same old thing. Went into FF Tools, enabled "Allow sites to reload". Closed FF. Reopened. Watched again how the translator on NYTimes.com flickered on, and then, came on permanently. It now seems to be working but v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.
  • adamsmith
    edited September 1, 2011
    This all is kryptic to me, I've never seen any report of behavior even resembling this - maybe someone else has an idea, but something appears to be very, very odd with your Firefox.
    Which OS is this, btw?

    And check for error reports again.
  • dstillman
    Try creating a new Firefox profile and reinstalling Zotero into that. You can temporarily point it to your existing Zotero data directory from the Advanced pane of the Zotero preferences.
  • ValiantSkipper
    Hello Adam and Dan, many thanks for the help. When I get a moment I'll create the new profile and see how Zotero runs after that. Adamshith: I realized that my description of the "flicker" was indeed cryptic. Here's what the behaviour looked like :

    1. I Opened NYTimes.com and watched carefully for the translator icon to display.

    2. For a brief second, the icon appeared as the blue reload icon flashed changed to a red box with an "x" (stop loading).

    3. Page load complete, the reload button again flashed - sort of like an automatic refresh – “refresh” pragma line in html coding (http://dev.w3.org/html5/markup/meta.http-equiv.refresh.html)

    4. Upon this automatic reload, the translator sometimes appears again, but sometimes disappears.

    I'll report back when I've created a new profile. I am running XP SP3 laptop (Asus eeePC running a N150 chipset).
  • ValiantSkipper
    OK all fine now. I backed up the default FF profile; backed up Zotero; uninstalled Zotero; created a new profile in FF; reinstalled new Zotero in new FF profile; copied over Zotero library from Zotero backup, and now all is fine. Thanks for great help!

    Mark

This is an old discussion that has not been active in a long time. Instead of commenting here, you should start a new discussion. If you think the content of this discussion is still relevant, you can link to it from your new discussion.