Attempting to access Zotero resulting in crashing Word 2011 in OS X 10.7

I'm growing increasingly frustrated trying to figure out why Zotero is no longer working on my MacBook Pro. Every time I try to access Zotero through the script menu, Word immediately crashes. I have all of the correct add-ons (Zotero 3.0.3 and Integration 3.5.2) and have never had this issue before. I am running Word 14.1.4. Here is the error report I'm getting:

Error Signature:
Exception: EXC_CRASH (SIGTRAP)
Date/Time: 2012-04-16 03:11:59 +0000
Application Name: Microsoft Word
Application Bundle ID: com.microsoft.Word
Application Signature: MSWD
Application Version: 14.1.4.111121
Crashed Module Name: merp
Crashed Module Version: 2.2.4.111121
Crashed Module Offset: 0x00003b5a
Blame Module Name: Visual Basic for Applications
Blame Module Version: unknown
Blame Module Offset: 0x001faf14
Application LCID: 1033
Extra app info: Reg=en Loc=0x0409
Crashed thread: 0

Error Reporting UUID: 06A7783E-AB3D-4AED-B49F-B57949D2BF98

I am posting here because I need to write my paper and am wasting time tooling around myself. Any thoughts?
  • I'd start by upgrading to the latest version of Word. Be sure to also upgrade to version 3.5.3 of the MacWord plugin, available now, which fixes a compatibility issue with 14.2.0.
  • I upgraded everything and am actually experiencing an identical problem. Word shuts down immediately when I attempt to connect to Zotero via AppleScript.

    Ugh...
  • I do not know if the issue is with Zotero or with Microsoft. If I do not have Firefox or Standalone open and attempt to access the script, I get a message saying to open one or the other (normal). As soon as I do and try to add a citation, it crashes.
  • It's not with Zotero. AppleScript should not be able to crash Word.

    You might try deleting the OLE Registration Database, located in Home/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2011. Word will regenerate this file the next time it is opened. (On Lion and later, the Library directory is hidden by default, but you can open it by holding down the option key and selecting it from the Go menu.) No idea if it will help, but it's worth a try.
  • Didn't seem to do anything. A bit more information: after Word crashes and I send (or don't send) an error report, the Zotero citations window appears and a blank document is launched. The citations window seems to be connected to the now closed original document, i.e., does nothing to the newly launched blank document. In the new blank document, if you try to add a citation, Word doesn't crash, but the window closes and nothing happens. It's all really weird-- but fortunately happening the same way every time, leading me to believe that there is one cause.
  • This happens when I try to use Zotero via Firefox. If I try with Standalone, Word crashes and then I receive this error message:

    Zotero experienced an error updating your document.

    COMMAND: app(u'/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Microsoft Word.app/').active_document.get()
  • Here is my Report ID: 1885140752
  • edited April 16, 2012
    There's no error in that error report, but if Word crashes while Zotero is trying to communicate, Zotero will probably show error because it didn't expect it to crash. It's probably not related to the cause of the crash.

    You might try moving Library/Preferences/Microsoft to the desktop and seeing if that fixes things. Otherwise, try reinstalling Word.
  • I have the same behaviour. Upgraded to Word 14.2.2 and have the latest Zotero and re-installed the Word plugin from within Zotero.

    My error ID is 505968242

    Then I get a pop-up window from Word saying "Word cannot fire event."

    Thanks. Looking forward to solving this as Zotero is not working at all at present and I vitally need it running asap.
  • edited May 30, 2012
    Rees Archibald: It's almost certainly http://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_troubleshooting#cannot_insert_citation_into_any_document_with_word_2011. But this isn't related to the rest of this thread.

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