New dialog box in Word plugin BLINKS

bsmith
Hi,
I am using Zotero 3.0.3, Windows 7, and Word 2010.
The new dialog box when entering or editing a reference in the Word plugin blinks rapidly and uncontrollably. In order to get a reference in I have to click on the tiny drop-down arrow within this box while it is in the blink-on state, then I can chose 'classic view', which does not blink. If I miss it and click when the dialog box is blinked off, it will close altogether and I have to try inserting a reference again. It is very annoying.
Has anyone seen this before and been able to fix it.
Thanks,
Ben
  • Simon
    We've seen one other report of this, but we don't know the cause and we can't reproduce it. You might start by disabling other Firefox extensions, if you have any, and any other software that might change the way windows behave. If any of this helps, we'd be glad to know.

    As a workaround, you can also check "Use classic Add Citation dialog" in the Cite pane of the Zotero preferences.
  • bsmith
    Thanks.
    The only other extension I had enabled was Adblock Plus. Disabling it did not fix the problem. However, the "Use classic Add Citation dialog" preference worked well, so I will continue to use that interface.
  • fentonrc
    Just wanted to chime in that I had the same issue today but with Zotero Standalone and Word 2010. I quit Zotero and Word, then reopened Zotero and changed the preference to Classic, and from there have had no problems.
  • marthoe
    I also have the same problem. The new dialog blinks in a weird fashion, the classic view is fine.
    Disabling all other add-ons did not help.

    Win7 / Word 2007, Firefox 11 / Zotero-Firefox-Extension 3.0.3.
  • dstillman
    Try the same workaround suggested here: http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/22858/flickering-new-item-entry/
  • marthoe
    Hello Dan,
    setting layers.acceleration.disabled to true did not change the blinking behavior in my setting.
    But I´m fine with the classic view.
  • dstillman
    Did you restart Firefox after changing that setting?
  • marthoe
    Yes. Restarted Firefox and Word.
  • sounddoctor
    Hello,
    I would like to report the same issue as the original poster. The dialog box is blinking and unresponsive.

    I am using:
    Windows 7 64 bit
    Word 2010
    Zotero Standalone
    On a new machine

    Everything works on my old setting (Win XP 32 bit, Office 2007, Zotero Standalone)

    Changing the hardware acceleration did not work, the old dialog is usable.
    If you need more information I will be glad to provide it!

    Kind regards
  • Geoffrey Kantaris
    Yep, same problem here. Win7 Pro 64bit new install, Office 2010, latest plugin. The dialogue flashes uncontrollably ONLY when I'm using Zotero standalone. When I close standalone and open Firefox, the dialogue works perfectly. Exit Word, close Firefox, open standalone, restart Word --> Insert Citation dialogue box unusable.
  • amc
    I think it's related to having an Aero theme enabled in Windows. I have the same problem and it goes away when I disable Aero. (Though I hope this gets fixed -- I've been using the classic insert dialog rather than have to change my theme each time I use Zotero.) Anyway, you can try disabling it and see if it works, as a temporary workaround.
  • Simon
    amc: thanks for the potential lead. We'd obviously like to fix this as well, although we have yet to be able to reproduce it with or without Aero.

    It might be useful to know what graphics cards people have, and whether other Firefox panels work (e.g., the one that comes up when you double-click the star to bookmark a page).
  • Geoffrey Kantaris
    Simon, the problem isn't when running Firefox, only when running Zotero Standalone. The * double-click (bringing up the favourites panel) works fine in Firefox, and so does the new-style Zotero insert citation dialogue when running Zotero in Firefox. The problem seems to be the way in which Zotero standalone evokes the new dialogue. If I set standalone to use classic, it all works fine. My graphics card is standard Intel integrated graphics (on a Core i7 chip), so I guess if it's the graphics card, a lot of people will be affected!

    In the meantime, maybe Standalone should be shipped with the classic dialogue box enabled by default?
  • Simon
    edited May 7, 2012
    Simon, the problem isn't when running Firefox, only when running Zotero Standalone. The * double-click (bringing up the favourites panel) works fine in Firefox, and so does the new-style Zotero insert citation dialogue when running Zotero in Firefox. The problem seems to be the way in which Zotero standalone evokes the new dialogue.
    At least two other people in this thread have reported the problem with Firefox, which suggests that this issue may be multifactorial. However, if you're only getting it in Zotero Standalone, there may be a preference that needs to be flipped. (The code for the dialog is 100% identical.) If you go to Zotero Preferences->Advanced->Open about:config and setting layers.acceleration.disabled to true and gfx.direct2d.disabled to true, does anything change? How about if you set extension.zotero.integration.keepAddCitationDialogRaised to true?
    If I set standalone to use classic, it all works fine. My graphics card is standard Intel integrated graphics (on a Core i7 chip), so I guess if it's the graphics card, a lot of people will be affected!
    I assume you mean you have Intel HD Graphics 3000? In that case, I can track down a machine with this and test.
    In the meantime, maybe Standalone should be shipped with the classic dialogue box enabled by default?
    We're not going to do this. If people had reported this prior to the release of Zotero 3.0 we might have considered it, but it's too late now, and at the moment we have no reason to believe this affects more than a small proportion of users.
  • Geoffrey Kantaris
    edited May 7, 2012
    Thanks Simon for quick reply and suggestions. I just set
    layers.acceleration.disabled to true and gfx.direct2d.disabled to true (in Standalone) and the problem has now gone away with the new-style dialogue! I didn't change extension.zotero.integration.keepAddCitationDialogRaised because one of the first two settings cured it.

    Yes, my graphics card is Intel HD 3000.

    About shipping Standalone with classic dialogue box, it was only a question, and only if the problem couldn't be solved another way (which it now is for me at least).

    (I have to say, though, the classic dialogue box is not so bad, and arguably better. Not so snazzy, true, but everything you need is there in front of you without having to use extra mouse clicks. Good that you left the choice for the user.)
  • adamsmith
    (see here on keyboard commands http://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_usage#keyboard_commands - the nice thing about the quick format dialog is that it works w/o the Mouse for 99% of all operations.)
  • marthoe
    Hello Simon,

    - Zotero as a firefox plugin
    - using a non-Aero theme cures the problem

    with Aero theme:
    - setting gfx.direct2d.disabled to true cures the problem. This is independent of the layers.acceleration.disabled setting.
    - layers.acceleration.disabled set to true (w/o the gfx.direct2d.disabled to true) doesn´t prevent blinking
    - I did not find the extension.zotero.integration.keepAddCitationDialogRaised setting

    - Lenovo T420s Notebook with NVIDIA NVS 4200M graphics card

    Hope that helps,
    Martin
  • adamtr
    Just to add data -- I had the same problem with Standalone (but not Firefox) and Word 2010 on a Lenovo T420 notebook running Windows 7 64-bit with an NVIDIA NVS 4200M graphics card and Aero theme. Just setting gfx.direct2d.disabled to true fixed the problem for me, too. Thanks for the fix, Martin!

    Adam
  • amc
    Toggling gfx.direct2d.disabled works for me too. (It's an Alienware M11x, Win 7 64-bit, using Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000 (not the NVidia graphics card).
  • marthoe
    Maybe this helps the Zotero crew to track down the error:

    I just found out by chance that the little pop-up that appears on clicking the magic wand (Add item by identifier) shows the same blinking behavior, and is also fine with gfx.direct2d.disabled set to true.


    > ...and whether other Firefox panels work (e.g., the one that comes
    > up when you double-click the star to bookmark a page)...

    With my setting this never blinks.

    Martin
  • garth
    I have had the same problem with Zotero standalone and Office 2010 Professional using Windows 7 64 bit on a Lenovo T420s with NVIDIA NVS 4200M graphics card. I haven't seen it when using my laptop screen, but only on my external monitor.

    Setting gfx.direct2d.disabled worked for me too.
  • zenith87
    Setting gfx.direct2d.disabled to true worked for me too.

    Win 7 home premium 64 bit, Nvidia GeForce 610M, zotero 3.0.8 on firefox 15.0.1.
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