700363619 Unexpected file upload status 401 in Zotero.Sync.Storage.WebDAV._onUploadComplete()

Socke0815
Dear Zotero Team;

I'm facing the following problem when syncing my library:
Syncing starts, Zotero starts uploading 4 new files, the bar is running until about 25%, then it stops and the following error message appears:


[JavaScript Error: "[Exception... "'Unexpected file upload status 401 in Zotero.Sync.Storage.WebDAV._onUploadComplete()' when calling method: [nsIStreamListener::onStopRequest]" nsresult: "0x8057001e (NS_ERROR_XPC_JS_THREW_STRING)" location: "<unknown>" data: no]"]

I'm syncing to the Web-DAV space provided by my university. The error is reproducable from serveral devices, desktop, laptop..

Before getting deeper into this: Is it possible to differ wether this is an "zoteroproblem" or a problem caused by the WebDAV-Server..?


Thanks for your time and best wishes

Christoph Mann
  • Socke0815
    Oh, and if its important:
    I already tried restart,
    syncing with firewall down
    and without other FirefoxAddOns,
    no effect.
  • dstillman
    If you can provide a Debug ID for a sync attempt that reproduces the error I can have a look, but this is likely a problem with the WebDAV server. Does it pass Verify Server in the Sync pane of the Zotero preferences?
  • Socke0815
    First of all thanks for your help.

    1.) Yes, it passes the Verification of the Server in the Sync pane.

    I pushed the whole library again on the webDAV server via resetting the filesync. This upload of about 400mb worked fine, but now the error occurs again.

    2.) Here is da DebugID with the reproduced Error: D403415819

    3.) If it's usefull, I have a DebugID from 5 minutes before, where the error did not occur (D1620585275) maybe because only one file was to sync. After this I added some more Files with PDFs to the library and syncing then led to the error again and the first DebugID provided here.

    Thanks a lot and best wishes

    Christoph
  • dstillman
    Your server is broken. It's returning a 401 error for an HTTP PUT (among some other problems).
    Der Fehler wurde als Eintrag mit der Nummer 1342443679.510.417314739138 gespeichert.
  • jamesstroud
    edited July 18, 2012
    I was getting a 401 on sync and unscientifically did two things at once--but it fixed the issue somehow:

    1. went to the webdav directory and did a "chown -R webuser:webuser ./", where "webuser" is the username under which the apache webdav server runs
    2. went to the preference pane and verified the server in the sync settings

    I suspect that the real fix was from 1. I guess that some file to be updated in the zotero directory acquired improper ownership. How this happened, I haven't a clue.

    I'm only posting these results to give others something to try if they get back a 401 from zotero sync.

    If others have the same problem, they may want to investigate ownership of the files in their zotero webdav directory. Perhaps posting their findings will help determine whether a pattern exists.
  • dstillman
    I guess that some file to be updated in the zotero directory acquired improper ownership.
    That would do it, certainly.
  • Socke0815
    With your recommendations here and the webDAV-admin checking the serverprotocols while I was syncing we found a solution. I try to explain what I understood ;)

    The server reported an error, that the the uploader had not the permission to create new files in the zoterodirectory on the webDAV server.
    This is quite strange, because this permission was inherited by the parent directory.
    Nevertheless, since explicitly allowing the permission for "zotero"directory, the error did not appear again.

    Thanks a lot for your time and helpfull ideas.
    Maybe this solution may help others, too.

    Best wishes!
    Christoph
Sign In or Register to comment.