Serious trouble with Zotero/Firefox 15 on Mac Os 10.7.4

baberahamlincln
Hi,
I recently bought a new MacBook Pro, running OS 10.7.4. I previously had been using the Zotero plugin for Firefox on a MacBook under OS 10.6.x without any problems.
Since I got the new machine and installed Firefox 15 and the latest version of Zotero I am having major issues.
Every time I try to use a drop-down menu (right-click, etc.) in Firefox the entire system freezes and I have to manually for a re-boot, losing any work I have open. I have tried everything (rebooting Firefox in safe mode, disabling all the plugins and add-ons, resetting Firefox, etc.). I thought this was a Firefox issue, however I just tried to use the Zotero 3 stand-alone client, and the exact same problem occurred when I tried to use a drop down menu - the entire system froze, and I had to force a reboot.
This is a serious problem! I am writing my PhD thesis which is half done and all my references are in Zotero! I can't add or edit any of my citations which is seriously stalling my progress and I need to submit the entire thesis by March! HELP PLEASE!!!!
  • adamsmith
    Try what happens in Firefox with Zotero disabled. Just because it happens in Zotero Standalone doesn't mean it's not a Firefox problem, since Standalone still relies on Firefox technology.
  • DWL-SDCA
    ...and, adding to @adamsmith 's comments, what add-ons or plugins are in FF? Try disabling any that aren't directly related to Zotero.
  • baberahamlincln
    edited October 5, 2012
    I have tried disabling all the plugins, including Zotero, and it still crashes the system.
    The mouse cursor remains responsive, but the rest of the system will not respond.
  • baberahamlincln
    Ok, further developments. Still can't get Firefox to work; it makes Lion hang and I have to force a reboot. I tried using terminal to open FF's profile manager, delete my old profile and make a new one. Same problem. I tried making a new user account in Mac OS, and doing another fresh install of Firefox. It worked! I was able to use drop down menus and right click without crashing the system! However, as soon as I installed the Zotero plugin... the same issue started occurring again. Dear programmers, please help me. It will literally take me weeks of work to re-do all of my citations using a different software or manually. There must be a way to fix this problem!
  • baberahamlincln
    Even in safe mode, with all plugins and add-ons disabled, if the Zotero plugin has been installed, Firefox will cause the system to freeze.
  • Stuarty
    Which versions of OS X, Firefox and Zotero are you using? Have you installed any other programmes which alter or add functions to the right click menu? This kind of crash is very unusual. What information is there in your crash logs. You can look at them in console.app (found in utilities).

    Can you move your zotero folder, found at somthing like ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/tt1yz7pi.default/zotero (your .default will be different I guess) to another mac or even a windows machine? Perhaps you could even use this folder with a copy of Zotero stand alone. Have you looked at using Zotero stand alone as an alternative? Have a look at http://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data

    On the same page there is a link to a list of extensions which are known to conflice with Zotero.

    Don't despair. If the needs be you can always copy your Zotero library folder somewhere else and work with the sql using something like sequelpro (www.sequelpro.com) but that probably won't be necessary.
  • dstillman
    Even in safe mode, with all plugins and add-ons disabled, if the Zotero plugin has been installed, Firefox will cause the system to freeze.
    But the problem goes away if you uninstall the Zotero extension? (Uninstalling Zotero won't affect your data, so please test this if you haven't.)

    Does this happen for any context menu (e.g., on the Firefox toolbar), or just if you right-click somewhere on the webpage?

    Also, this really takes the whole system down? You can't, say, option-right-click on Firefox in the Dock and force-quit it?

    This is a pretty strange issue. If you go to System Preferences, "Users and Groups" (or maybe "Accounts" in Lion?) and go to Login Items, is there anything unusual there that might be conflicting?
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