PDFs won't download or open

eabraha2 · October 17, 2012

I am in a group library. When I try to open a PDF associated with a record, a window opens in my browser as if its going to open the file, but nothing happens. It just hangs. Two other members of the group library have tried the same PDF and are able to open it. Any suggestions?

dstillman · October 17, 2012

Provide a Debug ID for the opening attempt.

eabraha2 · October 17, 2012

The Debug ID is D1722584006.

eabraha2 · October 18, 2012

Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions for me. Thanks for the help.

eabraha2 · October 18, 2012

So I have discovered that if I log in with Chrome instead of Firefox everything works fine. I'm guessing this means there is a problem with my Firefox settings, but I don't know what to look at.

Gracile · October 18, 2012

Does it work with other PDFs?

eabraha2 · October 18, 2012

Chrome will open the PDFS that have been attached to the Zotero record. Firefox won't open these PDFs.

adamsmith · October 18, 2012

yes, this is a Firefox issue then, nothing much we can do here. Re-install the FF PDF plugin, or try the pdf.js mozilla is developing or one of the other available PDF plugins (Foxit, pdfXchange if you're on Windows).

dstillman · October 18, 2012

So I have discovered that if I log in with Chrome instead of Firefox everything works fine.

This sentence doesn't make sense if you were initially referring to the Zotero client, which your debug output suggests you were. The Zotero client and the Zotero website are totally separate. You don't "log in" to the Zotero client, and viewing a PDF in the Zotero client isn't the same as viewing a PDF from your online library on zotero.org.

Can you explain exactly what you're doing?

eabraha2 · October 19, 2012

Adam, thanks for the help. The problem was with Adobe and Firefox. I found the fix here: http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pdf-files-are-blank-and-cant-be-downloaded-mac. Once I followed these instructions, the problem was solved.