Can't get Zotero to install?

stakats
When you first try to download Zotero, you may receive the following message, which appears in a narrow yellow band at the top of the web page:
"Firefox prevented this site from asking you to install software on your computer."

If you receive this message, you'll also see an "Edit options..." button. Click this button, then click "Allow" and "Close."

Now try downloading Zotero again. You should have no problems.
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  • dancohen
    edited October 10, 2006
    Also be sure you are running Firefox 2.0...
  • Roz
    I'm running Firefox 2.0....I clicked the Edit options button to allow the software to be installed...but then I get this error message:

    Invalid Version
    Firefox could not install "Zotero" because its version information
    ("1.0.063.r1.xpi")is invalid. Please contact the author about this problem.


    Any suggestions?
  • dstillman
    Roz — are you sure you're trying to install the XPI into Firefox 2.0? As far as I can tell, the error message you list hasn't existed in Firefox since the 1.0 branch, and that message is exactly what I get when I try to install Zotero into Firefox 1.0.
  • j9
    I'm also having problems. Only for me, when I click the "edit options" button NOTHING happens. It turns blue. Then nothing. I just downloaded version 2.0 onto Mac OS X.

    any ideas?
  • lilithd
    I just upgraded to Firefox 2.0 under Suse 10.1, but I need Zotero. However, I can't get it to install. I am getting:

    Firefox can't install because: Unexpected error. Error console says "var installLocation = this.getInstallLocation(item.id) line 3849

    any ideas?????
  • sthiel
    I can't get the install to work.

    I'm trying to install this:
    http://www.zotero.org/download/zotero-1.0.0b3.r1.xpi

    I get this:
    because: Download error
    -228

    I'm running this:
    Firefox version 2.0.0.2 on XP Professional

    I currently have the following add-ons installed:
    Customize Google 0.55
    Dom Inspector 1.8.1.2
    Firebug 1.01
    Talkback 2.0.0.2 (firefox's)

    After the initial install attemp fails, subsequent attempts appear to do nothing. If I clear my private data, I can attempt to install again, but I get the same error as above.
  • jmvidal
    I'm getting the exact same error as above (Download error). I'm in Firefox 2.0.0.1 in Linux.
  • dstillman
    Try downloading the XPI to the desktop and dragging it into Firefox.
  • oilarrak
    Hi all,

    My problem is that I get an error message in the error console saying that "InstallLocation has no properties". I tried installing it openning firefox with root (administrator) privileges but I was still unsuccessful. My system is running Ubuntu linux 6.06 and I have both firefox 1.5 and 2.0.3 in the same machine (of course, I try installing Zotero with the 2.0.3 version running only).

    Any ideas?

    Thanks in advance,

    O.
  • dhuston53
    I'm trying to install and run zotero on a portable version of Firefox 2.0.2.

    I can't install the extension. I get the same error as everyone else" -228"

    I want students to use USB memory sticks to do their seraches and bibliography on different machines at school and home.

    Does anybody have experience with this and made it work?

    Thanks

    David Huston
  • dancohen
    There are a variety of reasons for the -228 error. You can try two things:

    1) Download Zotero from our home page by right-clicking the "Download" button on a PC or control-clicking the "Download" button on a Mac, then selecting the save option. Save the Zotero extension file (which ends in .xpi; be careful you don't save the image of the "Download" button by accident) to your desktop, then drag and drop that file onto an open Firefox window.

    2) Less preferred way if you're still having problems: try installing it from the Firefox Add-ons site rather than zotero.org. The disadvantage of downloading Zotero from the Mozilla/Firefox site is that you'll receive notifications of new versions of Zotero much later than users who download it from zotero.org. (Every time we make even a minor revision to the software, we have to submit it for review to Mozilla, which can take some time to post it to their site.)
  • tarvid
    I can't install either.file:///home/tarvid/Desktop/zotero-1.0.0b4.r5.xpi


    I am running Firefox 2.0.0.4 on a recently updated Ubuntu Feisty.

    I am trying to install zotero-1.0.0b4.r5.xpi by dragging the file from my Desktop to a running Firefox window.

    The Software Installation window appears and says I have asked to install zotero from
    file:///home/tarvid/Desktop/zotero-1.0.0b4.r5.xpi

    In click Install Now and get an error window which says
    Firefox could not install the file at file:///home/tarvid/Desktop/zotero-1.0.0b4.r5.xpi
    because: Unexpected Installation error
    Review the Error Console log for more details. -203

    The error log says InstallLocation has no properties
    Error: installLocation has no properties
    Source File: file:///usr/lib/firefox/components/nsExtensionManager.js
    Line: 3940

    which reads

    var installLocation = this.getInstallLocation(item.id);

    I suspect this is actually a Firefox error because I can't install an update to FireFTP either.
  • dstillman
    tarvid: It's a Firefox problem. Try a new profile.
  • tarvid
    It was a Firefox program.

    I had an older add-on for which there was no install candidate for v 2.0.0.4

    After much thrashing I managed to remove and install my add-ons and zotero installed cleanly.
  • ransomca
    I'm trying to install Zotero on a cross-platform portable version of Firefox. The original is 1.5 but then I update to 2.0.0.4 on both Windows and Mac sides. Then I install the Zotero extension by saving to the desktop and dragging it into the Add-ons window. Everything works perfectly on the Windows side. However, on the Mac side, it looks like everything installed okay, and then when I restart as indicated, the extension is not there. I don't get any errors or anything; it is just not in the Add-ons window anymore. Repeat attempts do not work either. I'm really frustrated because I need to use Zotero on both a Mac and a Windows machine and I can't afford the space to have 2 profiles on the same flash drive. In order to use the Word plugin, I have to use Zotero on a Windows virtual machine because the only version of Office I have is Windows. I have OpenOffice.org that I could use on my Mac but there is no Writer integration. I need this for my dissertation (finishing up in August hopefully!). Ideally I'd like to be able to go back and forth between platforms and not be tied to Windows. I just don't understand why it won't install when it works fine on the Windows side and both apps are v 2.0.0.4.
  • ransomca
    UPDATE:
    I came up with a semi-solution. I made a new profile for my Mac and pointed it to use the profile on the flash drive, and it works now. So although it's not running from the flash drive, it's using the Zotero library from it so I can access it. Which is great! And since it works fine on the Windows end, I guess I'm all set.
  • recon77
    Dan,
    I read all you said and tried it and still get a -203 error. I'm trying to put Zotero onto a portable firefox.

    HELP
  • dr_mabeuse
    Having the same problem with the 203 error. Running Firefox 2 on Windows XP, and after a recent update, Zotero and another add-on disappeared. When I tried to reinstall from both the Zotero site and the Firefox Add-on site I got a 203 error. It loads and then won't install.
    This happened for Zotero and the other add-on I'd lost as well: same 203 error, no installation.
  • diqt
    Dan, I have the same problem (-203 error). Running Firefox 3 on Windows XP. What can I do?
  • dstillman
    The -203 error is a Firefox issue. See Mozilla's troubleshooting page.
  • diqt
    Thanks Dan, this was the key. bye
  • Coleridge
    i am running firefox 3 on a mac os 10.4. i have given firefox plenty of cache. i have attempted to install zotero repeatedly, as a direct download, as a option-save, drag download, and from mozilla. the problem is that i can't get the add-on icon on the bottom of the screen, and the zotero icon does not appear in the navigation window, thus effectively preventing me from capturing a url. i can get to zotero's three panes via the firefox tool bar only, and it allows me to add all kinds of content except websites. a problem. i will note that initially i was able to install your older version on firefox 2, and the add-on icon appeared in the browser, but was unable to capture urls (missing the icon in the navigation window). no institutional firewalls. i work out of my house over a verizon fios isp. very frustrating. suggestions?
    thanks
  • Tjowens
    Is your status bar visible at the bottom of your screen? If not try the view drowdown from your Firefox menu and make sure that there is a check next to status bar.

    On the second issue, grabbing items from the web, what sites have you tried to grab items from? Does this book work?
  • Coleridge
    hi Tjowens

    thanks for your help. some improvements: status bar was checked under view, but i unchecked, rechecked, relaunched and the zotero icon now shows up at bottom of page. and when i go to "this book" on amazon, lo and behold, the zotero icon shows up in the navigator bar. but i have tried half a dozen other sites and no "add link" icon shows up. i can however take a snapshot via the zotero toolbar and the url does show up in the middle window and the actual url in the third. that's ok. it works. maybe i misunderstood: the zotero instruction video describes a direct point and click procedure...a la your amazon site.
  • dstillman
    Coleridge: See No Address bar Icon.
  • hank
    Plea to Zotero --- could you make your navigation bar icon appear here, when we're looking at your own website? That would be a good test for people.

    I have never seen it yet anywhere. I'll start looking at the sites suggested by Dan Stillman.

    Also I think there's some confusion -- you do a navigation bar icon (that I"ve never seen yet) and a status bar icon (lower right hand corner next to the diagonal lines for changing window size) -- they look the same in the documentation.
    (The latter one I can see but it does nothing at all; I started a new report before finding this one). Just suggesting you clarify which is which in docs and maybe make them look different.
  • dstillman
    Hank: You should see an icon on the blog, but Amazon and the NY Times are reliable tests as well, as the documentation page I linked to in my previous post above indicates.
    you do a navigation bar icon (that I"ve never seen yet) and a status bar icon (lower right hand corner next to the diagonal lines for changing window size) -- they look the same in the documentation
    I'm not really sure what you mean by "they look the same in the documentation". The one in the status bar says "Zotero" (or is a "Z" if you've changed your settings) and is used to open and close the Zotero pane, and the other is either a folder or one of various book/newspaper/journal icons and is used to save from sites on which Zotero can automatically detect metadata. I think the Quick Start Guide pretty clearly explains the difference, but let us know if something is unclear.
  • Narbutta
    Zotero appears to install OK on my Mac OS X 10.5.6 / Firefox 3.0.6. Indeed, I can find Zotero in the Firefox add ons but it DOES NOT appear in the browser in any way, shape, or form.

    I have read the install discussions but have not found any solution that works. I am stumped. Help most welcome. THANKS.
  • dstillman
    Narbutta: See No Status Bar Icon.
  • everdeil
    Hello,
    I was using zotero since about one or two monthes (Vista, firefox 3.0.6, last zotero release). Everything in French.
    For a couple of days, it began to have troubles : impossible to catch references from the web, then impossible to open zotero (the icon was crossed) and displaying "there is s start error" (in French).
    Then I tried to download zotero anew but then it was impossible to install it : it was in the tools box, and told : restart firefox to launch zotero. But it was never installed. Then I uninstalled firefox and tried again. But it's always the same.
    So if someone can help, thank you very much
    Eric
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