Zotero stops responding, and then can't restart program, please help, thesis due in soon!

norskinoodle
Hi there,

First of all i'd like to say how helpful i find Zotero - its amazing!

However, ive started having problems with it recently. This is somewhat frustrating since i need to hand in my thesis in less than two weeks - arighh!

So, when i open Zotero (Standalone) for the first time, it works fine for a while - i am able to add references by typing in DOIs etc. However inevitably, it gets to a point where i search a valid DOI and it won't find it, it just keeps searching and then if i click on something else it stops. At this point i try and shut Zotero down and try to reopen it. It appears to shut, but when i reopen it comes up with this message;

"Zotero is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Zotero process, or restart your system"

So i restart my computer, Zotero opens fine first time around, and then the same pattern repeats.

I would really appreciate any help you might be able to give me.

Im not the most technically minded. I hope i've explained this ok!

I am running Zotero Standalone 4

thank you!!
  • adamsmith
    are you sure you don't just have a second Zotero Windo open in the background? Have you looked in task manager (or the equivalent on your OS) and/or cycled through open windows?
  • norskinoodle
    Hi adam,

    Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I've had a look in task manager, its not listed under applications tab, but it is listed under processes. I've checked that there aren't any open windows (Is that what you meant by 'cycled through open windows'?) I'm afraid i am not very technically minded! Thanks!
  • adamsmith
    you can just kill the process (right-click in the task manager) when this happens, though we'd probably want to figure out why it does.
  • norskinoodle
    Hooray! That works, i'm sorry i didn't think to do that. I wonder why it keeps happening though? Thank you again!
  • aurimas
    After restarting Zotero, does entering the DOI that caused the freeze makes Zotero freeze again? In other words, does this seem to be specific to certain DOIs, or is this some other variable? Does it take a long time for it to freeze after restarting?
  • norskinoodle
    Hi Aurimas, no it's not specific to certain DOI's. I wonder if it might be to do with when my computer goes into hibernation/sleep. I think it generally occurs after my computers been to sleep. Once i 'wake' it, and try to use Zotero again, it seems to get lost trying find any DOI. When i close the program, the task manager shows it as running in the background so i am unable to open it again without ending the program via task manager or by restarting my computer. Once i have either ended the program via task manager or by restarting, and reopened it Zotero is able to successfully find the DOI it previously got stuck on. Hope this helps.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Are you connecting via a proxy of some sort? Does "Check for Updates" work after sleep before restarting Zotero?
  • norskinoodle
    Hi Dan,

    Thanks for your

    Hmm, i'm not sure what you mean by a proxy, i connect to the university server when i go online, is that what you mean?

    No, check for updates does not work after sleep before restarting Zotero, it starts searching for updates and doesn't stop until i cancel it.

    Thanks!

    Nb. Zotero only seems to have started playing up since i downloaded the most recent Zotero.
  • norskinoodle
    *message
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    i connect to the university server when i go online
    What do you mean by this, exactly?

    When you first start Zotero, does a dialog box pop up asking you to enter a username and password for your institution?
  • norskinoodle
    No, no dialog box or password needed to open Zotero. Thanks.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Do you ever need to enter a proxy username or password to connect to the Internet? For example, after restarting?
  • norskinoodle
    So I only have to enter a proxy username and password when I go on to academic journals online. Never for Zotero directly. Does that answer your Q? I'm not very technically minded I'm afraid!
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    We'll see if we can reproduce and fix the hang for a DOI lookup without network access, since that shouldn't happen regardless.

    For the underlying issue of losing network access after sleep, we haven't seen that before, and I think the answer for the time being is just going to be to restart Zotero after your computer returns from sleep. You can also try Zotero for Firefox (which will share your existing Zotero data directory by default), which might not exhibit this behavior.

    I suspect this is related to system proxy settings—you can look at the system proxy settings to make sure everything is disabled, including any auto-configuration/auto-discovery settings. Whether that affects your access to academic journals will depend on how your proxy is set up (e.g., whether you have to log in through your institution's web page or get a pop-up from your system).

    Also, this is Windows, I assume?
  • norskinoodle
    Hi there,

    Oddly, it seems to have righted itself and is no longer not responding after sleep. Hooray!

    N.B it was ISBNs as well as DOI's.

    Thanks so much for all your help, it is greatly appreciated.

    And thank you for making my life easier by providing Zotero in the first place!
  • norskinoodle
    Oh dear... i spoke too soon, its back to its old tricks. However ending the program on task manager and restarting it solves the problem. Thanks

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