Endless "Getting updated data from sync server."

gertruids
Hi there,

I have a problem with syncing which has been getting stuck for the past few days. Zotero is working brilliantly otherwise, it just won't sync online.

For the past six days I've tried to sync from my work machine (Firefox 25.0.1, Zotero standalone). I have a largish database of around 2500 references. When I press the green sync arrow, the green arrow starts to spin, and then Zotero hangs for about five minutes, using 25% processor power (on a quad-core PC, so I assume fully using one core). Then processor usage drops to around 1%, and the green arrow resumes spinning, with the mouse-over message "Getting updated data from sync server. Last sync: 7 days ago". I can still use Zotero to store and search and tag references. But the arrow keeps spinning for hours each day, and I've tried on multiple days, and restarted both Zotero and Firefox daily. The error report ID is 55291021.

Zotero was syncing fine up till about 7 days ago. I did export one collection of about 450 refs around that time, and then deleted them from Zotero. Could that be related? Also, any idea why Zotero uses so much processor power and becomes unresponsive initially when I press the green arrow?

Many thanks for a fantastic product, BTW.

Cheers,
Gareth
  • gertruids
    Also - Zotero doesn't seem to be transmitting or receiving much data while the green arrow is spinning. Today, which is typical, it has received just 190Kb and transmitted 7.4Mb over five hours.

    Not sure if this helps at all?

    G.
  • dstillman
    How about now?

    (The spinning doesn't indicate data transfer. You had a stalled upload process on the server.)
  • gertruids
    Yes thanks Dan, that is working again with no problem. Many thanks for your prompt help.

    Gareth
  • anaselli
    Dan, I'm having the same problem.

    When I hover my mouse over the spinning green arrow, I see this: "Getting updated data from sync server. Last sync: 7 days ago."

    I've added 284 items between Dec 9 and 17, and I've tweaked many other older entries (I have 20,799 items total right now).

    Can you help me resolve this?
  • dstillman
    Better now?
  • anaselli
    Thanks, Dan. It synced. But two alerts popped up:

    1. "Zotero items in the collection 'Print' have been added and/or removed on multiple computers since the last sync. The following items have been added to the collection: ..."

    That doesn't make sense because I use only one computer for Zotero. And this is incredibly frustrating because it means that I have items in the wrong collections that I had very carefully moved to other collections.

    2. "One or more Zotero tags have been added to and/or removed from items on multiple computers since the last sync. The different sets of tags have been combined. View the Firefox Error Console for the full list of such changes."

    I changed the tags of dozens of items. I double-checked one of them, and it has both (a) the previous tag that I deleted and (b) the new tag that I added.

    So now I need to track down dozens of items that are (1) in the wrong collection and/or (2) with a wrong tag. What is an efficient way to do that? I can't figure out how to access the "Error Console" in Firefox.
  • dstillman
    This can probably happen currently if you have an upload that's queued on the server for a long time, make lots of changes in the interim, and restart your browser or put your computer to sleep before the upload completes. Not your fault, obviously, since uploads shouldn't hang, but that's the situation now. The next major version of Zotero will have a completely new syncing architecture that should avoid problems like this. In the meantime, your best bet is to leave auto-sync enabled and make sure that syncs are going through regularly while you're making lots of changes.
    I can't figure out how to access the "Error Console" in Firefox.
    In the latest Firefox version an equivalent window is called the Browser Console. Tools (or the main Firefox menu on some versions of Windows) -> Web Developer -> Browser Console.
  • anaselli
    Thanks, Dan, for your swift, knowledgable help (as always).

    I love Zotero and use it almost daily. And I recommend it enthusiastically to my colleagues and students.
  • atompary
    Hello,
    It looks like I'm having a similar problem. I see this message when I hover over the spinning arrow: 'Getting updated data from sync server. Last sync: 5 days ago'.

    My library is pretty small (around 700 entries) and I've added maybe 30 items max in the last 5 days.

    Thanks in advance,
    Alexa
  • dstillman
    Alexa: Try again now (and in the future, it's best to start new threads for sync issues).
  • atompary
    It's working now, thanks so much!
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