"too much recursion" sync error

Sabrina Melenotte
After having to reinitialize my Firefox, I had to reinstall Zotero but I've lost all my bibliography on my laptop. I tried first to sync the server on line of Zotero (where all my bibliography remained) with my laptop, it didn't work because "too much recursion", then i tried to restore from the server, but it neither worked.
I made a report on zotero and they gave me this code from my Id : 1706172295
Could you help me please? I'm ending my Phd and I really need to solve this problem asap!
Thanks.
SM

[Update: See below for workaround. — D.S.]
  • Gracile
    How did you "reinitialize [your] Firefox" ?
    If you followed Mozilla's guidelines, there must be a backup of your old profile somewhere (on the desktop probably).
    "too much recursion"
    What's the exact message (in your language if not English)
  • Sabrina Melenotte
    Indeed, I followed Mozilla's guideline, I needed to reinitialize it because it was too slow and crashed too often (I tried other ways before, it was the last option), now it's working good.

    I have a file on my desktop with the main infos of my old profiles such as book marks, extensions, storage, etc., there's a file named "zotero", with some other files such as "locate", "storage" "styles" and "translators". But I don't know what to do with that to make my sync possible.

    And the message "too much rucursion" was in English, that's why Zotero suggested me to report the problem.
  • Gracile
    First, syncing is not a substitute for backing up. You should backup your data on a regular basis.

    I can't help for your sync issue: a developer has to look at it. So, you've to wait for that. (I'm not sure that the "too much recursion" message is related to the sync issue, though.)

    The good news is that, the directory on your desktop is a backup of your old Firefox profile. And it contains a backup of your Zotero library (the "zotero" dir). Be careful with this backup (you should keep another copy of it)
    Follow these steps :
    https://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data#restoring_your_zotero_library_from_a_backup1
    (read the whole page before :
    https://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data )

    Is that clear?
  • Gracile
    I've assumed in my last post that you've reinitialized Firefox recently, i.e. that the dir on your desktop is your last backup and the most up-to-date . If you prefer to restore your local library from the server (because you've made some changes to your (online) library after the re-initialization), please wait for a developer to solve your sync issue.
  • Sabrina Melenotte
    Yes I've done yet all you've mentioned, I tried to restore from the server as said in the instructions, and it's after all those steps that they asked me to contact the Forum putting this IP code : 1706172295

    And yes, the message "too much recursion" is in my Zotero, at the right, close to the green arrow of the sync. This message is followed by the suggestion to "report the error", what I did here...

    So yes, I think I'll have to wait the developer :)

    Thank you for your help!
  • Gracile
    Yes I've done yet all you've mentioned
    Did you try to restore your library backup from the Firefox automatic backup ?
  • Sabrina Melenotte
    no, and I'm not sure to know how to do.
  • dstillman
    Disable all your other Zotero-related extensions.
  • dstillman
    (At least for the "too much recursion" message, which is almost certainly caused by something else you've installed. But if you have a backup it'd still be easier to restore from that instead of syncing your entire library.)
  • Sabrina Melenotte
    The problem of the syncing was due to the weight of my library. I finally could restore it from my backup, indeed.
    Thank you all!
  • rwielage
    We just upgraded Windows XP to Windows 7 on one of our HP desktops and experienced the same error ("too much recursion") while doing the initial Zotero sync. #1007471154 This is a new install of FireFox with just Adobe Acrobat reader, Google Update, Shockwave Flash, and Symantec Vulnerability Protection (disabled) installed.

    We can restore from backup for this user, but I'm concerned about new users who will joining us in July.
  • Gracile
    You're actually the third to report this error.
    I think you should follow Dan Stilmann's advices here : try to disable the other Firefox extensions and provide a Debug ID.
  • dstillman
    Actually see my later post in that thread: you should try disabling your security software or trying in Zotero Standalone. We don't know for sure that security software is interfering, but the fact that the three people who've reported this all have Norton/Symantec installed is suspicious.
  • rwielage
    Another case of "too much recursion", this time on a brand new HP desktop. Symantec Endpoint Protection is installed on the computer, but I haven't enabled the FireFox extensions yet. There are some Intel plugins, but there's no obvious way to disable or uninstall them.

    We are restoring from backup.
  • dstillman
    edited June 17, 2014
    Symantec Endpoint Protection is installed on the computer, but I haven't enabled the FireFox extensions yet.
    As I say in the other thread, though, we need people to try disabling Symantec/Norton completely to see if that makes a difference, and also to try with Zotero Standalone. Disabling the Firefox extensions does not fix it.
  • dstillman
    OK, never mind disabling anything — I've been able to reproduce this in a Windows installation without any security software installed.

    We're investigating. This was almost certainly a change in Firefox 30.

    As a temporary workaround, I'd guess that syncing with Zotero Standalone would work.
  • dstillman
    edited June 18, 2014
    We've narrowed this down to a specific change in Firefox 30. It appears to be triggered by large syncs on Windows. We're working on a workaround, and will also report it to Mozilla, but in the meantime, the easiest fix is to install Zotero Standalone, perform the initial sync with that, and then switch back to Zotero for Firefox for smaller subsequent syncs. Standalone will share your existing data directory by default, so switching back to Zotero for Firefox afterward is as easy as closing Standalone.

    If you can't install Zotero Standalone, temporarily reinstalling Firefox 29 would also work, but running out-of-date browser software isn't a good idea for security reasons.

    [Update: See below.]

    We'll post with further updates. We may be able to come up with a workaround in Zotero for Firefox before Mozilla fixes this.
  • dstillman
    OK, I believe I've worked around this in the latest 4.0 Beta. If you're experiencing this, you can install that and try to sync. If the large initial sync goes through, you can reinstall 4.0.20.2 from the download page. Assuming this works, we'll put out 4.0.21 ASAP with the fix.
  • dcdickin
    Using the Beta worked for me and I do not have Norton on my computer but had the recursive problem as well. 4.0 Beta worked and I've since gone back to the regular install.
  • iGor.m
    Hi,

    I'm using Firefox/Iceweasel 32.0a on Debian, had the recursive problem with the 'regular' Zoteron addons. I've been trying the beta one, and everything is ok.

    It's seems indeed related to the fact of synching large collection completely from the server. On the computers where the collection is already synched, if I have to had one or two references, there is no problem with Firefox > 30 and the 'regular' Zotero addon.

    Thank for the workaround !
  • rwielage
    I can confirm. I'm converting XP machines to Windows 7. On a brand new installation of Windows 7 with only FireFox and Zotero installed (no security software, no Office, nothing), I'm getting the "too much recusion" error trying to sync.
  • dstillman
    Yes, this has nothing to do with security software. See above for the workaround.
  • dstillman
    This is fixed in 4.0.21, available now.
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