Corrupted zotero.sqlite

emi_hipny
I cannot open my standalone zotero as well as firefox. both applications prompted the error message saying that my zotero database zotero.sqlite is corrupted. i have installed the zotero plugin as well on firefox. i tried the manual way to troubleshoot but it doesn't work.i have tried to replace the zotero.sqlite zip file and replaced the file in the folder but they still give the same error message.(this is the ref 52f93f91dfc49) and apparently installing and uninstalling the zotero and firefox application does not work too.how can i fix this?i am using os X v.10.9.1
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    i have tried to replace the zotero.sqlite zip file and replaced the file in the folder
    It's not clear from this that you're doing the replacement right, but neither of the files you uploaded to the repair tool were actually corrupt.

    Is there a zotero.sqlite.is.corrupt file in the Zotero data directory? If so, delete it and restart Zotero.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Wait, neither of the files you uploaded to the repair tool were actually databases. What exactly are you uploading? From where, and what's the file size?
  • emi_hipny
    i am not sure myself..i tried uploading the zotero.sqlite and there is no zotero.sqlite.is.corrupt actually i don't know where to find the exact location.i just search for zotero and uploaded what i got
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    (Or, more accurately, they're SQLite databases, but not Zotero databases — they're only 4096 bytes each. Did you try to run the SQLite command line client yourself? If so, you ran it from the wrong directory or with a filename that didn't exist, which would've caused it to create a completely empty database.)
  • emi_hipny
    i might have..i cannot find the zotero folder in the application support folder.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited February 10, 2014
    Don't search. Follow the instructions to find your Zotero database — or a recent backup — in the Zotero data directory (or your own backup files). An empty Zotero database is about 1MB, so it should be larger than that, and have a timestamp that makes sense given when you last used Zotero.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited February 10, 2014
    We can't really help you beyond the instructions on that page unless you have specific questions. If you're having trouble, I'd recommend asking someone to help you. They don't need to know anything about Zotero — they just need to follow the instructions on that page. (Obviously, if you moved your data directory to a custom location, it wouldn't be in the default location.)

    You may also be able to locate your current data directory from the Zotero preferences in Firefox even if Zotero won't open by accessing the the Zotero preferences from the Firefox Add-ons window.

    (But I'm also not sure how you wouldn't know if you ran the SQLite command line client yourself. That's kind of a complicated and technical thing to do. If you don't know what it is or how to use it, you definitely don't want to be doing it yourself.)
  • emi_hipny
    Firefox could not be open as well.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Firefox itself won't open? Or Zotero won't open within Firefox?
  • emi_hipny
    because of the zotero plugin, firefox could not be open. it prompted me with the corrupted zotero.sqlite and ask to restart now or restart later..whichever i chose it won't restart.which ends up cannot open firefox. the same thing happened with the standalone. and I had to force close the application because the program is not responding after I clicked restart now
  • aurimas
    edited February 10, 2014
    Have you tried looking at the Default Locations for your Zotero data directory? Do the file sizes and last modified timestamps (for zotero.sqlite) make sense given the last time you used Zotero?
  • emi_hipny
    i've tried. i got to Library/Application Support and i from there, i couldn't find firefox or Zotero.
  • aurimas
    what about Library/Mozilla instead of Library/Application Support? Is there anything there?
  • emi_hipny
    Nope..
    the thing is from the users folder i should go into my folder (which is the username) right? anyway..when i clicked on my username i can't seem to find my library folder.but i did found the library folder. i think that's where the problem is. is there any other way where i can get the application to open?
  • aurimas
    when i clicked on my username i can't seem to find my library folder.but i did found the library folder
    I'm confused by what you're trying to say.
    is there any other way where i can get the application to open?
    The only way (AFAIK) is to find the database and fix it.
  • emi_hipny
    It's ok will try to get someone to help me locate the file first.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    You're probably looking at a different Library folder. You have to hold down Option before clicking the Go menu in Finder in order to see the Library folder within your home (i.e., your name) directory.
  • emi_hipny
    Found it!
  • emi_hipny
    Thank you! both applications can be opened now. :))))
  • smookherji
    I can open zotero and firefox, but I get the message that my zotero.sqlite has become corrupted. I get this message periodically when I am not using zotero but using firefox.
    I deleted the zotero.sqlite.is.corrupt. There were also about 23 back-ups with the filename "-damanged" in the database folder which I also deleted. Then I closed zotero and re-started, as recommended early on in this forum only to get the same message.
    Everything is available in my synched library online - how do I get zotero to work on my MacAir (OS 10.9.4) again?

    Sangeeta
  • aurimas
    edited September 11, 2014
    Generally speaking, deleting random files associated with your Zotero data (especially if you didn't make backups) is probably not something you want to be doing. You say that all the data is available online, so probably you didn't lose any data, but this could make it more difficult for us to troubleshoot.

    Close Firefox and Zotero, then go to your Zotero data directory where you have been deleting files and move the zotero.sqlite file to some other location (e.g. Desktop) and delete the zotero.sqlite.is.corrupt if it's there. Then restart Zotero and sync your data

    That file doesn't get corrupted randomly though, so this indicates some bigger issues with your data directory (where is it located? Dropbox? Network share?), hardware (could be a failing hard drive or something else), or it could be some security software (though I don't believe we've seen this yet)

    Edit: above "you should also delete the zotero.sqlite.is.corrupt file if it exists"

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