Chromebook

Ayjaytee
Hi
I've installed the zotero connector on my Chromebook and I can see the blue book icon as usual, when I click it a small window opens saying that it's saving to zotero but I can't then find the item in my library. Where is it being saved to?
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  • adamsmith
    to the online version of your library (click on My Library at the top left of this page).
  • micabjones
    Yes, but the actual Stand ALone extension cannot be seen on the Chromebook. Has anyone else been able to enable it? When I look at the extensions, it is listed as: Zotero Standalone is currently unavailable. How can I enable Zotero standalone on a chromebook?
  • dncarson@gmail.com
    I am experiencing the same problem. Please advise-- I can see the Zotero icons in the browser bar but cannot enable the Zotero stand alone on my chromebook. Has anyone else been able to solve this?
  • adamsmith
    There is no Zotero Standalone for Chromebook and there won't be in the foreseeable future.
  • jaimexico
    Hi Adam,
    I want to know WHY and HOW do you know "THERE WONT BE" Zotero Standalone for Chromebook... There is a lot of people looking for it, including me obviously.
  • adamsmith
    I know because it would be a lot of work (if possible at all) and no one is working on it.
    Zotero requires Firefox infrastructure--the Standalone version still run on XUL-runner, which is, essentially, Firefox without the browser, and as far as I know that doesn't run on Chromebook.

    It's probably possible somehow, e.g. by building a much more powerful web-only version of Zotero, but, as I say, that's not going to happen any time soon.
  • tom.oldman123
    It's true that Zotero cannot function with a Chromebook which is running ChromeOS. However...

    If your Chromebook has an Intel processor, it can be dual-booted to run Linux rather than the Chrome operating system. Using a Linux set-up (eg Ubuntu or Linix Mint), Firefox can be used perfectly straightforwardly. As long as you assign the Zotero folder to an external drive (USB flash drive or SD card, so that the small amount of on-board Chromebook storage isn't crammmed with data and PDFs etc) then you should be all ready to go.

    So, a Chromebook can run fully-functioning Zotero!

    Once you've got Ubuntu + Firefox + Zotero then all you need to do is install the LibreOffice or OpenOffice connectors and you're sorted for a free software solution on a cheap piece of hardware.

    Am I wrong?

    (check out http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/install-linux-chromebook/ for some details on this method. Perhaps someone can write a proper, full 'Zotero on a Chromebook via Linux' guide to help those willing to go down this route and iron out anything I've got wrong or missed? I'm no good at explaining in any more depth than I have already and am certainly no tech / code expert.)
  • adamsmith
    That's right and I know of people who have done that. I'm not sure if it's still a chromebook if it doesn't run ChromeOS ;)

    This doesn't require any special instructions: Once you have linux running (which is the hard part), running Zotero isn't different than on any other linux device. The one thing to keep in mind is that you have relatively little harddisk space, especially if you're going to dual-boot the laptop. The storage folder for my medium-sized Zotero library is >3GB, which would be a large share of available HD space on a regular Chromebook, which comes with as little as 16GB total.
  • Matterhorn1
    But how about the chrome extension?
  • adamsmith
    The Chrome extension allows you to save stuff to your Zotero online account as per the two first posts in this thread. You can't install Zotero, though, so anything for which you actually need the software (which includes things like word processor integration, saved searches, moving items between groups and my library and much more) isn't available on ChromeOS.
  • diasalm
    I installed Crouton Trusty Xfce in my Asus C300 Chromebook and it is almost going well with Zotero Standalone, Libreoffice, Firefox and Dropbox. First, Zotero standalone seems to be a little bit slowly, for example, when I type tags for an item; second, Zotero Standalone and Zotero plugin of Firefox do not seem to work well together(because when I use the Z icon or the item icon on the address bar, the item only appears on Zotero Firefox, but not on Zotero Standalone (it only appears after sync); and third, styles are not working well, so that I can not use the command Create bibliography from the item nor the plugin for Libre office (I have already installed it successfully). Prior to Chromebook I have already used Zotero with common notebooks and had done these procedures thousands times!
  • adamsmith
    since a chromebook with linux installed is just like any other linux box, that's just not a Chromebook issue. Start a new thread with more details and we can probably fix most of these.
  • diasalm
    Thank you very much for your answer Adam Smith, I've already read someone here talking about your quickness and I've just veryfied it personally. I really appreciated, the best I have ever saw! Congratulations! I have already fixed my problem. I noticed that I changed the standalone version to a custom folder and I suppose this have made the difference. After all, I decided to uninstall the standalone version (becauand Chromebook does not have a large memory) and keep only Firefox plugin with Zotfile and Dropbox, and everything is working well again. I also found an excelent tip I did not know yet, the Linked Attachment Base Directory, and I added it too. Best and thank you very much again!
  • edveal
    I think this has changed...

    http://research.library.gsu.edu/c.php?g=115275&p=751692
  • adamsmith
    no, nothing about this has changed, the status is still as described in the first couple of posts.
  • jjacobe
    Hi. Does it have somes changes about a futur Zotero on Chromebook
    Thanks in advance
  • ovidio
    Hi. Have you considered allowing that the Zotero Connector connects (I cannot find a synonym ;) ) to a Zotero Standalone in another machine? This would solve the problem for Chromebooks but I also can imagine many other usage scenarios.

    Best regards.
  • adamsmith
    It connects to the server, which is essentially that. Establishing a P2P connection to software on another computer is probably neither feasible nor a good idea.
  • ovidio
    Well, I cannot comment from a technical point of view but as a user it makes a lot of sense to me. Indeed, it is what the Connector does now to save to the online library, right?
  • tkelly7
    Is there a way to make the note taking window larger on the online screen? I ask because I'm using it on a Chromebook and right now that note taking window is very compressed.
  • tkelly7
    NVM. I answered my own question.
  • Agnes2502
    Hello
    How may I onstall Zotero for LibreOffice (Linux) on my Chrome Book ?
    Thank you
  • dstillman
    @Agnes2502: See Installing on a Chromebook.
  • AGNES RIMBERT
    @dstillman Thank you very much. I was able to succeed until stage 3. But I can't do it for stage 4. I don't understand how to follow the "Protocol" Thanks for your help.
  • dstillman
    you may need to install a port-forwarding app such as Connection Forwarder
  • dstillman
    (These are community-contributed instructions, and none of us have Chromebooks to test on, so we can't help with them, but they've definitely worked for others.)
  • rafaelr3
    edited July 10, 2020
    @Agnes2502 if you go to your chrome os settings, click on Linux (Beta), then Linux for its settings, there is a Port Forwarding setting that you can setup stage 4. It works well. I am using it.
  • dstillman
    @rafaelr3: So that's built in now? No need for a third-party utility?
  • rafaelr3
    @dstillman no need for a third party. I work on my chrome and the port forwarding feature on chromeos settings allows it to go to the zotero desktop software on the Linux end. Pretty seamless. Then I have it connected to both libre office as well as Google docs.
  • Agnes2502
    @rafaelr3 Thank you very much. I tried but I don't find the way to this port forwarding. Can you give me the way. I feel so stupid with this... Thank you again.
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