Upgrade StorageExtraodrinary slow OSX clients
I am having severe usability issues with both Zotero standalone and Firefox apps on OSX but not on an up-to-date Linux client running a synced copy of the same database (without the PDFs, however).
It is my hope someone can provide some insight on how to resolve this issue.
I use both OSX client versions on a mid-2010 MacBook Pro running version 10.10.3 of Yosemite. Mostly, I use the standalone. The machine has 8Gb of memory and an upgraded hard drive but not a solid state drive. For comparison, the Linux version runs on a less powerful server system with an up-to-date installation of Ubuntu Trusty. I usually display the Zotero interface on the Macbook via ssh -X and XQuartz 2.7.7. Firefox is up-to-date on both systems. The libraries are stored in a folder just below the user home directory. On the OSX machine, I have symbolically linked the document store directory to a folder backed up by Dropbox. I imagine that as the PDF store is infrequently written to, this should not be a problem. The actual Zotero databases are not associated with Dropbox folders.
The issue is that both Zotero client versions on OSX stall excessively, rendering Zotero almost unusable. Switching between saved searches or category folders is very often painfully slow, whereas on the Linux version with the synchronized database it is almost instantaneous. Delays can range up to one minute or more. When composing notes, the embedded HTML editor frequently freezes after a word or two, permitting a further few words after a pause up to 30 seconds or more, followed by another lockup. Often, Firefox complains that the editor script is stalled. Every once and a while, Zotero inexplicably seems to speed back up only to fall back into the doldrums again.
The database is relatively large with 22784 total items. I switched back to Zotero from Papers2 about five months ago using bibtex as a go between. This resulted in a number of duplicate entries, but this should be irrelevant. Displaying the complete library (MyLibrary) in the Linux client takes about 10–15 seconds. I might as well make a pot of coffee when I try this with the OSX client(s).
It is my hope someone can provide some insight on how to resolve this issue.
I use both OSX client versions on a mid-2010 MacBook Pro running version 10.10.3 of Yosemite. Mostly, I use the standalone. The machine has 8Gb of memory and an upgraded hard drive but not a solid state drive. For comparison, the Linux version runs on a less powerful server system with an up-to-date installation of Ubuntu Trusty. I usually display the Zotero interface on the Macbook via ssh -X and XQuartz 2.7.7. Firefox is up-to-date on both systems. The libraries are stored in a folder just below the user home directory. On the OSX machine, I have symbolically linked the document store directory to a folder backed up by Dropbox. I imagine that as the PDF store is infrequently written to, this should not be a problem. The actual Zotero databases are not associated with Dropbox folders.
The issue is that both Zotero client versions on OSX stall excessively, rendering Zotero almost unusable. Switching between saved searches or category folders is very often painfully slow, whereas on the Linux version with the synchronized database it is almost instantaneous. Delays can range up to one minute or more. When composing notes, the embedded HTML editor frequently freezes after a word or two, permitting a further few words after a pause up to 30 seconds or more, followed by another lockup. Often, Firefox complains that the editor script is stalled. Every once and a while, Zotero inexplicably seems to speed back up only to fall back into the doldrums again.
The database is relatively large with 22784 total items. I switched back to Zotero from Papers2 about five months ago using bibtex as a go between. This resulted in a number of duplicate entries, but this should be irrelevant. Displaying the complete library (MyLibrary) in the Linux client takes about 10–15 seconds. I might as well make a pot of coffee when I try this with the OSX client(s).
https://www.zotero.org/support/debug_output
post the ID here, let us know exactly what action it's covering.
Thanks for your quick response. I've posted the debug output from a single action as requested, switching from the global library view to a saved search with 27 items. The debug ID is D1597652014.
Cheers,
Chris
Can you provide a Debug ID for another action?
The following Debug ID documents a long search time switching between collections: D1764438031.
Update - Sorry - it does nothing with that setting (but does not slow down zotero). I just have to do a normal manual export of my collection.
Reverting to plain BibTex export format restored an updated files folder and .bib file in my export folder.
I am on the latest Mac OS X, Firefox and plugins all updated.
I think I will probably save time by doing all exports manually in BibTex format. :-\
I've submitted a debug report (# D387852889) with all of the extensions disabled as requested. Over the last week, Zotero has been running tolerably quickly, although not nearly as quickly as the Linux and Windows clients on the same synced database. After some cleanups of duplicate entries, the OSX client slowed to a snails crawl and has stayed there.
The debug report documents a search for an author across the entire database. The search term was "Otto." Although Zotero searched correctly for the term, the interface is blocked after the initial O and does not display the remaining "tto" until the search completes. Top reports zotero-bin stuck for the long duration of the search, while Activity Monitor reported that 90% of the CPU was unused and disk activity was at 50% for most of the search. Memory swapping did not occur during the test. I hope this helps isolate the problem with the OSX client.
Cheers,
Chris
Thanks for the tip. I will try that. Other symptoms include stalling when entering text in notes, for instance.
Cheers,
Chris