Zotero data still lost

tigercreme
Hi everyone,
as simon.maraud I lost my zotero data after the last Firefox update. After reading what adamsmith suggested to Simon, I copied both the zotero.sqlite and the zotero.sqlite-journal files from my "old" Firefox folder to the new one.
Unfortunately, this did not work out: when opening Firefox again, I was asked to update Zotero; when then opening Zotero, the data base was again empty - because the files in the "new" zotero folder have been replaced again.
So after doing the copying thing again, I then tried to open Firefox without updating Zotero - but in this case I can't open Zotero at all.
Does anyone have an idea what else I can do?
Thanks!
  • aurimas
    You should update both Firefox and Zotero and _then_ restore your library. Though I still don't think that this is caused by a simple Zotero update.
  • tigercreme
    Unfortunately, this does not work. Firefox and Zotero are both updated (I just did this again). But after having changed the files in the "new" Zotero folder, I can't open Firefox without being "forced" to update Zotero again; when I open it, there are no data at all, just the following error message: "component returned failure code 0x80004005".
    (And when I open Firefox without updating Zotero again, I can't open Zotero at all).

    Any more ideas?
  • adamsmith
    This all sounds off & I'm a bit confused what's going on--Firefox updates don't just remove Zotero and even old versions of Zotero would open on Firefox 39. Let's maybe start with what version number of Firefox you're using.

    If it's Firefox 39, do update Zotero to 4.0.27.4, and if it then starts with an error, provide the info here: https://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_problems#reporting_startup_errors
  • tigercreme
    edited July 10, 2015
    Ok, I have Firefox 39 and Zotero 4.0.27.4xpi. I can open Zotero, but in this case it is empty = all my data are gone.
  • adamsmith
    edited July 10, 2015
    OK, good. Now restore the data as previously described. You say you now get an error message? Don't copy the journal file, btw. Just copy the zotero.sqlite file and the storage folder.

    Edit: also not that you should have Firefox quit while copying those files.
  • tigercreme
    Ok, I did this and I got the message that my Zotero data is damaged and cannot be used for backup(?)...
    Does this mean that the data is completely lost?
  • aurimas
    Could you provide the error message exactly as it appears, even if it's not in English? That error didn't sound like something that Zotero would say (not the backup part anyway)
  • aurimas
    Also, at this point, what zotero.sqlite files do you have on your computer? Where are they located? What else is in the same directories? What size and modification dates do the zotero.sqlite files have?
  • tigercreme
    Ok, that's what I did:

    First: Updated firefox and zotero again; the "damaged data" message appeared when I copied the zotero.sqlite file and the storage folder WITHOUT having closed Firefox. Then I got the following message (my translation): "The data base 'zotero' seems to be damaged. Please restart Firefox in order to try an automatic restorage from the last backup." I restarted and then I could open zotero (but it was/is empty); two files were kept in C:// "zotero.sqilt 10-07-2015" and "zotero.sqlite.is.corrupt 10-07-2015.

    Second: I closed everything, downloaded Zotero again, and CLOSED Firefox altogether. I then copied again the zotero.sqilte file and the storage folder (from the "old Firefox" folder in the Desktop folder). When trying to open Firefox, I got the following message: "You have installed a new version of Zotero. Your Zotero database must be updated to function with the new version. Your old database will be saved automatically before changes will be made." Then I pressed continue to "establish an upgrade". Then I got a new error message, announcing a problem of synchronization "cannot access layer from a higher wait level if a transaction is opened" - ID 50906ß163. Then I was asked to do the sync manually - "local object" and/or "remote object"; I tried both options, the result was always the same (i.e.: an empty database).

    Concerning your question:
    There are three files in the "old Zotero" folder: zotero.sqlite 676 KB, zotero.sqlite.bak 676 KB and zotero.sqlite-journal 21 KB (the date for all three of them is 29-04-2010 - which IS quite strange, since I last used my Zotero database about two weeks ago; and the size of course is much too small, too - I have been using my Zotero database for several years...)
    In the "new Zotero" folder are now four files: zotero.sqlite 10-07-2015 988 KB, zotero.sqlite.73.bak 29-04-2010 676 KB, zotero.sqlite.bak 29-04-2010 676 KB, zotero.sqlite-journal 10-07-2015 314 KB (the damaged files from the first trial are no longer there).

    Is there any other "place" where I could look out for the "right" data files? (I still don't understand what happended to them).



    P.S.: In any case: thanks a lot for trying to solve this out!!
  • dstillman
    edited July 10, 2015
    Yeah, that's definitely not the database you've being using. You should look elsewhere on your system for zotero.sqlite (e.g., in another Firefox profile folder).
  • dstillman
    edited July 10, 2015
    Also, what's in the 'storage' folder in your current Zotero data directory? Is it empty, or are there lots of folders?
  • tigercreme
    After having checked all the zotero.sqlite files I finally found the right one - WHAT A RELIEVE
    Thank you all for your help!

This is an old discussion that has not been active in a long time. Before commenting here, you should strongly consider starting a new discussion instead. If you think the content of this discussion is still relevant, you can link to it from your new discussion.

Sign In or Register to comment.