Upgrade StorageZotero fails to sync on Mac OS X
Report ID: 1639349816
I really have no idea what's going on - I'm a longtime Zotero user on Windows, and just switched over to Mac OS X Sierra and am trying to get my library to sync onto my new computer (MacBook Pro 13in Retina, early 2015). I can see most all my items metadata in the catalog, but the files aren't syncing. When I try to sync, it gives me a red exclamation point next to the sync symbol in the upper right corner, giving this strange error code:
Component returned failure code: 0x80520006 (NS_ERROR_FILE_TARGET_DOES_NOT_EXIST) [nsIFile.permissions]
This is on Zotero Standalone 4.0.29.15 for Mac OS X. I've also installed Zotero for Firefox and for Safari, but haven't used them yet. I've also installed the MS Word plugin.
Zotero still seems to sync fine on my Windows PC, so I don't think it's a problem with my account.
Please help - I'm a total Mac beginner and if Zotero doesn't work that's kind of a deal breaker for this computer...
I really have no idea what's going on - I'm a longtime Zotero user on Windows, and just switched over to Mac OS X Sierra and am trying to get my library to sync onto my new computer (MacBook Pro 13in Retina, early 2015). I can see most all my items metadata in the catalog, but the files aren't syncing. When I try to sync, it gives me a red exclamation point next to the sync symbol in the upper right corner, giving this strange error code:
Component returned failure code: 0x80520006 (NS_ERROR_FILE_TARGET_DOES_NOT_EXIST) [nsIFile.permissions]
This is on Zotero Standalone 4.0.29.15 for Mac OS X. I've also installed Zotero for Firefox and for Safari, but haven't used them yet. I've also installed the MS Word plugin.
Zotero still seems to sync fine on my Windows PC, so I don't think it's a problem with my account.
Please help - I'm a total Mac beginner and if Zotero doesn't work that's kind of a deal breaker for this computer...
Can you provide a Debug ID (different from a Report ID) for a sync attempt that produces the error?
Just after posting, I tried uninstalling firefox and zotero standalone and then reinstalled both and started zotero standalone again to see if it would sync. To my surprise, my catalog instantly appeared when I opened the program - I think when OS X uninstalled it, it didn't wipe the data/settings.
I turned on the debugger just before hitting the sync button, and to my surprise it worked for a while, but then stalled at 51% of my files. It didn't show an error, but it simply stopped progressing. I finally gave up after a few hours and closed Zotero, so the debug report doesn't end in an error per se, but a stall.
The debug ID for that run is here: D1456288496. It's unfortunately 50,000 lines of output...but you'll see just at the very top an error - file not found of some sort.
One issue that I'm not sure is related is that I'm running Avast! antivirus, which a couple times during an earlier sync attempt (not this one) claimed to find a virus and quarantined a couple of my files from the Zotero storage directory. But when I went to restore them from the quarantine, Avast said they were already copies back in the folder it took them from, suggesting that maybe Zotero simply replaced them after Avast quarantined them.
I then tried syncing again, this time without the debugger on to see if it would go faster. Same thing, but this time it strangely stalled at a lower number - 47%. I had left it on all night, and gave up and closed Zotero in the morning.
Curious, I now turned off my antivirus file system protection and turned on the debugger and tried syncing again to see what would happen - this time it didn't even get to the blue progress bar. The green arrow spun for about 30 seconds and then stopped. No error, it just stopped. But there are clearly files missing from my local storage still - just clicking around I know I don't have all my files. The debug ID for this run is the following: D2131665663
Should I try doing a 'clean' reinstall of Zotero, wiping the local storage? Is it possible I have too much data for Zotero to sync in one go? (I'm a paid user and so have probably 10-20gb of pdfs etc). I could copy over my file directory from my Windows PC but I don't know it the file structure is the same and Zotero would recognize it.
For reference, I'm running OS X 10.12.1 (16B2657). I just downloaded Zotero a couple days ago, so it's the latest one.
Thanks so much!
There actually aren't any meaningful errors in those Debug IDs, but your original error was quite likely caused by Avast.
The immediate sync without an error is because there were no remote file changes — in the current Zotero, I believe there are some situations where a file sync error can occur and then it can still skip further downloads until the next time a file is uploaded (which it does as an optimization). That's hopefully fixed in the upcoming Zotero 5.0, but if not we'll be sure to fix it.
In any case, you can use Reset File Sync History in the Sync -> Reset pane of the prefs to kick off further downloads. (Definitely don't use the other reset options.)
For a large initial sync on a computer, some failures during file syncing generally aren't a problem, and eventually it will pull down all your files (though in 4.0 you might need to occasionally help it out with Reset File Sync History). Future versions should be better about silently ignoring/retrying those errors.
(Before the uninstall, as I mentioned above, I checked and Zotero's storage folder was 6.2gb, but my library is about 6.5gb on my windows PC that I was using before, so a number of files were missing.)
I then reinstalled Zotero standalone and also changed the file directory, based on the comments on this thread: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/61014/macos-sierra-papers-protected#latest. I put the zotero folder in a different directory (under my user on macintosh HD) and reassociated it in zotero under custom data directory location. Zotero recognized it and I thought I might be good to go.
I then tried syncing. I quickly got all my folders to sync and even got the blue progress bar to 99% until finally ending in an error ("A File Sync Error Occurred), Reference ID: 234838200.
I checked and my library in the storage was just 220mb. And that stays basically the same no matter how long I leave Zotero to sync for.
I turned on the debugger and tried again to see if it would sync more files. It got another 100mb or so more files and then gave me the same error. Debug report: D1336175932
Could this be a result of a slow/intermittent internet connection? I've been having trouble with my DSL, but it's the same connection my PC uses without a problem.
Please let me know what I can do to fix this or if you've had similar problems. I don't get why this should be so hard - the computer is new, up to date, and so this is a clean install, and my zotero library syncs fine on other computers. Thanks!
In any case, a huge thank you because that did indeed fix my problem. I reset the file sync history first and then closed Zotero and copied over my library from my other computer (as per the documentation instructions) and then restarted zotero and my whole library was there, and it seems to sync just fine with the server. I think you're right that it was just having a hard time with a huge initial sync.