Can't sync; probs w/ certificates, XML files, etc.?

Hello all,

After about seven years of no problems, my Zotero has abruptly stopped letting me sync. I'm using Zotero Standalone for Windows 10. When I click on the sync icon, it doesn't even make a full rotation of the little circular arrow before it stops trying.

When I click on the red error icon, it tells me, "Error connecting to server. Check your internet connection." My internet connection is fine.

When I click on "Report Error," it gives me the extremely long textdump that you see below the closing.

When I then click "Next" to send in the report, I get another error, "Error: Invalid response from repository."

When I try upgrading Zotero to fix the problem, after downloading the setup file and running it, I get "Update Failed. There were problems checking for, downloading, or installing this update. Zotero could not be updated because: Update XML file malformed (200)."

Turning off Windows Defender's real-time protection, and adding exclusions for Zotero, doesn't help.

Any thoughts on how to get past this?

Thanks in advance,
Andrew


[JavaScript Error: "Error connecting to server. Check your Internet connection." {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/sync.js" line: 2595}]
[JavaScript Error: "Error connecting to server. Check your Internet connection." {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/sync.js" line: 652}]
[JavaScript Error: "repo.zotero.org:443 uses an invalid security certificate.

The certificate is not trusted because the issuer certificate is unknown.
The server might not be sending the appropriate intermediate certificates.
An additional root certificate may need to be imported.

Error code: SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ISSUER
"]
[JavaScript Error: "sync.zotero.org:443 uses an invalid security certificate.

The certificate is not trusted because the issuer certificate is unknown.
The server might not be sending the appropriate intermediate certificates.
An additional root certificate may need to be imported.

{AW: I deleted three more identical repetitions of this last couple of paragraphs.}

Error code: SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ISSUER
"]
[JavaScript Error: "Error connecting to server. Check your Internet connection." {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/sync.js" line: 2595}]
[JavaScript Error: "Error connecting to server. Check your Internet connection." {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/sync.js" line: 652}]
[JavaScript Error: "repo.zotero.org:443 uses an invalid security certificate.

The certificate is not trusted because the issuer certificate is unknown.
The server might not be sending the appropriate intermediate certificates.
An additional root certificate may need to be imported.

{AW: I deleted five more identical repetitions of this last couple of paragraphs. The two repeated blocks were interspersed with each other, in no particular order.}

Error code: SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ISSUER
"]

version => 4.0.29.17, platform => Win32, oscpu => Windows NT 10.0; WOW64, locale => en-US, appName => Zotero, appVersion => 4.0.29.17, extensions => Zotero LibreOffice Integration (3.5.12.SA.4.0.29.17, extension), Zotero Word for Windows Integration (3.5.6.SA.4.0.29.17, extension), Adobe Acrobat (17.9.20044.25828, plugin), Google Update (1.3.33.5, plugin), Photo Gallery (16.4.3528.331, plugin), Microsoft Office 2010 (14.0.4730.1010, plugin), Microsoft Office 2010 (14.0.4761.1000, plugin), McAfee SecurityCenter (15.4.4031.0, plugin), Java(TM) Platform SE 8 U131 (11.131.2.11, plugin), Java Deployment Toolkit 8.0.1310.11 (11.131.2.11, plugin), Intel® Identity Protection Technology (4.0.68.0, plugin), Intel® Identity Protection Technology (4.0.68.0, plugin), Picasa (3.0.0.0, plugin), Zoom launcher - 3.0.1 (4.0.25958.306, plugin)
  • P.S. Upgrading to Beta 5.0 has not fixed the problem.
  • P.P.S. I have renewed my expired McAfee, downloaded new virus definitions, and run a full scan of my computer. No issues were found.
  • Since upgrading to Beta 5.0, the error message has changed to this: "SSL certificate error connecting to api.zotero.org."

    I'm currently working through the recommended steps given in the documentation.
  • Reporting on the steps given here — https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/ssl_certificate_error:

    1. I rebooted everything. Nope.
    2. Time zone & clock correct. Yup.
    3. "Nothing to see here."
    4. Following the instructions at https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/site_certificate_info, I found that the certificate issuer is "CovenantEyesProxy(44895)."

    I will contact C.E. support and see if they know of any compatibility issues. I have been using C.E. for longer than I have been using Zotero, so if this is the issue, it is certainly a new and unexpected one.

    By the way, I also turned off McAfee real-time scanning and firewall, rebooted Zotero, and tried again... nothing.
  • edited June 11, 2017
    That's this:
    If you are in an institutional environment, ask your network administrator if they have installed a “custom root certificate” in your browser. If so, you can try either using Zotero for Firefox instead or following the certificate override instructions for Zotero Standalone, but be aware that in either case your connection to Zotero is being intercepted and possibly monitored.
    (Zotero for Firefox is going away, so you'll need to follow the certificate override instructions.)
  • Thanks.

    I'm not in an institutional environment, but perhaps Covenant Eyes works similarly to that sort of environment.

    Anyway, I have tried the certificate override instructions to which you linked, to no avail. I don't mind my connection to Zotero being intercepted or monitored, by the way. Also, I don't have a clue what a WebDAV server is (despite looking it up on Wikipedia and reading the jargony definition) but I don't think I'm using a WebDAV.

    I did go to the trouble of downloading and installing Firefox and then trying to go to https://sync.zotero.org, and I get a big error message that says,

    "Your connection is not secure. The owner of sync.zotero.org has configured their website improperly. To protect your information from being stolen, Firefox has not connected to this website. This site uses HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) to specify that Firefox may only connect to it securely. As a result, it is not possible to add an exception for this certificate."

    So I cannot follow the instructions given by the certificate override instructions to "accept the certificate, and then copy the cert_override.txt file from the Firefox profile directory to the Zotero profile directory."

    So... what now?

    Thanks for your help!
  • edited June 12, 2017
    on which browser did you get the "Nothing to see here" above? And did you you install the CE browser add-on in Firefox.
  • edited June 12, 2017
    perhaps Covenant Eyes works similarly to that sort of environment
    Yes. It's effectively "security software that intercepts/scans HTTPS connections", as mentioned there. You'll have to ask their support how to configure Firefox to work, and then copy the files mentioned in our instructions. (You can then uninstall Firefox.)
  • I got "nothing to see here" on Chrome. And, oddly, just now, it worked on Firefox — inexplicably, since I did nothing differently. But I went into my Firefox profile directory, attempting to follow the instructions given, and I can't find a cert_override.txt file. I set Windows to show me hidden files, so even if the txt file is hidden, it should be showing. (I tried to post a screenshot here just now of the folder's contents, but I'm not sure how to do that.)

    Any other suggestions?

    I've sent the CE support team the URL to this comment thread, so perhaps they can help. I will reiterate that I've had Covenant Eyes a lot longer than I've had Zotero, and I've had Zotero for actually I think eight years, and the combination has never been a problem for me until now. Not sure why it's started clashing suddenly.
  • Did you copy cert8.db?
  • I couldn't find it.

    I went to C:\Users\Andrew\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\wnanma5l.default, and this is what I found:

    cache2
    jumpListCache
    OfflineCache
    safebrowsing
    startupCache
    thumbnails
    directoryLinks.json
    frequencyCap.json

    and when I search the folder for anything with "cert" in the title, it comes up blank.

    What am I doing wrong?
  • That's not the profile folder — you want to look in AppData\Roaming, not AppData\Local.
  • ...wow! I think that actually worked! It synced without a red [!], and the empty placeholder entry I added on my Zotero Standalone seemed to have turned up on my online library.

    Thank you for your patience in helping me with this. Much appreciated!
  • By the way, fwiw, the same problem inexplicably cropped up again, two months later. I copied the cert8.db file all over again from Firefox, and voila, it worked again. Bizarre. Just giving this update in case it's useful to you. Thanks again for your help — a gift that has kept on giving. :)
  • Did CE get back to you with any other solution to this? I'm having trouble following all of these detailed instructions and would prefer not to have to download Firefox.
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