Zotero won't communicate with my file

rahusain
I have the zotero file on Google Drive (using file stream). It was working fine for a number of months. I installed Zotero on another computer and tried to map it to the same file on Google Drive and now Zotero won't connect to either. I reinstalled Zotero but I am getting the same error. I can access the synched files online but I really need it on my computer.
Here is the error I get.
Error: Error(s) encountered during statement execution: database disk image is malformed [QUERY: SELECT creatorTypeID AS id, creatorType AS name FROM creatorTypes] [PARAMS: ] [ERROR: database disk image is malformed]
Zotero.DBConnection.prototype.queryAsync<@chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/db.js:721:10
From previous event:
ZoteroService@file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Zotero/components/zotero-service.js:339:4
@chrome://zotero/content/include.js:4:14
  • dstillman
    database disk image is malformed
    Your database was corrupted due to your storing it on Google Drive.

    Move your data directory out of there immediately and then try recovering with the DB Repair Tool or from a backup (or both).
  • bwiernik
    edited July 26, 2018
    After that, see here for how to use Google Drive with Zotero safely:
    https://zotero.org/support/sync#alternative_syncing_solutions
  • rahusain
    I moved it to the C drive, but Zotero won't connect to the data, it gives this error and the only option I have is to look for updates or quit?!
  • adamsmith
    did you use the database repair tool that dstillman linked to?
  • rahusain
    I tried the debug tool, the 47MB file was paired down to 508KB and all it shows is the skeleton of the folders, no files in them :(
  • rahusain
    The backup file is a month old so I don't want to use them. I have a synched backup online but it doesn't have the attachments (maybe I didn't ahve the space?) but I have upgraded the space and now I am stuck populating all the attachments manually :(
  • rahusain
    My question at this point is that the online backup of Zotero has all the names and structure of research articles, but only 30% of the attachments. I reinstalled Zotero on my computer and 'synced' it from the online backup so now I have all the names and structure of files and about 30% of the attachments on the WORKING Zotero folder.

    These attachments are important because I have highlighted in them. They are physically present ( I checked a sample manually) in the 'storage' folder in the Zotero folder that has the corrupted sqlite file.
    Can I write over the contents of the 'storage' folder from the previous Zotero folder to the new WORKING Zotero folder or would that cause problems?

    I have manually copied and pasted a few attachments from old Zotero to the WORKING Zotero folder and they are now available in Zotero program for me. However the storage folder has some folders that have other database related files so I am not sure if I can blanket copy and write over all the contents??
  • adamsmith
    Can I write over the contents of the 'storage' folder from the previous Zotero folder to the new WORKING Zotero folder or would that cause problems?
    yes, that'll work without any issues.
  • rahusain
    THANKS!!! That solved my problem!
    I will just use a C:\ folder and online synching from now on !!
    Thanks again .. you guys are great!
  • rahusain
    One last question, I notice that some attachments (pdf or docx files) are no synching with the online web version. Most of them are but some are not. I can't find any reason for them , this seems to be random.
    For example, sometimes I have pdf chapters of a book manually attached to a reference and those can be large files, some of those files are synching online but some are not.
    Similarly some Word docx notes are synching and others are not.

    Any ideas why this could be happening?

    Thanks
  • dstillman
    See Files Not Syncing.
  • rahusain
    Thank you! I got it all fixed up!! Now I can synch it on my other computer as a backup during the Prelims :)

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