Opening error
Hello, I've been having some troubles to open my Zotero.
The thing is that yesterday I deleted one of my collections by mistake and try to recover it and I read in one of these forums something that could help me by accessing to the data directory (**please see below), but since I am quite ignorant on this tech stuff it didn't work for me.
Now, after updating Zotero (5.0.55) is giving me the following opening error:
The Zotero database cannot be opened.
Make sure you have read and write permissions for all files in the Zotero data directory and that security software isn’t preventing Zotero from accessing that directory.
??... Could someone please assist me on this.
**
My hack to restore Zotero files, collections:
1.) Go to the Zotero settings (gear looking icon on the Zotero command bar)
1.b Click command
1.c Click icon on the top right
1.d Click
2.) Shut down your browser so that Zotero is not active.
3.) Using your file browser that should open up via 1.d, copy the files starting with zotero.sqlite to a different folder. (note: this will include some back ups as well as the active file from which you have deleted items or collection - imo its better to back them all up for expediency and just in case)
4.) Rename the file zotero.sqlite in the Zotero folder (not the backup folder) to zotero.sqlite.2.bak.
4.a Rename the file zotero.sqlite.1.bak (the file Zotero created as a backup) to zotero.sqlite
5.) Open your web browser and go immediately to Zotero.
5.b This should show the deleted items and collections.
5.c Quickly rename the affected collections to . I say quickly because you need to do this step before Zotero has time to sync up with the server.
The thing is that yesterday I deleted one of my collections by mistake and try to recover it and I read in one of these forums something that could help me by accessing to the data directory (**please see below), but since I am quite ignorant on this tech stuff it didn't work for me.
Now, after updating Zotero (5.0.55) is giving me the following opening error:
The Zotero database cannot be opened.
Make sure you have read and write permissions for all files in the Zotero data directory and that security software isn’t preventing Zotero from accessing that directory.
??... Could someone please assist me on this.
**
My hack to restore Zotero files, collections:
1.) Go to the Zotero settings (gear looking icon on the Zotero command bar)
1.b Click command
1.c Click icon on the top right
1.d Click
2.) Shut down your browser so that Zotero is not active.
3.) Using your file browser that should open up via 1.d, copy the files starting with zotero.sqlite to a different folder. (note: this will include some back ups as well as the active file from which you have deleted items or collection - imo its better to back them all up for expediency and just in case)
4.) Rename the file zotero.sqlite in the Zotero folder (not the backup folder) to zotero.sqlite.2.bak.
4.a Rename the file zotero.sqlite.1.bak (the file Zotero created as a backup) to zotero.sqlite
5.) Open your web browser and go immediately to Zotero.
5.b This should show the deleted items and collections.
5.c Quickly rename the affected collections to . I say quickly because you need to do this step before Zotero has time to sync up with the server.
At this point, let us know all the zotero.sqlite* files in your Zotero data directory as well as their sizes and timestamps.
1. zotero.sqlite.2.bak
2. zotero.sqlite
3. zotero.sqlite.tmp
I deleted 'zotero.sqlite.2.bak' and still didn't work. I downloaded Zotero again without deleting the old one, but no one opens and shows the same error.
1. zotero.sqlite folder
a. zotero.sqlite - 16.8MB
Created: Sept 28, 2017 @ 4.32pm
Modified: Yesterday @7.04pm
b. zotero.sqlite-journal - 5.3MB
Created: August 04,2018 @ 1.39am
Modified: Yesterday @7.04pm
c. zotero.sqlite.1.bak - 13.7MB
Created: May 04, 2018 @ 6.52pm
Modified: May 04, 2018 @ 6.52pm
d. zotero.sqlite.bak - 14MB
Created: June 14,2018 @ 11.30am
Modified: June 14,2018 @ 11.30am
1. zotero.sqlite.tmp folder
(All of them Created and Modified: Yesterday @ 8.45pm)
a. zotero.sqlite - 15.8MB
b. zotero.sqlite-journal - 4.5MB
c. zotero.sqlite.1.bak - 13.7MB
d. zotero.sqlite.bak - 14MB
I am not sure if the information provided was the correct one, regarding the files sizes and the timestamps.
I would appreciate any help with the above.
A friend of mine recommended me to delete Zotero and reinstall it again. But the issue persists. Unfortunately, I am not good with tech and have no idea what to do. Please.
If the deletion has synced, follow these steps:
1) Make sure you have a backup of all the zotero.sqlite* files in another folder.
2) With Zotero closed, delete zotero.sqlite and zotero.sqlite-journal and rename zotero.sqlite.bak from June 14th to zotero.sqlite.
3) Just to make things easier in case you have auto-sync enabled, turn off the wifi on your computer or unplug it from the network.
4) Start Zotero. You should see your data from June 14th.
5) Make a new collection and copy all the items from the collection you deleted into a new collection. If there are subcollections, you'll want to create copies of those too under the new collection and copy those items as well.
6) Re-enable your computer's internet connection and sync Zotero. If all goes well, you should end up with the new collection intact.
Let us know if any part doesn't work.