Mac using hotkey Cmd+B to enable bold text crashing Zotero

mghaz
This is concerning Report ID 1095906557.
The past 2-3 reports from my account all concern this issue.

Zotero Desktop Version 5.0.58 on Mac OSX 10.10.5

When I'm editing a note (whether in a separate window or in the Zotero main window), occasionally pressing cmd+B to enable bold text crashes Zotero.

Anyone else facing this?
Any idea what is going on here?
  • bwiernik
    edited November 20, 2018
    Can you submit a Debug Log ID (different from a report ID) from the Help menu for a sequence of steps showing you trying to use Cmd+B and then Zotero crashing?
  • dstillman
    It doesn't sound like @mghaz will be able to provide a Debug ID here, if Zotero is crashing.

    @mghaz, to clarify, do you mean that Zotero is closing completely or is freezing?

    Since it doesn't sound like this happens entirely reliably, how sure are you that it's Cmd-B that's causing the problem?

    I don't recall anyone else reporting anything like this, so this is likely something specific to your computer. To start, you should upgrade your OS if possible — 10.10 is no longer supported by Apple, and any Mac running 10.10 can be upgraded to at least 10.11 if not later.

    If that doesn't help, I would also try disabling any third-party software you're running.
  • mghaz
    It just crashed again, this time with Cmd+I to make italic text.

    @bwiernik I enabled a debugging output and it cashed just now. The Debug ID is D1115675353.

    @dstillman I am convinced these hotkeys crash Zotero. It does not happen every single time I use hotkeys to make italic or bold text, but it has been happening consistently for some time (1-2 months), perhaps since the last time I updated Zotero to 5.0.58.

    The program doesn't freeze entirely. It just serves the error message, closes my editing window, and asks me to restart:
    "An error has occurred. please restart Zotero. You can report this error by slecting 'Report Errors...' from the Help Menu"
  • dstillman
    This is hopefully fixed in the latest Zotero beta, which includes an updated note editor. If you can still reproduce this easily, can you download that and see if it still happens for you in that version? The beta should be safe to use, your existing data won't be affected, and you can switch back easily.
  • nathanihoff
    I am having the same problem. When I'm writing a note in Zotero 5.0.66 on a Mac, the program often crashes when I use a keyboard shortcut for bold, underline, or italics. Report ID: 1798425047.
  • dstillman
    @nathanihoff: Crashes how, exactly? The same "An error has occurred. Please restart Zotero." message as above, or something else? I don't believe we've had any other reports of this since 5.0.59, when the above-mentioned fix was released.

    Can you reproduce it easily enough to generate a Debug ID?
  • nathanihoff
    edited June 4, 2019
    @dstillman Exact same as above. Same message: "An error has occurred. Please restart Zotero." I lose no work but it's obnoxious.

    I just reproduced it and submitted the debugging report. ID D1931399055.
  • dstillman
    And how exactly did you reproduce it?
  • nathanihoff
    edited June 4, 2019
    @dstillman I typed random letters and toggled on and off bold, italics, and underline using keyboard shortcuts. After about 20 seconds it crashed. I was typing all of this within a bulleted list, with some shift-return line breaks. I'm not sure if that matters.
  • mghaz
    edited June 1, 2020
    Hello everyone, just re-raising this issue from a year ago, which has persisted.
    I'm running Zotero 5.0.87 on macOS 10.14.6

    Hotkeys like Cmd+i and Cmd+b while writing notes will still randomly crash Zotero serve up the same message:
    'An error has occurred. Please Restart Zotero'

    I submitted an Error Report: 806096997

    I tried to Submit Debug Output, but the "Submit..." button for Debug Ouput won't work, either, so I'm copying the Debug Output here:

    [output removed — D.S.]
  • jamesnicholas
    Also just experienced this error when using Cmd+B for bold text in a note, Report ID: 1423067082, in case its helpful
  • dstillman
    [JavaScript Error: "An error has occurred. Please restart Zotero.

    You can report this error by selecting "Report Errors…" from the Help menu."]
    [JavaScript Error: "this.crash@chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/zotero.js:1234:21
    ZoteroPane</this.displayErrorMessage@chrome://zotero/content/zoteroPane.js:4785:5
    onerror@chrome://zotero/content/standalone/standalone.xul:1:1
    @mghaz, @jamesnicholas, if you can reproduce this reliably in a given note and don't mind, can you right-click on the note, click Source Code, copy the code, and email it to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread?
  • mghaz
    Thanks @dstillman -- will do this the next time it happens.
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