Zotero crashes on startup, unless right after installation

kchelfer
Hi all!

I have the following problem: My Zotero desktop client (Windows 10) crashes right away when I open it. I shortly see the window popping up and then it vanishes again. I tried un-installing and re-installing (the latest version) and strangely enough it opens without any problems when I open it directly from the installation program. And then afterwards again not.

Any idea what the problem could be? Or how to figure out what it is (I'm not getting any error message that I could google).

Best,
Kevin
  • dstillman
    I shortly see the window popping up and then it vanishes again.
    And zotero.exe disappears from Task Manager? No error messages?

    Does this still happen after restarting your computer?

    Is Windows up to date?
  • kchelfer
    Yes, it disappears from the task manager without any error messages.

    No, rebooting the computer doesn't help.

    Yes, Windows is up-to-date.
  • dstillman
    Does it happen if you temporarily disable auto-sync from the Sync preferences (or just disable your network connection)?
  • kchelfer
    Yes, still the same without sync or network disabled.
  • dstillman
    How far does it get before it closes? What do you see in the Zotero window?

    Are you running any security software? If so, you can try disabling it. This obviously isn't any sort of general problem, so it's something specific to your system.

    Unfortunately, Windows, unlike macOS and Linux, doesn't give us a good built-in way to generate debug output logging for the startup if Zotero is closing completely. (If by some remote chance you're familiar with Cygwin, you could get persistent debug output with the Cygwin terminal.)
  • kchelfer
    edited June 4, 2020
    The window opens but remains grey-ish and then closes again.

    I do have Cygwin. But with the instructions in that link you sent, all it says is 'Segmentation fault', which probably is not very helpful?

    It's the same with security software deactivated.
  • dstillman
    If you're getting as far as a Zotero window, if you run with -ZoteroDebugText as per Logging to a Terminal Window, you should get some output. Can you send that to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread?

    But the fact that you have Cygwin installed leads me to believe you have other customizations or third-party utilities on this system, and you'll likely need to troubleshoot this yourself to figure out what's causing it.
  • dstillman
    (Though I'm not sure what "remains grey-ish" means. You don't see the three panes? Is it sized like the normal Zotero window?)
  • kchelfer
    The window has the normal size, but remains empty. There are no three panes, no menu, no text in it. It is only visible for the fraction of a second.

    I will send an email to the support.
  • dstillman
    That was just for sending output privately. All support happens here.

    Are you sure you're running it with the -ZoteroDebugText flag? Again, if you're seeing a window at all, you should be getting at least some output.

    In any case, you'll need to troubleshoot this on your computer. This isn't something anyone else is reporting, so it's definitely something specific to your setup.
  • kchelfer
    Yes, I am running it with that flag. And that's all the output there is.

    I'm not sure what else to try. Maybe go back to an older version or some alternative (as I'm getting a bit annoyed by the web library)...
  • dstillman
    Don't run an old version.

    Make sure you have all updates for Windows and any other installed software installed. Beyond that, you can try in a different OS account, you can try disabling any other utilities or background services that are running, you can try uninstalling (not disabling) security software, or you can try reinstalling Windows.
  • qqbb
    @kchelfer: You could try holding down Shift at startup to start Zotero in Safe Mode.

    See also the suggestions here:
    https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/79209/zotero-continuously-crashing/p1

    You could also try to use the Windows ZIP beta version:
    https://www.zotero.org/support/dev_builds
  • dstillman
    Yeah, specifically you could try looking in Event Viewer to see if there's any more information on the crash.
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