Report ID: 1092233992 - Save Web Page with Snapshot doesn't work

Guillaume Gaullier
Report ID: 1092233992

Hello,

For some time now, the "Save to Zotero (Web Page with Snapshot)" functionality has been broken for me, so I decided to file this report.

When I do this on any web page (after it finished loading), I get an error message in the pop up notification (see additional info below). I checked the help page ( https://www.zotero.org/support/troubleshooting_translator_issues ), but everything described here seems ok. I tried steps 11 (not blocking cookies) and 13 (reset translators), but they did not solve the problem.

What happens is that an item is created in my Zotero library, with correct metadata, but no snapshot is saved.

Additional info:

- The exact URL of a page that isn't working (even if none are): I believe the faulty behavior happens with any URL; here is one I tried to "save with snapshot" and that did not work: https://eduproffer.blogspot.com/2020/06/blooms-grading-reduce-cheating-and.html

- A Debug ID from the Zotero Connector for a save attempt or, if you're only getting a webpage icon, for loading the page: 1092233992

- What it says in the popup when you try to save (e.g., “Saving to My Library” or “Saving to zotero.org”): "Saving to My Library. An error occurred while saving this item. Try again, and if the issue persists see Getting Help for more information."

- The name of the translator from step 10, if applicable: generic "Web Page" translator (I right clicked on the import button to bypass the default translator, because I want to save a snapshot).

I inspected the debug log in Zotero and found these relevant lines:

(1)(+0000002): Error: Unix error 2 during operation move on file /Users/guillaume/Zotero/storage/tmp-9UgHxb (No such file or directory) (No stack trace) From previous event: saveSnapshot@chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/connector/server_connector.js:955:13

(1)(+0000006): Error: Unix error 2 during operation move on file /Users/guillaume/Zotero/storage/tmp-9UgHxb (No such file or directory) (No stack trace) From previous event: saveSnapshot@chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/connector/server_connector.js:955:13

Thank you for your help with this.
  • adomasven
    This is likely due to some folder permission misconfiguration on your system. Make sure your Zotero data directory and all its subfolders are owned by your user and are writable.
  • Guillaume Gaullier
    My Zotero data directory and all of its content have correct ownership and permissions. All translators for academic journals that I use on a daily basis are able to correctly save PDF files (they wouldn't work if my account did not have write permission to the Zotero data directory), which is why I think there is a problem specifically with "Save Web Page with Snapshot".
  • adomasven
    Could you produce a Debug ID from Zotero for a failing save?
  • Guillaume Gaullier
    edited August 18, 2020
    Sorry about the delay. Here are Debug IDs for this problem.

    The one I get when logging the error in Zotero: D123124839
    And the one I get when logging the error with the Zotero Connector (in Firefox): D207682449

    These logs should cover only what happened when I tried to do "Save Web Page with Snapshot" on this URL: https://eduproffer.blogspot.com/2020/06/blooms-grading-reduce-cheating-and.html

    Thank you for you help. :-)
  • adomasven
    Seems like there's nothing specific here to help pinpoint what the problem is. You do have a lot of Zotero extensions installed. You should try disabling them all, restarting Zotero and seeing whether you can still reproduce the problem
  • Guillaume Gaullier
    I will try that. Do you think Firefox extensions might also be a problem? I also have a lot of them, and it would be a lot more tedious to figure out which one of them interferes, if this is the case.
  • adomasven
    edited August 19, 2020
    No, Firefox extensions do not affect snapshot saving in Zotero.

    EDIT: Well, they might, but in this particular instance they do not.
  • Guillaume Gaullier
    OK, so I tried again but instead of disabling extensions I created a fresh profile (following this: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/multiple_profiles ).

    I got the same problem: a library item is generated with correct metadata, but no snapshot is saved when I do "Save Web Page with Snapshot".

    Here is the Debug ID for this: D710080617
  • adomasven
    Do you run any custom security software on your Mac?
  • Guillaume Gaullier
    No, but the OS version is Catalina (10.15.6), which has much stricter settings regarding what applications can or cannot do. I tried saving a web page with snapshot after adding Zotero to the list allowing full-disk access in the system security settings, but got the same behavior (item created, no snapshot saved; again in a freshly created Zotero profile).
  • dstillman
    No, it has nothing to do with that — Zotero obviously runs fine on Catalina for most people. You don't need to change any system security settings.

    It really looks like something non-standard about your computer is preventing Zotero from saving snapshots within its own data directory. I'm not sure we're going to be able to tell you much more than that.
  • dstillman
    edited August 20, 2020
    Do you get this with absolutely any page? E.g., http://example.com

    Are you connecting via a proxy server?
  • Guillaume Gaullier
    I can't think of anything non-standard on my system. I have many applications installed and I use homebrew to install command-line programs, but I don't have any security program installed.

    I tried to save example.com and got the same error.

    I am connecting from a campus network. Not sure if this goes through a proxy. I will try from home and let you know if it works.
  • Guillaume Gaullier
    I have the same problem at home.
  • dstillman
    You can try in a new macOS account.
  • Guillaume Gaullier
    I tried in a fresh macOS account, and it worked fine. So my bad, there really is something wrong with my account and not Zotero. Sorry for the false alarm, and thank you for helping me figure out where the problem exactly is (as a scientist, I appreciated the very scientific approach of narrowing down where the issue is).
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