Unable to move entire library to new computer using sync

bk200
I installed Zotero 5.0.96.3 for the first time on my laptop at home, but after running sync, no records are imported from my online library. The sync arrow rotates for a few seconds, but then stops and no errors are reported. I can open my online library just fine, and it appears that my 12,000+ items are there. Oddly, if I make any change to a single record in the online library using edit (e.g., add "none" in the Right field), then this record appears in my laptop Zotero library via sync. It will not be productive for me to edit every item in my online library to force each item to be transferred. If an item in my online library is not present in my laptop Zotero library, shouldn't sync cause this item to be imported?
  • dstillman
    Can you provide a Debug ID for a sync attempt?

    Are you looking in the library root?
  • bk200
    Thanks. Here is a debug ID D1898894572, corresponding to these actions:
    I started Zotero
    I hit sync (twice)
    I then changed a record in my online library
    I hit sync (once) and the modified record was added to my local library.

    I am new to Zotero, so I am not sure how I view the library root. I am viewing "My Library", which is the only library that I have. It contains 9 records now from the 9 edits that I made by hand to records in my online library. Sync does not report errors, but there are approximately 12,000 - 9 records in my online library that are not being synced to my computer.
  • dstillman
    If you don't mind, could you go into your Zotero data directory, ZIP the zotero.sqlite file, upload it to the DB Repair Tool, and provide the Upload ID here? This is pretty unusual, and it would be helpful for us to run some tests on the DB. You can ignore the download link that the tool provides.

    While I'm not sure how this would've happened, your best bet is to close Zotero, delete the zotero.sqlite file, reopen Zotero, and sync, which should pull down all your data.
  • bk200
    The upload ID is 612ec6f826aa2. This is the DB for the laptop that is having trouble syncing.

    I am not sure if it is relevant, but I see very odd behavior when I view my online library with a web browser (Firefox 91.0.2). "All Items" sometimes shows all of the records, but often when I scroll a bit, they all disappear except for the topmost record. When I search to locate a subset of items, it sometimes works, but sometimes I see a single grayed out item. If there are many items in the search set, then I often get the scrolling problem. For what it's worth, this online library was created by importing my EndNote library into Zotero with my office computer and then using sync.
  • bk200
    >> While I'm not sure how this would've happened, your best bet is to close Zotero, delete the zotero.sqlite file, reopen Zotero, and sync, which should pull down all your data.

    This did the trick! Zotero has downloaded about 6,000 items so far, and is still going. Many thanks!
  • dstillman
    @tnajdek might have some questions regarding the web library issues, but that wouldn't be related to this.

    If the sync is working now, we don't need to worry about it too much, but if you remember anything else specific about the sequence of events that led up to the problem on this computer, that might be helpful. Certainly the normal behavior is for any items already in the online library to sync down when you first sync Zotero on a new computer, as you saw after deleting the database.

    Any chance you had installed and synced a much older version of Zotero previously on this computer? (You might be able to tell by looking at the creation dates of zotero.sqlite and similarly named files in your data directory.) That shouldn't matter, but it would cause a somewhat more complicated initial sync in a current version.
  • tnajdek
    I am not sure if it is relevant, but I see very odd behavior when I view my online library with a web browser (Firefox 91.0.2). "All Items" sometimes shows all of the records, but often when I scroll a bit, they all disappear except for the topmost record.
    @bk200 would you be able to provide a screen recording or a screenshot showing this behavior? When scrolling items in the web library, you should always see items or placeholders, the latter should be replaced promptly (depends on your network connection, usually within a couple of seconds).
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