2.0b7 integration with OpenOffice still not working

Pavel Nicklasson
I wrote earlier another thread about 2.0b7 not working. I thought I had sorted the problems out and the thread was closed.
The problems are not sorted out however, thus I start a new thread. I hope the moderators forgive me!

I installed the new version on another computer running Ubuntu 9.04 and Firefox 3.5. I checked that all Open JDK Java and Icedtea packages were uninstalled and installed the Sun Java packages instead. The about:plugins in Firefox says that Java should be alright and enabled. Java is enabled in Sun OpenOffice 3.1.1.
The installation of the OOo integration extension just hangs. It can not find the Java folder in the OpenOffice installation. There must something wrong with the Linux version of 2.0b7 version of Zotero.
Zotero is now quite unusable for me.
  • adamsmith
    it's not a general linux problem. Worked one click for me with Ubuntu 9.04 and Ooo.
  • Pavel Nicklasson
    Lucky you!
    I have tried everything I can think of and still no luck. Soon a whole workday has been spent on Zotero. It is a bit comical, but without Zotero I can not finish my work. So I guess I have become too dependent on Zotero.

    I get error messages on both my computers when I try to sync my library in 2.0b7. The error code was 719815646 on one of the computers. As far as I could see there were some Java issues in the error message. I hope this may help!
  • Simon
    I haven't yet seen such issues under Ubuntu either, but I'll do my best to help you out. First, a few questions about the issue you're seeing:

    1) Where is the installation hanging? Does the progress dialog that appears when you launch Firefox never disappear?
    2) Can you explain what you mean by "It can not find the Java folder in the OpenOffice installation"? Do you see a dialog that asks you to specify the location of the Java folder?
    3) While the installation is hung, what is the output of typing "ps ax | grep unopkg" in a terminal window?
  • Pavel Nicklasson
    Well, finally Zotero may be working. I have uninstalled -purged OpenOffice, all java packages and the Zotero extensions. Then I restarted the computer. After that I installed the whole lot again. This was basically what I did on the first computer before the new Zotero version finally worked.

    In the first installation the install came to a point where my opt folder opened with two folders for OpenOffice visible. At the same time there was a status bar in a small window saying progress installing, but it just went on and on without finishing. It seemed like Zotero was not able to find the java component. It asked for it and the OOo program file then I clicked on the buttons on the panel dialog. I thought that I could locate them manually to help the installation but it did not work.

    All in all a very lousy day. Now it is late in Sweden and I hope tomorrow will be another day. Hopefully Zotero is finally installed.

    The error message then I sync still remains. In the text there are references to java errors. Any ideas on this? I had some problems a while ago syncing after an update. Back then the problem was solved by itself in a day or two.
  • Pavel Nicklasson
    I may finally have found something useful.
    One one of my machines I have Ubuntu 64 with Firefox 3.0.14 (Ubuntu regular) and 3.5.2 installed.
    In Firefox 3.0.14 I am able to use Zotero in OpenOffice. In Firefox 3.5.2 I got an error message that says that it is not possible to establish contact between Zotero and my word processor.
    I suspect that it is Firefox 3.5.2 that is the problem. I used it when I tried to install Zotero and failed before. Perhaps you should stick to Firefox 3.0.14 if you are going to use Zotero in Ubuntu?
  • dstillman
    Firefox 3.5 should work fine.
    In Firefox 3.5.2 I got an error message that says that it is not possible to establish contact between Zotero and my word processor.
    Please provide exact error messages.
  • Simon
    Does Java work at all in Firefox 3.5.2? You can check here. If it does, let us know what the pink rectangle says.
  • Pavel Nicklasson
    I should first say that I run LinuxMint 7 Gloria 64-bit version on the computer. This is a derivate of Ubuntu 9.04.

    The error message in firefox 3.5.2 says: "Firefox could not load the component required to communicate with your word processor. Please ensure that the appropriate Firefox extension is installed, then try again." This is shown in OpenOffice then I try to use Zotero.

    In Firefox 3.0.14 there is no error message and I can use Zotero.

    On the Java Flash site No Java JRE is said to be installed in Firefox 3.5.2. In Firefox 3.0.14 Java 1.6.0_16 from Sun Microsystem Inc. is said to be installed.

    I have the Sun Java components installed and have removed the OpenJDK and Icedtea stuff.

    Since Firefox 3.5.2 is not officially supported by Ubuntu one should perhaps expect some problems, especially so on the 64-bit version of the OS.
  • dstillman
    edited September 16, 2009
    On the Java Flash site No Java JRE is said to be installed in Firefox 3.5.2. In Firefox 3.0.14 Java 1.6.0_16 from Sun Microsystem Inc. is said to be installed.
    OK, this isn't a Zotero problem, then. If you get the Sun Java plugin to work in 3.5.2, Zotero should work.
  • Pavel Nicklasson
    There is something fishy.
    On another computer with Ubuntu 9.04 64-bit. Zotero works in Firefox 3.5.2 but not in Firefox 3.0.14.
    I got the same error message as mentioned above but now in the "proper" version of Firefox.
    In the previous version of Zotero I could run it in either Firefox version.
    Of course I have messed around with Java to be able to install at all. Despite that it seems to be some things that are not working as they should. I think the installation of the new Zotero version must be more straightforward and Zotero should work with OpenJDK and Icedtea since that are the standard Java components on most Linux systems.
  • dstillman
    We have a ticket for IcedTea compatibility, but 1) Zotero uses Java for the OpenOffice plugin across all platforms, and so the first priority was getting it to work with the official Sun plugin, which it does and 2) this may not be something we can fix on our end. (See the Red Hat ticket linked from the Zotero ticket for the technical details.)

    But again, if you can get the Sun plugin to work, Zotero should work as well.
  • Pavel Nicklasson
    Well, I guess there is not so much more to do then. I understand the priorities for Zotero. You guys do such a god job that one gets worried then something like this happens!
    It is apparently not that easy to get Java running with Firefox though. I just hope it will work on some version on all my computers.
  • Pavel Nicklasson
    I just wanted to report that I tested both my Firefox versions on the Java test site suggested by Simon above. In both versions; 3.0.14 and 3.5.2, Java version 1.6.0_16 from Sun was detected. Still Zotero is not working in Firefox 3.0.14.
    In about:plugins Java is detected alright in both versions as far as I can determine.
    It seems that you can have Sun Java correctly installed but still not be able to use Zotero.
  • dstillman
    What's the Zotero problem you're having in the 3.0.14 profile?
  • Pavel Nicklasson
    In OpenOffice I get the error message: "Firefox could not load the component required to communicate with your word processor. Please ensure that the appropriate Firefox extension is installed, then try again." then I try to insert a citation.
    In Firefox 3.5.2 this works as usual.
  • dstillman
    Send in an error report using Report Errors under Zotero's gear menu and post the Report ID here.
  • Pavel Nicklasson
    I posted an error report: 1103386781. I hope I did it correctly and that the problem shows up.
  • dstillman
    Did you send this in after triggering the above error message and before restarting Firefox? There are no Zotero errors in there.
  • Pavel Nicklasson
    Yes. I triggered the error and then directly send the error report without closing Firefox 3.0.14. I had to close the popup with the error message or else I would not have been able to open Zotero and post the error report.
  • Pavel Nicklasson
    I just want to do a follow up on the error I encountered. I think I have solved it and the solution may be good to know about for others.

    I had to manually copy and paste the information in the Firefox add-ons - Zotero Openoffice Integration - Preferences: Java URE Directory and soffice Executable Directory fields from the working setup in Firefox 3.5.2 to Firefox 3.0.14 fields. Now both versions of Firefox are working with OOo.

    It was not possible to enter the correct information by clicking the boxes Detect... and Reinstall... I was just prompted to find the directories manually.

    So - I belive the problem is solved in practice, even if the error has shown that it is possible to mess up the installation of Zotero with the correct version of Java installed.
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