Upgrade StorageZotero on ChromeOS Sandboxed Linux: Can I store data directory on an external drive?
Hello,
I'm aware that the built-in sandboxed Linux environment available by default for ChromeOS is not the best place to be running Zotero. But I have a Zotero installation like this, and I'd really like to store my data directory on on external USB drive. I've been able to successfully edit files on external drives using other programs installed in this environment with some success (LibreOffice, etc.). Zotero is working just fine with its default data directory in ~/Zotero, but disk space is too limited for the ~1 TB of files that I need to migrate.
Unfortunately, the built-in file explorer in Zotero's Preferences window cannot see the emulated '/mnt' folder by default. When I manually hardcode the path (e..g, '/mnt/chromeos/removable/backup/Zotero') into Zotero's prefs.js, I get an error from Zotero on startup. Of course, /mnt and its subdirectories are owned by a different UID, with various levels of write restrictions in the hierarchy. I did try to chown /mnt, which makes it visible in the Zotero GUI file explorer, but I can't chown any deeper than that.
The filesystem for the external drive is FAT32, but it looks to be mounted as some emulated filesystem in the Linux environment. A simple 'cp -R' of the ~/Zotero folder to the external drive fails as well due to the presence of some special files throwing the system off. Maybe part of the reason Zotero is failing here?
Is there any creative way to achieve what I'm after, or will I need to find another workflow? (E.g., linking to documents in my external drive) (...I'd like to avoid crostini, and Linux is not bootable on these newer Chromebooks.)
I'm aware that the built-in sandboxed Linux environment available by default for ChromeOS is not the best place to be running Zotero. But I have a Zotero installation like this, and I'd really like to store my data directory on on external USB drive. I've been able to successfully edit files on external drives using other programs installed in this environment with some success (LibreOffice, etc.). Zotero is working just fine with its default data directory in ~/Zotero, but disk space is too limited for the ~1 TB of files that I need to migrate.
Unfortunately, the built-in file explorer in Zotero's Preferences window cannot see the emulated '/mnt' folder by default. When I manually hardcode the path (e..g, '/mnt/chromeos/removable/backup/Zotero') into Zotero's prefs.js, I get an error from Zotero on startup. Of course, /mnt and its subdirectories are owned by a different UID, with various levels of write restrictions in the hierarchy. I did try to chown /mnt, which makes it visible in the Zotero GUI file explorer, but I can't chown any deeper than that.
The filesystem for the external drive is FAT32, but it looks to be mounted as some emulated filesystem in the Linux environment. A simple 'cp -R' of the ~/Zotero folder to the external drive fails as well due to the presence of some special files throwing the system off. Maybe part of the reason Zotero is failing here?
Is there any creative way to achieve what I'm after, or will I need to find another workflow? (E.g., linking to documents in my external drive) (...I'd like to avoid crostini, and Linux is not bootable on these newer Chromebooks.)
I'm glad external storage is working with this install, but the .desktop file created by set_launcher_icon seems to have an Exec field that will not work with crostini by default. Sorting that out now, but it's a small price to pay.