Desktop App Appears as Blank Window

elitefrequency
edited October 5, 2022
I submitted a debug report with debug ID:

D1858303994

I am using the most recent version of the Zotero desktop app for macOS on an Intel-based MacBook Pro (2019) running macOS Monterey 12.6.

The Zotero desktop app seems to have stopped working. The app appears as a blank, gray window. Some functionalities do appear as they actually should, like Tools --> Create timeline. I cannot, however, access or view anything in my library.

I can launch the app; I can access the Help menu to restart with debugging enabled, which does not solve the problem. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app and restarting my machine, none of which has rectified the issue.

Any help anyone may be able to provide would be greatly appreciated.
  • dstillman
    edited October 4, 2022
    (You're describing the desktop app, not the web app.)

    Can you take a screenshot of the window, upload it somewhere (e.g., Dropbox or Google Drive), and provide a link here?

    How recently were you using Zotero on this computer previously? If you reinstall Zotero 6.0.13, does that work?
  • elitefrequency
    @dstillman: I have edited the original post to reflect the fact that I am describing the desktop app, not the web app; sorry about that. I meant to write "desktop app," of course.

    See screenshots located at the following link:

    https://drop.chapril.org/download/6273e8872558be0c/#R6PMmmIPch2b7QehAvUJKQ

    I will install 6.0.14 and see if that version works.
  • elitefrequency
    Update: I uninstalled 6.0.15 and installed 6.0.14, which appears to work normally.

    @dstillman: To answer your other question, if I remember correctly, I was able to use 6.0.15 normally on this computer within the last week or so.
  • elitefrequency
    Update: The same blank-window issue materialized using 6.0.14 as well. I will try uninstalling 6.0.14 and installing 6.0.13 instead.
  • dstillman
    Again, I really doubt it's the version here. This is almost certainly caused by something else on your system.

    Are you using Dark Mode on your computer? Have you previously run any sort of third-party utility that affects Dark Mode?

    Try closing Zotero, opening Terminal (via Spotlight), pasting in this command, and pressing Return:

    defaults delete -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance
  • elitefrequency
    edited October 7, 2022
    I tried executing the command

    defaults delete -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance

    via Terminal with Zotero closed. That did not seem to rectify the issue.
  • dstillman
    Did you try 6.0.13?
  • elitefrequency
    Yes. I replaced my copy of Zotero with 6.0.13 and opened Zotero, which again yielded a blank window. I quit Zotero, opened Terminal via Spotlight, pasted in defaults delete -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance, pressed Return, and opened Zotero, which again launched with a blank window.
  • elitefrequency
    I also did the following:

    1) Restarted my computer;

    2) Launched Zotero;

    3) Restarted Zotero with debugging enabled, which again yielded a blank window;

    4) Attempted to view debug output, which yielded a blank window;

    5) Used menu to submit debug output, which yielded debug ID: D398393785
  • dstillman
    OK, so that would mean something changed on your system, not in Zotero. 6.0.13 was released in August.

    If you can’t think of anything on your computer that could be causing this, the best I can suggest would be to create a new macOS user account and test with that (with an empty Zotero database — no need to transfer data or set up syncing). If that works, you’ll at least know it’s something specific to your original OS account.
  • elitefrequency
    Thanks for that advice. For what it's worth, I should note that I use the same Zotero account on my personal computer, onto which I log in using a different macOS user account than my work computer, and I have not had this problem — or, if I have, the "Restart with debugging enabled" option has solved the problem.

    Any thoughts on what could be wrong with my macOS account that would create this problem? No worries if not; I know this discussion has crossed into territory that may be beyond Zotero itself.
  • dstillman
    No, there’s no reason to think this is related to your data or that you’d see it on another computer. This is due to some change on this computer.

    Hard to say what else it could be, but checking in another macOS account would be the first step.
  • elitefrequency
    6.0.15 seems to work normally now. I am at a loss as to what I did differently between today and yesterday. @dstillman, thank you for your help with this all the same.
  • kenmjlee
    I have tried to reinstall the 6.0.13 and cleaned up the data folder, but it didn't help.

    It's so wired that the blank window appeared when I want to use New Collection or Move to Trash; others work well. Screenshot was attached.

    https://drop.chapril.org/download/0fa245d2f3cb9dbd/#aRIWdUWSRYUi8OOA4dxEvA
  • dstillman
    Yes, again, this wouldn't have anything to do with the Zotero version or with the library data. It's something on the system. Best we can do is suggest trying in a different macOS account, and if that fixes it trying to think of things that might be running or might have changed in the first account.

    But you should certainly make sure you're running the latest version of macOS, and you should make sure you've tried the defaults delete -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance command, particularly if you've used any third-party tools related to Dark Mode.
  • cesarjungharada
    I have a similar issue.
    Screencap here: https://flic.kr/p/2oeuQDs

    Zotero 6.0.20
    Mac OS: 13.1 (22C65)

    I've restarted my computer, and tried to run the terminal command. Disconnected secondary screen... I just paid for my Zotero Subscription. It was working when I was using the free version. That's a bummer...
  • dstillman
    edited February 1, 2023
    @cesarjungharada: There's something very wrong on your system — you can see that even the text and images in the Timeline window are messed up. You appear to have a number of third-party utilities installed, so one of those might be interfering.

    It also looks like you have "Increase contrast" turned on in the system Accessibility settings. That's fine, and doesn't cause this, but I'd guess that you changed some other setting or installed some other tool that's breaking things.

    If you can't figure it out, try in a new macOS account, as I say above.
  • cesarjungharada
    @dstillman - today, it just worked again. I did not change anything. Not even restarted - it just works again. Complete mystery.
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