Zotero doesn't show items in main window

upena · February 13, 2023

Hi,

since some days now Zotero doesn't show any items in main window. The collection are visible and can be selected, but no items show up.

Debug ID: D1763274677

Would be grateful for any help.

dstillman · February 14, 2023

/Users/[…]/Documents/Zotero Databases/[…]

If you have the Documents folder set to sync via iCloud, you need to move the Zotero data directory out of there, as the data directory can't be in a cloud storage folder. Then check your database integrity from the Advanced → Files and Folders pane of the Zotero preferences as see if it passes.

You should also disable all third-party plugins while debugging this.

(3)(+0000008): Loaded items in Meine Bibliothek in 1515291 ms

It looks like it's taking an extremely long time (25 minutes) to load items and other data. Is this a very old Mac? Are other things running on the computer? Have you tried restarting?

How long did Zotero take to start up previously?

upena · February 14, 2023

The Documents folder is on an always inserted SD card. The "storage" folder is connected through a "symbolic link."

Checking the database integrity didn't come up with errors. Anyway, after the last restart I was able for a short time to see items in the main window.

I'm working with an MacBook Pro 2021 Silicon, 16 GB. Switched to this machine just some month ago. Before I had my Zotero database on an MacBook Pro late 2013 16 GB.

On the 2013 Mac it took between 20 to 30 minutes until Zotero was able to respond to user input. But using the collections and items was more or less hassle free, also somehow slow. The problem with the lengthy starting time of Zotero begun already many years ago and I was discussion this issue - as far as I remember - with adamsmith. Because I to use Zotero also for news clipping the database "suddenly" containted more than 200.000 items. Most likely way to many for Zotero.

After moving my database to the 2021 Mac I thought things would speed up but didn't. Zotero is way less responsive since I use it on the silicon Mac. Started recently to split up the main database. Exported collections and moved them into thematic Zotero databases. But after trying to delete some of the defunct collections from the main database this database become more or less inaccessible.

Zotero uses more than 6,5 GB of the Macs memory.

New development:
The zotero.sqlite had some days ago the size of 3,38 GB. Now ist only 2,2 GB. No idea why. Luckily the zotero.sqlite.1.bak hasn't changed. I made a copy of this one.

Latest debug ID: D1540383140

dstillman · February 15, 2023

The Documents folder is on an always inserted SD card

Oh, sorry, we can't help with this at all, and I wish you'd said this in the past when I spent time trying to help you with extraordinarily slow startup times.

Even if you've done this for years, using an SD card to store a huge, actively accessed database is just a terrible idea. The performance is going to be atrocious compared to internal Mac storage, and it will only get worse over time as more writes are performed to the card. And it's only a matter of time before the card dies due to limited read/write cycles.

I'm afraid you're on your own for anything remotely vaguely performance- or stability-related until you move the data directory back to a local disk.

upena · February 15, 2023

The documents folder was only moved to an SD card some month ago. In 2019 the folder was still on the internal disk. In the meantime it was then swapped out to an second SSD disk. In terms of performance I can't really see any differences between the different setups.

And the sqlite database - which I presume is "loaded" when I start Zotero - always stays on the internal drive. As far as I understand it, read and write access to the stored data should only happen when I open or add new files in Zotero. Please correct me if I am wrong here. Furthermore, the SD card is designed for photo and video cameras. Here, too, it is subject to heavy use.

For comparison, I started Zotero with a database that has almost 30,000 entries from collections that have already been moved out of the old huge main database. The associated sqlite is 145 MB in size. Here, too, the documents are on the SD card. Zotero starts quite fast and items and search are all functioning well.
Debug ID: D1018889701

That's where I want to go with my "remaining" data from the old Zotero database. Unfortunately, since last week it is no longer possible for me to export more collections from the main database. For this I need urgent help. Due to space limitations, moving the document folder to the internal hard drive is currently not possible.

Still I'm puzzled by the sudden change in size of the main sqlite database:

| The zotero.sqlite had some days ago the size of 3,38 GB. Now ist only 2,2 GB.

Is it normal that Zotero uses more than 7 GB RAM memory? During the starting process its even more than 9 GB.

dstillman · February 15, 2023

And the sqlite database - which I presume is "loaded" when I start Zotero - always stays on the internal drive.

How is it on the internal drive if the containing folder is on an SD card?

As far as I understand it, read and write access to the stored data should only happen when I open or add new files in Zotero. Please correct me if I am wrong here. Furthermore, the SD card is designed for photo and video cameras. Here, too, it is subject to heavy use.

It's a different kind of use, not the random, repeated, granular kind of changes you get with an application database. You can find all kinds of guidance online discouraging use of SD cards as replacements for internal storage.

Your issues may be largely from the sheer size of the database — your database size is at the extreme end of Zotero usage — but we can't help with this as long as you're using an SD card.

Is it normal that Zotero uses more than 7 GB RAM memory?

I mean, if you have over 200,000 items in your library, nothing about your setup is normal. We don't regularly test Zotero with databases that size. But there are no errors in the debug output and no indication that there's a problem other than that everything is extremely slow.