Obsidian Integration - problem with Zotero library directory (perhaps?)

Hi,
I have been having trouble with getting Zotero Integration to work in Obsidian. I'm new to Obsidian, but have been using Zotero for many years - I'm on an institutional computer (and recently moved institutions). When I try and add a new item from my Zotero library to Obsidian using the Integration plugin, if there is a pdf attached to the Zotero item, the process fails and no new note is created. I get two warnings: 'error retrieving notes' and 'error processing pdf'. The first warning also appears if there is no pdf attached, but the note generation process still works ok. (I have done some basic troubleshooting, e.g., the PDF utility in Obsidian is up to date etc.)
I think this is a Zotero problem (or, perhaps, really a [insert university] problem), rather than with Obsidian. I've already discovered that something odd happened during Zotero installation, which meant that the default data directory location (C:\Users\myuserID\zotero) could not be opened - i.e., when I clicked 'show data directory' (under the 'files and folders' submenu) nothing happened (not even a warning). The same problem occurred for 'show file'. When I tried to navigate to the file path in File Explorer, it didn't work either (even after ticking the 'hidden items' box). I initially ignored this, since otherwise Zotero functioned normally (e.g., I could open/annotate pdfs as usual). But since the problem with Obsidian started, I spoke to our IT department (and others have had the same problem with the Zotero data location) so IT colleagues found a workaround to copy the Zotero folder to a different place, and we reset it under 'files and folders' submenu.
However, 'show data directory' and 'show file' still don't work, so my guess is that Zotero/Obsidian somehow still aren't properly able to access files...
Any idea what might be going on?!
  • Very unlikely that you'll get help troubleshooting the Obsidian add-on here (people don't know the code or how to get relevant debugging output for troubleshooting) -- even if this is ultimately a Zotero issue, it'd have to be reported by the developer of the Obsidian integration with the relevant details.

    But worth trying to figure out what happens with the data directory.
    Could you provide debug output for clicking on "Show Data Directory"? https://www.zotero.org/support/debug_output
  • Fair enough on Obsidian, I guess I saw it as all part of the same problem and was giving context! Will also report it there.
    Debug ID is D936483632.
    Thanks a lot.
  • 6.0.8
    Note that you're also using an outdated version of Zotero.
  • (Yes, I meant to acknowledge the version issue in the initial post. I know about it, it's a pain, but I can't update it (I lack the admin rights on institutional laptop). I have already raised it with institutional colleagues that we are using quite an outdated version now...)
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