Error when trying to open Zotero

MoeKinoshita
Hi,

when trying to open Zotero, I get the following error:

"Unix error 2 during operation move on file /Volumes/Odin /moe/Zotero/zotero.sqlite (No such file or directory)
(No stack trace)
From previous event:
ZoteroService@file:///Applications/Zotero.app/Contents/Resources/components/zotero-service.js:347:7
@chrome://zotero/content/include.js:4:14"

I am using an external hard drive to store all of the files and everything worked fine for the past two years.

Any help is appreciated.
Thank you!
  • dstillman
    It's possible the macOS path to your external drive changed. You can see that the path where it's looking includes a space for some reason, so it's possible that's changed.

    If you're not getting a Locate button in the error dialog, go to your Zotero profile directory, open prefs.js in a text editor, and fix the dataDir line to reflect the current path. (You can also delete that line and set the data directory again after restarting Zotero, and then delete the empty data directory it creates in the default location to avoid future confusion.)
  • MoeKinoshita
    Thank you for the quick help!
    I tried to access my Zotero profile directory but for some reason I can't seem to find it in the first place.
  • dstillman
    You'll need to figure out how to do that. There are precise instructions for macOS.
  • MoeKinoshita
    I was following the instructions that you linked in your comment. It just seems like there is no Zotero folder in the Application Support in my Library.
  • dstillman
    edited April 26, 2023
    I'd guess that you're looking in the wrong Library folder. If you've run Zotero on this computer, there will absolutely be a Zotero folder in the Library/Application Support folder within your home folder.
  • MoeKinoshita
    Thank you for the advice. I found the right folder and followed your instructions. Unfortunately the error seems to remain.
  • dstillman
    If you delete the dataDir line, there's no way it can start up looking at that path.
  • MoeKinoshita
    edited April 26, 2023
    If I delete that line and restart Zotero, the programm works but the data directory changes back to the default instead of my external hard drive. All the literature is still there but the pdfs are not accessible anymore.
  • dstillman
    Right, so you'll need to re-select the correct folder on the external drive. I'm suggesting that the system path to the drive likely changed, in which case simply reselecting it should fix the problem.
  • dstillman
    (It also sounds like you let it sync to the empty data directory, which wasn't necessary. You should delete that folder once you've fixed this.)
  • MoeKinoshita
    I see, I just reselected the Zotero folder on my Hard Drive but I still seem to get the same error as stated in the beginning.

    I got a warning earlier today indicating that zotero.sqlite is damaged. Could that have anything to do with the error right now?
  • MoeKinoshita
    Unix error 2 during operation move on file /Volumes/Odin/moe/Zotero/zotero.sqlite (No such file or directory)
    (No stack trace)
    From previous event:
    ZoteroService@file:///Applications/Zotero.app/Contents/Resources/components/zotero-service.js:347:7
    @chrome://zotero/content/include.js:4:14
  • dstillman
    edited April 26, 2023
    There may be actual filesystem corruption on the external disk, such that Zotero isn't even able to read that folder and is somehow getting an incorrect error from the system saying that the file can't be found.

    I'm afraid we really can't help with a data directory on an external drive — this is in the Advanced section of the preferences for a reason. You can check the disk for errors with Disk Utility or try other paths or other copies of the file on the external disk, but otherwise you should move your data directory back to the local disk.
  • dstillman
    If you know someone who knows how to use Terminal, they can explore this further and check the actual system path and check file/database integrity with sqlite3, but this isn't really a Zotero problem — the system is just telling Zotero that the file can't be found, and that's not something we can fix.
  • MoeKinoshita
    Okay, thank you for your support.
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