I have the same problem also in Windows 10, Zotero 7.0.0-beta.14+f1003a1d1 (64-bit). The workaround is working also for me.
Here is a screen recording, switching a few times between the normal and -P startup of Zotero.
I have submitted a Debug ID D1291010115 and a Report ID 875701172 towards the end of the video, after doing a Restart with Logging Enabled.... I was able to catch an Error window appearing quickly during that startup at 5:49: "Error: Zotero was unable to load translators and styles." Somehow, the content of the second monitor, where I had the screen recording software, jumps to the first monitor at 5:57.
You can also see that a black window appears during startup when the top bar is removed (see at 0:03 for example), which does not appear when starting normally.
@mjthoraval: Incredibly useful! That placeholder window was likely the key to this mystery.
Firefox introduced a "skeleton UI" window on Windows that appears when startup takes a while, and that seems to force the Zotero window into a mode where the title bar is hidden. So this is probably more likely on slower computers, and that also explains why it's intermittent.
If you disable browser.startup.preXulSkeletonUI in the Config Editor, does that help? That should disable that placeholder window.
There's also browser.startup.blankWindow, which I believe controls a simpler blank window. Curious if you still get a blank window of any kind with preXulSkeletonUI disabled but blankWindow on.
(This is separate from the possibility of just removing the title bar altogether. First priority is fixing this bug.)
Yes, setting browser.startup.preXulSkeletonUI to false recovered the top bar.
I still get a blank window with preXulSkeletonUI to false, both with blankWindowtrue or false: screen recording at 0:09. But I need to do a screen recording to catch it as it is very fast. The blank window is just below the top bar, the same size as the Zotero window opening afterward. You can actually also see a transparent window just before the blank window in this video. That may not be the blank window you are looking for, as it does not seem to be affected by the blankWindow option, but I could not see anything else.
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I was unaware this bug was already reported, so I opened another thread a few minutes ago.
From what I've read here, the behavior of the issue is exactly the same for me.
Here is a screen recording, switching a few times between the normal and -P startup of Zotero.
I have submitted a Debug ID D1291010115 and a Report ID 875701172 towards the end of the video, after doing a Restart with Logging Enabled.... I was able to catch an Error window appearing quickly during that startup at 5:49: "Error: Zotero was unable to load translators and styles."
Somehow, the content of the second monitor, where I had the screen recording software, jumps to the first monitor at 5:57.
You can also see that a black window appears during startup when the top bar is removed (see at 0:03 for example), which does not appear when starting normally.
Hopefully there is something useful in there.
Firefox introduced a "skeleton UI" window on Windows that appears when startup takes a while, and that seems to force the Zotero window into a mode where the title bar is hidden. So this is probably more likely on slower computers, and that also explains why it's intermittent.
If you disable
browser.startup.preXulSkeletonUIin the Config Editor, does that help? That should disable that placeholder window.There's also
browser.startup.blankWindow, which I believe controls a simpler blank window. Curious if you still get a blank window of any kind withpreXulSkeletonUIdisabled butblankWindowon.(This is separate from the possibility of just removing the title bar altogether. First priority is fixing this bug.)
browser.startup.preXulSkeletonUItofalserecovered the top bar.I still get a blank window with
preXulSkeletonUItofalse, both withblankWindowtrueorfalse: screen recording at 0:09. But I need to do a screen recording to catch it as it is very fast. The blank window is just below the top bar, the same size as the Zotero window opening afterward.You can actually also see a transparent window just before the blank window in this video.
That may not be the blank window you are looking for, as it does not seem to be affected by the
blankWindowoption, but I could not see anything else.Thanks!
Thanks to @mjthoraval for helping us track this down!