"Database upgrade error" ...

HazelBird
... will not allow me to open Zotero any more. The error message continues, "Error(s) encountered during statement execution: attempt to write a readonly database ...." The choices are CHECK FOR UPDATE and QUIT. Both simply close the program. ... I have re-downloaded Zotero (your directions say that it's okay to do that right over the initial installation), but that has not worked. What do you recommend that I do? Uninstall the program and try again? Other ideas? (I'm lost without it!)
  • dstillman
    Did you move your Zotero data directory from another computer? This would generally be due to incorrect permissions in your data directory or interference from security software on your computer.
  • HazelBird
    Hi. Thank you for answering. No, I didn't move anything. The only reason I can think of that this happened is that the Zotero app may have inadvertently still been open on my iPad when I tried to launch it on my PC. Would that have caused this problem?

    And whether or not it did, is it recommended that I uninstall the app here on my PC and then reinstall a "clean" copy?
  • dstillman
    No, it wouldn't have anything to do with the iPad version, nor is it related to installation/uninstallation. It's about the Zotero data directory. You'll need to check the permissions for that folder and, if it's not that, figure out why else on your computer might be preventing Zotero from accessing its own files. This isn't an issue in Zotero itself.

    If you can't figure out but your data is all online, you can delete zotero.sqlite from your data directory and restart Zotero to pull all data down from the online library, but if you're getting this, there may be a problem with permissions on the folder itself or other files in the data directory.
  • HazelBird
    dstillman, thanks again for your help. I uninstalled Zotero, re-installed it, and encountered the same problem (just as you suggested I would). Next, I went into the permissions area on both this troublesome laptop and on my smaller notebook -- where Zotero was still working -- and saw that permissions were identical, with everything but "special permissions" checked in the Allowed column. I was and still am totally snafued.

    Nevertheless, I decided to try one more thing, which was the ol' reboot trick, since I had just re-installed the program -- despite a fresh startup an hour beforehand -- and ... voila. Back in business.

    This still makes absolutely no sense to me, but in the meantime, color me relieved ... and thankful!
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