Recurring Zotero sync error

mkostura
Hello,

I have been having a persistent sync error in Zotero. The reported error is: “Some data in Zotero could not be downloaded. It may have been saved with a newer version of Zotero.”

I read the KB article describing the error but for cannot see how it applies in my situation.

I have been getting this error ever since the upgrade to v6.x It appears less of a functional bug and more of an annoyance. I have never (knowingly at any rate) updated Zotero on the Beta channel. In fact I do not update Zotero at all, rather the software updates as needed.

I can temporarily clear the error by restarting Zotero. But if I manually sync the library the error returns.
  • dstillman
    (The upgrade to 6.x? In 2022?)

    Can you provide a Debug ID for reproducing this?
  • mkostura
    Yes. This error been appearing for quite a while. Does not seem to degrade overall functionality so I never thought of reporting it. I simply noted the error. But these kinds of errors may reflect a bad installation or maybe a dysfunctional library.

    I created a log file after I initiated Zotero (no error) then hit the manual sync icon where the error prompt returns. The file is D572362089

  • dstillman
    You have an item (added 2024-01-14) with "Type: preprint" and "Institution:" in the Extra field. It tries to convert that item to the Preprint item type and fails because "Institution" ("Publication Title") isn't valid for that type.

    It shouldn't actually being trying to convert the item, though, and this is already fixed in the Zotero 7.1 beta. You can sync once with that to resolve this and switch back to the release version, or you can just remove the "Institution" line from Extra in the web library or on another device.
  • mkostura
    Seems like the error message and the log are telling two tales. But in any event, this explains the persistence of the error. I download or add preprints from Semantic Scholar following the process for that particular item. When I get the real paper, I delete that item and replace with the PubMed cited published version. Error goes away. This item has not been replaced.

    Thanks very much.
  • dstillman
    Seems like the error message and the log are telling two tales.
    I mean, it's a bug, and one that has already been fixed. The error message is correct that some data couldn't be downloaded. It says that it "may" have been saved with a newer version of Zotero because that's the only reason there should be data coming from the online library with fields that aren't valid for a given type. The bug here is just that it was incorrectly trying to migrate fields from Extra and treating those as real fields.

    Can you reproduce this with newly saved items? If so, can you provide exact steps to do so? Zotero has had a Preprint item type since 2022, so at this point nothing should be getting saved with "Type: Preprint" in Extra to begin with.
  • dstillman
    I've added a note to the linked documentation page that says to post to the forums if you don't believe you've used a newer version of Zotero.
Sign In or Register to comment.