Zotero Connector no longer works in old version of Chrome

PaulApril
edited 9 days ago
Colleagues, please help me solve this problem. The Zotero connector has stopped working in my Chrome. It gives an error on every site where it worked fine before. I have already tried it on 12-15 sites. It happened out of the blue. There was no period of alternating success and failure. It failed immediately and consistently.

My toolkit: Windows 7, Chrome v.109.0.5414.120 (official 64-bit build), Zotero v.6.0.36. This is above and beyond what is required for successful operation of the Zotero Connector v.5.0.159, which is currently available for download and installed on my system.
The Z button works. The type of item is displayed. The tooltip after hovering the Z button shows the correct translator. When selecting the proper translator, the group import window is displayed. But when you click to read an item, it fails. Zotero gets nothing.
I reinstalled the Zotero connector plugin. I restarted the browser. I disabled ALL extensions except the Zotero connector (to check for collisions). The result is still negative.
In the Zotero Connector extension settings control window, the "Advanced" section often repeats the following error message under "Report Errors”:

[JavaScript Error: "TypeError: Error in invocation of cookies.getAll(object details, function callback): Error at parameter 'details': Unexpected property: 'partitionKey'.

Already after the results described above, I sent the log with these errors to the developers in a message with ID 1304921860.
From which side should I approach the problem solution?
  • adamsmith
    I know Zotero currently lists Chrome 88 as a system requirement, but I'm pretty sure the problem is the old browser version you're running.
    Chrome 109 is 2 1/2 years old and no longer supported by Google (which with that has dropped Win 7/8 support) and Zotero generally only tests on supported browser version. I don't speak for Zotero, but I'd be surprised if they'd be interested in fixing compatibility with an browser that's beyond its end of support. Only options I see are to update Windows or to use Firefox.
  • dstillman
    We may be able to fix the specific error here. We'll investigate.

    But yes, we do not test on old browsers, so you should expect other things to break going forward. Unsupported browsers are also unsafe to use on the web, since they no longer receive security updates. You can switch to Firefox 115 ESR for the moment, but Microsoft itself no longer supports Windows 7 or 8, so you should really plan to upgrade Windows soon.

    Note that the next version of Zotero (7.1) will also require Windows 10 or later, so you'll need to upgrade Windows soon to receive the latest Zotero updates as well.

    In any case, we'll post here with any updates on a fix for this specific issue.
  • PaulApril
    I recognize the undoubted validity of your recommendation. Keeping the system up to date always saves a lot of trouble.

    Indeed, the unupdated Chrome v.109 may be a valid reason for this particular case of Zotero connector failure. However, I still have my doubts. The fact is that I use Zotero almost every day and have not experienced any significant problems. That said, I have long blocked updates for Windows 7, for Chrome, and, sorry, for my version 6 of Zotero. This is a reality I have to deal with for now.
    As of twenty-four hours ago, I have not observed any glitches in the Zotero connector. My softs have not changed since then. The only factor I haven't tracked is whether the auto-update setting in the Zotero connector was set to ON or OFF. If the connector has been updated in the last 24 hours, then your hunch that my browser is out of date may be correct. If not, then my doubts about the real cause of the failure of the Zotero connector will remain.

    A few questions still concern me:
    1) Has the Zotero connector for Chrome been updated in the last 24 hours?
    2) Is there anything else that can be learned about the cause of the Zotero connector malfunction from the error log I sent through the Zotero connector options window (ID 1304921860)?

    Thanks for the recommendation to switch to Firefox 115 ESR. If reviving the Zotero connector fails, I'll definitely try that. I wholeheartedly agree that planning for future updates is a very important thing to do.
    Thank you.
  • dstillman
    @PaulApril: You don't need to walk us through debugging. It's our software — we know what the change was here, why it was made, and what Chrome versions support it. As I say, we may be able to fix the specific error here, but this change was made as part of a much broader set of improvements to the Zotero Connector, and other things may be broken in older Chrome versions. You should have no expectation of continued support for unsupported software.

    Again, I will post here when we have further updates.
  • dstillman
    We've submitted Zotero Connector 5.0.160 for Chrome and Edge, which should fix the specific error above. The updates should be available within the next day.

    Just to reiterate, though, we do not test on unmaintained browser versions, so we're not able to guarantee that the Connector will continue working going forward.
  • emilianoeheyns
    The fact is that I use Zotero almost every day and have not experienced any significant problems.
    As far as security concerns go, this is unsurprising. If your system is compromised, the person behind the compromise will make efforts to hide this, either permanently (eg when you've been made part of a DDOS botnet) or until you're in a position to be coerced (eg with crypto lockers).
  • PaulApril
    Thank you very much.
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