Zotero not loading PDFs on MacOS...

sofieherbeck
edited 7 days ago
Debug ID: D877212050
Report ID: 1036203432
(^ wasn't sure what the difference was between sending the debug log vs reporting an error, so I did both)

I'm running Zotero version 7.0.15 on a new computer running MacOS 15.3, and on first booting + updating Zotero, it suddenly won't load linked PDFs in the app. When I try to open one, it opens a new tab with the left sidebar full of any annotations I've previously made, and the full info/abstract/notes in the right sidebar, but the actual PDF never loads. I've tried restarting Zotero and restarting my computer, but nothing seems to change. What else should I try?

edit: here is a screenshot of the debug output... not sure how to interpret this but you can see the JavaScript error being generated
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u14178293/l2ogqn4zjesoxd3bzx3v.png

  • dstillman
    Check the permissions on the PDF folder and files to make sure they're readable by your current Mac user account (Finder → Get Info). Zotero can't open them.
  • sofieherbeck
    All the files should be readable and writable, as shown in this screenshot:
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u14178293/wktma2kacpow0ci3kowp.png

    I can see here that there are extended attributes on all the files in the directory, though. Does that cause issues with Zotero?

    Also, some more detail: I just migrated from an older Mac running MacOS Big Sur, where I occasionally ran into this issue in the past few months, but it was always solved by a reboot. I'm now on a new Mac running MacOS Sequoia, and initially had to install Rosetta to run the intel version of Zotero. I just updated to the latest version of Zotero, so Rosetta should no longer be involved, but I'm not sure if that's possibly part of the issue?
  • dstillman
    These files were transferred from another computer?

    Do you have Documents & Desktop syncing with iCloud Drive? (That generally shouldn't be a problem for linked files, but just curious.)

    We're not aware of any specific issues with extended attributes, but you could check what they are with xattr and try clearing them. You should also check the permissions/attributes on all the higher folders in the path.

    All we can really say is that Zotero is getting "NotAllowedError: Could not open the file", which would generally be a permissions error.

    Wouldn't be related to Rosetta, no.
  • sofieherbeck
    Yeah, I transferred everything over to this new computer via the MacOS Migration Assistant. I don't use iCloud, so there's no syncing involved.

    I just checked all the permissions and they were the same for all the folders in the path, except my Documents folder—which I updated to match, but that didn't change anything.
  • dstillman
    OK, check the extended attributes.
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