Can't import PDFs by drag and drop or by Add Attachment

stenti1
edited 3 days ago
Greetings Zotero Folks,

I can no longer add PDFs to my Zotero database. I've tried to troubleshoot the problem by looking at other similar posts on the forum, but I'm having no luck. I am getting the following error code (pasted below) in the debugging output. Can anyone provide some help or documentation? Thanks.

[JavaScript Error: "Component returned failure code: 0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) [nsIFile.createUnique]" {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/file.js"
line: 1062}]
[JavaScript Error: "Failed importing file /Users/{myusername}/Desktop/2016-coming-of-age-.pdf"]
/cannix om/fries ine: 1062: Component returned failure code: 0X8004005 (NS ERROR FAILURE) [nSIFile. createUnique)" file: "chrome: /zotero
appName → Zotero, version = 7.0.22 (x64), os = macOS 15.6, locale = en-US, extensions =
  • dstillman
    Can you provide a Debug ID for reproducing this?

    (Did you retype that? That's never necessary or desirable. We only ever want a Report ID or Debug ID here.)
  • stenti1
    Thank you, dstillman.

    Here is the Debug ID: D583231777

    Thanks for the orientation to the Debug ID and Report ID. Noted.

  • dstillman
    The Debug ID has to show you reproducing the problem.
  • dstillman
    But is there anything non-standard about your Zotero data directory? Do you have it in the default location? Have you made any non-standard changes to it? Are you running any third-party security software?
  • stenti1
    I've tried again. I can see the failure code so I think I've reproduced the error.
    D734861953
  • dstillman
    edited 3 days ago
    And the answers to my other questions?

    This is a generic error, and it basically just means that something non-standard outside of Zotero is preventing Zotero from copying the PDF to its own data directory properly. We can't really tell you more than that.
  • stenti1
    I see.

    Location: root directory. /Users/{username}
    Non-standard changes: Several weeks ago, I mistakenly deleted some files in the data directory. I restored the folder from a TimeMachine backup. Subsequently, I had errors pop up regarding translators and styles. I reset both. I've ensured that Zoreo has full-disk permissions.
    Third-party security software: none.

  • dstillman
    edited 3 days ago
    Right, so that's important information.

    We've seen some weird behavior when people restore from old Time Machine backups.

    Which folder did you restore, exactly? Did you restore using the Time Machine interface or by copying straight from the Time Machine folder on the backup disk? (You should do the former.)

    If you open Terminal from Spotlight, paste in the following command, and press Return, what is the output?

    xattr -l ~/Zotero ~/Zotero/storage
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