Failure to sync: iOS Debug Log: D1328102781

iOS (18.6.2), Zotero 1.0.51: syncing does not seem to work any longer, I cannot see any new library files. Last week syncing was still working fine.
  • Thanks, I have checked that. The Web Library has synced flawlessly, it's only iOS devices that are not syncing. The last successful sync of iOS devices was Thursday or Friday last week.
  • See the last step for the info we need.
  • Thanks, following step 6) the PDF

    https://www.zotero.org/nbpf/collections/2DTMWVUX/items/ENQX3G7Y/collection

    of my online library is one of those that fail to appear in the iOS app. The modification time for this item is

    9/1/2025, 10:45:00 AM

    Items that I have added to the library last week (until Thursday or Friday) did sync flawlessly. All items that I added yesterady (1.9.25) have failed to sync. The log of a full Sync Debugging done on the iOS app has been sent, the debug ID is D977607994.

  • edited September 2, 2025
    It is quite crazy: by selecting "Start Full Sync Debugging" in the iOS app (resulting in D977607994), all missing data have suddenly appeared in the iOS app and sync has completed!
  • I am double checking on another iOS device...
  • I can confirm the same behavior on the second iOS device: selecting "Advanced > Start Full Sync Debugging" has immediately successfully brought all the missing data into the iOS app. Debug ID for the second iOS device is D284933982.
  • edited September 2, 2025
    OK, glad to hear it's fixed, but note that the instructions don't say anything about using that option, and so those Debug IDs don't help us debug this further to figure out how it might have happened.

    If you see it happening again, we'd want just the requested info using the standard logging option.
  • Right, it was probably a mistake to activate "Advanced > Start Full Sync Debugging" on the second device as well, now I do not seem to be able to reproduce the error any longer and any modification done in the Linux app appears almost immediately in the iOS app and vice versa. It appears that "Advanced > Start Full Sync Debugging" has modified the state of the iOS app and now syncing works as expected. Thanks for the excellent support, I will report back if I run into the same issue again.
  • The sync errors are back again: here is a logged instance of a recent (today) sync failure from iOS: the debug ID is D1727744876. The zotero.org URL is:

    https://www.zotero.org/nbpf/collections/2DTMWVUX/items/SKVKU65L/collection.

    The error message on my Linux laptop is

    "The attached file could not be found at the following path:

    /home/nicola/Zotero/storage/SKVKU65L/Friedensnobelpreis 2025 geht an Maduro-Gegnerin María Corina Machado | FAZ.pdf

    It may have been moved or deleted outside of Zotero, or, if the file was added on another computer, it may not yet have been synced to zotero.org."

    The sync failure only affects the iOS app. Data added via my Linux laptop can be opened under iOS and iPadOS flawlessly. iOS and iPadOS are 18.7.1. I have saved the *.realm files generated by the iOS zotero app. Am I supposed to upload them here? Thanks, nbpf
  • After 3 days the data have suddenly synced. This is a bit crazy, is there any additional information that I can report to help debugging the issue?
  • Your description here is really confusing. Are you describing two separate issues? Is this about data — i.e., library items — not syncing or attachment files not getting uploaded to WebDAV?
  • Why confusing? I am adding an item to the Zotero library using my iPhone, in the specific example, one with a PDF attachment.

    The item shows up immediately on my other devices and on www.zotero.org, hence it is not an issue with library data.

    However, if I try to access the PDF attachment on my Linux laptop, I get the error:

    > The attached file could not be found at the following path:
    >
    > /home/nicola/Zotero/storage/SKVKU65L/Friedensnobelpreis 2025 geht an Maduro-
    > Gegnerin María Corina Machado | FAZ.pdf
    >
    > It may have been moved or deleted outside of Zotero, or, if the file was added on another
    > computer, it may not yet have been synced to zotero.org."

    I also get this error if I try to access the PDF file on an iPad or, more generally, on a device different from the one that I have used to add the item to the library.

    This would suggest an error in uploading the PDF attachment to the WebDAV. On the other hand, I can log into the WebDAV and see that the PDF in question is there.

    Moreover, as reported, three days later everything works flawlessly and I can access the PDF attachment from my laptop and from my iPad without error messages.

  • edited 8 days ago
    Why confusing?
    When reporting sync issues here, it's very important to be clear whether you're referring to library data or files. You talked about "syncing" not working, and "items" syncing or not, and "missing data" on some devices, and a "modification" on one device not showing on the other, and using "Full Sync Debugging" (which affects data, not files). All of that suggests you're talking about library data, not attachment files.

    But yes, we're looking into the file upload issue you're seeing now on the iPhone.
  • I have started another test and I can confirm that the problem is indeed uploading the attachment to the WebDAV.

    It should probably take a few minutes but, about half an hour later, there is still no new file on the WebDAV. I'll keep on monitoring the WebDAV and report.
  • > When reporting sync issues here, it's very important to be clear whether you're referring to
    > library data or files. You talked about "syncing" not working, and "items" syncing or not, and > "missing data" on some devices, and a "modification" on one device not showing on the
    > other, and using "Full Sync Debugging" (which affects data, not files). All of that suggests
    > you're talking about library data, not attachment files.

    I see, I apologize for the confusion. As reported in my previous comment, the issue is most likely a WebDAV upload one.

    It is perhaps worth noticing that uploading an attachment to the WebDAV via the Linux Zotero app works within a few seconds and also seems to force the iOS upload to suddenly appear on the WebDAV!
  • Right, I have made yet another test and I can confirm that uploading PDF attachments to a WebDAV using the iOS Zotero app does not work. However, subsequently uploading another PDF attachment to the WebDAV using the Linux Zotero app works flawlessly and somehow activated the upload of the first PDF attachment.

    In other words, the workflow for successfully uploading foo.PDF to my WebDAV server (koofr) using the iOS Zotero app is:

    1) upload foo.PDF to the WebDAV server using the iOS Zotero app
    2) verify that foo.PDF fails to get uploaded to the WebDAV server
    3) upload bar.PDF to the WebDAV server using the Linux Zotero app
    4) verify that both foo.PDF and bar.PDF are on the WebDAV server
    5) if not needed, remove bar.PDF from the Zotero library
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