Zotero / Google Docs Issue on Chrome AND Firefox

therealrebeccataylor
I'm unable to add citations to my Google Doc on Chrome AND Firefox on my laptop, but both work fine on my desktop. Interestingly, my laptop DOES allow me to add papers to my Zotero from the connector/extension on both browsers, it just won't add a citation.

I've tried:
1. uninstalling and reinstalling the plugins.
2. uninstalling and reinstalling zotero
3. restarting the whole computer

Nothing has worked. When I try to add a citation to a blank Google Doc on either browser, the red bar loads, takes forever, and then gives me an error message. Please help as I'm about to go to a conference where I'll need to be updating citations to papers on my laptop and right now I can't do this.

THANK YOU!
  • adomasven
    Submit a Debug ID from Zotero (not Connector) for the issue.
  • therealrebeccataylor
    Thank you for your reply! Debug ID: D2031888210
  • adomasven
    Some security software, a firewall, or a browser extension is blocking requests on your laptop to google docs API, which Zotero uses to provide the integration functionality, which is why it's not working.
  • therealrebeccataylor
    Thank you but that doesn't make sense because the integration was working fine one minute, then literally a minute later, it stopped working. I didn't change any settings or update any software as I was working on writing a paper.

    Also, I'm still able to add files to Zotero via both browsers. It's only importing Citations to Google Docs that isn't working.
  • adomasven
    Adding citations and citing in Google Docs are unrelated in this context. All I can tell you is that an operation to google docs API backend is taking too long (timing out) based on your debug log. This is usually consistent with security software or firewall blocking it, but could also be a network issue, or even an issue with Google Docs, although the fact that it works on your desktop somewhat diminishes the likelihoog of Google Docs issues. Can you insert citations from your laptop in a new document?
  • therealrebeccataylor
    Unfortunately, no, even in a new Google doc I get the same endless dialogue box and then it times out. [My first thought when I had this issue was that the file had somehow been corrupted and I just needed to open a new one, but alas not the case. And same file works fine on my desktop]. It doesn't seem like it's a network issue since both computers are using the same wifi, but maybe I'm wrong.

    What would you advise I check re security and firewall settings? I looked in the 'Advanced Firewall Settings' subsection of settings on my MAC laptop and it says Firewall Inactive, so not sure what else to check...
  • adomasven
    Have you tried restarting this Mac? That would be the first thing to try. You could work around this by going into Zotero Connector Preferences -> Advanced -> Config Editor and setting

    integration.googleDocs.forceDisableV2API to false, but that will likely make the google docs plugin much slower.
  • therealrebeccataylor
    Yes, I tried restarting the computer and no luck. OK so I went to setting preferences and it IS set to false. Could that be the issue? Should I change that to true?
  • therealrebeccataylor
    In case helpful, here is what my current settings look like and importing citations (still) is not working with these:
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u9940363/lm4bzi5xjhrwnrp1j5to.png
  • adomasven
    Sorry, I meant setting the pref to true, not false. Double-clicking it should do it.
  • therealrebeccataylor
    I tried that -- still tries to load (red bar stays forever) and then after about a minute it says "Zotero experienced an error updating your document." Sigh.
  • adomasven
    Could you produce another Debug ID from Zotero? Could you also produce a Report ID from Zotero Connector? Could you try disabling any extensions that you use, if any, and see if that helps?
  • therealrebeccataylor
    Sure thing. I did a report ID in Zotero: 1012436378
    I did another Debug and submitted with Debug ID D670995518.

    How do I do a report specifically from Zotero Connector?

    As for the extensions, I disabled this extension and then turned it back on (no luck). I can disable other extensions if you think that will help, but since this problem is across Firefox AND Chrome that seems unlikely, no?
  • adomasven
    Another extension could be intercepting/blocking requests that Zotero tries to make to Google Docs API. See Report ID for how to generate a Report ID.
  • therealrebeccataylor
    Turning off all the other extensions doesn't seem to have worked.

    Here's the report ID from the connector: 226953311
  • adomasven
    Yeah, your Debug ID still shows Zotero Connector trying to connect to the V2 endpoint. Could you take another screenshot of what your config looks like now? Another thing to try is creating a temporary new user account on your mac and testing whether it works there.
  • therealrebeccataylor
    Sorry for the slow reply, I was in transit to the workshop in Germany. Strangely, it all works fine here! Does that mean it was a network interference issue after all even though my desktop is on that same network?

    I'm relieved that it works while I'm traveling, but I'm a little concerned about what happens when I return to my home/university network, where it wasn't working. Do you have any recommendations for things I should check or try when I return if it stops working again?
  • adomasven
    You should check your router/network access point to make sure some firewall rule is not triggering on your laptop. Otherwise, you will need someone to troubleshoot this as a network problem that it seems to be, which is outside the scope of our support.
  • therealrebeccataylor
    Happy to report that I'm back home and it's still working fine. Thank you for all your help trying to solve this issue.
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