Database upgrade error with Zotero 10 on network share on Linux

dstillman · 2026-09-08T15:34:30+00:00

This discussion was created from comments split from: Database upgrade error.

Karol Strutynski · 2026-09-07T10:12:24+00:00

Hello,
I have similar problem on linux, I have same error popup.
But It only is when I start zotero v10. if I start older v6 or v7 it opens without problems.

So I have a workaround of exporting the rdf and importing it with new zotero, but then I'll loose some of the information. Most crucial "Date added" will be same, and I use it quite a lot to check recently added papers in different collections.

Is it a database corruption if older version could read it no problem?
Does v10 have significant changes to the database handling or is it database update issue?

dstillman · 2026-09-07T14:03:20+00:00

Karol: See Reporting Startup Errors.

Don't export to RDF.

Karol Strutynski · 2026-09-07T14:18:47+00:00

Dear dstillman,
Thank you for a quick response.

My logs looks very similar to one posted by jrameshwar:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u4996288/yfxdj7ar6mw44272vl7z.png

dstillman · 2026-09-07T14:39:22+00:00

Can you provide the Debug ID from that window after clicking Submit?

But that's just to see the context. The answer is the same — you have a corrupted database:

https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/corrupted_database

Karol Strutynski · 2026-09-07T14:59:01+00:00

Hello,
Submitted with Debug ID D1908056505.

How the database is NOT corrupted when I'm using older version of zotero?

dstillman · 2026-09-07T15:03:11+00:00

It is — you just haven't yet triggered the error. Zotero 10 performs a database upgrade that's hitting the corrupted part of your database. The only bug in Zotero 10 is that it's not showing the normal error for database corruption during the DB-upgrade path. We'll fix that.

You have the directory on a network share or cloud storage folder, which is exactly how one corrupts a database:

https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/data_directory_in_cloud_storage_folder

Move that data directory back to the local disk and then follow the suggestions on https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/corrupted_database