Lost links to files: "file not found"

richardj15
I recently discovered that I could not access any content (webpage or snapshot) for any library item prior to March 2010. The message: "File not Found: The attached file could not be found. It may have been moved or deleted outside of zotero."

Items created more recently all seem to be intact with no problem accessing file links.

Is there any way to relocate all the lost links?

I am running Zotero 2.0.8 on a Macbook Pro running OS 10.6.4 and Firefox 3.6.10

Thanks.
  • richardj15
    I raised this question a week ago and have had no response. Can anyone provide an answer or suggestion?

    Thanks.
  • dstillman
    Links to files don't just break randomly, so it's almost certainly something you did in March.

    Provide a Debug ID for an attempt to open a missing attachment.
  • richardj15
    Thank you for the response.

    The DEBUG ID is D1486866618

    Is there any fix or do I simply need to go back and reconstruct all the entries that I can?

    Richard
  • adamsmith
    probably the latter, but it might depend on how and why they broke in the first place.
  • dstillman
    OK, so it's looking for "storage/W7KHQENI/bs20080914_756410.html" within your Zotero data directory. Does 'W7KHQENI' exist? Does it exist anywhere on your system?
  • richardj15
    No, W7KHQENI does not exist on my system.
  • dstillman
    Does 'bs20080914_756410.html'?

    I'm afraid we can't really help you, since there's no way for us to tell you what happened on your system in March.
  • noksagt
    Also: do you sync multiple machines?

    In the past, people have been confused by the fact that their database syncs, including the paths to attachments, but not necessarily the attachments themselves (because they have not setup file syncing or it isn't working or a quota has been exceeded or they just don't wait long enough). In such a case, you could check your other machine(s) for those files.
  • richardj15
    Neither file is resident on my hard disk.

    I do use remote backup through MOZY and may still have a copy of my zotero folder from February. Is it feasible to take the older backed up files and add them to the current storage folder?

    Thanks
  • richardj15
    noksagt, thanks for the suggestion. I don't, however, sync multiple machines so this is not an issues.
  • noksagt
    Is it feasible to take the older backed up files and add them to the current storage folder?
    It should be possible to add folder to your storage folder, yes (taking care not to replace the zotero database or files outside of the storage directory). I don't know how MOZY works, but if it lets you compare your backups at different times, you might be able to deduce when you lost your folders & maybe see if other oddities happened then as well.
  • richardj15
    Thanks! I will give it a try.
  • richardj15
    From my online backup source on Mozy, I am able to download the folders from the Storage folder in the Zotero folder that existed on February 23, 2010 -- before I lost many links. These folders are identified by numbers, mostly 5 or 4 digits such as 12772 with a few have 3 or 2 digits.

    I note that the current folders inside the current Storage folder in Zotero usually begin with a letter and are a mix of letters and numbers. Does this indicate anything that will present a problem if I move the digitally numbered folders into the current Storage folder in hopes that my old links will be recovered?
  • dstillman
    They won't be recognized. Those are from Zotero 1.0.
  • richardj15
    Thanks. No they weren't recognized. I plan to reconstruct the links. Still don't know what happened, but it obviously was related to upgrading to version 2.0.
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