Zotero does not recognise default PDF viewer

[Ethunxxx]

In the preferences I set that Zotero should use the system's default PDF viewer to open PDFs. However, every time I open a PDF, Zotero asks which viewer to use.
Is there a way to fix this?

[amtlib-dot-dll]

I am also waiting a way to fix this 🤷‍♀️

[felipehw]

Same here!

[rvlobato]

Always asking for pdf viewer.

[pimou]

Same here ! very annoying....

[pimou]

And all is ok with stock Zotero... Everything is fine using the tarball.

[qwertyuser1983]

Waiting for solution for this problem. :)

In my case, even the prompt did not show. This the terminal output when loading the pdf. :(

** (zotero:6): WARNING **: 13:58:46.797: Cannot launch default application: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnknownMethod: No such interface 'org.freedesktop.portal.OpenURI' on object at path /org/freedesktop/portal/desktop
Failed to call portal: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnknownMethod: No such interface 'org.freedesktop.portal.OpenURI' on object at path /org/freedesktop/portal/desktop
Possibly unhandled rejection:

/usr/bin/xdg-open returned exit status 4

Error: /usr/bin/xdg-open returned exit status 4
Zotero.Utilities.Internal.exec</<.observe@chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/utilities_internal.js:516:22

[PorcelainMouse]

In addition, or perhaps not, Zotero cannot even find the default PDF viewer in the filesystem, so you cannot select it using the option alternative to the "system default."

You can select /usr/bin/xdg-open, but even this does not work. Regardless of the setting for the viewer in Zotero, Zotero always asks which PDF viewer to use.

Does anyone even know why this happens? Is it some type of sandboxing that appends to flatpak applications? It must be, right?

[juanlufont]

Waiting for solution for this problem. :)

In my case, even the prompt did not show. This the terminal output when loading the pdf. :(

** (zotero:6): WARNING **: 13:58:46.797: Cannot launch default application: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnknownMethod: No such interface 'org.freedesktop.portal.OpenURI' on object at path /org/freedesktop/portal/desktop
Failed to call portal: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnknownMethod: No such interface 'org.freedesktop.portal.OpenURI' on object at path /org/freedesktop/portal/desktop
Possibly unhandled rejection:
/usr/bin/xdg-open returned exit status 4
Error: /usr/bin/xdg-open returned exit status 4
Zotero.Utilities.Internal.exec</<.observe@chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/utilities_internal.js:516:22

I was getting the same error on Debian Testing (Buster) when using the flatpak package for Zotero.

In my case I was missing some of the xdg-destop-portal binaries required to integrate the flatpack app with the rest of my system. I managed to fix the problem just installing the following packages and restarting my graphical session:

• xdg-desktop-portal-gtk
• flatpack-xdg-utils

[allefeld]

I have the same problem as @qwertyuser1983, but @juanlufont's solution does not fix it.

@juanlufont, you did install the Debian packages, right? Not some flatpak packages?

Since this issue has been open for almost a year, I'm wondering whether developers even look at this. Not even a comment...

[allefeld]

I found another workaround: Start Zotero with

flatpak run --filesystem=host org.zotero.Zotero

This allows "Open pdfs using" / "Custom..." to browse the entire file system, so one can select the appropriate binary.

[N1X3L]

I found another workaround: Start Zotero with

flatpak run --filesystem=host org.zotero.Zotero

This allows "Open pdfs using" / "Custom..." to browse the entire file system, so one can select the appropriate binary.

This workaround does not seem to be viable in Solus, but I appreciate you posting it.

[mihaic]

This behavior comes from xdg-desktop-portal, which is responsible for asking how to open the PDF. Starting in version 1.5.3, it will remember your choice after asking 3 times. See the corresponding issue and PR:
flatpak/xdg-desktop-portal#302
flatpak/xdg-desktop-portal#406

I think this issue should be closed.

[felipehw]

Maybe, we could wait this fix arrive in any major distribution to see if it really works in a real environment with Zotero?

[rvlobato]

I can confirm that it is working in Arch Linux, with xdg-desktop-portal 1.6.0-2