Catalog Salvage Attempt

[canyonlight]

Long story short...I moved some folders from one external hard drive to another via the Volume Browser, and some image files disappeared.

I was able to replace those image files from original download backup (using click-and-drag outside of Lightroom) and can get the catalog to see the new files with standard procedure.

But the xmp sidecar is now gone. Is there an obvious way to generate a new xmp sidecar that contains info in the Lightroom catalog that I'm trying to salvage?

I know, this is an argument for dng. But I want to be stubborn and keep my nef's.

I also guess I could reimport all 1'K+ images into a new catalog, but is that necessary?

Thanks in advance,

Stan

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Hi Stan, welcome to the forum!

Run that one past us again? The photos disappeared from within Lightroom or disappeared entirely from your hard drive? They're not hiding somewhere?

Can you still see the previous files in Lightroom or are they gone entirely? Do you have a catalog backup?

 

[canyonlight]

Confusing?

Thanks for the quick reply, Victoria.

Let me try to clarify...

I moved image files from one external hard drive to another (I'm trying to get everything on one 1TB hard drive) using the Volume Browser in Lightroom per the info in your Lightroom FAQ book.

After moving the folder for my 2''9 images, some of the subfolders didn't show up on the destination hard drive. They are also gone from the source hard drive (admittedly, a mystery). The images are still in the Lightroom database.

So I copied the lost folders to the destination drive from a backup external hard drive that I use whenever I import and copy from the memory card at the end of a day's shooting. This was done outside of Lightroom using drag-and-drop in Finder. The generated xmp sidecar files were not with the set of backup files from the original download (the image files are Nikon NEF files).

I have been ok with getting Lightroom to see the new files by clicking on the question mark (?) in the Library module and navigating to the separately created image file (the nef image file I dragged in from a backup hard drive) on the destination hard drive.

But the xmp sidecar file is gone. How can I regenerate a new xmp sidecar file for an image file that's there (dragged in to the destination hard drive) and also in the Lightroom database?

If this is too complicated should I bite the bullet and re-import all 1','''+ images into a new Lightroom database?

Thanks for your great book and website - and your patience.

Stan

 

[Brad Snyder]

Stan, welcome,

If you have auto-write XMP on, Lr should be re-creating those files asynchronously (sort of behind the scenes, in batch mode) as you work. Or you could force a write by selecting a file(s) and pressing Ctrl-S, or Selecting 'Save Metadata' from the Library > Metadata menu. Be careful not to 'Read Metadata' in this instance, it's exactly the wrong thing.

Personally, I would experiment with just a file or two, to make sure I was getting the expected results, before I did a 'Select All' and trying to write out all 1'k XMPs at once.

As to why the move partially failed, I think we've seen sporadic similar reports, but never consistent enough to identify a bug/trend. (I don't think it's the case here, but in some of the reports, it was truly difficult to sort out potential user-errors )

 

[canyonlight]

Will Give it a Try

Thanks Brad. I'll give the save metadata bit a try.

Although operator error is a very strong possibility, I suspect the possibility of some OS X issues too. I'm not 1''% comfortable that OS X is totally happy with multiple external hard drives connected via FW8'', FW4'', and USB. Plus Lightroom 2.3 may need some fixes too.

Thanks for this forum. It's an excellent supplement to Victoria's book.

Stan

 

[Brad Snyder]

I'm not a Mac guy, but I have seen some reports of troubles with FW drives recently. Not to pick on Mac, Win has its own baggage as well.

 

[sizzlingbadger]

I think quite a few problems with external drives are down to very cheap hardware. Some of the really cheap stuff out there at present is really nasty gear. I use external drives for my backups and media library and have bought decent quality drives and so far (touch wood) have had no issues.

With OSX Tiger I did get an issue once when trying to copy many 1''''s of files in one go but Leopard hasn't given me any trouble yet.

I would also suggest you re-visit your backup process so you don't lose files again.