Lightroom Classic and Photoshop startup issues

[Linwood Ferguson]

Lightroom Version

23.4.1

Operating System

1. Windows 10

I am having an intermittent problem. It started slowly and seems to be getting worse.

Both Lightroom and Photoshop sometime fail to start, or more precisely they hang during startup. They do not show the splash screen, but they create a process visible in task manager that just sits there, and that process is under "background processes" and not "Apps". If I click the icon again to start, I get another process, and still no start. To get them to start I have to kill that nascent process(s) and then generally they start fine. The issue with photoshop is more rare than Lightroom and seems mostly to occur when I edit-original from lightroom (I do quite a bit of photoshop outside of lightroom as well, so am frequently starting it from the search bar, or from open-with). As I write this I am uncertain if it ever failed to start from the command line (vs from lightroom).

The problem occurs mostly, it seems, when I am multi-tasking. Because LrC and PS both take a while to start, I frequently start them, then shift over and check email or something for a few seconds until they are up and ready (yes, I am a very impatient person). It SEEMS that if I do not do that, they start more reliably, though the pattern is not well established.

The PC is not overloaded, it is a 32 physical core threadripper with 128g of memory, NVMe system disk and 6 SSD's. There are no event log entries as there is no crash of the app. There are no popups or error messages. When both do start they run fine, and never fail while running, only the first seconds of startup. When I say intermittent, maybe 1 time in 5 this happens (less for photoshop). And of course if I TRY to make it happen it does not.

Lightroom is 11.4, photoshop is 23.4.1 on windows 10 current (or maybe one update set back), configuration as above, also have a beefy GPU, a RTX 3080 Ti. I only run Windows Defender, no other antivirus programs, filters or such (which if someone described this problem to me would be the first place I looked). Catalog verifies fine (and seems unlikely to affect photoshop if it was something in the catalog).

This started so slowly I did not pay a lot of attention (Adobe programs are always a bit flakey so at first did not think much of it), so I cannot mark this as occurring with a specific update; it seems likely it was with the last one but I really do not recall. Or it could have been with a windows update. Or some other installed program. The lack of any useful error message is a problem obviously. I work on this computer many hours every day and nothing else is acting flakey.

Suggestions?

Is there a logging setting somewhere that will log their startup progress? So when it occurred I can see something useful?

Anyone else seeing this sort of behavior?

Linwood

 

[Paul_DS256]

FWIW I occasionally have this problem with apps and not just LrC. I find a reboot clears the issue. Doesn't have that often for me.

 

[Hal P Anderson]

I've never seen LRC do it, but it happens occasionally with Firefox.

 

[Rob_Cullen]

You might try this procedure to give LrC 'High' Priority in Windows-
An 'old' thread in Adobe forums, may be useful-
PRIORITY HIGH IN TASK MANAGER
Also see Option#1 in-
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/89548-set-cpu-process-priority-applications-windows-10-a.html

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

I'm definitely not running out of CPU horsepower, did I mention the 32 cores, or 64 virtual; when this happens I'm about at 1% of so. And it's failed within seconds, the splash doesn't even appear.

I take it there's no idea of a way to log the startup to see where it fails? I'm wondering if it's some sort of licensing or updater check. Adobe has too many processes running all the time that all need to work right; with zero programs running in foreground I counted at least 13 Adobe processes running in background. I think they've just gotten to complicated and Adobe has lost track of how to make them work right.

But probably is time for a reboot.

 

[Rob_Cullen]

I cannot help with "log the startup" - beyond my 'pay grade'.
It could also be a good idea (Before you upgrade to LrC v11.5) to run the Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner App and then a fresh install might behave itself.
CLEANER TOOL LINK

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

Well, updated windows, rebooted, let's see if it fails.

I'm not reinstalling and having to reset all my settings until the last possible moment. While I've been using it forever and know more or less where everything is, the sheer number of different places that Adobe hides things makes it a nightmare if you have to recreate them - DCP profiles, file naming rules, import/export stuff, preferences, library preferences, startup... all scattered hither and yon, it's just an awful prospect to start over with all that.

Honestly if I just have to kill a process now and then that is a lot easier than starting over and tryging to get everything right. I do that every few years when I build a new computer, not anxious to do it now.

Please.. thank you for the pointer. That's not aimed at you personally, I appreciate the help. I just absolutely detest the way Adobe did all that, it is as though a dozen committees all decided separately where to put stuff, and all got to win.

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

Hmmm... actually just recreated it. If someone is game try this a few times (it is not reproducible reliably but it does seem to up the odds). Click on the icon to start lightroom (mine is on the task bar) and IMMEDIATELY click on another window, like Chrome. Does Lightroom still splash and start?

But a reboot didn't help. Going to update Lightroom now. And apparently Creative Cloud -- despite the setting to "keep it up to date" it keeps spammig me that there is an update pending. Just one more "feature".

And guess what -- it said it would relaunch after update -- it didn't.

Try to start manually -- didn't start.

Oh wait... the adobe installer (32 bit) is still running in background, leaving me no idea it is still running.

Never did launch, but I waited until all the myriad of processes were uiet and started by hand and it worked. Updating LrC and Ps, will see if that helps.

Wow, this software is full of "features".

 

[BobT]

I have had this problem too for some time. I've posted about it a couple of time. My workaround is simply to end the LR processes in Task Manager. LR then starts as normal.
Since you have an NVMe, I expect you have a relatively new system like mine. I guess we can put this down to Adobe catching up with the latest hardware or maybe Win 11.
You have a hefty discrete GPU, I don't. I'm relying on an iGPU. That you have the same problem reassures me that my problem is not related to the iGPU.

 

[Gnits]

The Raw Cache folder is common to Lr and Photoshop. I think there is a setting somewhere to clear this cache. Might be worth a try. Maybe an abortef Lr or Ps session has left rubbish there that trips up the apps at start up. This is just a guess, but easy to try and eliminate at least.

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

Worth a try, though at the moment I can't get it to fail (after the update). Time will tell, but cache purged.

 

[gegjrphotography]

I am having an intermittent problem. It started slowly and seems to be getting worse.

Both Lightroom and Photoshop sometime fail to start, or more precisely they hang during startup. They do not show the splash screen, but they create a process visible in task manager that just sits there, and that process is under "background processes" and not "Apps". If I click the icon again to start, I get another process, and still no start. To get them to start I have to kill that nascent process(s) and then generally they start fine. The issue with photoshop is more rare than Lightroom and seems mostly to occur when I edit-original from lightroom (I do quite a bit of photoshop outside of lightroom as well, so am frequently starting it from the search bar, or from open-with). As I write this I am uncertain if it ever failed to start from the command line (vs from lightroom).

The problem occurs mostly, it seems, when I am multi-tasking. Because LrC and PS both take a while to start, I frequently start them, then shift over and check email or something for a few seconds until they are up and ready (yes, I am a very impatient person). It SEEMS that if I do not do that, they start more reliably, though the pattern is not well established.

The PC is not overloaded, it is a 32 physical core threadripper with 128g of memory, NVMe system disk and 6 SSD's. There are no event log entries as there is no crash of the app. There are no popups or error messages. When both do start they run fine, and never fail while running, only the first seconds of startup. When I say intermittent, maybe 1 time in 5 this happens (less for photoshop). And of course if I TRY to make it happen it does not.

Lightroom is 11.4, photoshop is 23.4.1 on windows 10 current (or maybe one update set back), configuration as above, also have a beefy GPU, a RTX 3080 Ti. I only run Windows Defender, no other antivirus programs, filters or such (which if someone described this problem to me would be the first place I looked). Catalog verifies fine (and seems unlikely to affect photoshop if it was something in the catalog).

This started so slowly I did not pay a lot of attention (Adobe programs are always a bit flakey so at first did not think much of it), so I cannot mark this as occurring with a specific update; it seems likely it was with the last one but I really do not recall. Or it could have been with a windows update. Or some other installed program. The lack of any useful error message is a problem obviously. I work on this computer many hours every day and nothing else is acting flakey.

Suggestions?

Is there a logging setting somewhere that will log their startup progress? So when it occurred I can see something useful?

Anyone else seeing this sort of behavior?

Linwood

This sounds very similar to what I document in my post https://www.lightroomqueen.com/community/threads/startup-issues.45994/
Now that you mentioned it the last time I had LrC start-up issue it too was after going from LrC to PS and back to LrC. LrC didn't want to close the .lock file.

 

[BobT]

Just to see what was going on, I opened LR and Task Manager side by side on the monitor. I did quite a few heavy edits. The edits occured almost instantly, however the GPU churned away for another two minutes. I expect the quick edits we see on the monitor are on the preview but processing the actual image file takes longer. If one then shuts down LR while the GPU is still churning, that may be the reason stuff gets stuck in background causing start-up issues. Just a thought.

 

[Gnits]

I always senses there is an active que of hidden tasks processing in the background. Eg. there must be lots of database admin tasks running to keep the catalog healthy. If so... gracefully exiting Lr should result in this background que been suspended at a logical point. If Lr exits (say via Task Editor or PC hang or crash) then results might be less predictable. Again, I suspect Adobe logic will recognise an aborted previous exit (during start up) and will do its best to repair any previous loose ends.

There are variations in the manner in which Windows can be shutdown/sleep/etc. I used a script at one stage to ensure that my PC shutdown in sleep mode or a hard shutdown. I have since abandoned use of these scripts because I came across some unusual behaviour. Maybe, the manner in which the PC is shutdown may be interfering with Lr background tasks..... All conjecture...

There are also Windows settings which relate to 'Fast Start Up'.

Check this link.

https://www.tomsguide.com/how-to/how-to-fully-shut-down-windows-pc

 

[Paul_DS256]

Adobe has lost track of how to make them work right

My take is that this is a Windows problem since it is also experienced on none Adobe products. You may want to Google accordingly

 

[gegjrphotography]

To my way of thinking, which admittedly may be flawed, Adobe should build in a fail safe that prevents LrC from exiting before all background database tasks have been completed and neatly tucked away. In other words when I select EXIT if tasks are running there should be a lag and then a pop-up similar to what I get when disengaging a hard drive that says its ok to close and then the pop-up to ask if I want to backup and run the optimization and integrity tasks.

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

Just to see what was going on, I opened LR and Task Manager side by side on the monitor. I did quite a few heavy edits. The edits occured almost instantly, however the GPU churned away for another two minutes. I expect the quick edits we see on the monitor are on the preview but processing the actual image file takes longer. If one then shuts down LR while the GPU is still churning, that may be the reason stuff gets stuck in background causing start-up issues. Just a thought.

That is not the problem in my case, as this often happens after days of not using Lightroom.

My take is that this is a Windows problem since it is also experienced on none Adobe products. You may want to Google accordingly

Thanks, but my specific issue is not happening on non-Adobe products, just Lightroom and Photoshop.

I'd also offer the observation that properly written (defensively written) code should never just hang doing nothing, it should detect an error and react/abort/crash, it should have watchdog timers available if nothing else to find such problems. I do not care the cause, that it just goes into limbo and subsequent attempts to restart do not work is a flaw in design.

There are also Windows settings which relate to 'Fast Start Up'.

Aware of it and always recommend to people to turn it off. If I want a reboot, I want a REAL reboot, not some fake half-way measure so Microsoft can brag about how fast Windows boots.

----
FWIW a dozen or so attempts at random since the Adobe update have not failed. That is not definitive since it was always intermittent, but it is a good sign. Or a bad one in the sense it remains a mystery.

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

Well, still does it after everything was updated. I'll just keep killing it. Though I do think it does it less if I do not shift focus after clicking to open.

 

[BobT]

Well, still does it after everything was updated. I'll just keep killing it. Though I do think it does it less if I do not shift focus after clicking to open.

You have Win 10, I have Win 11. You have AMD, I have Intel. We both have the problem so we can rule those factors out.