Lost Folders

[Potus5]

For some curious reason I have lost in LR the linkages to a number of my folders. For example, when I attempt to back up my LR catalog to an external drive the "choose" pull down menu in the catalogue backup routine does NOT display any of my external hard drives nor most of the seperate internal drives. All that is listed is a hierarchial list of my personal 'C' drive user folders like "My Pictures" and "My Music". Thus I cannot choose the external hard drive where I previously stored my catalog backups. Yet my computer itself recognizes these drives, when I clikc on the "Computer" or the "Windows Explorere" icons, all my internal and external drives are recognzied and listed.

Likewise, I only see the same folder structure as above, in LR when I run the import command and attempt to move or copy RAW images to an external hard drive. When I click on the "choose" pull down menu in the "copy to" listing for the "copy photos to a new location and add to catalog" command, none of my extrnal drives or internal drives are listed. All that is listed is the various 'user' folders like "My Pictures" and "My Music".

Any idea what has happened and how to fix the problem? I've tried rebooting the commputer and relaunching LR but to no avail in solving the problem.

I'm runing LR2.6 on a 4G RAM board, using Windows 7. The computer system and LR worked fine two weeks ago when leaving on a photo trip to Jordon I shut everything down - depowered the computer and the external drives. When I returned this week and repowered the unit, LR could not recognize any of my external drives or most of the internal ones. The assigned drive letters for all my external drives had been altered for some reason by the boot-up and LR could not find the external drive with the catalog. I had to copy the catalog to the internal system drive and have LR load it from there. And with none of the external drives being reconized or even listed with their new drive letters I cannot direct LR as to what drives it should access.

Appreciate any advice on this issue.

 

[Potus5]

TNG

Just started up LR to do the forced backup to MyDesktop as you suggested AND this time under Choose int he backup routine All OF THE DRIVES now appear???? Yet I have done nothing different or more than the the tests I just ran and reported to you. Very confusing development!!!!

 

[Potus5]

TNG

actually I forgt - I did do something since the test - I had started up LR and ran the backup routine to the F drive that was showing, shut LR done and then when you told me how to do the 'forced backup' to My Desktop I restarted LR and when the backup routine ran and I went to Choose to pick the My Desktop location that is when I found out all the other drives were now displayed.

 

[Jim Wilde]

Well on the whole I would say this sounds like good news.

Just to check....shutdown the computer, reboot, login as Glenn and start Lightroom and check to see if you take a backup to your Q drive.

If that works, we can maybe tick that box (though not forgetting we have to reset your preferences!), then move on to problem 2!

Let me know how the restart goes.

 

[Potus5]

Yes that worked fine - I shutdown the computer, reboot, login as Glenn and started Lightroom and checked to see that in the backup routine it would let me choose any of the drives - everything showed and I backed up to Q.

Glenn

 

[Jim Wilde]

Fantastic! Maybe that's one down and one to go!

Couple of things....

1. You now have your users Desktop folder on the D drive. We COULD switch it back, but that may or may not bring the problem back. My advice at the moment would be to leave it where it is....just remember that it's there and don't try to delete it!

2. Lightroom Preferences....on reflection I think it best that we DON'T put your old Preferences file back into play....resetting may have helped fix the problem so better safe than sorry. You just now need to spend a few minutes going through the Preferences settings as everything is now back to default and you may want to make some changes. For one thing you need to check the "Store presets with Catalog" box.

3. The TNG user account....might be a good idea to keep that for the time being until you are 1''% sure that your Glenn account is working as it should do.

4. Permissions on your drives....I didn't see anything there to be worried about. I am no expert by any means, but they seemed OK to me (I have a mix of System and Administrators ownerships as well).

Why don't you spend a few minutes having a poke around inside Lightroom, just checking that everything looks fine (no missing files/folders, all presets and plugins still available, etc), while I prepare the instructions for trying to deal with problem 2 (which I think you are misunderstanding....double-clicking a catalog shouldn't be trying to INSTALL Lightroom, it should just simply be another way to START Lightroom). No matter, it shouldn't be doing what it's doing so let's try to fix that!

Be back soon....

 

[Jim Wilde]

OK....assuming everything is still OK, here are the instructions for trying to fix the “trying to install when launching a catalog directly” problem:

This may simply be a broken or corrupted file-type/program association, so let’s try changing that. Proceed as follows:

1. Control Panel>Default Programs>Associate a file type or protocol with a program.
2. Scroll down to find the .lrcat extension, click to select it then click on Change Program (top right).
3. An “Open With” dialog box opens which may have a list of various programs in it, and which may include Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.6
4. If you see it, click on it to select it and click OK to confirm the selection.
5. If you do NOT see it, click on “Browse” and browse to the location where Lightroom is installed (probably D:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.6). Click to open the folder and select the file “lightroom.exe”, and click on “Open”.
6. This will return you to the “Open With” dialog box, but now with Lightroom selected. Click OK to confirm and you are done.

It MAY be necessary to also change the associations for the other Lightroom file types (.lrdb, lrmodule, lrtoolkit and lrweb), but don’t do that yet. Having made the change, try to launch your catalog by double-clicking on it and keeping your fingers crossed!

Let me know what happens!

 

[Potus5]

TNG

Yes, that worked. I can open LR via double clicking on the master catalog

 

[Jim Wilde]

Excellent.....sounds like my work is done!

Have that poke around Lightroom, and stay on the lookout for any more unusual happenings. Don't forget that we never got to the bottom of whatever kicked this whole situation off.

Enjoy getting back to Lightroom....

Cheers,
TNG

 

[Potus5]

TNG

Thanks for you time and perserverence - I'm in your debt. I've reset the associations for the other LR files like lrweb, etc. And I agree to hold off on the TNG account, etc until I see how things work for awhile.

What about upgrading to LR2.7 - should I also hold off for now, or should I soon upgrade and if so how do I do a 'clean upgrade'?

Glenn

 

[Jim Wilde]

Re the upgrade.....just give everything a few days to make sure there are no lurking gremlins, especially a few days use of Lightroom. If no problems have cropped up, I would think you could upgrade at your leisure. Regarding a 'clean install', I would think now that we have sorted out the issues you were having then a standard upgrade process should be OK. Doing a 'full uninstall' first, rather than let the Lightroom upgrade process do it for you, risks losing some of your settings (though I could easily be wrong about that!).

My best advice therefore is to choose the 'upgrade' option which pops up every time you start LR at a time to suit you. No doubt if things go wrong we can chat some more! Don't forget, as Victoria mentioned, to make sure you have your serial number(s) handy before you start.

Good luck, Glenn....it's been fun!

EDIT: the settings issue is really no big deal, we can easily save those out before an uninstall and copy them back in again after installing 2.7....so don't let that put you off. If you want a 'clean install' we can do that.

 

[Brad Snyder]

Whew, how 'bout a round of applause for TNG!

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Hip hip hooray! Well done TNG! And Glenn for sticking with it too!

 

[Jddolbee]

That kind of support is what makes this forum so great!

jim

 

[Potus5]

TNG

AW - nuts - Its doing it partially again :'( .

Yesterday when I told you LR seemed to be working fine while I had actually done a backup to the 'correctly desired' drive and folder I had not done an actual import of images - I had merely clicked on the import command box and examine what drives/foldrs where listed as available - all my drives were displayed.

However, last night I tried to do an image import from an Epson P-3''' Multimedia Storage Viewer which I had connected to my computer for the occassion via a USB cable. However on loading LR and then attempting to import the images from the Storage Viewer [the location of the storage viewer showed up with no problem and I selected the images I wanted to copy and add to the catalog and selected my Q-RAW external hardrive as the location for the save, BUT the import process then froze - no import occured and eventually LR 'unfroze' but returned me to the LR Library module screen without doing the import. I decided to shout LR down as well as the computer since I did not have time available to redo anything - was on my way out to a musical show with my wife.

So, today I rebooted my computer and started up LR - it ran the backup routine with no problem - choice of backup location for the catalog listed every drive and I saved a backup of the catalog to my prefered external drive/folder - Q. Thinking that perhaps the import freezing problem of the previous day might have been related to the fact that my Epson Storage Viewer had almost 4'G of RAW images on it that I had selected was was trying to copy and save to the maste catalog I decided to attempt an import from only one compact flash card that had just over 1G of images [6 RAWS].

So I inserted the CF card into the built in card reader in the computer. Computer reconized it with no problem and in Windows Explorer I could see the details of the images on the card. I started LR and it loaded no problem; the back up routine ran with no problem [aatached is a copy of the browser sceen for that routine] and the LR desktop open. I clicked on the import command box and it let me select the six images on the card for importing. HOWEVER, the 'copy' to location was showing up as my C:\\Users\User\My Pictures folder and when I then went to the choose browser box to select another location all that displayed in the pull downh menu this time was my desktop user folders. None of my drives displayed. Attached is a screen capture for the browser's listing.

So - the problem line is that while the backup routine is fine, the LR import routine seems is not. I'm back in your hands - unfortunately for you : ; I'm sorry for being such a pain.

Glenn

Glenn

 

[Potus5]

TNG

forgot to mention that after this problem reappeared today I did run the test of attempting to do the double click on the LR master catalog as the vehicle to launch LR - to see if that method would allow me to run import and select the drive/folder I wanted for my image save. However, while the double click method did launch LR [ so that problem from yesterday seems OK now] and LR again ran the backup catalog routine fine - allowing me to save the backup to the desired drive/folder; I had the same problem [as per what happened launching LR from the desktop icon] with the import routine - no ability to select the desired drive/folder.

Glenn

 

[Jim Wilde]

OK Glenn, no worries. Got a few jobs on the go at the minute, but I'll be back to you in an hour or so with some suggestions to try.

 

[Jim Wilde]

Sorry, one very quick thing you could try which we discussed a few days ago but never actually tried....start Lightroom by right-clicking on the desktop icon and selecting "Run as Administrator". When LR starts, repeat the test of importing from CF card and let me know if there is anything different when you try to change the 'copy to' location. Thanks

 

[Potus5]

OK - will do. One other thing I've just noticed - the "Identify Plate" showing up on my LR 2.6 is the standard one, not the custom "Glenn Bloodworth Photography" that I had activated some time ago. I can't tell you for certain it that custom ID plate was or was not displaying over the past several days - didn't notice. But it certainly was displayying correctly a month ago!!

AND one thing that was activated yesterday for certain in my preferences was that the "save presets with catalog" box was checked for certain!!!. You has asked me yesterday to see if it was checked and I examined it to see. And it was checked on at that point Now, this afternoon, when I checked the Preferences/Presets tab the save with catalog WAS NOT CHECKED. So some "small" things seem to have gotten altered in my preferences settings - I've checked the rest of the tabs and nothing else seems to have been altered. I've rerun my backup catalog to ensure the latest backup copy has the presets saved. I've also saved a copy of my plug-ins to an external backup folder.

Glenn

 

[Potus5]

TNG

ran the 'right click' on the desktop icon and run LR as an adminstrator. Same results - no drives appear listed as an location to select under the choose browser pull down menu.

 

[Jim Wilde]

OK, sounds like we're not done yet! A few issues there, let's tackle them one by one....starting with the missing drives when trying to use the "copy to" function.

What I'd like you to do is insert a CF card into your card reader and start LR as normal. Does the import routine launch automatically or only when you select "Import"? Whatever, let's get the import function running and as you're loading from a card you'll want to be using "copy to a location and add to catalog". So that we don't end up with individual images and part folders all over the place, suggest you just select a couple of images from the card and choose MyDesktop as the copy to location (it IS available in the drop-down list after you hit the Choose button.

Import the picture and check it imports OK. If is does, close down Lightroom and restart it. Start the Import dialog again, choosing the card reader as the import source, then in the Copy To location hit the Choose button to see if all your drives are available. If not, cancel the import, close down LR, reboot the PC and try again....

Let me know what happens.

 

[Potus5]

TNG

Ok -
1. I inserted the CF card into the card reader and started LR as normal - import routine didi NOT launch automatically - only when I selected "Import" - when I clicked on the import box it identiifed that the images where on an "I" drive [my card reader].
2. I selected the images then used "copy to a location and add to catalog" and saved seven images to my Desktop - that location option was available in the pull down menu under Choose.
3. Looks to have imported correctly
4. Closed down Lightroom and relaunched it - let the backup catalog routine run.
5. Started the Import dialog again, card reader was shown as the import source, then in the Copy To location I hit the Choose button - none of my drives were available - only locations showing were "Desktop" and under it the folder "Glenn".
6. Canceled the import, closed down LR, and am now rebooting the PC and trying again.... will let you know the result.

 

[Potus5]

OK - shut down the computer and rebooted. Interesting:
1. Computer booted up - with the CF card left in the card reader.
2. However, my Drobo hardrive did not load up - received an error message that Windows could not load the "device driver". Ran the MS recommended procedure to let Windows update the driver but all I then got was a message that there were no updates required. I unplugged the power to the device and unhocked the USB cable from the computer and then after a 2' second delay reconnected everything. Drobo ran its start check sequence but then shut down and did not connect.
3. At this stage LR then started automatically - the backup routine came on asking me if I wanted to make a backup. I clicked on 'Skip' and LR immediately launched into the import procedure to copy the images from the CF card. I checked the location browser - and no drives were listed, only the same "Desktop" and "Glenn" folders. So I canceled the import and shut LR down.
4. I unloaded the CF card from the card reader and my Drobo unit restarted its start up sequence and completed it - coming on. The unit stayed on for around 1 minute then clicked itself off.
5. It's almost as if the Drobo unit is conflicting with the card reader so I'm now going to reboot the computer without the CF in the card reader. Will let you know the results.
3.

 

[Potus5]

TNG

OK - rebooted and the Drobo unit seems fine - least it seems to be staying on and I can read the two drives in it and the Drobo diagnositic says "unit is healthy!".

So - relaunched LR, ran the backup routine and then clicked on the import box to see if I could import the images from the MyDesktop folder. Sure enough - the import photos or Lightroom Catalog window the browser now displays - in the "Look in" box it shows "Desktop", in the left hand column it has highlighted the 'Desktop' icon.. In the large area of the browser window it shows icons for 'Computer' et and when I click on the Computer icon the window displays all of my drives, and I can drill down to the respective sub-floders. I did not run an import again since the images from MYDesktop are already listed in the catalog. I have not closed down LR and anything else - waiting on your instruction as to the next step. Presumably we want to verify again that LR on import can display all of the drives.

 

[Jim Wilde]

Sorry Glenn, when it comes to problems with your Drobo unit we'll need to call in support....I have no experience with these devices at all. I DO know that in some circumstances trying to reboot with a CF card still in the card reader CAN be unpredictable, at least it certainly was with my last desktop although my current one is fine.

OK, back to the import problem. It sounds as if we are making progress. Could you now try another import from the card reader and see if you can choose your usual "copy to" location (Q drive?). You'll need to use a different image from the first attempt of course (and at some point you'll need to remember to delete that first one from your catalog AND computer and reimport to the proper location).

 

[Potus5]

Ok - understand about the Drobo unit.

On the LR issue:
1. I insert the CF into the card reader AND LR's backup routine automatically came up. I ran the backup.
2. Once backup completed LR automatically swithced to display the import photos window BUT the copy to is showing as "D:\MyDesktop", and when I go to the choose pull down menu all that is displayed is the Desktop with the Glenn folder. No drives are listed, no 'computer' icon, etc.

Interesting that the previous relaunch with all the drives displayed has not held in LR.
3. So I attempted to copy the images to MYDesktop - got an error message that the "files already exist in the catalog". Went to the D:\MyDesktop folder in the LR library module and deleted them from the catalog. Closed LR.
4. Relaunched LR, backup routine started, LR library module came up [but not the automatic launch of the Import command]. Went back to the import box in LR, manually choose 1 image from the CF card in the card reader, clicked on the choose location box to set the location and all the browser displayed again was the Desktop with the "Glenn" folder. Imported the image to MyDesktop.

That's it - have closed LR but have not rebooted the computer again. Is that what I should do no?

Glenn