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So Frustrated w/ Lightroom

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Mrdavie

Active Member
Premium Classic Member
Premium Cloud Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2018
Messages
131
Lightroom Experience
Intermediate
Lightroom Version
Lightroom Version Number
9.0
Operating System
  1. Windows 10
I have been a proponent of Lightroom but I am so frustrated I am about to cancel my subscription and go to a different processing application. I got a new, powerful computer several months ago. Now between Dell, Microsoft and Adobe I’m the little consumer guy with software issues and no advocates at these big corporations. Importing images is hit and miss. Sometimes it’s flawless. Sometimes I have to shut everything down and reboot my computer. I’m tired of this. I want to do art not spend my time in a spiral trying to solve technical issues.
 
That's not normal Mr Davie. Tell us more about what happens when it goes wrong.
 
Like Victoria, I agree that we can work things out.
One thing that did catch my eye was the comment “I’m tired of this. I want to do art not spend my time in a spiral trying to solve technical issues”
I used to be exclusively a Windows user. My work required this. After retiring, I got tired of “fiddling” with arcane systems settings to get continued performance out of my Windows PC. All I wanted to do was send emails, surf the web on a browser and work my photos with Lightroom. Intrigued by the “It Just Works” tag line and having an IPhone and an iPad, I got a Mac computer.
It’s not perfect, but the hardware is standardized by ONE manufacturer AND Apple controls both hardware and operating system software. It appears that Adobe has an easier time testing and implementing updates on the Mac platform that it does with many Windows hardware configurations and many different often incompatible hardware combinations.


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SD card inserted into computer card reader or via an SD card holder plugged into PC is recognized by the PC ((file manager pops up with that drive (Lumix) displayed)). After launching Lightroom Classic and then clicking on "import" the application pauses and then (not responding) is displayed. That's it! After waiting a sufficient time, kill the process and reboot the computer. Sometimes, if I start Lightroom, insert the SD card and then click in "import" things work fine. But sometimes not.
 
Like Victoria, I agree that we can work things out.
One thing that did catch my eye was the comment “I’m tired of this. I want to do art not spend my time in a spiral trying to solve technical issues”
I used to be exclusively a Windows user. My work required this. After retiring, I got tired of “fiddling” with arcane systems settings to get continued performance out of my Windows PC. All I wanted to do was send emails, surf the web on a browser and work my photos with Lightroom. Intrigued by the “It Just Works” tag line and having an IPhone and an iPad, I got a Mac computer.
It’s not perfect, but the hardware is standardized by ONE manufacturer AND Apple controls both hardware and operating system software. It appears that Adobe has an easier time testing and implementing updates on the Mac platform that it does with many Windows hardware configurations and many different often incompatible hardware combinations.


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I appreciate your observation and I have considered this alternative platform. However, if Adobe is going to commit to software on the Windows platform, it should perform as well on that platform. It just may not be Adobe's problem; it could be a hardware problem. I have yet to get Dell Computer to acknowledge it may be a hardware issue. And, by the way, I do have graphics acceleration turned off in Lightroom preferences despite having invested in a "honker" of a graphics card.
 
I appreciate your observation and I have considered this alternative platform. However, if Adobe is going to commit to software on the Windows platform, it should perform as well on that platform. It just may not be Adobe's problem; it could be a hardware problem. I have yet to get Dell Computer to acknowledge it may be a hardware issue. And, by the way, I do have graphics acceleration turned off in Lightroom preferences despite having invested in a "honker" of a graphics card.

All I can say is Lightroom problems have been less on the Mac platform for the reasons that I stated. You can appreciate the additional complexity of all the different permutations and combinations of Windows hardware and Windows OS versions, not to mention hardware driver issues that a Company like Adobe has to deal with in testing each revision of Lightroom.


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SD card inserted into computer card reader or via an SD card holder plugged into PC is recognized by the PC ((file manager pops up with that drive (Lumix) displayed)). After launching Lightroom Classic and then clicking on "import" the application pauses and then (not responding) is displayed. That's it! After waiting a sufficient time, kill the process and reboot the computer. Sometimes, if I start Lightroom, insert the SD card and then click in "import" things work fine. But sometimes not.

Have you tried copying the image files to the hard drive and trying to import from that location?
What we need to do is isolate the components and introduce them back one by one until we isolate the source of the problem.

Starting with the camera in the import chain:
1. It could be the camera card
2. The card reader could be defective or the wrong type (SD as opposed to SDXC) You cannot read newer card types in an obsolete card reader
3. The USB Cable connecting the card reader to the computer could be old, weak or bad. Remember USB cables are sourced to the lowest bidder)
4. If we pass all of these tests the we need to look at the computer hardware( Bad RAMM, not enough RAM, not enough freespace for LR to store the temporary files needed for import.


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Have you checked if there are any updates for the driver for your graphics card?
 
Have you tried copying the image files to the hard drive and trying to import from that location?
....

This, imo, is probably the best and quickest way to help isolate the source of the problem.
 
Copying them to disk from the card may be the best.

Also, if you can, turn off an anti-virus software to see if it's preventing

Q: Do you see the devices in Windows Explorer when LR can't get at it?
Q: What happens when you first insert the card? Does it open File Explorer?

Check Importing from a Card Reader

You may want to check what the AUTO PLAY settings are CONTROL PANEL->AUTOPLAY. It may be that your memory card is causing a secondary program to run. Here's an example screen shot. Try turning off 'Use Auto Play for all media and devices"

1575666451065.png


Finally, here is something else to check Windows 10 Autoplay not working

I am also not a big fan of W10 and have been caught between Adobe and Epson as a consumer in the past
 
To answer several of your questions. The graphics driver is up to date. I have copied to hard drive and then imported from there. Of course, that is a work around I would like to avoid. The fewer steps the better. There is no cable for the card reader as it plugs directly into a USB slot on the computer. I did discover a VERY RESENT upgrade to the BIOS which Dell installed remotely as they checked other hardware items as well. So, we will see if that solves the problem. Thank you for your suggestions.
 
To answer several of your questions. The graphics driver is up to date. I have copied to hard drive and then imported from there. Of course, that is a work around I would like to avoid. The fewer steps the better. There is no cable for the card reader as it plugs directly into a USB slot on the computer. I did discover a VERY RESENT upgrade to the BIOS which Dell installed remotely as they checked other hardware items as well. So, we will see if that solves the problem. Thank you for your suggestions.

Having eliminated the cable issue and that the files once off the card import successfully from the disk drive. Then next thing to check is the card reader. Beg buy or borrow another USB card reader and see if that works when you current card reader won’t. Also try several different USB ports. It could be a bad port.
One other thing, is this card reader USB3 or USB-C?


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To answer several of your questions. .... I have copied to hard drive and then imported from there. Of course, that is a work around I would like to avoid......
In your original post, you said " Importing images is hit and miss. Sometimes it’s flawless. Sometimes I have to shut everything down and reboot ".
Have you imported from the hard drive enough times to say it is (always) flawless?
If so, then Lightroom is not your problem.
 
Each to his own, of course, but I prefer to copy from card to disk before importing. I like to do one step at a time, when I can, so if something goes wrong it's much easier to pinpoint where.
 
I'm on a Mac but I always import to the desktop, pre-cull using Canon's DPP, import and then move the files to the external drive using LR.
 
Like some of the others, I also copy from the card to my computer first, then import to LR as a separate step. It's faster and eliminates potential issues. For me, the Lightroom Import step is the first step in editing, so I normally apply some basic presets making the Import step take longer.

Windows 10 should not be a problem, but with any computer or program its easy to have problems with AutoRun or similar settings.
 
Each to his own, of course, but I prefer to copy from card to disk before importing.
I do the same but that's because I do the renaming and initial metadata setting using EXIFTOOL.
 
Eric, I would not discount W10. I've never seen so bad an OS especially one as mature as W10.

If you have read my earlier posts, you should realize that there are a lot of elements in this problem that need to be eliminated before pinning the blame on Win10.
Here are some “facts”:
—Most/Many people successfully run Lightroom Classic on Windows 10 with no problems. So the problem is not Lightroom and it is not Win10 per se.
—At Last estimate, 53% of computer users are running Win10.
—Win 10 is a mature Operating System, but it is complex with many interdependencies.
—Seemingly unrelated things can cause problems For insurance Mouse drivers can affect screen graphics displays. Simply connecting an iPhone can cause problems with other peripherals

I would hope that the OP continue to follow the list of things to try to eliminate hardware causes. After we eliminate the chain of custody issues, then we can focus on software/firmware issues.


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In your original post, you said " Importing images is hit and miss. Sometimes it’s flawless. Sometimes I have to shut everything down and reboot ".
Have you imported from the hard drive enough times to say it is (always) flawless?
If so, then Lightroom is not your problem.
No. I will copy to hard drive and import for a while to see if it is flawless. I also have a hunch it is hardware but the software gives instructions to the hardware so...
 
If you have read my earlier posts, you should realize that there are a lot of elements in this problem that need to be eliminated before pinning the blame on Win10.
Here are some “facts”:
—Most/Many people successfully run Lightroom Classic on Windows 10 with no problems. So the problem is not Lightroom and it is not Win10 per se.
—At Last estimate, 53% of computer users are running Win10.
—Win 10 is a mature Operating System, but it is complex with many interdependencies.
—Seemingly unrelated things can cause problems For insurance Mouse drivers can affect screen graphics displays. Simply connecting an iPhone can cause problems with other peripherals

I would hope that the OP continue to follow the list of things to try to eliminate hardware causes. After we eliminate the chain of custody issues, then we can focus on software/firmware issues.


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I will pick up another card reader for USB. The one I have is by Precision and came with a camera. Probably not the best quality. I need to test other ports as well. Too many variables to feel secure in my process of elimination, but I do know I am very frustrated with this matter. Thank you for responding.
 
Having eliminated the cable issue and that the files once off the card import successfully from the disk drive. Then next thing to check is the card reader. Beg buy or borrow another USB card reader and see if that works when you current card reader won’t. Also try several different USB ports. It could be a bad port.
One other thing, is this card reader USB3 or USB-C?


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I will purchase another card reader. Oops, I think i also posted this response on someone else's comment. I cannot even keep up with all the input on this topic. How could I possible solve my technical problem?
 
Each to his own, of course, but I prefer to copy from card to disk before importing. I like to do one step at a time, when I can, so if something goes wrong it's much easier to pinpoint where.
That is a very good point. Perhaps I need to modify my method.
 
One more to rule out - there's some reports of conflicts with Acronis Active Protection on Windows recently.
 
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