Adobe Community: Missing catalogs and editing history on transfer from pc to mac

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1. richardplondon,

Jul 17, 2012 11:48 AM in reply to pgraber1

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You should not have needed to re-import the pictures. That is not what you would want to do anyway; since that would fail to reflect all the work done since you originally imported them, but would instead show them set right back to zero once more.

The image thumbnails should have appeared with all their associated information still intact, except "offline": you can in this state manipulate them according to collections, metadata and the Library module but not do anything to them within Develop, or output using Export or Print etc. This is 100% normal and expected assuming the full address path of the images as seen on the NAS from the Mac, is not identical to the full address as seen from the PC formerly - drive letter / volume or share name included.

Lightroom will get the idea from the Catalog you have transferred, that an image file ought to exist on disk relating to each image seen; also that folders ought to exist corresponding to all the folders it previously saw - but for the moment, these cannot be found going by their prior addresses. Those addresses have merely become invalid within the new situation.

Going to the highest-level "missing" folder in the folders panel (with a ? icon on it), you can right-click and re-browse to fully "wake up" that folder - this change will ripple through to everything contained inside it.

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2. Rob Cole,

Jul 17, 2012 4:33 PM in reply to pgraber1

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1st: trash the catalog that you re-imported images into.

I'm gonna leave it at that for now - you need to find a way to make the catalog happy (e.g. as per richardplondon's reply) without re-importing - that's the only way you'll maintain edit history, collections, ...

Rob

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3. Geoff the kiwi,

Jul 18, 2012 12:54 AM in reply to Rob Cole

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All you need to do is double click the Catalog you moved from your PC and relink the folders as Richard has stated. And do as Rob said, delete the extra Catalog you have created.

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4. pgraber1,

Jul 19, 2012 5:24 AM in reply to Geoff the kiwi

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Well, thanks to richardplondon and rob, I've made some progress. I've deleted previous attempt at catalog import (it's possible I chose an out-of-date copy anyway, which may have been part of the problem). I have double-checked on my old PC that I've chosen the correct catalog, imported that, and reached the stage Richard describes above, ie I now have tags and collections. BUT I only have thumbnails, and 'file is missing' on every image. So it should be simple - do as Richard says, and hit the ?, and ask it to re-find. I then point it at the folder on my NAS - and nothing happens. The NAS hasn't changed, the folder structure is the same as before, but for some resaon LR won't link the folders, and I still have nothing but ?s. Any more ideas would be gratefully received, anyone - this is driving me nuts!

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5. pgraber1,

Jul 19, 2012 5:26 AM in reply to pgraber1

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PS Dont't quite understand Geoff's reference to double clicking the catalog. I think you can only click within folders on the left pane in Library module?

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6. richardplondon,

Jul 19, 2012 5:44 AM in reply to pgraber1

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I don't know the exact specifics of how Macs talk to a NAS. Truth to tell, I don't even know the vaguest outlines of that.

But the first thing I personally would look at, is the "share" name and the path under which the images appear to the MAC. Are there any unusual characters in it or in the folder names, are the permissions sufficient to allow you to write data to the same location, that kind of thing.

The first thing I would try to do, is to get the Catalog and the image files into a situation whereby LR can "see" them from your Mac within a mapped volume X: (or whatever) - instead of a UNC path starting with a \\ - where the true location of X: is in fact a network location; but the OS more or less conceals that fact from the application.

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7. Hal P Anderson,

Jul 19, 2012 6:36 AM in reply to pgraber1

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"PS Dont't quite understand Geoff's reference to double clicking the catalog. I think you can only click within folders on the left pane in Library module?"

Geoff was saying that after moving your catalogue from the old machine to the new, if you double-click on it in Finder, Lightroom will open that catalogue.

Hal

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8. Rob Cole,

Jul 19, 2012 1:07 PM in reply to pgraber1

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pgraber1 wrote:

'file is missing' on every image. So it should be simple - do as Richard says, and hit the ?, and ask it to re-find. I then point it at the folder on my NAS - and nothing happens. The NAS hasn't changed, the folder structure is the same as before, but for some resaon LR won't link the folders, and I still have nothing but ?s. Any more ideas would be gratefully received, anyone - this is driving me nuts!

Maybe you need a Mac expert. Anybody?

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9. pgraber1,

Jul 20, 2012 1:42 AM in reply to Rob Cole

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Yes, it does seem like I need a Mac expert. Though I'm not sure whether the problem here is within Apple or Adobe. A clue, maybe:- If I use the Mac Finder function (basically the same as Windows Explorer), I have no trouble navigating my way through the NAS folders and files. But when I go to the ? and re-find folders function, it only allows me to choose the top level folder within the NAS, which is called 'photo'. This shouldn't matter. because it should be an ok place for LR to find what's within it, but I do wonder if LR simply isn't seeing below the top level folder on the NAS. I have no idea why that should be, though (I had no such problem on the PC), and there doesn't seem to be an 'include subfolders' box to tick.

Getting desperate here, and still grateful for any ideas.

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10. Rob Cole,

Jul 20, 2012 1:59 AM in reply to pgraber1

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pgraber1 wrote:

A clue, maybe:- If I use the Mac Finder function (basically the same as Windows Explorer), I have no trouble navigating my way through the NAS folders and files. But when I go to the ? and re-find folders function, it only allows me to choose the top level folder within the NAS, which is called 'photo'. This shouldn't matter...

Can you "find" the drive, instead of folder(s)?

R

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11. pgraber1,

Jul 20, 2012 2:13 AM in reply to Rob Cole

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Yes, I can find the drive and the four top level folders (music, etc) but when I click on photos it just chooses it rather than letting me navigate below. Then nothing happens - or I might get a message saying 'already in LR, do you want to cancel or merge'. Either way, nothing happens.

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12. Rob Cole,

Jul 20, 2012 2:21 AM in reply to pgraber1

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Sorry pgraber1, I don't think I'm going to be much help. I think you need that Mac expert...

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13. pgraber1,

Jul 21, 2012 2:05 AM in reply to Rob Cole

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Well I'm pleased to say I seem to have the problem licked, with much help (gratefully received) from Victoria Bampton, the 'Lightroom Queen'! It turns out to have been nothing to do with the iMac, nothing to do with LR, but all about permissions on my NAS. I'm not exactly sure how I fixed it, but a firmware update and reboot on the Synology NAS magically removed all of the ?s, and LR now seems to be working fine. There are still a few rough edges around my ability to copy stuff (not necessarily images) to the NAS, but I think now I know where the problem lies, I can fix those.

Many thanks to richardplondon, Rob Cole and Hal for your help. Pheww!

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Missing catalogs and editing history on transfer from pc to mac

Jul 17, 2012 11:15 AM

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