Frustrations with latest Lightroom Classic update in February!

[georgec26212682]

I always considered LR as the most reliable program we are using for photography.

But ever since they changed the name to 'classic' I have a lot of trouble with it. I hope you can help me with some advice.

When I updated to LR Classic it was asking me to create a new catalog. Well, I did not have the time then to deal with it, as it was acting out a bit, so I continued to use the old Catalog and all was fine.

Now, coming to the update in February, it was asking me again to make a new catalog and I did, so now I have 3 useless catalogs and the fact that they are using a lot of space (with previews and backups and all that) on my computer is actually the least of my worries.

I can only use the last one, Catalog No3. If I try to use the old one LR wants me to make the 4-th catalog!

So, catalog No 3 is working for a while and then it will get frozen when I try to get from a directory to another or a collection to another and even from one photo to another. When I change to another photo it still shows the old one. Or It shows the preview in Library and NOT in Develop!

Sometimes I cannot even select the photo to right click and send it to Photoshop. Even If I can work for a while and take the Photo to Photoshop it doesn't return it back to LR as a Tiff file.

Also, if I go from Develop to Library it gets stuck with loading metadata, it says 'working' and spins forever without a result.

I 'optimized' the catalog countless times, backed up the catalog again and again... Not much help.

I was thinking maybe I can merge the old catalog with the new one but I am not sure if it would be a good idea. I don't want to break it even further.

The problem is not only that it doesn't find old files. I imported some photos recently (after the new catalog was created) and it doesn't seem to work with the new ones either.

It freezes just the same!

I am on a PC and using windows 10. I don't know if it is relevant. The Graphics card is not an issue either.

I hope any of you may have some answer or you can point me in the right direction.

Maybe you have a better idea of what is going on...

People were complaining about the speed earlier but then it would actually work. How much time are we wasting now that we cannot work at all? All I am doing lately is trying to fix it...

Please help!

Daniela

[Rob_Cullen]

When I updated to LR Classic it was asking me to create a new catalog.

The update (from LR-CC2015 to LR-Classic) does not normally ask to create a new catalog.

It asks if you would update your 'old' catalog to work with the updated program version.

This Catalog update does two things-

1) it saves a copy of the 'old' catalog, and

2) updates the catalog to a 'new version' that works with Classic and adds a -2 suffix to the end of the 'new version' Catalog filename.

If you have a shortcut (desktop or Dock)  that opens LR by selecting the Catalog filename, you may be repeatedly opening the 'old' catalog, which then updates repeatedly -3 -4  etc.

So you need to sort out which catalog was you working catalog with all your work, and continue to use that ONE in Lr-Classic.

[georgec26212682]

Thank you for your reply!

I will try to clarify. The reality is a bit different. I always tried to keep only one catalog. So before the update, I only had one. 

So, come Classic version and when I updated LR it tells me my catalog is not compatible with the new version and it has to create a new catalog. I say OK go ahead and make a new one. It makes catalog No2 which didn't work very well, so I reverted to the old one that worked fine.

When the new February update comes LR finds the newer version and wants to update that one. I knew that one is no good, so I say I want to use my old one ( I had more work done in it in that time). The only option I was offered was to create catalog no 3. It was not called -2 suffix but 3. It seems to have my old catalog in it, when it works, but one day works (partially), one day doesn't work at all. Gets frozen anytime I want to do anything.

So you see, it is not that I have too many catalogs and I don't know which one is the good one. I didn't want to create another catalog anyway. From my point of view, I shouldn't have updated it at all. It brought me only trouble and no benefits.

Point is, how do I fix it now?

Thank you for trying to help.

[dj_paige]

In Lightroom Classic CC, use File->Open Catalog and select the desired catalog. It may ask to upgrade if that desired catalog was created under Lightroom CC 2015.

[JP Hess]

If you want to use Lightroom Classic CC with the work you have already done previously, then it will be necessary to allow Lightroom Classic CC to create an updated copy of your old catalog. This has happened whenever there has been a new upgraded version of Lightroom released. The catalog is a database that is driven by a database engine, and that engine is updated with each new major release of Lightroom. After the catalog is updated or upgraded all of your previous work will be included in that new version. It will have a new suffix appended to it. If you choose to do so, you can rename that catalog and then double-click on it to start using that catalog by that name again. When you are certain that everything is fine in that catalog then you can discard all of the others if you choose to do so.

[Rob_Cullen]

when I updated LR it tells me my catalog is not compatible with the new version and it has to create a new catalog. I say OK go ahead and make a new one. It makes catalog No2 which didn't work very well, so I reverted to the old one that worked fine.

This suggests to me that you opened an updated (Classic) catalog with the 'old' version of Lightroom (Lr-CC2015). This will give the "not compatible" error message.

Do you still have BOTH versions of Lightroom still installed? This will create confusion!

A screen-clip of your system folders showing the Catalog files might be helpful.

[danielac72702189]

[danielac72702189]

Hi WobertC,

Thank you for your help.

Here is a screen-clip of my Lightroom directory with the catalogs. If you remember my original message, I had LR catalog 2 as well.

I removed LR catalog 2 (I put it on an external hard drive just in case) and the performance was improved actually.

For a day it was working better. I had very little of the problems I described. I don't know if it will last.

To answer your question, I only have the latest version of Lightroom. LR Classic CC 7.2 release.

I wonder If I should go ahead and remove Lr catalog -and its previews- and keep only LR catalog 3?

Or shall I merge the two catalogs together? But they may not be compatible and I will give myself even more trouble.

And another question:

Does Lightroom Catalog-3 Previews.lrdata directory contain all the previews form the Lightroom catalog Previews.lrdata?

If I move LR Cat, can I remove Lr catalog previews directory too?

Appreciate your help,

georgec26212682

[Rob_Cullen]

The number on the end of a Catalog name does not indicate which version of Lightroom created it. So I cannot identify which you should be using. Both the catalogs in the screen-clip could contain identical data and there is no detail (date) to help decide.

And you have not said if you have other versions of Lightroom software installed.

Follow the advice from DJ_Paige in Post#3 above- run Lightroom Classic and check both catalogs in turn to see if the photos indexed in both catalogs are the same.

Do not try to merge, as this will just mess things up further with double previews for every photo!

Only when YOU determine which Catalog contains the 'best' data should you consider deleting anything.

And, another point- If your catalog backups are going to that folder visible in your screen clip- change the backup location to another physical hard-drive, not the same as the working catalogs.