attempt to index field 'root file' (a nil value)

[alexhodos]

Hi,

I imported a large amount of photos I took on a wedding. I marked let's say 200 as rejected. When I click on the delete rejected photos option, I receive this message: An internal error has occurred: ?:0: attempt to index field 'root file' (a nil value) and LR will not delete the files.

I am using Windows 10 home 64 bit, and the latest LR CC version.

I googled the internet there and back, but did not find a solution up until now.

THX in advance, BR, LX

[Rob_Cullen]

Lightroom-CC v1  or  Lightroom Classic-CC v7.2 ?

The "Attempt to Index....." error message is a  cryptic rare one with an answer very difficult to find.

I can only suggest my thoughts-

1. Are the original files 'available' to Lightroom? ie. Not shown as "missing"

2. If Lr-CC v1,  are the files 'in the cloud' and internet connected?

3. Does the location of the original images have full Read/Write permissions? (even for Windows folders)

And a link to search from Adobe Help-

Search results

[alexhodos]

Hi,

thx for your response.

1, yes. They are available, and I tried it on 2 different HDDs... internal and external. After applying the delete rejected photos option, some of the files are deleted.. some will not, and some will be deleted but not removed from the catalog.

2, nope, this is LR Classic CC. Sorry, if I was not clear. And the files are on my disks.

3, yes, they have all permissions. I am logged on as an admin, so it should not be a problem.

THX for the links. I will take a look, even though I google internet a lot before I created this post, but probably I have missed something.

THX and BR, LX

[Rob_Cullen]

Another thought-

Can you check one of the files that will not delete using the OS - {Right-click > Show in Explorer}, then {Right-click > Properties} and look at the file Attributes. Is the "Read only" box checked black? Permissions (Attributes in Windows) can be applied to individual files, so being the Admin does not necessarily mean you have full "Read/write" privileges for individual files.

some of the files are deleted.. some will not, and some will be deleted but not removed from the catalog.

Yes, you have some weirdness going on there!

The standard response if often- Reset the Preferences. Resetting Preferences in Lightroom CC/6

Not sure what you mean by- "tried it on 2 different HDDs...".

Do you have images on several drives that are all referenced in the Catalog?

but not removed from the catalog

This does not seem possible. Do you still see a thumbnail, dimmed, and with the rejected X flag in the grid? (I guess it now also shows the 'missing' icon [!] )

[alexhodos]

those file were imported and converted by LR (copy DNG).. so they should be OK from R/W rights perspective... and I tried it on a folder which I imported long time ago.. and behavior was the same..

What I meant by 2 different HDDs: my workflow is, that I import the photos to my built in SSD, but as it has a limited capacity, I move the files to my USB 3 external drive. So I imported the files to the SSD first.. Later on I moved them to the external HDD.. result was the same. I created a new catalog as well, and imported those photos only to that catalog.. same result.

No, I do not have the thumbnail. I have to hand over the photos, so I need to work on them.. The ones which were not removed from the catalog, but have been deleted by LR had the [!] sign. I removed them from the catalog.

thx and BR, LX   

[Rob_Cullen]

so they should be OK from R/W rights

Did you actually check one of the problem files with the OS Properties?

I move the files to my USB 3 external drive.

I hope you are moving them by using the Folder Panel in Lightroom.

If you move them with File Explorer/Finder then you will have major problems with "missing" photos in Lightroom.

I created a new catalog as well, and imported those photos only to that catalog..

Now that is more problematic! Because if you 'move' photos in one Catalog then the other Catalog is messed up (the photos will show as missing) causing many of the problems you are talking about.

You MUST- Import your photos to their permanent storage location (the external HD). Don't 'muck about' moving them!

You  SHOULD- only use one catalog- The photo references and changes you make in one catalog are NOT transferred to another catalog.

And finally- Your photos are not in the Lightroom Catalog. A most important principle of the Lightroom system.

[alexhodos]

"Did you actually check one of the problem files with the OS Properties?"

no. I did not check it. It would be really strange, if the files in the same import would have different R/W rights, and further more - I think - it does not explain, that the file was deleted, but it was not removed from the catalog. Or am I wrong?

"I hope you are moving them by using the Folder Panel in Lightroom.

If you move them with File Explorer/Finder then you will have major problems with "missing" photos in Lightroom."

I am moving them in LR. On the other hand, I think if you move them with explorer, and "show" LR where the missing files are, the result is the same... Anyway.. as I mentioned, I am moving them with LR.

"Now that is more problematic! Because if you 'move' photos in one Catalog then the other Catalog is messed up (the photos will show as missing) causing many of the problems you are talking about."

I did not import the same photos, which I imported to the other catalog. I created another folder with a copy of the physical files in it, and when I created a new catalog, I imported those files. So they are in a separate folder, and they have nothing to do with my original catalog.. So this cannot be the issue!

"You MUST- Import your photos to their permanent storage location (the external HD). Don't 'muck about' moving them!"

I do not agree on this! I import the photos to my SSD, since it is faster.. once I am done with them, and generated the files for hand over to the customer, I move them to an external drive, as I will not really work with them any longer. As I mentioned, I move them within LR, so it should not be a problem.. LR has the move "finction" it is capable of doing that, so why one should not use it? And btw... the SSD capacity is limited...

"You  SHOULD- only use one catalog- The photo references and changes you make in one catalog are NOT transferred to another catalog."

well.. I use only one catalog. (I created one only for testing..) On the other hand... LR can handle more than one catalog, so why one should not use more than one catalog? Of course, do not edit the same set of photos in 2 different calalog...

"And finally- Your photos are not in the Lightroom Catalog. A most important principle of the Lightroom system."

I don't really get this... why are you writing it.. You mean that the files are not in the catalog? Of course they are not, I am very well aware of that...

I am using LR since many years.. I am quite familiary with it.. I went through all the 400 pages of the Kelby LR book.. So I think I am a bit familiar with LR, and how does it work, and where the files are located...

[Rob_Cullen]

Well, great, you seem to be doing everything correct, and fully understanding it all (perhaps more so than me!). But I cannot solve the problem for you.

And I see there is another thread with a similar problem-  an internal error occurred: ?:0: attempt to index a nil value

As another 'user', and without experience of the error, I have no more to contribute, sorry.

Perhaps follow and post to this other link, as an Adobe staff member has entered into that conversation.

Edit:

In my searches I have come across many suggestions to fix this error, but answers are almost non-existent.

• created a new catalog and imported my most recent, malfunctioning catalog into it. the new one seems to be working.
• I created a new admin user (not work for guest user) and login LR. It works fine. Error message no longer shows up, slideshow command works smoothly.
• When I created the collection I had a dash in the name. After deleting the collection and recreating it without a dash everything was fine. It seems that special characters can sometimes trip app Lightroom.
• I may be guessing, but I believe the issue has something to do with either an incompatible Preset setting (eg a older preset in newer version of LR) or a corrupt Preset.
• It turns out that there was a photo which I had previously deleted, but whose thumbnail somehow remained in the list at the bottom of the app. After deselecting that phantom thumbnail, I was able to export just fine.

[alexhodos]

yes.. I seen all of those..

As far as I can see, at the moment there is no real answer on this issue.. Lately I disabled the Logi Kraft plugin, and I did not meet the error message again... yet... So let's see, if this will be a long term "solution"...

THX for trying to help!!

[DMLphotos]

Hello, I have the same exact issue, I have found that if I delete each photo individually ( huge pain in the butt)  I can remove them, but when I try to delete in mass I get this error, I have looked at this complete thread and am no were near as technical.  But  I have NOT changed any of my workflow, the only thing that has happened is I am on Mojave 10.14. and Lightroom Classic 8.0.

So anything this NOT so technical will help Thanks all

[Rob_Cullen]

Even the expert writer of plugins (John Ellis) does not have an answer.

Have a read of the forum thread at- Lightroom Classic: "An internal error has occurred: ?:0: attempt to index a nil value" | Photoshop F...

[johnrellis]

One thing that has helped many people is to disable particular plugins. Even if you think you don't have any plugins installed or use them, sometimes they get installed behind your back.  In particular, the Logi Options plugin from Logitech gets silently installed and can trigger this problem. 

Go to File > Plug-in Manager and scroll to look for Logi Options.  If you find it, select it, and in the Status panel on the right, click Disable.  Restart LR.  Does the problem go away?

If that doesn't help, try temporarily disabling all plugins and restarting LR. Does the problem go away.

[charlesr53790143]

I have just run into the same problem. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC 8.1. I disabled ALL plugins, and the error persists. But I found an interesting issue.

I have been importing as DNG. I select Photos/Delete Rejected Photos. and click the Delete from Disk button. I immediately get the internal error "attempt to index field 'rootFile' (a nil value)".  I click OK, and the screen is showing me the X-flagged photos. I right click on the FIRST shown, select Show in Explorer, and it says it cannot be found. I "Cancel" that dialog. I right-click on the same photo and select Remove Photo and remove it. The display is still showing me the X-flagged photos (minus the one I removed).

THEN, I right-click on the next one showing select Show in Explorer, and it DOES find it in Explorer. So it is there. I leave the Explorer window open. I select Photos/Delete Rejected Photos, and I can see the photo file being removed in explorer. BUT I get the SAME ERROR MESSAGE, so the first photo was deleted from the drive but not removed from Lightroom.

So, a clear error in Lightroom. It deletes the photo file but won't delete from the catalog, and it fs on the first to delete. I can remove tem one at a time, but that is tedious as I throw a lot of photos away.

[charlesr53790143]

Additional note. If I display the X-flagged files, and select a range of them, sometimes I can delete them by right clicking and selecting ​Remove Photos​, I had 98 photos, if I selected all 98 I got the error message. But I could select as many as 25 photos, that worked ​without​ throwing an error. I don't know what the upper limit is, because I ran out of x-flagged photos by that time.

[GoldingD]

So, unless I missed (highly possible) a response, no one asked what plug-ins you have.

Specifically do you have LogiOptions?

That one is for LogiTech keyboards/mice, specifically for the Logitech Kraft Advanced keyboard and/or the MX Master 2S wireless mouse (maybe others)

When I have this plug-in enabled, your error pops up. When I disable it the error goes away. And the error is just annoying, nothing bad happens (although LR finishing the delete takes a bit more time as it churns up the error message)

[charlesr53790143]

As I mentioned, I first disabled ALL plugins. That did not affect the outcome.

The logitech plugin is there (disabled). had the other nil value error that others mention in relation to that plugin,  some months ago, but disabling the plugin resolved that issue. The error discussed here is a new one that popped up recently.

[GoldingD]

charlesr53790143  wrote

As I mentioned, I first disabled ALL plugins. That did not affect the outcome.

The logitech plugin is there (disabled). had the other nil value error that others mention in relation to that plugin,  some months ago, but disabling the plugin resolved that issue. The error discussed here is a new one that popped up recently.

Ok, this discussion has gotten muddled, always a possibility when others have the same problem.

Second issue, is I replied to an old discussion, should check more carefully.OP might have long ago resolved but forgot to state as such.

charlesr53790143, I recommend that you start your own new discussion. Include everything you have stated in this discussion. That way you will have your own brand new discussion that might be more likely to get some feedback.

include your system information in your discussion (in LR /Help/System Information/Copy/)

when you do that, include a statement in this older forum that you have done so, and provide a link.