"Add-Keeps the photo files in their current location" Greyed out for external hard drive. Always used to work.

[saharanz]

I'm trying to import photos from my external hard drive. I do not want to copy them onto my desktop. This is not normally a problem. When I import I select "Add - Keeps the photo files in their current location" but this option is now greyed out and I can only "Copy" the files. I have tried everything I can think of including uninstalling and reinstalling LR CC but nothing has helped.

My old hard drive still woks as normal so it must be something specific to the hard drive? I haven't changed anything though and it was working fine last week.

I have restarted the computer and checked for updates.

[ManiacJoe]

I have seen reports here that some new drives are getting mislabeled as flash drives instead of external hard drives.

Mac or Windows? Which version?

What is the make and model of the new drive?

[saharanz · Accepted solution]

Yes, I think that was the exact problem.  Files were all there in Finder and no problem with my other hard drive. It was just one drive I had a problem with.  Thanks to some great advice it seems I've fixed it by transferring a completely new file (I took a screenshot) to my hard drive outside of Lightroom.  I was then able to add (rather than copy)  the new file and once I'd done that Lightroom then let me add other folders too.

No idea what caused it but fingers crossed it's sorted now.

[jenniferkathryn]

I am now having this same issue. But it's my working external hard drive I've been using for quite awhile now. Any ideas ManiacJoe​ saharanz​?

[johnrellis]

Please do Help > System Info and report the exact version of LR and Windows / Mac. That will help narrow down the problem and identify a workaround if necessary.

[jenniferkathryn]

johnrellis​

I am using the following:

Adobe Lightroom Classic CC [1167660] (just updated)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) running Mac OS Sierra 10.12.6

Thank you!

[johnrellis]

It could be that Macos has decided that your external drive is now removable, like a USB thumbdrive or SD card, in which case LR won't show the Add option.  To determinate that authoritatively, please follow these directions: Re: LR won't allow Add only copy and import

[jenniferkathryn]

Hi johnrellis​

Here is the output. Doesn't look like it's classifying it as removable. I've been using this drive for almost a year with no issues and then suddenly ran into this.

Dropbox - Screenshot 2018-05-16 12.46.38.png

[johnrellis]

Agreed, that isn't the cause of your problem.  In Finder, are you able to copy files onto and off of the external drive, to and from the folders with your pics? (That's a quick test of read and write permissions.)

[jenniferkathryn]

johnrellis​

Yes, and the permissions say I have read/write access.

I also just noticed that "add" initially comes up as an option when I open LR but then it jumps to "copy" and greys out "add"

[johnrellis]

I'm out of ideas, perhaps someone else has some...

[jenniferkathryn]

Ok so I already did this a few times to no avail, but this last restart of my Macbook seems to have fixed the issue. I am beyond puzzled and wish I had a solution for others who might face this. I'm also about to update my software because I realized I was due for one, so fingers crossed that doesn't mess up the fix.