Corrupt Catalog in Lightroom

[karelowe]

Today I received a message that my LR Catalog was corrupt and unrepairable.  I went to my backup catalog on my #2 EHD and copied it to my Working 4 TB EHD.   My problem is, that I cannot see my folder structure on the left panel.  I only have a couple of folders.  I have gone in and clicked on "Show Parent Folder" and it shows my top folder, but only a couple  of my "many" yearly folders show up.  I did do a "synchronize folder" on a couple of the folders and they imported correctly.  If I have to do that for my whole catalog, it will take weeks.     All my folders are correct in Finder.  I have also tried to just update folder location, but that doesn't do anything either.  I am at a loss as to what to try next.  I sure don't want to mess something up.  Under the "Catalog" on the top left, it shows my ALL PHOTOGRAPHS at the correct number, but on my Master Working External Hard drive, it only shows the few I have synchronized.  My #2 hard drive shows my folder structure (and that is where I got my backup catalog from) so that may be part of my issue but I did copy the backup and put it in my working 4 TB hard drive but the 4 TB folder locations do not show up....

Working on a Mac, High Sierra, Lightroom Classic CC (not upgraded to June)

I feel I am just missing something but haven't found any help on google or  forums. 

[dj_paige]

Under the "Catalog" on the top left, it shows my ALL PHOTOGRAPHS at the correct number, but on my Master Working External Hard drive, it only shows the few I have synchronized.

So if you click on All Photographs and scroll up or down, you should see all of your photos, or a placeholder with a grey thumbnail. Do you see that?

Show us a screen capture of the left side of your Lightroom Library Module, with the Catalog and Folder Panels expanded.

[karelowe]

Morning. I am attaching two screen shots. When I click on the ALL Photographs, I do see all my thumbnails. No grayed out thumbnails. If I remember correctly, after I copied the backup catalog to my Master, I started seeing the #2 backup disk and all the folders in Lightroom. I don’t think that the #2 has ever been lit up before. When I open the #2 EHD, it shows all my folders. I did eject that drive last night, and now there are the ? marks. So, I don’t know how the #2 became the active EHD so to speak. I totally work off of my master and then clone/copy to two other EHD’s.

My collections, etc are all there and this morning I did try to click on a picture and “Go to folder in Library” and it took me to the #2 EHD with all the question marks. Makes me think something there is my issue, but I don’t know how to resolve it. Kind of spooked to do to much.

Yesterday I did read that someone suggested (from ALL photographs at the top left) do an EXPORT as catalog and then an IMPORT to that catalog……Do you think that might work? Thanking you for looking at my issue. Karen

[dj_paige]

No screenshots attached.

Yesterday I did read that someone suggested (from ALL photographs at the top left) do an EXPORT as catalog and then an IMPORT to that catalog……Do you think that might work?  Thanking you for looking at my issue.  Karen

No, do not do this, it is a waste of time that will not fix anything. The solution is here: www.computer-darkroom.com/lr2_find_folder/find-folder.htm

[karelowe]

Thank you. I did get it resolved. A little bit from the link and more button pushing. I went to the #2 where all the question marks were and did a “find missing folder” and then went to my Master EHD and chose that file. It asked if I wanted to merge some of them and I said yes, and all seems to be OK now. Don’t know how all that happened, but glad to be back up and running. Thanks again. Karen

[karelowe]

Sorry to bug again, but I just got another message that says my catalog is corrupt, cannot be repaired, and use another backup catalog……Why is this happening. I was going along and editing photos from a shoot two days ago and now this pops up. How can I resolve this issue? Thanks for any input or direction.

[dj_paige]

It is happening because the hard disk where the catalog is stored is malfunctioning. Get a new hard disk. Or put the catalog on another disk (but not the disk with your backups).

[karelowe]

I have been away for a bit and just came back to the computer to a message that “macOS can’t repair the disk “Master Seagate 4TB”. You can still open or copy files on the disk, but toucan’t save hangs to fils on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can”…….So, I looks like my Hard drive has crashed (?) Do you think it is worth trying to reformat it and still continue to use it, or just go buy another one? You really nailed it before I saw my error…Thanks for your continued input!!!!

[cmgap]

Once an external hard drive has crashed it would be hard to trust it ever again. The average life span of external drive varies from manufacturer as well, three to five years is average. You should copy the files as quickly as possible to a new drive as it is likely that the Seagate is going to fail and you may find that you can't mount it again to get those files.

[karelowe]

Thank you. Have been researching new EHD’s…. LaCie 5 TB Rugged or Seagate 5 TB? I do have 2 other complete backups, so that is the good thing. This is my first EHD crash so I had lots to learn. Thanks for all your info…Much appreciated.

[cmgap]

I haven’t had good luck with seagate. GTech, OWC, WD, Lacie are good options for mac. Good that you have two backups BTW. You may already know this but Lr is only backing up your catalog, not your images. If you have Dropbox or another cloud based service you might want to locate your Lr backups there... you only need the latest ones. No need to keep more than a handful of them... you're not likely to open a backup from the beginning of the year for example. Also keep in mind that if you are using Time Machine and are on a regular backup schedule you will have another backup. Time Machine forces you to select an external device – most workflows have a dedicated TM backup location that is separate from where you store and backup your images.

Hope this is helpful.

[karelowe]

Thanks for your input. I have always had Seagate or Western Digital and they have been great (up to yesterday)….Will continue to do some additional research. I did see that the Seagate 4 TB at Costco had terrible reviews while the Seagate 5 TB at B & H had great reviews which doesn’t make much sense to me. Is there really a difference for Mac and PC people? Thanks again for all your input!!!

[cmgap]

I have a macbook pro and a dell laptop... seagate doesn't seem to be a problem with the Dell... not so with the Mac. The thing about G-Tech is they're a bit more expensive but they are specifically for mac and the newest ones are fast... FWIW Apple sells the Lacie on their site and in their stores... I just avoid seagate now for my mac. I also use a Synology diskstation with WD Red drives and the stand alone EHDs are either for travel and an extra backup.

In this order: G-Tech, OWC, Lacie, WD and for rack storage: WD Red drives

[karelowe]

Thanks for the info. Will continue my research. Thanks to all who have helped me through this “journey”…...

[karelowe]

I am so sorry to keep bothering you.  I thought all was well, until......I ejected my EHD that was corrupt.  Selected a backup catalog from my #2 drive, selected the new #2 catalog in Lightroom, and at first it said it was a back or duplicate catalog and needed to sync, but before I could do anything all my screens went black.  When I got the MBP up and running again, I opened LR and selected the #2 catalog and LR opened (no mention of needed to sync) but now, my #2 hard drive does not show up in Lightroom.  All my photos are listed in the "All Photographs".  My Collections are there.  Just no #2 hard drive and I don't know how to show it.  How do I get my #2 Hard drive to appear and mesh with my catalog.....I ordered a new hard drive this afternoon and will probably have to do this again when it arrives...I thought it would be simple...Thanks again....Karen

[karelowe]

Just for more information....I did go to the Folders tab and clicked the plus and tried to add a folder.  I then navigated to my #2 EHD and chose the parent folder.  I then got the popup that the destination folder in not available and using Pictures instead.  See attachment.  Further.....in the Finder, my #2 EHD is fully visible and I can click on all the folders, etc.

[cmgap]

Why did your screens go black? Did the battery die? Is Lightroom on your EHD or on your local drive?

Please try a quick test... import one image from a camera card to EHD 2... Does it show up under destination in the right column of the import window?

[dj_paige]

What happens if you right-click on one of the photos shown under "All Photographs" and then select "Go To Folder in Library"? Does the folder appear on the left under Folder?

[karelowe]

I will answer both di Paige and cmgap here if that is ok....I have no idea why everything went back.  I had to restart my laptop (it is plugged into power so did not die).  Later, I did wonder if it was a hub issue........after my heart stopped briefly and got things back up and running, I decided to go to my #3 backup that had not touched the computer or LR.....I then ran into the same issue of not seeing my folders......after googling more, I found a video about making a folder and adding something to it, to make the folders visible.  (It had been 8 years since having to do any of this so I had forgotten what I needed to do)....Anyway, as of LATE last night, my #3 backup hard drive and catalog are functioning correctly.  I can see my files and photos....I did just now import a group of 50 pictures and all is working correctly again.  Slightly holding my breath.  I have deleted anything that looked like it was close to my corrupted catalog and made two copies of my catalog that seems to be working fine now, so feel like I am safe again. 

When I clicked on a picture from All Photographs, I think it said that they couldn't be found.  I guess I didn't make a snippet of that comment, but did try that. 

My husband asked if one can import too many pictures at one time to make a catalog crash.  I was originally in the process of importing 1100 pictures from a shoot when things started to go wrong the other day.  Do you think that is possible?  

After I get some work done, I will go back and plug in #2 and right now, feel I will be able to see it, if necessary (or just might do it for experience) but not ready to do that just yet (LOL). Will let things go smoothly for a day or two first.

This was my first EHD crash in 8 years and issues with LR, and I hope it doesn't happen again.  I am grateful for all your replies and sticking with me.  I truly feel things will go smoothly from this point. (I know I said that earlier and had to come back for more assistance). Part of the time my brain was fried and on overload.....I have made some notes, so hopefully I can remember little points if I spot something else in the future and do think I have learned some things.  THANK YOU AGAIN....Forums are the best.  Karen

[cmgap]

Hi Karen,

Thanks for letting us know where you're at. You'll want to know why your computer died right?

Lightroom is perfectly capable of importing 1,100 images at a time... you could probably go have dinner and come back depending on the size of your previews, if you're making smart previews or copying as DNGs... each or all of those things take time and you have to have enough RAM on your system too.

If you haven't had an EHD crash in 8-years you've done well! Definitely time to update those drive though. Also keep in mind that they shouldn't be filled up to capacity as that causes known issues as well...

[karelowe]

Yes, I hear of lots of people having crashing and issues and realize I have been fortunate for this to be my first.......It was just a little stressful.  I was quite sure that the amount was not the issue, but thought I would ask for my hubby.   I am a little concerned about the cause maybe being my Hub.....It is an OWC and was very expensive....I don't know if it went on overload, although nothing had changed, so maybe my Master hard drive just did bite it and started this chain reaction, etc.  Will check out the capacity of drives just be be aware....  Thanks again for all your help....

[dj_paige]

Are your backups on the same disk as the working catalog? You haven't really made that clear.

DO NOT PUT THE BACKUPS ON THE SAME DISK AS THE WORKING CATALOG.

[karelowe]

I have a complete backup (photos and catalog) on two different External Hard Drives. My “Working or Master” was on another EHD, so I had 3 total backups.