The following files were not imported because they could not be read...

[LASuter]

Hi Guys,

I'm a LR newbie, so excuse my ignorance in advance. When I try to import photos from my XQD card/reader, I can only import them to my hard drive. My backup location (Seagate 2tb USB drive)  gives me this message,

"The following files were not imported because they could not be read or the destination folder is not writable" then a list of jpegs.

So far, I've run the LR script for repairing permissions, and verified permissions on the backup drive to read/write.

The only other detail that I've noticed is that on the import screen where the Copy as DNG, Copy, Move, Add  buttons are, the Move and Add buttons are greyed out and won't function.

Thanks!

[dj_paige]

You do not have the write permission in your operating system to the location on the Seagate drive. Change the permissions on this drive. (It is also possible that the drive is not formatted properly to allow Lightroom to write to it, what operating system and what drive format?)

So far, I've run the LR script for repairing permissions, and verified permissions on the backup drive to read/write.

I am not familiar with this script, however you do not have to verify the permission on the drive. You need to verify the permissions on the exact destination folder where you told Lightroom to copy the photo files to.

[LASuter]

Well, this issue is solved!

The problem definitely revolved around disk permissions.

dj_paige suggested that I reassign the disk permissions of the target external drive (which I had already done, then re-checked a few times). However, on reading the recommendation, I think I misunderstood and checked the permissions on my macbook's hard drive (which were set to read-only). After correcting this, all is well again. It seems odd to me that the permissions on the Macbook hard drive matter when I'm trying to save files to an external Seagate drive (?). Anyway, it does what it's supposed to now.

I think I need to spend more time figuring out how LR works!

As a matter of interest, I think that the problem may stem from the last El Capitan update that I installed. I've been using LR successfully since November without any permission problems.

The LR version I have installed is CC 2015.8 (1099473), OSX El Capitan 10.11.6 for those interested.

If you guys think there's anything else I need to know about this, please advise!

Many thanks

[ManiacJoe · Accepted solution]

Based on lots of reports here, Mac OS upgrades frequently screw with file system permissions that should not be messed with.

[Solomon239676528h3c]

I just installed LR and even elevated its privileges in the privacy settings to gain full disk access. The funny part is that LR imported all the Jpegs and then 4 of the 8 video files and got stuck with this message. I have checked all permissions / folder paths etc and the only thing I can see is that the four video files that did not import were over 500 GB in size. Plus I have a Nikon Z9 which has dual CFe slots and LR does not have the capability to read each slot individually. Apparently I also tried importing in Mac Photos and only 5 videos got imported there with 1 additional one from the 500 MB+ files. I had to finally use Nikon Transfer 2 (another buggy app) to individually copy from each slot and then import the large files from the MAC disk into LR. Bear in mind I did not change any folder permissions when I did a local folder to LR import, hence the target folder permission is not the issue. MAC may have screwed up some file transfer settings or memory management settings when transfering large files due to which this is happening and just does not show a system level message when that happens instead may be reverting with a generic error code that LR cannot interpret and shows us a message that does not depict what is really happening. Frustrated to see this happen - I spent a good year evaluating different software to aid my workflow and have hit a wall Hour 1 of Day 1. 

I hope Adobe offers a trusted solution to this problem. If MAC OS is a problem, I will have no problem switching.

[Earth Oliver]

yes, importing video files into Classic from a card has been buggy for at least 6 months now and can result in data loss.I reported this bug months and months ago, but it sounds like it still hasn't been completely resolved. 

My advice is to always transfer using the Finder and then import into Lr from there.

[Earth Oliver]

@ManiacJoe  No, this is an Adobe issue. I had a brand new M1, installed Classic and then tried to import video files from a card. I received the vague errors and almost lost the files because i didn't understand that some weren't imported and others were. I was only able to fix the issue after manually giving Classic full disk access in the system prefs. This was totally an Adobe issue with the installers not requesting the correct permissions. I bugged it months ago and it sounds like the issue still has not been fixed.

[Just Shoot Me]

What exact version of LR are you using? Go to Help > About Adobe PS LR and post the exact version number.

The Move and add button are grayed out because LR won't Move images from a Memory card, it is best to format the card in the camera to remove the images from the card, and Add because LR knows it is a Removable drive and when removed from the card reader your images would show as Missing.

LR is a Database program. None of your images are IN LR. They are referenced into the Database file, the Catalog file, from where they are stored on your hard drive.