LR no longer opens import dialog automatically

[The Keeper of the Garden]

LR CC (2015.8) on MacOS Sierra (10.12.3) is no longer opening the import dialog when a memory card is inserted in a UBS card reader.

The settings in preferences are correct.

The card reader is connected to a USB port on my MacBook Pro. I've tried different ports and different cables. No change.

I have re-formatted the CF memory card in my camera (Sony A900). No change.

Manually starting the Import dialog and importing itself works fine.

I've reported this bug FOUR MONTHS AGO! Why is it more important to add useless whistles and bells for "mobile" snapshot photography whilst neglecting BASIC FUNCTIONALITY of a program?

A VERY DISAPPOINTED LR USER.

[Sahil.Chawla]

Hi The Keeper of the Garden,

Have you tried resetting the preferences of Lightroom?

1. Quit Lightroom.
2. Open Finder and select the Go menu.
3. Hold down the Opt key so Library appears in the menu, then click on Library.
4. In the Finder window, open the Preferences folder and scroll down to com.adobe.Lightroom6.plist
5. Move this file*, plus any other Lightroom preference files (e.g. com.adobe.Lightroom6.LSSharedFileList.plist or older versions), to another folder or delete them.
6. Reboot your computer (because OS X caches some preference files), then restart Lightroom.

Regards,

Sahil

[The Keeper of the Garden]

I'm only willing to do that if you can explain to me how I can recover my preferences afterwards.

[Sahil.Chawla]

As I've mentioned in step 5 you can move the files to another folder, and then try to launch lightroom and check whether the auto import feature is working correctly or not. If it doesn't work out then, you can put those files back to their original location.

[The Keeper of the Garden]

I have about 40 years of experience in IT, hardware and software. Of course I read your advice, as I have read the same advice given to many other people here complaining about this bug.

Yes, if your trick doesn't solve the problem, I can simply put the file(s) back to where they belong.

However, please tell me how I will be able to recover my preference settings in case the problem would be solved by deleting the file(s).

And how, in the first place, did this/these file(s) cause the Import dialog no longer to open automatically anyway?

[Sahil.Chawla]

I understand the concern but I'm not asking you to delete them you can simply move them to a different location, Resetting the preferences will take your lightroom back to factory settings. If resetting preferences doesn't work, then you can put the files back to their places.

If you reset your Preferences file, the obvious settings that you lose are those in the Preferences dialog, but it also includes other details such as your View Options settings, last used settings, FTP server details, some plug-in settings, your country, etc. Your original photos, Develop settings, Develop defaults, collections, presets and other important settings aren’t affected by deleting the Preferences file.

The Store presets with this catalog setting also reverts to default (unchecked) if you reset the preferences file, but the presets themselves are perfectly safe, and checking the checkbox in Preferences causes the presets to reappear.

On Lightroom CC, there are also separate startup preferences which don’t usually need resetting. These include the last used catalog path, the recent catalog list, which catalog to load on startup and the catalog upgrade history.

[The Keeper of the Garden]

I'm sorry but you don't understand my concern. Of course I know that by simply moving the preference files back in place, I get my own preference settings back. However, that would re-create the problem of the Import dialog not opening automatically upon detecting a memory card, wouldn't it?

In other words:

1. I move the preferences files to a "safe" folder.

2. I restart LR, thus resetting all the preference settings to their default value.

3. I insert a CF card into my card reader.

4. The Import dialog window appears (hurray!).

5. ....  What now? I want to have all my preference settings back as they were before I moved the preference files and by doing so, reverted LR to its default preference settings... How do I get *my* settings back? Not in case your solution would not work, but in case it would actually work!

[Sahil.Chawla]

If my solution works then we'll know for sure that the issue has something to do with preferences and not with your memory card or reader. And you can get your settings back by copying those files back to their original location.

[The Keeper of the Garden]

If Adobe is willing to pay me for turning my computer, software, and photographs into a test lab, then I might be inclined to perform the necessary tests to debug a program for which so many photographers like me are paying, but which is not functioning correctly since so many months. if not, it's not up to me or other users to perform such tests.

I'm sure that the issue has nothing to do with my memory cards (plural!) and/or my card reader. The issue started occurring after an upgrade of Apple's operating system, macOS Sierra to be precise.

Are you now going to refer me to Apple support? It would hardly be wise as they have nothing to do with how LR works. Software that is supposed to run on operating systems, is supposed to adapt to any upgrades of that operating system, not vice versa.

I suggest that your software engineers have a talk with the Apple people to sort this out. You are all being paid to make software working correctly. I'm being paid to make photographs, and edit them in LR. And my work and income is being slowed down by a bug in the software I'm paying for.

[Sahil.Chawla]

I'm sending you a private message please check & reply.

[The Keeper of the Garden]

I think that if you would have read my previous message (see above) about turning my computer into a test lab, you could have spared yourself the trouble of asking that question...

[The Keeper of the Garden]

I've tried to solve the problem by resetting the LR preferences as you told me to do. It didn't make any difference. The Import Dialog still doesn't open. I've tried with two different catalogs (one of them a totally new, blank one), with two different cards (one CF one SD) used and formatted in two different cameras (Sony A900 and Sony RX10). It didn't make any difference. No Import Dialog that automatically opens. Please FIX THIS BUG!