Cannot unzip or open Lightroom Catalogs

Report · Apr 14, 2018

This morning, in order to make more space on my hard drive, I erased a number of older LR backups (standlone, desktop version). After I did that, when I launched LR, it would not load....said something about catalog (.lrcat file) could not be found.

Fortunately, I had a backup of those catalogs I had erased on another drive, so I copied them onto my main drive.

I still received that message that the catalog could not be found.

I tried to open a new catalog from a catalog I had just made last night. I started launching that catalog; however, after maybe 30 seconds, it stopped and said something about being unable to extract the .lrcat file. I tried to extract it in windows, but I received a message saying "Windows will not extract Zip file error code 0X80004005 Unspecified Error."

Another thing is that when I was trying to find the .lrcat files through LR, I did not see them (I tried multiple older backups). This was with the option of showing "All Supported Files" as well as the option of showing ".lrcat" files. When I choose the option to show "All Files," the .lrcat files do show, but that's when I get that error code mentioned above when I try to open them.

I tried this for numerous older catalogs going back to early this year. I received the same error messages.

When I tried to unzip an .lrcat file from late December, 2017, that worked. Unfortunately, it does not have the picture files and edits for the pictures I put into Lightroom in 2018.

I have found some links about that error code, some of which give different ways to fix it. It's interesting that while I see a link from Microsoft on this error code, clicking on that link does not work.

Anyway, does anyone have any ideas what might be going on and how to fix it? I'd sure like to relaunch the catalog I created last night....it sounds as if for some reason, the catalogs I backed up in 2018 might be corrupted in some way, although, given some of the solutions proposed on other links, there might be hope to recover those...just don't know which solution to use, however.

Thanks

Report · Apr 14, 2018

Do you have any of the files that you deleted remaining in the recycle bin?

Report · Apr 14, 2018

Unfortunately, none of the files I deleted remain in the recycle bin. As a matter of fact, I deleted a number of older catalogs, and the total size was so large that these files could not be sent to the recycle bin.

I am almost 100% positive that I did not delete anything other than these older catalogs, and I did copy them from a backup of those files from another hard drive.

Report · Apr 14, 2018

Are you saying, then, that the only catalog they can be unzipped and opened is a backup that was created back in December? None of the other backups can be unzipped and opened. Is that correct? Can they not be repaired by Lightroom?

Report · Apr 14, 2018

Yes, that is what is happening. I typically backup every couple of weeks, or at least once a month....or whenever I put a large number of picture files into LR, as I did last night.

I have tried many of the backups I have from 2018, and none work....I get that error message on everyone I have tried. If I try to unzip the files in Windows, that's when I get that error message. If I try to open those backups from LR, I get the message that the file is unwriteable and cannot be opened.....that's likely because it is a zip file.

I tried one from late December, 2017, the last one I did in 2017, and that one has worked.

Report · Apr 14, 2018

I'm afraid I haven't had a lot of experience with backups. I have been reading a lot of horror stories about them recently. A couple of weeks ago I experimented and restored one of my backups. It unzipped okay to the desktop and I tried to open it from there. I got the message that it needed to be repaired, and Lightroom did repair it creating several other files and eventually opened it. I saved another catalog and restored it to the folder where it should be running, where the other files where already existing, and it opened without any problems. What happened to the catalog that you backed up last night? Where is the catalog that was backed up? Not the backup file, but the catalog itself?

Report · Apr 14, 2018

I guess that's one thing I'm confused on. I thought that when you exit LR and check the box to backup a catalog, that's what is saved and backed up....the actual catalog.

That backup of the catalog is in the same folder that I put all of my backups in:

C:.....This PC\Pictures\Lightroom 6 Backups\Backups

Whenever I make a backup, I always copy it to another internal drive, my E:\ drive in a similarly named folder. I also make a 2nd backup to my external RAID drives, R:\.

This morning, I erased the older backups I still had through October, 2017 on both the C:\ drive as well as on the R:\ drive, but I kept whatever I had on the E:\ drive. I copied the ones I erased on the C:\ drive from the E:\ drive, and I have the problems I've listed.

I know in the past, I have had to go back to an older backup, and I've had no problems (and, as mentioned, I still do not have problems with backups I made last December (and probably November).

What I'm concerned with is that if I have to import all of the pictures I have taken in 2018, a backup with those new pictures will not be able to be loaded in the future if I need to use it.

Thanks for looking into this...if you think of anything else, please let me know. I might go ahead and try one of those fixes I see on various websites for that particular error...I just want to make sure that those fixes are from reputable sources.

Report · Apr 14, 2018

I'm afraid there seems to be a bug in the Lightroom Classic 7.3 catalog backup routines (only the Windows version). Adobe knows this and is working on a fix. That means you either have to find a backup that was created before you updated (so a backup made my Lr 7.2) or a backup made by a general backup utility (hopefully you make regular backups of your entire hard drive).

-- Johan W. Elzenga

Report · Apr 14, 2018

I still get confused over the names Adobe uses for the latest versions of Lightroom.

What I have is a standalone version of LR....I do not use the cloud version. What I now have shows version 6.14.

I say "now have" because I checked the version and saw that there was an update to v 6.14. I failed to see what the previous version was, although it was v 6.xx. So, I did update to v 6.14.

I do not have any version 7.3.

One thing I now remember is that early this year, in January, I did have problems with LR. I don't remember specifically the exact nature of the problems, but it had something to do with LR trying to log into the cloud when I did not want that to happen. I spoke to someone at Adobe who helped me download the standalone version from Adobe's server.

I took the backup which I actually made this morning and copied it to my laptop, where I also have the stand alone version of LR. I could not unzip that backup file. So, it looks as if that backup file is corrupted, but I don't know why it's corrupted.....possibly something in LR, maybe related to what you mention here, although, again, I have the standalone version.

One thing to note is that when I click on About Adobe Photoshop Lightroom on my laptop, it says I have version 6.6, which is different than what shows on my desktop (now v 6.14). Further, if I check for updates on my laptop, it asks me to sign in to the Creative Cloud. This might have been something similar to what I saw earlier this year, back in January, on my desktop....just can't remember for sure.

The only backups I have are ones that I have created when I exit LR. I have a number of them from 2018 from February to this morning (I did no backups in January since I had very few pictures to add to my catalog). I cannot unzip any of those.

I can unzip that one from December 28, 2017....that's the only one I have tried that I still have remaining from November and December 2017, but I'm assuming others in 2017 can be unzipped and used.

Report · Apr 14, 2018

Another update, which I'll also reply to JimHess above.

After I updated LR on my desktop to v6.14, I tried something.

Using that catalog from December 28, 2017, I then imported a small folder of pictures from 2018. Then, I exited LR, creating a backup with those few additional pictures.

This time, I was able to Unzip (Extract) the backup and load it back into LR. I am still unable, however, to extract older catalogs from 2018. So, with everything else I've been seeing, I am almost 100% certain that those 2018 catalogs are corrupted, and that's likely from the fact that the version of LR I reinstalled back in January 2018 had some corruption in it.

I don't think you or JimHess work for Adobe, so I'm hoping that next week, I might be able to get a hold of someone there who might be able to fix those older catalogs, but I'm not holding out much hope.

BTW, I looked at your profile, Johan, and noticed that you teach in Amsterdam. I used to live in Den Haag...for 4 years some time ago. I miss living in The Netherlands!

Report · Apr 14, 2018

Jim,

I'm copying a reply I just sent to Johan...not sure if you would get notified that I replied to him....