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excorp11
Inspiring
September 10, 2018

P: "Some save metadata operations were not performed" error occurs when merging to HDR

  • September 10, 2018
  • 21 replies
  • 1649 views

This is a recent, intermittent issue (I've used LR for years, and only seen this recently).  I'm running Lightroom Classic CC release 7.5.  When merging photos to HDR, Lightroom will process the images and at the moment it creates the DNG it sometimes outputs an error "Some save metadata operations were not performed".  It then states "Photos have read only access (1)", and lists the new dng file that was just created.  This also happens occasionally when merging to Panorama.

To try to debug this, I made sure that the folder containing all my raw files had no read-only files in it (I did this in the properties pop-up for the folder, clearing the "read-only" attribute box and applying that setting to all files in the folder).  This was done BEFORE any HDR merges were performed.  If there's a read-only file involved, its something LR is creating temporarily during the merge.

I also checked the files in question after the error (both the raw images and the new dng):  none of them are read-only.

I can also state that this doesn't happen consistently.  I had 30 sets of bracketed images that I set to processing all at once in the background (using ctrl-shift-H on each set of 3).  The error popped up for only 2 of the 30 sets.

One other unfortunate side-effect of the problem is that it halts all background tasks until its acknowledged.  That's the big reason I'm logging it and not just ignoring it:  I routinely turn a large queue of background tasks loose, then leave and enjoy life elsewhere.  Coming back several hours later to find out nothing has happened is a drag.

This topic has been closed for replies.

21 replies

Inspiring
July 12, 2024

One further point.  My old Windows 10 laptop showed exactly the same behaviour on read only attributes on folders, but I did not get this fault.

jonz75803620
Participating Frequently
November 14, 2022

I just started having this issue, and I thought it was related to the latest Lightroom (Classic) update.  That was the only thing that had changed in my process...or so I thought.  But after reading your suspician that it might have to do with Face Detect, BINGO!  That's something I've been playing with for the past month.  I've never used it and only tagged my photos manually that had family/friends in them.  I started using Face Detect (more out of boredom than anything else).  It is fun, and to some extent useful (especially for someone who has not made the effort to tag people pictures).  But because it chokes on my Merge to HDRs (which I do a LOT as a real estate photographer), it forced me to sit next to my computer when processing so I could dismiss the dialog box to keep the processing moving...  I just turned Face Detect off!

Participant
February 16, 2021

I see this issue on my system too, randomly, but very annoyingly.  I am using Nikon NEF raw files from my D500, with 5-shot exposure bracketing to create the HDRs.  I have low deghosting set.  Today, it has been nearly continuously till I turned off the keyword and face recognition.

Running Windows 10 Pro and Lightroom CC Classic.  Both have recently been updated.  So the issue still has not been fixed.  I agree it just needs a delay from immediately running those 2 systems when pictures are added to adding in a delay for other jobs to finish first (if doing a batch, maybe wait till all are done, then having it run?)

Participant
July 17, 2020
This hasn't been fixed. Please see my latest post in the main thread for clear instructions on how to reproduce. If you're still not reproducing, please contact me for a video.
Participant
July 17, 2020
Please read my latest post in this thread. This issue is still happening and I gave clear instructions on how to recreate. Please contact me if you need a video.
Participant
July 17, 2020
Edit>Catalog Settings>Uncheck:
- Look up city, state and country of GPS coordinates to provide address suggestions
- Automatically detect faces in all photos
Participant
July 17, 2020
This is STILL a problem. Glad to find the bandaid, but this is a SIMPLE fix that needs to be fixed. A simple check to see if the newly added DNG is an HDR and if it is, wait 10 minutes to run face recognition and address lookup.

I think what the reps are missing in recreating the issue is they're not understanding that it's when you run an HDR batch, which is extremely poorly documented by Adobe. You run an HDR batch by grouping your bracketed photos into stacks and the beginning a regular HDR on multiple stacks at once. This skips the HDR settings dialog and goes straight into processing them all with the last used settings. That's when it hangs between every single HDR for me.
Inspiring
July 11, 2024

I am getting the same fault described in the bug report at https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-quot-some-save-metadata-operations-were-not-performed-quot-error-occurs-when-merging-to-hdr/idi-p/12249439, But thought it worth raising a new report because:

  • It happens every time, whether in batch mode or not.
  • I have Face Detect and Address Lookup both switched off.

The symptoms are that whenever I perform an HDR or a Panorama Merge operation, it runs ok until the final "Merge" operation which ends by putting up a dialog box with the error message quoted above in the title (see screenshot).  After clicking OK in this box the file appears to be created correctly, and is not read-only.  (The containing folder is reported as Read-only, but it is impossible to switch this off, and has no other effect on creating files within it.  Reportedly Windows has been like this for a long time.)

I am running on: Windows 11, with all latest updates applied;  Lightroom Classic release 13.4.

 

JohnKluchka
Participant
January 26, 2020
This is STILL happening in January of 2020.   The least the LR product team could do is auto-pause the face detect etc until the HDR is done.  
Inspiring
November 1, 2019
I too have recently (last week or so) started to experience this issue.  seems to be unrelated to any specific update or to the read status of any file.  Time for Adobe to do something....anything....
Participating Frequently
October 21, 2019
Same thing here... turned off face detection and address lookup and works no problem.  Interestingly, even though it says it's read-only, the actual file (in File Explorer) shows that that's not the case.