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Question

Repeated catalog corruption following LRC lockups during background AI tasks

Forum|Forum|2 days ago
July 5, 2026
4 replies
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I have LR 15.4.1 and get frequent catalog corruption when LR locks up. The problem existed in 15.3 so it is not related to the 15.4.1 update.
If I have background AI updates active then there is a good chance that LR will just freeze. I have no option except to end task. And after this point I have seen the corruption. So now I backup 3 or 4 times per day so I don't loose too many edits. On relaunch of LR, there is no UI. the all sits around 5% CPU and just a few hundred MB of memory use.

The lockup does not always happen - I could update a batch of mages (select images, CTRL+ALT+U) to refresh AI info such as masks or denoise… and this could work fine for 20 images, or lock up for just 2 images. There does not seem to be any pattern.

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, 32GB Ram
Windows 11 (up to date)
Catalog on C: - 512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (NVMe)
RTX 2060, 6GB, Nvidia Studio driver version 610.62
NViidea driver optimised for LR
use GPU for display: On
use GPU for image processing: On
Use Graphics Processor: Custom
Performance: use GPU was set to ‘AUTO’ ….turned off today, not lockup seen yet but only launched twice with no AI tasks yet.

Catalog size:
259343 images
lrcat - 5.2GB
lrcat-data - 37.4GB, 202 files

Basic SQLite checks show no issues with the dbase

Gixxxa75

Inspiring

Been struggling with similar issue recently, Ive had to bin the catalogue that has about 25 years of work on it, just hope all the settings have written to the xmp files so as I load things back into new much smaller cat the changes are there. Thought I cracked it increasing the RAW cache to 200Gb but issue returned. Usually the cat is on its own ssd, changed it to C drive and still happens .

P

PhilT_GPAuthor

Known Participant

A common suggestion is that OneDrive is involved - it accesses the files and causes problems for LR. For me, OneDrive is not active but there are other possible ‘similar’ processes.

My latest set of changes - all seems to be stable (maybe I should not have said that!!)

OneDrive - was not an issue for me - but make sure it is not handling the catalog folder/files. Google tips for checking OneDrive as there are multiple checks needed.
Windows Search - as above. Not scanning my catalog folder.
Windows Indexing - I turned off indexing (folder, properties, advanced - untick ‘Allow files in this folder to have contents indexed in addition to file properties’
Anti-Virus - I use F-Secure (Defender is off) - I excluded the catalog folder.

If this continues to work without issue, then my theory is …
Indexing or AV (for me) is somehow hitting the lrcat-wal file and preventing LR from doing something. After that point, the file has issues. Maybe LR does not handle timeouts or failed file access very well ?
This might be unlucky timing. OR, if I am doing large batch image syncs, then I cause longer file activity and increase the chance off a conflict.

Even with the above items disabled, I am keeping my editing to minimal changes and continue to backup daily.

I would like to log this with Adobe but there does not seem to be any official process for this.
If any Adobe support people read these forums, then I am happy to run diagnostics code to check things.

P

PhilT_GPAuthor

Known Participant

I had a repeat of the problem - I will now call ‘No Splash Screen’.
So I moved back to the original drive. And restored a backup.

I have just optimised the catalog. I noticed the WAL file grew to be larger that the LRCAT file. Not sure if this is a clue.

After the optimisation, LR restarted - the WAL file disappeared.
But now the problem returned - no splash screen.

Killing LR and removing the lock file allows me to launch LR again - but still no splash screen.

Before I restore my backup again, is there anything I can check?

dj_paige

Legend

I had a repeat of the problem - I will now call ‘No Splash Screen’.

Honestly, I don’t know what this means.

If it means you had another corrupted catalog, please state that clearly. What does “No Splash Screen” have to do with this issue? As far as I can see, the phrase “Splash Screen” has not been used previously in this thread.

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PhilT_GPAuthor

Known Participant

I used ‘no splash screen’ as this is the only symptom I have of a problem. I have previouslt stated no UI - it’s the same thing !
It is clear that term ‘corrupt catalog’ is difficult to prove.

AI has provided some insight. I am exploring a few ideas.
SQLite checks on the main lrcat file finds no issues.
I will now check the other dbase files.

I will report back when I have more info.

P

PhilT_GPAuthor

Known Participant

Thanks. I double checked OneDrive - it is running but there are no folders checked for sync. I had already turned off the folders.
I found a WD Discovery driver listed in the LR log files - I have an external 4TB drive with a backup utility scanning my main photo folder (also used by LR) and maintaining backups on the external drive. I have now removed that utility so there should be nothing syncing my catalog anywhere and also nothing trying to backup my photos.

I have loaded my backup catalog from the original C: drive. And I have also been able to launch LR using the same catalog on D:
I will continue using it on D: for a while to see if there are any issues.

dj_paige

Legend

I found a WD Discovery driver listed in the LR log files - I have an external 4TB drive with a backup utility scanning my main photo folder (also used by LR) and maintaining backups on the external drive. I have now removed that utility so there should be nothing syncing my catalog anywhere and also nothing trying to backup my photos.

Scanning by a backup utility is not known to cause catalog corruption, and is different than syncing to a cloud backup service like OneDrive.

dj_paige

Legend

If I have background AI updates active then there is a good chance that LR will just freeze. I have no option except to end task. And after this point I have seen the corruption.

What do you see that indicates catalog corruption? Please describe in detail or show us a screen capture.

If it truly is catalog corruption, this happens because of one of two reasons.

Your catalog is in a folder that is synced with OneDrive or similar cloud service. If so, do not put your catalog in a folder that is synced to the cloud, or turn off the syncing in that folder.
Your hardware is malfunctioning (probably the hard disk where the catalog is stored, but it could be other pieces of hardware). To test this, move the catalog file and associated lrcat-data folder to a brand new empty folder on a different physical drive and try using it there for a while and see if the problem goes away.

P

PhilT_GPAuthor

Known Participant

When LR faks to show a UI, a reboot and relaunhI often shows a LR dialog on that states the catalog is corrupt. It attempts to recover but fails. I then switch to a backup and it is ok again.

Since I disabled GPU usage in the performance tab, thee issue has occurred once. So I am not sure it is linked to the GPU.

I dont use OneDrive.
I do have DropBox but that is not linked to the catalog folder.

I noticed that the problem first appeared after I did a very large A sync - setting the colour profile to Adaptive for about 200 files. After that, the problems started. I am wandering if one or mor images have bad data in the dbase?

I will try the catalog on a second SSD.

dj_paige

Legend

I dont use OneDrive.

Most Windows 11 computers do their best to make sure you ARE using OneDrive, even if you don’t know it or don’t want it. Please double-check to make sure you are not using OneDrive.

I will try the catalog on a second SSD.

Make sure when you copy a catalog file to the second SSD, it is not a corrupted version of your catalog file.

I am wandering if one or mor images have bad data in the dbase?

Not a potential cause of corrupted catalogs. I’m not even sure this is a real thing.

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