P: DNG file is damaged yet it can be processed in other applications

[marchyman]

Issue:

Lightroom claims a DNG file is damaged yet it can be processed in other applications.

Provide Lightroom Classic version:
11.3 Release Camera Raw 14.3
Build [202204051513-7a25c809]

Provide OS and version:
macOS Monterey
Version 12.3.1
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)
Processor 3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9
Memory 64 GB 2667 MHz DDR4
Startup Disk Macintosh HD
Graphics Radeon Pro 575X 4 GB

Issue:
When attempting to edit a handful of DNG images in my library Lightroom claims:
"The file appears to be unsupported or damaged."
That message appears in a popover on an imbedded preview.

Of interest:

• Mac finder can process the image.
• Mac Preview.app can process the image.
• Affinity Photo can process the image.
• Exiftool can read the image metadata

My workaround is to convert the image to another format using Finder or Preview or Affinity Photo.

Also of interest: Every damaged DNG was created by a Leica  camera and subsequently modified by an older version of Lightroom Classic, specifically Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9.0 (Macintosh).  Exif data says:
   History Action : saved

   History Instance ID : xmp.iid:375df6ee-7fb1-479c-8be6-e122486b8583
   History When : 2019:11:30 22:16:20-08:00
   History Software Agent : Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9.0 (Macintosh)
   History Changed : /metadata

I can not reproduce damaged files upon demand.  I uploaded an example of a damaged image.  Out of approximately 6,000 DMG images in my library less than 20 are damaged. 

Expected result:
Lightroom Classic should be able to edit the image.  At a minimum I should be given the option to attempt to render the image regardless of the report of damage.

Actual result:
Lightroom Classic can not edit the image. I must first convert the image to a different format using some other application

[johnrellis]

Someone else finally uploaded sample DNGs from a Leica, and the problem is definitely a bug in LR / Camera Raw:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/unreadable-files-on-nas/m-p/12941302#M2... 

As a workaround, roll back to LR 11.2.

[Douglas Fry]

Great, many thanks to everyone to replied, at least I now dont have to throw my NAS boxees out of the window afterall.

I will roll back to 14.2 until 14.4 presumably  when I can tentatively try again.

In fact thiking it through it had to be Adobe, in that those images were shot in 2016 and were backed up to two other NAS's the following day and not touched since, but the fault appeared on the same files on all NAS's when browsing last week, so there couldnt be faulty drives in 3 NAS's from 2 different manufacturers on certain files.

Odd though its not all files from the trusty M240 only only some.

Boring but at least there is a solution, thanks once again.

[Douglas Fry]

OK just installed 14.2 from the link above and everything works again......easy....Phew

[boris24464888lbxy]

Having the exact same issue with my Leica M262 - all started like a week or two ago - I thought it's my camera/SD card but it looks like I'm not the only person with this problem... Hope Adobe can fix this...

[garryfuller]

When rolling back did you uninstall current LR first or did you keep current version installed and just install a second copy of LR?

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Updating Bug Status

[johnrellis]

"When rolling back did you uninstall current LR first or did you keep current version installed and just install a second copy of LR?"

There's no need to uninstall the current version of LR.  Installing LR 11.2 will overwrite the current installation.

[garryfuller]

Thank you very much.  I have rolled back and all is working well now

[MoseleMusic]

Thanks for the workaround you wonderful people. I had exactly the same problem. Rolled back to LR 11.2 and all the files worked again. 

[Siegfried Hanisch]

Same issue here, with Leica M240, and some random DNG files show up as corrupted upon import. Same files work in other applications. There was no change in the camera firmware. Same issue occurs on different Macs (M1 MacBookAir with current Mac OS X, Intel iMac and MacBookPro with older MacOS X). Lightroom is current version from Apple Mac App Store. 

[Charles5FBA]

Exactly the same issue, which manifested itself two weeks ago and now more and more files are shown as corrupted 

[johnrellis]

"Exactly the same issue, which manifested itself two weeks ago and now more and more files are shown as corrupted."

While waiting for the bug to be fixed, the workaround is to roll back LR to 11.2 or Camera Raw to 14.2.  For some reason, the Camera Raw download page omits 14.1 and 14.2 and you can't use the Creative Cloud app to roll back to older versions, but if you know how to FTP, you can get it from here:

Mac: ftp://ftp.adobe.com//pub/adobe/photoshop/cameraraw/mac/14.x/CameraRaw_14_2.dmg 

Win: ftp://ftp.adobe.com//pub/adobe/photoshop/cameraraw/win/14.x/AdobeCameraRaw_x64_14_2.exe 

Or you can use a third-party download site.

[svenl46921355]

I confirm that "roll back to LR 11.2" solved the problem.

In a library of over 16.000 DNG's from a Leica M-P 240, had a problem with 2 or 3 of them and "roll back to LR 11.2" solved the problem.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Greetings,

Updates to the Adobe Photography Products were released on June 13. The update contains a fix for this issue.  Please download and the latest version of your application via the Adobe Creative Cloud Application or your respective device app store.

If you do not see the update (Mac and Win) you can refresh your Creative Cloud App with the keyboard shortcut [Ctrl/Cmd]+[Alt/Opt]+[ R ]. 

Note: App store availability can take several days for the update to appear and be available. 

Thank you for your patience.

[thegregorfischer]

Hello Rikk,

unfortunately this problem still exists and rendered several of my pictures unusable right now. 

It seems like the DNG gets destroyed when I apply a certain setting in Camera Raw or when I save a jpg. I'm not sure and can't experiment too much, because I just can't destroy my work for that. Please fix!

[johnrellis]

@thegregorfischer, the bug reported in this thread affected many Leica users as was fixed 18 months ago, with none of those reporting the problem saying that the fix didn't work. 

"It seems like the DNG gets destroyed when I apply a certain setting in Camera Raw or when I save a jpg."

These are different symptoms than what was reported in this thread. So I think it's more likely you're experiencing a different problem.

I recommend you start a new thread. Include more details about what you observe, including full-resolution screenshots, and the full output of the menu command Help > System Info.  Upload the problem DNG to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar, and post the sharing link here. 

Without this information, it's unlikely Adobe will pay any attention, unless many more people report the same symptoms.