Unable to open .rw2 files that I have been able to in the past with camera raw

[James307024289i5m]

Camera raw does not launch when attempting to open .rw2 panasonic raw file either from double-clicking or from an already running instance of photoshop.   I do not receive any error.  Fans spin up though nothing in task manager appears.   

Began somewhere in late November or Early December of 2024.   

Still continues to this day.   I hear it spinning up, but no error.   Lightroom Classic, however, opens it.  

1. Photoshop Version Currently 26.3.0

2. Camera Raw Version 17.1.0.2100

Actions taken:

1. Uninstall Photoshop; reboot; Uninstall Bridge; reboot; Rename each camera raw directory (under any adobe or common folder in both user folder/appdata areas (low and roaming) as well as in Program File and Program Data areas including the deletion of the plugin file Camera Raw.8bi; Ran Cleaner tool (photoshop not present, camera raw was...removed it).   REGEDIT - Searched for any instances of .rw2 (found 1...renamed to .rw3).    Confirmed that file would not launch.

2. Reintall photoshop; reboot; attempt to launch .rw2 file. Same orginal fan spin up and slight momentary increase of RAM being used by Photoshop.   No response otherwise.   

Action taken:   All steps of Step 1.   Install Photoshop version prior to 26.   Same Result.

3. Action Taken: All steps of Step 1.   Install Photoshop version prior to camera being supported and Camera Raw 14.    Error that file cannot be opened. (I expected that result).

Allow Adobe to update applications.  Attempt to open file.   Same original result.   Run the Camera Raw installation exe file for 17.1 (though version was already present).   Installs.   Attempt to open file:  Same Result.

4.  Perform a clean installation of Windows 11 Pro on alternate NVME Drive.   Perform fresh install of Adobe Suite.   Attempt to open File:  Same Result.

No errors received.   I can hear it performing some action.    Lightroom can open file - No problem.   Topaz Photo AI can open file - No problem.    Adobe DNG converter can open file - no problem.    Camera Raw cannot open file....or if it is....no camera raw screen appears anymore.    I'm really at a loss.   

If relevant though it worked before:

Motherboard:   ASUS ROG Strix Z-690 DDR4-A Gaming WIFI

CPU: i9-14900K (3rd one thanks to the Cstate Intel Coverup Scandal) - 2 months each RMA even after approval.   You can imagine the plotting I'm doing in my head.   Of course the micro-code still isn't fixed regardless of their position.  I digress....I needed a cathartic moment.   Okay back to the task at hand.

RAM: 64GB - DDR4 g.skill Trident RGB - 3200  - 14 CAS - (2 sticks)

System Drive also holding program apps: 4TB Samsung 990 Pro.   Data typically held on one of 3 other drives all same make except one (1 for Video, 1 for photo editing, 1 for sector by sector clone of system drive with clean install of OS and all applications) ready to go in case of corruption (because it has been years since I've seen a system restore point work ...not once.....I think pre-windows 11.)  Same true of upgrade in place moves (always fail), oddly windows update will fix windows occasionally, of course SFC and DISM (offline as well)  used to perform a function that could tell if a corruption existed.... (you can delete system files and it would never notice anymore).   I digress again.

Graphics Card:  ASUS ROG NVIDIA RTX-4090-OC. Running in concert with RESIZE BAR ON with CPU's Graphics processor with maximum dedicated system memory available to CPU for supporting Graphics.   (Its an encoding thing.....long story short....the CPU can out encode a GPU.   That's about as far as my memory goes with that)...Render?   GPU blinks and done....CPU would scream and fry.   I have to inject humor or I think I will go insane if not already.   Pretty certain I am.   About to begin going down the Bridge road.....but fairly certain it probably leverages Camera RAW as well.   FUN FACT:   Though Windows can't preview pane a raw....viewing the raw files as large or extra large thumbnails works just fine.   Always has.   Never understood that.   Sounds like a good conversation starter for Gemini 2.0 or Co-Pilot.   They are stumped on this as well.   They are in time out at the moment for having the gall to ask if I ran SFC and DISM today and installed the lastest windows updates.   I may tune that whole knowledge process out of them if I can find a way.
I'm sure I forgot to share something.....  In the spirit of thoroughness, I just downloaded a .nef file (to give me a raw of something else)......oddly....preview pane works on that one.....but Camera Raw will not open.   It will upon double-click of course, launch photoshop, but camera raw will not engage nor of course will photoshop open the file as it can't (cuz raw).    I have no idea where to go from here....    Fairly certain of only a couple of things:  The raw isn't corrupted (I tried at least 3 dozen or more across 2 years....cuz I hoard em.) and also across different cameras.   I have not eliminated the possibility that my system is cursed.   I'm fairly certain it must be.  Oh and to head off before we go down the road of Information Security.   No malware or viruses, scan all the time.....protected at router level and device with segmented vlans...... cause....public employee.  Our information is public record.....might as well make copies of my pii to save the bad actors time at this point.  I jest.  I just wait for the day where I can guarantee an innocent PC isn't involved in the crossfire.....because on that day.....the DoS'ers and the Brute forcers will enjoy a little pent up Trial of Retribution.   Best way to fight a battle, overwhelming force at least 10x what was received.  Hope at least it was entertaining.   I like resolving tech issues as much as the next person, but this past year takes the cake.    

[Per Berntsen]

Try resetting the Camera Raw preferences.

In Photoshop, go to Edit > Preferences > Camera Raw, then click Camera Raw with the Control key pressed.

Click Yes in the dialog that follows.

If that doesn't help, try resetting the Photoshop preferences as well.

https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/photoshop/using/preferences.html#Manually

Though Windows can't preview pane a raw....viewing the raw files as large or extra large thumbnails works just fine.   Always has.   Never understood that.

Windows is displaying the jpg preview which is embedded in the raw files.

[James307024289i5m]

Thank you, Per.  Will give it a try and report back either way.

[James307024289i5m]

No dice.   But thank you for teaching me 2 things:
1) How reset the Camera Raw Preferences

2) Solving the raw preview riddle 🙂

Any other thoughts?    

[James307024289i5m]

I was wondering if there is any setting within Adobe as a whole that might have a "true" or false" flag regarding some part of the launching of camera raw or even attempting to open the raw.    I know I don't get an error message, but....and previously reverting to camera 14 (prior to the support of that file) does give the error of unsupported.....which leads me to believe it is some execution that takes place after it validates that it can open the file as supported.    Further supporting my thought that it is ......is the rush of the fans and memory increase of photoshop at the moment I try to open the file.   outside of file associations, camera raw and photoshop have so many registry entries.    I made a copy of the registry earlier and hunted down every instance of rw2, photoshop, cameraraw that I could find and deleted the registry keys.    I can restore it, but wondering if something needs to be a 1 value instead of a 0 as are most of the keys that I did wipe.  I liken the registry (for me) to playing a musical composition and making adjustments without knowing music theory.    The results certainly can work, but I have no idea what I am doing and dependent on rational deduction based on what I can remember at the time.  

[Per Berntsen]

I was wondering if there is any setting within Adobe as a whole that might have a "true" or false" flag regarding some part of the launching of camera raw or even attempting to open the raw.

By @James307024289i5m

There is no such setting that I'm aware of.

If you don't mind sharing a sample RW2 file, I could take a look at it and see how it behaves on my computer.

You can try to attach it to a post here, might work if it's less than 48 MB.

If it doesn't work, use Dropbox or similar, and post a link here.

[James307024289i5m]

Absolutely.   Here is an example file.    I've now clean installed the OS again and even jumped to Windows 11 Pro Workstation just to see.....figured not, but beginning to grab at straws trying to figure this out.    Same issue.   I can hear the fans crank up and even get the little circle when trying to launch the .rw2 file within Photoshop or even external to it, it launches Photoshop and normally then Camera Raw would launch.    Lightroom handles it as does third party apps like Topaz Photo AI and Topaz Gigapixel AI, just not photoshop (anymore).    Very weird.   The interface here doesn't allow for the rw2 (panasonic raw file), but Adobe Cloud storage does.    P_WC1950.RW2

[Per Berntsen]

The image opens fine at my end in ACR 17.2 on Windows 10– by double-clicking it in the File explorer, from Bridge, and using Photoshop (26.3) File > Open. I can import it in LrC, and I also opened it in RawDigger, which did not report any issues with the file.

I made a copy of the registry earlier and hunted down every instance of rw2, photoshop, cameraraw that I could find and deleted the registry keys.  I can restore it, but wondering if something needs to be a 1 value instead of a 0 as are most of the keys that I did wipe.  I liken the registry (for me) to playing a musical composition and making adjustments without knowing music theory.    The results certainly can work, but I have no idea what I am doing and dependent on rational deduction based on what I can remember at the time. 

I have no experience with editing the registry, but the general advice is to leave it alone unless you know what your're doing. So you should definitely restore it.

Although it might not make any difference, you should update Camera Raw to 17.2.

Let us know how it goes.

[James307024289i5m · Accepted solution]

No worries.    I actually had already performed another secure erase of my NVME and clean installed the OS and Adobe not too longer after working with the registry.     By the time I sent you the RW2, that shipped had sailed though I still had the issue.    I was at the latest Camera Raw (though prior to the clean install, I had rolled back to various versions in my attempt to understand the workings of RAW that might be at play).    

You ready for this?    I can't tell you why this worked at all.   

In the course of my MANY resets of camera raw preferences (and photoshop) after trying every which way till Sunday to figure this out.   It began working right after I performed the Camera RAW reset, not within photoshop, but within Bridge.   

Not knowing the full architecture of how Camera RAW integrates with either photoshop or Bridge, I definitely can't speculate much as to why, but it worked.     What really puzzles me, is why a reset would have any affect after a secure erased, clean installed OS, and clean installed Creative Cloud and subsequent applications with no OneDrive or any other backup system restoring any files at all.   

Mom always said not to look a gift horse in the mouth though I would really like that mystery put to bed someday in my mind.    

Thank you, Per, for walking through this with me even for just a bit.    I dig in as much as anyone as I try to wrestle with understanding the nuances and subtleties of any application and to be fair to Adobe, it is a fairly complex ecosystem they have to maintain given the sheer number of toolsets involved with regard to the overall approach to content creation and development.    At the very least you took a little of the aloneness away that comes with troubleshooting in a vacuum.   I'm fairly certain I'm now more bald than I was, but I like the tools so much I keep coming back for more.....so.....overall I would say from a hook standpoint, Adobe's done a masterful job overall.   Hahaha.      Thanks again, friend.   

Been a heck of a 2 year ride for me (I just wanted to take better videos than my phone of my son performing in concerts and band).    Because of having fun with it as an enthusiast:   Built two computers (one with 3 RMAs due to Intel chip debacle), learned to wire electrical, determine that electrician didn't follow code and bring at least 2 rooms to code and organize and wire my first breaker box, purchase (there went my retirement slush) 2 professional cameras (same model so that I can dual wield without having 2 buy 2 sets of different lenses...), learn video editing, pretend I know what I am doing with after effects (I suck at it), learn the art of mastering audio, self teach photography and by extension of deciding the best way to learn in immersion, volunteer as the High School Marching band photo-videographer, and anything that can go wrong does and I committed to working to restore each photo shot as a training lesson......(I shot, restored or enhanced to make usable more pictures in my first 3 months than I've shot with any camera in the course of my 48 years of life), from audition to illustrator and a veritable plethora of AI and non-AI tools..... I can say it that the old adage is true.   The more you know the less you feel like you know anything. That and just about every tool I've used, I swear you could get an engineering degree in the field behind it.   My brain is full and I just hope I still remember how to breathe when it overflows.    HAHAHA.   I'll get out of your hair.    I appreciate the assist more than you know.    Not too many folks know what I'm talking about when I begin to whine about this and that when I'm hunting down a cause for something going awry.    Here's to hoping I can go a week or two before the next challenge.    I need it.   🙂

[Per Berntsen]

That's a very interesting and unexpected solution. I'll mark your post as Correct answer.

Good luck with your projects!