Inspiring

Question

Failed 'Could not write metadata. Unknown file I/O error. (1) ?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
February 5, 2018
3 replies
2607 views

I have Lightroom running on an iMac with the catalogue on the iMac, but the RAW files and XMP files written to a NAS drive.

I am getting a number of metadata write failures on each set of images I process.

Current example out of 22 images, 8 have failed with the above error.

Whilst some have updated, those that fail either have a metadata status of 'Unknown', or 'Has been changed'.

When I retry the metadata save, they all go to 'Unknown'.

The only workaround that works more often than not, is to delete the xmp file on the disk, and then re-save the metadata.

This is increasingly a problem, as I have to run a smart collection of images with suspect metadata status values, and attempt to fix them.

Please note that this is Lightroom 6, but there doesnt seem to be a forum for this version any longer...

All help very much appreciated.

This topic has been closed for replies.

digitaloxygen

Inspiring

I've run into this problem with just one specific folder (so far) of images on a NAS share and I'm convinced that it's a lightroom issue after doing some experimentation and alalysis.

I am able to open, copy, move, save the file in Finder and Photoshop just fine via the same network share Lightroom is using. This proves the permissions are good and the file is intact (not corrupt).

If I duplicate the file via Finder and at a -2 at the end I can import that into LR, apply the same edits (copy / paste) and then save the metadata back to disk just fine. So it seems there is something wrong with the entry for that image in the Lightroom catalog that is contributing to the error. I tried copying that working file back overtop of the original file and deleting the .xmp file (in the hopes LR will re-create it and to rule out permissions on the .xmp file) but LR continues to throw the error. If I re-point LR to the duplicate -2 file which has proven to be good from a LR perspective it continues to error. So every possible thing I can do with the file and the .xmp works fine. LR just continues to complain. It's as if the reference to the photo inside of LR's catalog is "corrupt" or something and it's presenting as a file I/O error when it really isn't.

So far the only "fix" I've found is basically what I did above. Duplicate the files in Finder, re-import them, and re-applly the edits, and remove the original references.

S

sebmsg

Known Participant

Could be a bug. I just migrated a Lacie drive to a new desktop PC. Same problem. Driving me crazy.

Also - the files that are affected won't respond to any 'Edit in...' inc Photoshop. Nothing happens. All have the I/O wrror when trying to save metadata.

S

SHAHRUKH22655692pbfh

New Participant

Try to Copy the catalog on local drive or desktop if your catalog is on external drive.

D

dj_paige

Brainiac

This feels to me like it is a network malfunction, or a hard disk malfunction.

D

Dave EagleAuthor

Inspiring

Hmmm not sure. There is a secondary behaviour in so far as once the metadata write has failed in a given Lightroom session, thats pretty much it unless I delete the XMP file and save a new xmp file. However, close that Lightroom session and start a fresh Lightroom session, then select those images again and save/write metadata again, most if not all will write the changes to the xmp files. If any fail, then closing the session and starting Lightroom again and re-saving the metadata changes for the affected images usually succeeds.

Whilst being a pain, keeping a smart collection of 'Metadata Issues' allows me to keep tabs on the failures and re-process the collection whenever I open up Lightroom so that I can stay on top of the problem.

I only discovered this after I posted the above topic, so at least its a useful workaround.....

D

dj_paige

Brainiac

This still feels to me like a network or hard drive problem, perhaps intermittent. You would be wise to consider that as a possible explanation and investigate.

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