Failed integrity Cannot back up

[quantum 123]

I have had this several times and thought I'd solved it. I see the message

"we're sorry, the catalog ... failed the requested integrity check and cannot be backed up"

This is on the latest release and I last time it happened had to revert to an older version of LR (which worked fine) and re-do the upgrade. Yesterday all was fine on opening and upon closing I got the message again. 

Why does this keep happening?

My library is on an external Samsung SSD T5 and is quite big - but as I say all was fine before updating to latest LR version 12.1

Thank you,

[Sameer K]

I'll help you figure this out. The catalog is a database I advise not to run directly from an external drive to avoid such situations.

As a test, move the catalog to the internal drive & ensure the backup location at the time of exiting Lightroom Classic is also set to the internal drive. If this does not help, we can duplicate the catalog itself.

• Press the ALT/OPT (/Windows/macOS) when launching Lightroom Classic.
• Choose the option to create a new catalog and create a new one on the internal drive.
  
  

• In the new catalog, head to File > Import from Another Catalog, as shown below.
  
  

Proceed with merging the (potentially)corrupted catalog into the newly made, internal storage-based catalog. 

For more help via video-based steps, check here. See Merging individual catalogs into a master catalog. 

Let me know how it goes from here,

Thanks!
Sameer K

[quantum 123]

Thanks. I have been running the catalog from an external SSD for many years
without a problem.
Has the new version changed the way it runs and is more susceptible to this
issue now?

Kind regards
John Kemp. 
www.johnkempphotographer.com
www.kempcommercialphotography.com
Sent from my mobile device.

[Sean McCormack]

@Sameer K where is this information about not running a Catalog on an external drive? Sure I know about not running on a NAS, but why not a connected external? Asking because my 600k+ catalog is on an external and would struggle to fit on my start drive (large preview file). 

[Sameer K]

I understand your workflow and I didn't mean to completely stop using external drives. Disconnection while in use, unexpected hardware failures and instability of external drives has to be considered. 

My Bad! 

[quantum 123]

I'm sorry but as an Adobe employee what exactly are you saying and advocating? Unclear now.

[Sean McCormack]

If it's failed an integrity check, the catalog is starting to fail. If you're not reliant on Publish, you could try doing 'Export as Catalog' from the All Photographs folder in the Catalog panel. This will create a fresh catalog minus Publish Services. 

[quantum 123]

Thanks. I rarely use Publish services (though I should). 

I don't know why this is happening immediately after upgrading to new version. 🤷🏼‍:male_sign: