P: Import sometimes fails to eject drives it considers removable (Mac only)

[John R Ellis]

On Mac OS, after completing an import LR will sometimes display the message "Ejected card after import" but fail to actually eject the device.  This affects users importing from Cfexpress cards.

To reproduce on LR 12.3 / Mac OS 13.3:

1. Connect an external USB disk drive or a Cfexpress card reader containing a Cfexpress card with at least one photo on it.

2. Verify that Mac OS considers the drive non-removable by running this command in Terminal:

diskutil info "<volume>" | grep -i removable

The output should be:

Removable Media:           Fixed

3. If you connected a USB disk drive in step 1, copy to it the DCIM folder from any camera memory card containing at least one photo.

4. In LR, do Import, selecting the option Eject After Import. In the Files section select the volume from step 1 and select one photo.  Click Import.

5. When the Import completes, observe that LR displays "Ejected card after import".

6. In Finder, observe that the drive is still mounted, not ejected.

ANALYSIS

If LR considers a device removable, it will display that device in both the Devices and Files section of the Import window's Source panel.  Regardless of whether the device is selected in the Devices or Files section, the option Eject After Import will be available.  Only the Copy option is available.

If LR considers a device non-removable, it will appear only in the Files section, and the option Eject After Import won't be available. The options Copy, Move, and Add are available.

On Windows, Import determines whether a device is removable by calling the operating system. You can see what the operating system thinks using Powershell or "wmic":

https://superuser.com/questions/109389/how-can-i-tell-if-windows-thinks-a-hdd-is-removable-without-a...

But on Mac, LR ignores what the operating system thinks. Rather, if the top level folder of the device contains the DCIM folder, LR considers that volume as removable.   You can see whether Mac OS thinks a device is removable by running the "diskinfo" command, as described above.

When Mac LR tries to eject a device it thinks is removable but Mac OS thinks is non-removable, the eject silently fails (this bug report).

Lest you doubt any of this, these tables show the results of exhaustive testing of Import, using an external USB disk drive for Fixed Media / Local Disk and a USB thumb drive for Removable Media / Removable Disk:

Mac OS 13.3:

Windows 11:

Note that the Mac LR behavior of Fixed Media with DCIM folders changed in some version after LR 11.5. In LR 11.5, when you imported from the Devices section of such devices, LR treated the drive as removable; but when you imported from the Files section, LR treated it as non-removable.  LR 12.3 removed that inconsistency, treating both the Devices and Files section as removable.  

CFEXPRESS CARDS

For performance reasons, Cfexpress cards use the USB protocol for external disks rather than removable media (memory cards, thumb drives).  Thus, Mac OS reports Cfexpress cards as "fixed media" and Windows reports them as "local disk".

LR Windows treats Cfexpress cards as non-removable (external disks). But if they contain DCIM folders (which are created by cameras), LR Mac treats the cards as removable, and allows the user to select Eject After Import. The eject fails (the subject of this bug).

[dkosiur]

I recently started using an external card reader withy Studio Mac so I could read CFExpress cards. Lightroom recognizes the card and the photos on it, but it fails to eject the card after importing images. The program works as expected, ejecting SDHC cards with the external reader but not CFEXpress cards. From what I've heard, this isnot a problem with the external card reader, but the way Lightroom treats CFExpress cards, as though they are hard drives.

[Jao vdL]

It's due to the way how both Mac OS X and Windows treat CFExpress cards. They are not seen as removable media like sd cards but as full-blown external hard disks. This allows these operating systems to use a much faster access method in the driver that speeds up access to the media by quite a bit and therefore gives you ultrafast imports. However, it does lead to Lightroom believing the operating system when it tells Lightroom that it is dealing with a hard disk instead of a removable card in a reader and so it will not eject the disk as a result.

[John R Ellis]

The issue is messier, and there is indeed a bug in Mac LR.  

Windows LR considers a device removable if Windows thinks it is. 

But Mac LR considers a device removable if it contains a top-level DCIM folder, regardless of what Mac OS thinks.

Thus, Windows LR considers Cfexpress cards as non-removable devices like external disks. But Mac LR thinks Cfexpress cards (with DCIM folders) are removable, and it displays the Eject After Import option and just the Copy option (not Add or Move).   After importing completes, it displays "Ejected card after import", but the eject fails, as you can see in Finder.  

I filed a bug report about this:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/import-sometimes-fails-to-eject-drives-it-cons...

[John R Ellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with this bug report:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/import-sometimes-fails-to-eject-drives-it-cons...

[John R Ellis]

Also, if you do your own experiments with volumes containing DCIM folders, restart LR each time you add or remove the folder from the volume.   LR remembers the existence of the folder the first time it touches the volume and won't update that until the next time you restart LR.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

The team has reviewed current behavior and agreed this is not as-designed. We've opened a bug for this. Thanks for the report!

[Sean McCormack]

Thank you, @John R Ellis, for this detailed bug report. It's really annoying so the fact that you went this deep, with enlightening information, is fantastic. 

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Greetings all,

Updates for Adobe Photography products have been released.  The June 2023 updates contain a fix for this issue. 

If you do not see the update in your Creative Cloud Application, you can refresh it by hitting [Ctrl/Cmd]+[Alt/Opt]+[ R ].

Note: It may take up to 24 hours for your update to be available in your Creative Cloud app.

Thank you for your patience.

[John R Ellis]

Mac LR 12.4 appears to avoid the problem by treating fixed media containing a DCIM folder as non-removable (just as Win LR does), and for such disks Import no longer provides an Eject option.

So I think this means that Cfexpress cards will now be treated by Mac LR the same as by Windows LR, as external disks: No option to Eject but options to Add and Move.