Lightroom 6 not responding

[Marby]

Well I am absolutely miffed that LR decided to not open after working perfectly well for 2 years on Windows 10. Nothing hs changed, no software update etc and yet when I try and open the program it hangs endlessly. I have tried everything, including rolling back windows to an earlier date, to no avail. As I haven't backed up the catalogue (thinking the xmp files were checked to write, which I have now found were NOT) I can't afford to lose all the 2 years worth of edits that must be locked into the programe.

Is there any way I can rescue them, or better still, get LR running again ? My older LR 5.7 still opens but I need 6 with improved features. 

I have a clone of my system drive if that I could copy over (in the hope of fixing any corrupt files) but I need to know where LR stores all its edit info for each file so I don't wipe over them. But my maion concern is why LR has just stooped opening.

[GoldingD]

When you click on View Detailed Info, what is presented?

[GoldingD]

In the future keep multiple backups. The xmp files would not be a proper backup of the catalog. Do not keep backups on the same drive as whatever you are backing up.. And remember the photos are not in the catalog,  they need their own backup.

[Marby]

Hi, Yes, I keep my images on a seperate drive to the main system drive and also back them up on an external usb drive. I wrongly assumed with my last 2 years of images edited, LR was saving xmp files to their folders. Hence why I am paniking at LR not opening. Xmp files leave a much smaller footprint on your drive than a full catalogue backup, but in this instance I am wishing I did just that. 

[GoldingD]

Do you stll have either a CD/DVD of the Lr 6 install or a downloaded file?

[Marby]

I have the disk for LR 5 but subsequent versions I think were downloaded from Adobe direct. I don't want to re-install as I will lose all the edits of my images in the catalogue file withng LR 6 ( not backed up unfortunatley)  

[johnrellis]

"I don't want to re-install as I will lose all the edits of my images in the catalogue file withng LR 6"

Uninstalling and reinstalling LR 6.14 won't touch your catalog -- it will still be available for the reinstalled LR 6 to open. Even if you can't get LR 6.14 working again on your computer, LR 10 (soon, LR 11) will find the catalog and upgrade it to the LR 10 format.

[johnrellis]

"I need to know where LR stores all its edit info for each file"

LR stores all edits and other metadata in its catalog file (a .lrcat file). You can find it by doing Edit > Catalog Settings > General > Show, which will open File Explorer on the folder containing the .lrcat file.

Assuming your catalog file hasn't been corrupted by hardware failure (and if it has, you have a recent valid backup), you don't need .xmp files to recover all your edits.

[Marby]

Hi, As I can't open Lightroom to view this .lrcat file, how can I find it please ? I have searched in  the Adobe folders in App data with no results. 

[DdeGannes]

By default the Lightroom Catalog file would be stored in your user files > your user name> Pictures (Mac)/ My Picturers (Win) > Lightroom. The Lightroom Catalog (.LRCAT) and ancillary files will be in that sub folder. Lightroom is the only application that will open the Catalog file.

[johnrellis]

"As I can't open Lightroom to view this .lrcat file, how can I find it please ?"

Right, of course. To build on Denis's reply, if you can't find the .lrcat file in the default location, use File Explore to search your entire computer for .lrcat files (there won't be many of them).

[Marby]

Really appreciating all the suggestions here everyone.

Ok, I have a main C drive with my system, and a D drive with my images. My newly imported images seem to default to the C drive. When edited, I put them into my D drive, in their various folders using LR. So I am asuming there will be edit references for photos on each drive that have been edited in LR ?

Anyway, just done a search of the whole computer (I still have LR 5.7 installed which confuses things even more) and here are screenshots of the location of the latest .lrcat files up till 3rd October 2021, which is when the programe failed to open in the evening, but as it has writted the date as being the 3rd Oct, I must have used the programe earlier in the day, but unfortunatley can't remember if I did or not.

[dj_paige]

When edited, I put them into my D drive, in their various folders using LR. So I am asuming there will be edit references for photos on each drive that have been edited in LR ?

Yes, the catalog contains the edits and the references to where the photos are located. The files (or associated xmp sidecar files) do not contain the edits unless you specifically have turned on an option to cause this to happen. When you "put them into my D drive", are you doing this with Lightroom or with your operating system? If you do it with your operating system, then Lightroom does not konw where the files are and you have to instruct Lightroom to reconnect.

From now on, you would be better off if you imported the photos directly to the D drive, instead of importing them to the C drive and then moving them.

Many of us will not donwload attachments to look at them, and so I have no idea what your screen captures show. Please in the future, use the "Insert Photos" icon to include your screen captures in your reply.

[Marby]

Sorry about that, here is the actual image. I thought it had posted as an image to be honest. 

[GoldingD]

So, why does that lock file exist if lightroom is not running. The lockfile gets created when you start lightroom. The lockfile gets deleted when you close lightroom. The lockfile dies not get deleted if lightroom crashes, or you force quit. The purpose of the lick file is to prevent more than one instance of a catalog being open. Delete the lock file

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/kb/lightroom-error-catalog-cannot-be-opened-lrcat-lock.htm...

[Marby]

LR will not open. It just gets to the main page and nothing loads up, and the programe is unresponsive to any mouse activity. The only way to get rid of it is to end task in task manager. 

[Marby]

I have deleted the lock file but when I tried to open LR the same thing happens, it just hangs endlessly and doesn't open. When I end task to shut it down, another lock file is replaced in the same folder. 

[johnrellis]

Have you run through the troubleshooting steps?

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/lightroom-6-not-responding/m-p/12433060... 

[Marby]

Yes, I have tried resetting preferences by pressing Alt + Shift which bought up the option to do this but again LR does not load. I do not want to re-install as I will lose all the 2 years of image edits contained in this instilation.

This is a screenshot of how far it gets. Not even a swirling blue arrow now. The only way to get rid of it is to end task in task manager.

[johnrellis]

"I do not want to re-install as I will lose all the 2 years of image edits contained in this instilation."

I've already explained that reinstalling or updating to a new version won't delete any existing catalogs and thus won't delete your existing image edits. Why do you believe otherwise?

[Marby]

I do believe you but I have a lot of edits riding on this, and to be fair, we haven't got to the bottom of why it has suddenly stopped working, My question was why can't I just drag and drop the Adobe LR files over from my backed up cloned drive which will overwrite my possibly corrupt ones. For LR to open as much as the first screen and then nothing is very unusual,

[johnrellis]

"we haven't got to the bottom of why it has suddenly stopped working, My question was why can't I just drag and drop the Adobe LR files over from my backed up cloned drive which will overwrite my possibly corrupt ones. For LR to open as much as the first screen and then nothing is very unusual,"

You're likely not going to get to the bottom of why LR stopped working. The best you can hope for is to try a number of standard troubleshooting steps that have worked in the past and hope that one of them will get your LR working again. 

A LR installation consists of more than copying appplication files to one folder, both on Windows and Mac, so it's not surpising that copying some of the files from a backup wouldn't fix an installation that's gone wrong. The "incompatible program" error in your first screenshot strongly hits that there may be an issue with your installation.   So doing a clean uninstall / reinstall as detailed in the Adobe help article is a natural next troubleshooting step that over the years has helped others whose LR doesn't fully start. 

If you remain concerned that the installation will delete your LR catalog folder containing your edits, then make extra backup copies of the folder.  In the case of catalogs, it's well-established that copying the entire catalog folder is an effective means of backup that works.

[Marby]

 Thanks, I appreciate the suggestions (which I will try) but you say LR was a wbad instilation, and yet it has worked fine for 2.5 years with no problems till now. Surely it would have not worked right from day 1 ? What makes it confusing is LR 5.7 is also installed on my PC. I also am not sure where the catalogue files are stored in my folders, as I did share screenshots with quite a few. 

[dj_paige]

Anyway, just done a search of the whole computer (I still have LR 5.7 installed which confuses things even more) and here are screenshots of the location of the latest .lrcat files up till 3rd October 2021, which is when the programe failed to open in the evening, but as it has writted the date as being the 3rd Oct, I must have used the programe earlier in the day, but unfortunatley can't remember if I did or not.

You are not showing searches of the whole computer.

[Marby]

It is the whole computer as the root starts at "This pc" which includes all the drives.