LR Classic 13.0.1 writing to XMP when nothing has changed

[Dave Eagle]

Having upgraded to LR Classic 13, I have been having no end of issues with LR taking ages to write XMP updates.  This usually manifests itself when I go to quit LR, with one of two different messages that LR is still writing changes to XMP, I then have to leave LR running for another 5 minutes or so while it finishes.. However.....just checking on disk activity, I can see LR Classic is updating over 4900 images and I havent even started any edits in this session, what in earth is going on?

LR writing to XMP is slow at the best of times, but to start writing that volume of changes for no apparent reason is just ridiculous.

Any ideas how to solve/speed this up? 

[John R Ellis · Accepted solution]

When Adobe adds new develop settings in a release, it can think that existing .xmp files are out of date, since they don't contain the new settings.  Something similar happens with publish services thinking a photo is modified and needs republishing because of the new develop settings.

I don't think this is the best design.

[DdeGannes]

@John R Ellis , I personally use LrC in it's default mode i.e. I work with "Automatically write Metadata to XMP" deselected.
 Surely if what you are suggesting is the problem then there should be some suggestion offered to users to complete the updating of the XMP update as quickly as possible.

[Dave Eagle]

Hi all, I don't want to tempt fate, but have been using LRC 13.0.1 for a while now, and the XMP delay has gone away. LRC is starting up andclosing down OK now. It must be a cache problem, and with 90k of images its taken a while to resolve.

Fingers crossed!

[Dave Eagle]

I knew I was tempting fate, it does seem that any images that are browsed, and that do not have the new settings get updated and the XMP rewritten. Additionally, the previews have to be reconstructed, even basic elements like the crop take a while to get reapplied. 

[lasers100]

Having a similar problem all of a sudden.  Write XMP automatically is checked.  Pause is not enabled.  Running LRC 13.0.2.1

At every close I am now waiting for LRC to write changes.  Closed app and opened again, checked Prefs, all OK.  Suddenly it's telling me over 20K images need to be updated.  Where did that come from?  Need a solution.  Thanks, Bill

[DdeGannes]

@lasers100 ,

Lightroom Classic was updated on Dec 13th 2023, it may help if you download and install it's Version 13.1.

Seei the post at the top of the forum.

[andrewm99048561]

I reported this too, when LRC 13 first came out, and didn't seem to be believed by Adobe support.  I went back to LRC 12.  I've just installed the new update, 13.1.  Started it up, exited without importing or editing.  It took 50 minutes to write xmp files.  I started it again straight away, then exited without making any changes.  Again, it is writing metadata changes to xmp files. Possibly fewer this time, as after 5 minutes it is at 9.5%.

My earlier report - https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/writing-metatdata-changes-into-xmp-on-e...

ETA: It took 50 minutes again, the second time I exited. Third time around it looks set to be the same once more.  Exiting with LRC 12 was straight away with no delay or warnings.  What has changed?

ETA2:  Third time took 50 minutes, 4th time looks to be doing the same. Very strange, clearly not actually doing anything useful.  I think I'll be going back to LRC 12 again.

ETA3: After the Fifth (5th) time, it now exits without stopping for 50 minutes to write to xmp; but still takes a couple of minutes to exit, which was not the case with LRC 12.

ETA4: It took longer to exit on subsequent runs (without the message about xmp files), and then hung.  Back to LRC 12 again now; I simply do not have the time to waste, I have photos that need to be edited.

[Lufthansen]

I have mixed feelings here: On one hand I am grateful to find there are more than me struggling with the sluggish Lightroom. On the other hand I feel sorry for you. I have struggled with getting any version of Lightroom (since 2013) to handle metadata in a timely fashion, and have spent more than 500 hours (documented) on chat/remote support/phone to get Adobe to understand that it is vital to a photographer to be able to meet deadlines, i.e. being able to enter/search/alter metadata without having to wait for minutes, sometimes hours for the software to update. Even worse scenario: After culling/sorting/adding metadata for - let's say 8 hours, the program crashes. Despite promises that the metadata will be written to the files next time it starts, it doesn't, so now your next 24 hours of work consists of detective work in your images to find out which images got the new metadata and which ones did not. Adobe does not seem to understand the importance of Digital Asset Management (outside of 2-3000 images, that is), and would rather spend time on developing AI filters (that I obviously cannot use for ethical reasons) than to fix the handling of the most elementary part of the program; a fast and reliable handling of the metadata. Before you say I should change computer: This happens to me on multiple computers, with ample ram and cpu, fast raids and ssd's and more than capable gpu's. This is not a hardware issue.  It is a lag issue that has been around for at least 10 years, and it has yet to be resolved properly. I dread the day Adobe starts making cars: imagine steering left to avoid an obstacle in the road, only to have to wait for hours before the car reacts. That's how not funny I find this issue of lag not being resolved. One tip (which clearly points to the issue being Lr's handling of the sql): Closing the keywording dialogue seems to reduce the lag by half. Another tip: Check read/write permissions in the Adobe system folders (appdata etc)

[Uncorked Jen]

Nothing additional to add besides I also seem to be having this issue with 13.1 and Mac 14.2.1. My LR Classic catalog is literally at a hault.