LR Classic: 'photos not syncing' after power was cut - LR backup not working

[shanejohns]

Yesterday the power was cut off for a minute to my iMac and today when I opened LR no photos were showing and there was a message displayed 'photos not syncing'.  I tried the LR backup (lrcat from the zipped file - the last backup was about a week ago) and still no photos are showing.

When I import photos I do this via a portable external hard drive that is connected to my iMac - this was also disconnected and then reconnected.  

I don't know what to do - last time something happened I was able to relaunch using the LR back up but even this won't work now.

Here's a pic of the screen at the moment

Can anyone help please?  Thank you

[GoldingD]

All Photographs 0. Is this the correct catalog?

[shanejohns]

Hi - yes, I couldn't connect to any catalog but mainly I couldn't use the normal LR backup to relaunch 

[kentdesign]

So if I understand correctly, you have your LR Catalog and all the photos in folders stored on an external drive and it was disconnected at the time of the power outage?

If so, you might try:

1. disconnect that external with all your photo files and your catalog.

2. uninstall LR, then reinstall the application - I presume you are using the Adobe subscription model?

3. Connect your external drive with the catalog and the photo files on it.

4. Launch LR holding down the Option key - so it will ask you which catalog to open.

5. Hunt for the Catalog that used to work and open that one.

Could be the power outage disrupted the links?

[shanejohns]

Thanks very much - what I did in the end was manage to import all the pics by each year (2017-2021) from my external HDD as DNG files.  I guess when I first import photos from an SD card and tell LR to store them in X location (in this case, the external HDD) they are stored there so I found them and have been importing them into LR again.  The edits I made on the images are there but not the history. i.e. all the changes to exposure, shadows, split toning etc.

[kentdesign]

One more though for the future:

Get a UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply and connect your computer and your external drive to that.

It is. not a surge supressor, but rather a back up battery with a surge supressor built in one. If the power fails with your computer on, then you will hear beeping sounds like a truck backing up, so you have time to shut down properly.

Never connect a laser printer to a UPS, cause theydraw too much power. However, you can find UPS with different power levels at reasonable prices. Jus tmake sure it has enough outlets on "battery back up" to plug in the computer and the important drives. I am not an engineer, but I live with one...and he has solved many companies computer ddrive problems with brownouts and blackouts over the years. The companies from small to large ones that used to have hard drive failures all the time and more, stopped having that type of problem once they conected to UPS !

[shanejohns]

Thansk very much for the tip - I'll look into this!  Thanks for your advice on the problem too