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Question

My catalog gets corrupted very frequently

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
August 22, 2021
8 replies
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I have a problem with my catalog which gets corrupted very frequently and I have to create new catalogs, one after the other.

I am aware that this problem always happens when there is an interruption of energy between the computer where Lightroom Classic is installed and the external drive where the catalog is saved. I am told that I should have the catalog and the files in the same location. But, how could I do this if the computer has a limited local hard drive? I need to have an external hard drive to storage all the photos (raw files) plus the edited files.

I need some help.

Windows

This topic has been closed for replies.

Todd Shaner

Legend

Download the WD Drive Utility and install it.

Windows

https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=171

Mac

https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=157

Next download the WD Drive Utility manual and follow the instructions on page 27 to set the Sleep Timer to OFF. By default it is set to power down the drive after 30 minutes, which may be what's causing your disconnect issue.

https://documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en_us/assets/public/wd/product/external-storage/my_book/my-book-new/my-book-new-user-manual.pdf

T

Teresa TeixeiraAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thank you so much for your reply and help. I will do immediately what you
say, and then let you know the results.

Thank ou again

Regards

Todd Shaner

Legend

794 GB available on the external USB drive should not be causing this issue. What I suspect is that the USB drive is going into low power standby mode, which causes the disconnect in LrC. What exact make and model USB drive are you using?

T

Teresa TeixeiraAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thank you for your reply. Where can I get this information?: "What exact
make and model USB drive are you using?"
If you mean the external hard drive? It is a WD (Western Digital) My
Passport 25E USB device (4 TB).

Thank you again.

KR Seals

Community Expert

@Teresa Teixeira I'm sorry if I wasn't clear in my answer. I am recommending that the Lightroom Classic catalog and the associated PREWIEW files should be on the internal drive. The photo image files can continue to be on an external drive. However, you need to determine why the external drive is not maintaining a good connection. Drive failing? Bad cable?

As you add photos to your catalog, the .lrcat file will slowly grow along with the preview files. This is reason enough to have a big internal drive. 1TB would probably be optimum.

Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.

Todd Shaner

Legend

The LrC folder can be on a different drive than the imported and exported image files. How much freespace do you have on the system drive and what size is the LrC folder on the USB drive?

T

Teresa TeixeiraAuthor

Participating Frequently

On the system space I have now 24,7 GB free (of 117 GB), and the LrC folder
is on a USB drive with 794 GB (of 3,63 TB).

Thank you for your attention.

DdeGannes

Community Expert

Ok.

Regards, Denis: iMac 27” mid-2015, macOS 11.7.10 Big Sur; 2TB SSD, 24 GB Ram, GPU 2 GB; LrC 12.5,; Lr 6.5, PS 24.7,; ACR 15.5,; (also Laptop Win 11, ver 24H2, LrC 15.0.1, PS 27.0; ) Camera Oly OM-D E-M1.

JP Hess

Inspiring

I would agree. It would be best to have your catalog, previews and other associated Lightroom files on the internal computer hard drive. The image files can be stored on the external hard drive with no problem. If the internal hard drive is so small that it cannot handle the catalog and other Lightroom files then you need to consider upgrading that internal hard drive. Preferably it should be a SSD.

KR Seals

Community Expert

The situation you describe is intolerable for productive use of Lightroom Classic.

You definitely need to have the catalog and previews on your internal drive (hopefully an SSD). If that drive is limited in space, do what you can to delete/uninstall unneeded apps and any thing in the operating system "photos" folder. That folder could be relocated to the external drive. Also, check your "downloads" folder for files you no longer need. Otherwise, upgrade the internal drive to a larger one. A computer repair shop can do that for you. If that is not possible on your computer, get a newer computer with a larger internal drive.

Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.

T

Teresa TeixeiraAuthor

Participating Frequently

I understand what you say and I really thank you for your advice. But, do
you think that is possible to have everything in the computer, when you are
a photographer and have thousands of raw files and this is growing everyday?

dj_paige

Legend

The Catalog should be on the internal drive. The photos can be on another drive. (Or you can keep the catalog on an external drive, this will probably slow it down, but as long as the drive is continuously connected, you shouldn't get catalog corruption)

GoldingD

Legend

when there is an interruption of energy  between the computer where Lightroom Classic is installed and the external drive

Why are you having this interruption?

Do you mean you loose power?

Or perhaps the drive goes asleep to save electricity?

T

Teresa TeixeiraAuthor

Participating Frequently

I am not sure. I hear a sound typical of that sound when you disconnect the
hard drive without closing it, immediately Lightroom fives a notice that it
cannot find the catalog. It is a connection via USB. I have changed the
cable, but it still happened.

GoldingD

Legend

Check your power management options. You do not want to let Windows power down those hard drives to save power while running LrC

https://www.itsupportguides.com/knowledge-base/windows-10/windows-10-how-to-control-hard-drive-power-down/

DdeGannes

Community Expert

How is the external drive connected USB? If so you can try another cable and and or USB port.

Provide specs of the external drive including capacity and actual free space available.

Regards, Denis: iMac 27” mid-2015, macOS 11.7.10 Big Sur; 2TB SSD, 24 GB Ram, GPU 2 GB; LrC 12.5,; Lr 6.5, PS 24.7,; ACR 15.5,; (also Laptop Win 11, ver 24H2, LrC 15.0.1, PS 27.0; ) Camera Oly OM-D E-M1.

T

Teresa TeixeiraAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thank you for your answer. I have tried another USB cable and it did not help.

On the system space I have now 24,7 GB free (of 117 GB), and the LrC folder
is on a USB drive with 794 GB (of 3,63 TB). (I have already said this to JimHess who kindly replied tome, as you can see).

Maybe I have here all the ansers I needed.

Thank you again.

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