P: Syncing no longer possible - sync icons do not appear

[The Keeper of the Garden]

Syncing Collections is no longer possible in LrC 13.0.1. on macOS Sonoma 14.1.1.

1. Syn is on (in LrC and in Adobe Creative Cloud app on desktop).
2. No error messages anywhere (not in LrC, not on Lightroom on the Web, not in Adobe Creative Cloud app on desktop).
3. Collections cannot sync because "Sync with Lightroom" command (on right-click) is not present/available/visible.
   
   
   

[daleducatte]

I just recently starting synching collections in early December after buying a new iPad Air. Right off, I encountered the problem being discussed here, which occurred whenever I hadn't used Lightroom Classic for a few hours (sounds weird, I know); and whenever I launched LRC after restarting the computer. The circumventions worked fine, and I usually used Pause/Start to get the synch going (although I should mention that the synch icons reappeared as soon as I pressed Pause even if I didn't select Start).

Since I could reproduce it every time I restarted the computer, I tried a few things like editing the images that were supposed to be synching, removing them from the collections and adding them back, switching between modules, some other things I don't remember -- none of which worked. Then I tried something that did work, after seeing some comments here about a possible server-side problem.

I rebooted the computer, started LRC and (as expected) the synch didn't start. I'm normally connected to the internet via Ethernet, but wondered what would happen if I used Wi-Fi instead. So I turned on Wi-Fi... and the synch icons appeared immediately.

Then I exited Lightroom, turned off Wi-Fi, rebooted the computer, launched Lightroom -- and the synch started right away. Going on three weeks now, the problem has not reoccurred.

This may not help anyone, but I thought I'd share it since I had a repeatable scenario where I could reproduce the problem and seem to have hit on a solution that (so far) has worked. And maybe it provides some insight into what might be going wrong. 

[The Keeper of the Garden]

I find it an absolute scandal that the essential function of Syncing Collections in LrC is broken since more than two months and that there isn't even an announcement, let alone a release that repairs what is broken, from Adobe. All that's been demanded from Adobe is logs and more logs, tests and more tests, from the users who pay (!) for something that is no longer working. I consider this bug just one more added to the growing list of bugs and annoyances in LrC. LrC is now a mammoth that is slow to work with, with an increasingly complicated interface (dodging and burning needs masking now, and thus far more clicks than ever before!), features that don't belong in real photography but in digital imaging (there's always been PhotoShop - what's in a name... - for that!), and fleas and bugs that may soon make the heavyweight obsolete and extinct.
I rant, yes, I complain, yes, I am not satisfied anymore, and with good reason: I pay for something that worked flawlessly since so many years, and now is no longer functioning, together with the fact that Published Folders, created a few years ago, can't be renamed without LrC creating a second folder and not renaming the original one in Finder.
It's a scandal. 

[TDC3000]

I have noticed recently that Lightroom Classic (Desktop 13.1, Mac OS Sonoma 14.3, MacBook M3Pro) intermittently starts up with sync seemingly disabled even though it's turned on. The cloud icon has the green check in it, but the sync icon next to the synced collections are not there.  I have fixed this by shutting down and restarting the app. Clicking Pause/Restart sync in the upper right does not do anything.

Sync itself works fine, there are no errors and everything syncs as it should (grateful for Adobe's work here!).

Wondering if this is a bug that others have noticed? 

[The Keeper of the Garden]

I've reported this at the end of November 2023. Until now, and after many tests and uploading logs to Adobe engineering, nothing has been done about it, no news, no updates, nothing. It's a serious bug and Adobe seems to ignore it completely.

[TDC3000]

Thanks for combining threads here. Indeed I have the same issue you've been reporting. I am glad you did all of the other recommended actions as well. I look forward to a resolution as well. If anyone wants logs from me, let me know (and remind me how to produce them). 

oh, and FWIW I received 10 upvotes almost immediately on my first post making me believe these are bots. However, via this thread it's clear this is not a problem isolated to 1 user. 

[micheloupatrick]

I've noticed that too for a few weeks (can't say exactly when it started) : sometimes when I launch LR Classic the cloud icon has the green check in it, but the sync icon next to the synced collections are missing and nothing is actually syncing. I have to close LRC an relaunch it, or pause / restarting syncing.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Engineering is requesting additional logs from those affected by this issue. 

1.  Close Lightroom Classic
2.  Restart your Computer
3.  Open Lightroom Classic 
4.  Verify Syncing is on or turn it back on
5.  Let the application sit idle for 5 minutes

1. Go to Preferences
2. Lightroom Sync tab
3. Hold down [Alt/Opt]
4. Click [Generate Diagnostic Log]

When you have a new log to share, upload it to a cloud sharing service (Dropbox or similar) and then direct message me the link so that I can pass it along to those working on the issue. 

Thank you for your patience. 

[The Keeper of the Garden]

Done!

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Additionally, can you send logs from the Documents folder if any as well? 

[The Keeper of the Garden]

There are 28 files in that LrClassicLogs folder. Only one of them (PluginParam.log) was created today. I'm uploading that one only and will send you its link. Is that OK? 

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

It would be better to collect clean logs. Move the files in that location to a separate folder for safekeeping.  Restart the computer as before and run it for about 20 minutes. Afterwards, we can grab the newly created logs from the cleaned-out folder.

[The Keeper of the Garden]

As I said before, I'm fed up. So don't push me further or I will add to all these logs an invoice to Adobe for all the loss of money and time I've incurred since November.
I don't see what you mean with "clean logs"??? Like I said, there is only one log created today. All the others are of weeks ago. They don't seem to matter, logically speaking, because Adobe engineering asked us to do this new test today, not weeks ago.

I'm fed up. Really fed up.
If I'm to do any more testing and logging, that will have to be paid by Adobe. Their engineers are being well paid for the job, whilst I and others have lost thousands of euros not being able to sync any collection reliably with clients or buyers, since November! I've had to delete all sync data several times in order to find out what's going on. No more. No more tests. No more logging. It's been enough! I want - no, I demand - a solution from engineers who should know their own software well enough to debug it using all the information I have given from the start. The symptoms are clear: LrC "thinks" that Sync is on when it is started up, showing the green tick sign on the Sync cloud icon in the upper right corner of the User Interface. However, the sync options are turned off, no double arrows, no way of creating a collection and making it sync, no way of adding new photos to a synced collection and make them sync. Since November, syncing is no longer reliable as it is switched off when it says it is switched on. And workarounds are not a solution and only work until the next time LrC is started. Enough is enough.
If there's no solution before the end of February, I'm quitting Adobe software altogether.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

@The Keeper of the Garden   I am sorry are 'fed up'. Feel free to ignore any future data requests. Previous logs submitted by you and others have failed to identify the issue, and it is hoped that additional fresh information will reveal the issue. Hopefully, others on this thread are willing to continue to participate in identifying and resolving this issue. 

I wish you well. 

[TDC3000]

Done as well.

I was going to relate that I hadn't experienced the problem recently, but it happened again just now. A restart of the computer didn't make a difference, but turning sync on and off did. When the problem was happening, syncing icon was turned on (Green check in cloud) but no syncing was happening and there were no sync icons next to synced collection. Togglling sync status fixed it.

Hope this helps and thanks for acknowledging the problem and seeking to correct it!

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

@TDC3000 Thanks for the log. See my comments in the direct message. 

[TDC3000]

You're welcome, sent those files as well - question - is this a folder (Documents/Adobe) that was created as part of the diagnostic process, ie does it need to exist for Lightroom/Photoshop, or can I delete it? It looks like it was not created when I did the diagnostic.  It's not very big size-wise... 

Please let me/us know, thanks!

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

@TDC3000  Perfect for now. Let's see what engineering has to say after reviewing them.

[The Keeper of the Garden]

LrC 13.2: Bug still present! One week to go before "bye, bye Adobe!"...

[TDC3000]

The bug is definitely present on LrC 13.2, happened when I first opened up the app. Toggling sync off and on is the temporary workaround until this is fixed. I hope this will help people track it down as it persists across versions.

Thanks for keeping us posted, Rick/Team.

[The Keeper of the Garden]

I appreciate your help, but in debugging software it's important to be precise. I gather "toggling sync off and on" did not really "fix it". Doing that just "repairs" the broken sync options *temporarily*, i.e. until quitting and restarting LrC.  

[TDC3000]

I updated my post above with the additional precision! Thanks!

[The Keeper of the Garden]

Three days left before I quit using Adobe products.
Apparently, engineering doesn't care to solve this problem or they are simply unable to do so. Therefore, one word of advice to them: Like I said from the start, now four months ago, this bug happens when starting LrC and having the catalog open automatically. The bug does NOT happen when I double-click on the catalog to start up LrC using that catalog. 
This means that the problem should be searched for in the element that makes a difference between: starting up LrC by double-clicking it and have the catalog open automatically VERSUS double-clicking the catalog file and have LrC start up using that catalog. If that doesn't pinpoint the area in which to look for the bug, then I can't help anymore and I will quit Adobe forever, having used its products for over 25 years.

[The Keeper of the Garden]

Incredible, just totally incredible.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

The engineering team has thus far been unable to identify the issue based on the information provided.  They are requesting additional logging be enabled and those logs returned. 

In ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/, a config.lua file needs to be placed. It will enable the logging. 

1. Verify if this folder exists: ~Documents/Adobe/Lightroom it is empty (don't worry if it isn't present)
2. Close Lightroom 
3. Into: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/ place the config.lua file
4. Open Lightroom
5. Recreate the failure
6. Close Lightroom
7. Collect the logs at ~Documents/Adobe/Lightroom and zip them into a single file. 
8.  Direct message a download link to @Rikk Flohr: Photography 

Regarding the config.lua file. This file cannot be attached to this forum. You can download it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EAwmwTiQJKWsRr7x_o_59D2WItkv15df/view?usp=drive_link 

Thanks for continuing to help diagnose and thank you for your patience. 

[TDC3000]

Thanks for continuing to figure this out, we'll do what we can to help.

Can you provide a download link for the config.lua file that doesn't require a request for access? Currently it says "access denied" - thanks!