Problem with catalog backup when I close

[Forssbeckj]

Lightroom classic v13.1

MacOS Sonoma v14.2.1

Problem: When i close LCC it normally makes a security copy of actual catalog but now it wont work.

I have all the catalogs for LCC on external hard drive. After I replaced the external hard drive, it no longer works.

I get a message in red that my earlier choosen folder isn't available, se enclosed picture (in swedish)

What can I do?

[kglad]

in the future, to find the best place to post your message, use the list here, https://community.adobe.com/

p.s. i don't think the adobe website, and forums in particular, are easy to navigate, so don't spend a lot of time searching that forum list. do your best and we'll move the post (like this one has already been moved) if it helps you get responses.

<"moved from cc desktop">

[Rob_Cullen]

Choose a 'new' location for the backup when the Backup dialog opens.

See if that fixes the problem.

[Forssbeckj]

Thanks Rob for your answer!
I have tried to choose a new forder om my externa hard drive, I have tried to save it on my macs hard drive.
But without success, I recieve the exact same error. 
The old external hard drive that it referres to is gone. 
There must be a way to ride over my old settings, maybe I have to reinstall LCC?

[JohanElzenga]

Thanks Rob for your answer!
I have tried to choose a new forder om my externa hard drive, I have tried to save it on my macs hard drive.
But without success, I recieve the exact same error. 
The old external hard drive that it referres to is gone. 
There must be a way to ride over my old settings, maybe I have to reinstall LCC?

By @Forssbeckj

Did you actually make that backup catalog after you selected the new drive? If you only select it and then do not make the backup, then this choice will not 'stick', so next time you'll get the same error again.

[Forssbeckj]

Thank you Johan for that suggestion.
I think that´s exacly what happened! 

Is there a way to get around this problem?

[JohanElzenga]

Thank you Johan for that suggestion.
I think that´s exacly what happened! 

Is there a way to get around this problem?

By @Forssbeckj

I already gave to that answer. You simply have to select a new destination folder and then let Lightroom make the backup. That is all. From now on that new destination will be the destination Lightroom will always use.

[Forssbeckj]

I have tried that, and it doesn´t work. I have selected new folder on my macs harddrive, I have tried on a second external harddrive. But it won´t work. 
I always get the same error message - LCC can´t find my old destiation on my old external harddrive. A drive I don´t have any longer.
I thought you ment that I´m in a loop because I didn´t finish the backup on my old harddrive, and that´s the reason it can´t be saved somewhere else.
I wonder if I have to delete LCC from my mac, and then reinstall it. Hopefully it then will have forgotten any connections to my old hard drive. 

[JohanElzenga]

I have tried that, and it doesn´t work. I have selected new folder on my macs harddrive, I have tried on a second external harddrive. But it won´t work. 
I always get the same error message - LCC can´t find my old destiation on my old external harddrive. A drive I don´t have any longer.
I thought you ment that I´m in a loop because I didn´t finish the backup on my old harddrive, and that´s the reason it can´t be saved somewhere else.
I wonder if I have to delete LCC from my mac, and then reinstall it. Hopefully it then will have forgotten any connections to my old hard drive. 

By @Forssbeckj

Reinstalling will almost certainly not help. Reset the preferences and then try again. Lightroom does not have to finish anything. The dialog just shows a warning that the previous location is not available, that is all. There is no error that stops Lightroom making backups, it just warns you it can't use that old location. You can simply ignore this warning, but of course you don't want to have to select the correct destination each time: 

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-do-i-reset-lightrooms-preferences/

[Forssbeckj]

Thanks again for yor answer!
I have now tried all three options to reset my LCC preferences. But my problem remains.
I have also tried to use new folder for the backup file, without any good result.

I always get tte message "Failed to backup directory "Ligtroom...."". Check folder permissions and make sure you have enough space on the backup and main directory drive. 
Frustrating 😞

[JohanElzenga · Accepted solution]

This is the first time that you say that the backup itself fails! So far, you only mentioned getting that error message about the missing location. If the backup itself fails, then the problem is corruption in your catalog. The backup frequency and backup location are stored in the catalog settings, so this is probably one and the same problem. I have seen this a few times in this forum, and here's how you can normally fix this:

1: Create a brand new catalog.

2: Verify that you can backup this new catalog.

3: Choose 'File - Import from Another Catalog' and select your old catalog.

4: In the dialog that follows, select to import all new photos but do not move them.

5: This will create a copy of your old catalog. Check that you can still make a backup.

If all is well, then this will be your new catalog from now on. If you synced your old catalog, you will have to sync this one. If you used publishing services, you will have to recreate these because those are the only things that won't import.

[Forssbeckj]

Thanks again Johan!

Wow! The problem is gone! Fantastic!

What are your recommendation about my not working catalog? Delete?

[JohanElzenga]

Thanks again Johan!

Wow! The problem is gone! Fantastic!

What are your recommendation about my not working catalog? Delete?

By @Forssbeckj

Yes, delete it. It is obsolete now, and because it was corrupted it serves no purpose to keep it.

[Forssbeckj]

Thanks again! You really made my day!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

[JohanElzenga]

Good to hear! Please mark my answer as correct. That makes it easier for other people having the same problem.

[GoldingD]

Can you copy and paste the test in that error message, so that we can translate it?

[Forssbeckj]

Hi Goldingd!

The red text translated is: The previously selected backup folder is not available. The directory folder is used for backup.

I have no loger that external hard drive. and I think Johan above has figured out the problem. 

[Forssbeckj]

Hi again!
The problem is that LCC wants to make the backup on a placement that no more exists. My correct drive is named "LCC_Bilder" and my old drive that LCC is searching afer was names "Elements".
I hope you might have a clue how I can solve my problem. 

[Sean McCormack]

If you've selected a new drive as suggested and ran the backup, this is a sticky setting and should be retained. 

if not, it's most likely the preferences need resetting as linked by @JohanElzenga 

Have you followed those steps? 

[Forssbeckj]

Hi sean!

Yes, I have. But the problem remains. 

[Sean McCormack]

Have you done a full system restart after resetting preferences? 

[Forssbeckj]

Hi! The ploblem i solved. @JohanElzenga gave me a solution that worked! Thanks for yoyr help!