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.
   
   
   

[The Keeper of the Garden]

I can share the zipped catalog file with you, but this is a very, very strange way of doing things. You get to see all my work...

[The Keeper of the Garden]

I've tested this, once again, with a NEW catalog. Same problem! So it's got nothing to do with the catalog file, and everything with a BUG in LrC!

[Paul Green Photography]

I've read all sorts of other posts. Tried a bunch of things. This is a very annoying problem. 

Lightroom Classic 11.3.1

Mac OS Big Sur 11.5.2

Catalogue has approx 400,000 photos.

Catalog tells me 'all synced photos' = 0

Online Lightroom tells me "All photos" = 1263

Prefs panel Uploads = 0

Prefs panel Sync Activity = 0,0,0

Cloud Storage panel (Upper right cloud icon that sometimess shows up) "All synced"

I have no arrows next to collections.

I have no option to share in drop downs from Collections

Would like sync to work again please.

[jnwbr]

Unfortunately even the latest update to Classic doesn't fix the missing sync icons for Collections. Apparently only the AI stuff is worth working on now? Come on Adobe.

[Rob_Cullen]

By "Latest" do you mean v13.1 ?

You need a version Higher than v11.4 to be able to Sync.

https://helpx.adobe.com/au/lightroom-classic/kb/upgrade-required-syncing-with-lightroom-mobile.html

Do you use multiple LrC Catalogs?  Only one catalog can be set to sync.  Open any other catalog (than the one that is synced) and sync will not be available.

Are you attempting to mark standard Collections to Sync. Smart Collections and Collection Sets cannot be synced.

If your Cloud icon (top-right of screen) says you are synced and online (ie, not 'paused') then the sync icons against Standard Collections should be visible with a Cursor mouse-over. If not visible then some have found a restart of LrC restores them. And how many photos have you added to Standard Collections that you expect to sync? (Not the 400,000?)

[jnwbr]

13.1

Only syncing one catalog.

Sync is not paused.

Restart of LR does not restore the sync icons.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Actually, no. There are no previews or originals in the catalog. I can see data but not pixels.  In the repair process, I only open the catalog in Classic to see that it still opens after repair. They are a grid of blank thumbnails.

It is up to you. 

[The Keeper of the Garden]

No previews, no, but all my keywords, presets, camera settings, private data, names of people, location information, etc. etc. etc. Thanks but no, thanks. Actually, I've already "repaired" the file using sqlite3. It didn't make any difference. And like I said already two or three times above: I have the same issue with a brand new catalog file! So it's not the file itself, it's LrC, the app or anything related to or working together with the app.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

We've at least three persons in this state now, and I've merged the threads together and forwarded this thread to engineering for review. 

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Engineering is requesting:

From LrC 13.1 

• Go to Settings/Preferences
• "Lightroom Sync" tab
• Hold down the [Opt] and generate the [Generate Diagnostic Report] 
• Share with us the resultant log.

Thanks for your assistance

[The Keeper of the Garden]

How do we share the resulting .zip file?...

[jnwbr]

Same question about sharing.

After 3 quits and restarts of LR, the sync marks returned. Then after a while going back and forth between other programs, they disappeared. 3 more restarts and nothing. This is ridiculous.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

@The Keeper of the Garden @jnwbr The best way to share a diagnostic log is to upload it to a file-sharing service like Dropbox or similar. Once uploaded, direct message me the download link and I will pass that along to engineering for them to pull the file down. 

[d.bydand]

Sent

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Noted. I've passed your link onto the team. Please leave the file in place for a week or so to ensure the team has pulled it and has everything they need. Thank you!

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

For those on the thread who are experiencing the issue, the Lightroom Classic team has asked if you could perform the following test. 

Close Lightroom Classic 

Navigate to:
On Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/config.lua
On Windows: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Adobe\Lightroom\config.lua

If the config.lua file does not exist, you can create it with a text editor.  Insert into that config.lua file this line: 
Features.forceSyncInit = true

Save the file and restart Lightroom Classic. 

Any difference?

[The Keeper of the Garden]

File didn't exist.

Created it.

Inserted the text line.

(Re)started LrC.

Made no difference.

I'm going to DM you the link to the zip file with the diagnostic report.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

I've grabbed the link and forwarded it to the team for download. Please leave the log up at least two weeks before pulling it down. 

[d.bydand]

This is above my pay grade, LOL.

When I go into Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/

I see a bunch of folders - Auto Layout presets, colour profiles, develop presets, device icons, etc. but all folders have nothing that ends in .lua.

I don't understand what I am creating with a text editor. 

[d.bydand]

When I open Lightroom, the little box to check if you want to sync does not appear, but syncing is turned on, and it says synced.  It only recognizes the sync album bolt on launch holding down shift/option. Once I close and reopen Lightroom without holding down the shift/option, no box or bolt appears again. 

Any advice?

Macbook Pro

2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7.

Lightroom 13.1

[Sean McCormack]

I've seen this occasionally and usually restarting Lightroom Classic corrects it for me. It's not predictable. Shift + Option on restart is for resetting preferences, which hasn't made a difference on this for me. I think it's something server side and it's pure bad luck when it goes wrong. 

I was confused by your initial description because you only get the information block explaining Sync on first catalog launch. You don't need to see it every time. Once set it stays set. 

[d.bydand]

But I cannot select anything else to sync because the little box is not there to click on. It disappears unless I reset my preferences, but then it disappears again. So whenever I want to sync a new collection, I need to reset my preferences so the box appears and will let me check the lightning bolt. On the next relaunch, it will be gone again. Gosh, I hope that makes sense! 

[Sean McCormack]

Try the suggestion from Rikk Flohr above with the config.lua file

[The Keeper of the Garden]

Won't work. I tried that with no luck.

[Sean McCormack]

Just because it hasn't worked for you, doesn't mean it won't work here. Even if it doesn't it establishes that this suspected cause isn't the issue. 

And yep, they're all on holiday.