Why can I no back up my catalog?

[Ken Nielsen]

For may years I've been able to backup my Lightroom catalog upon quiting, but now I get the message "Unable to backup catalog" after it tries to backup for a minute or so. I've unchecked the option boxes to 'check catalog intergrity' and the other check box but still get the same message. The catalog opens and seems to work fine but I am unable to backup. Any help with this for a solution would be much appreciated.  TIA, Ken

[dj_paige]

Did you follow the advice in the message? Check folder permissions, make sure you have enough space on both drives.

[Ken Nielsen]

Yes, I did that first, releasing permissions to all folders and sub folders where the backup resides on the main hard drive and also there is lots of spare room so no issue there. I've never had to alter permissions or check hard drive space in years past. Something is definitely wrong and I'm suspecting it is because I 'cleaned up' old files and old catalogs from the past off of my hard drive. Something may have gone missing that should not have been deleted but the main catalog and the several accompanying  side files are there and I understand that if anything was needed that Light room would manufacture. The catalog itself opens and works perfectly and I've even benn able to add new additional photos since this problem started a few days agao.

[D Fosse]

I'm suspecting it is because I 'cleaned up' old files and old catalogs from the past off of my hard drive. Something may have gone missing that should not have been deleted

By @Ken Nielsen

No, that's not the reason. The catalog file will work splendidly all by itself. All of the other associated files get rebuilt as needed.

I know that because I have a separate backup regime that only copies the .lrcat file itself, none of the other files (this is across two different machines, that's why). I've done that for years and the catalog file backups normally on the receiving machine.

So with that out of the way - try a different backup location:

[dj_paige]

Yes, I did that first, releasing permissions to all folders and sub folders where the backup resides on the main hard drive

By @Ken Nielsen

Which would be fine unless you (accidentally?) or LrC changed the backup location. Have you confirmed the backup location LrC is trying to use by actually looking at the backup dialog box to see where it is trying to save the backup to? It may not be where previous backups have been saved to. Have you confirmed this specific location has write permission? What does "releasing" mean in this context?

Also, backups usually should not reside on the main hard disk, whatever that means. Backups usually go on a different hard disk that is not the hard disk where the original is located; usually another external HD.

[Ken Nielsen]

So many questions. First, 'releasibng permissions' means I went in manually and opened every folder leading to where the backup is kept and manually unlocked the lock and specified permeission for all and anyone to be able to write to the folder. But you bring up many other issues and will keep me busy today. My next job is to look at the folder location where the backup is trying to be saved. Has not changed for the last many years and is in my user account under pictures under Lightroom.

[Ken Nielsen]

Okay, first idea, backup to a different drive so I chose the number one external drive and named a folder 'Lightroom Backup' and tried to backup the Lightroom catalog there and got the same error message. 

[Ken Nielsen]

Yes, I confirmed that the original catalog backup is in the same place it has always been under /Users/kennethnielsen/Pictures/Lightroom/Backups which is the location that Lightroom chose and I have kept for years without a problem, those are the folders I went into and unlocked so they all have read and write permissions enabled and I did that maunally for each folder. 

[Ken Nielsen · Accepted solution]

I've spent days on this and it just gets worse. I promise I'll never delete Lightroom files again no matter how many years they've collected. I've abandoned the old catalog and moved the catalog file only to a new location on a hard disk then opened it as a new file in a new location. This, is acting normally now and I was able to back up. Live and learn and make adjustments. I only have one life to live and I do not want to spend it tangling with Lightroom. Thanks for help that was offered here as it opened the door to me moving the catalog to an outside hard drive. All is well that ends well.

[D Fosse]

I'm glad it's sorted - but it needs to be clear that this did not happen because you deleted the other files! That's not possible.

Messy and unorganized folders will only increase the risk of problems.

[Ken Nielsen]

Thank you D Fosse, there will be lessons in all of this I'm sure. 

[JohanElzenga]

This is often caused by catalog corruption. What usually fixes it is the following: create a new catalog and then use 'File - Import from Another Catalog' and import your old catalog. Import all photos, but do not move them. This will create an exact copy of your old catalog, usually without the corruption.

[D Fosse]

Yeah, I was going to suggest that too - but then I decided that Ken didn't seem too keen on taking any more advice from me 😉 😄

[Ken Nielsen]

That's not true D Fosse, if I do not sound too keen it's only because I am in the dark about Lightroom. It's always been a mystery to me how it actually works and now I am in a real fix. I do have a question for you as I want to repair and be off to a fresh start, where should the actual working catalog exist? I just let Lightroom choose at the start and is chose on the hard drive under my user account in the Pictures folder. I have no idea why it chose that location. So now I'm seeing maybe it is best to choose an external hard drive as the best location for the working catalog? As I said, I do not know how to proceed on this and need your help. Thanks always for guidance with this.

[Per Berntsen]

The catalog can be anywhere on your computer, on an internal or external drive, but not on a network drive or in the cloud.

The default is in the Pictures folder because that folder will be found on every computer.

Copy the catalog folder to the external drive, then double-click the catalog file to launch LrC.

Then set LrC to load most recent catalog in Preferences > General.

it's only because I am in the dark about Lightroom. It's always been a mystery to me how it actually works

By @Ken Nielsen

The Lightroom Queen offers free eBooks about LrC that you may find helpful, you might have to register for a free account.

You can also ask questions here, we'll be happy to help.

[Ken Nielsen]

Yes, love the Lightroom Queen but also get excellent help right here. Thanks for chiming in, I think I may have destroyed my computer by messing with the permissions for all of the folders leading up to the Pictures folder where the original Lightroom catalog existed. The Lightroom error message above suggested I change permissions, a move I'm now sorry I took seriously. When I restarted my computer the screen went bright yellow and I had no access to any files. I tried restoring from Time Machine but it stopped me cold wanting something called Migration Assistant whatever that is... it gave me no clue how to proceed, so now, a 16 hour process trying to restore old Lightroom folders and files to where they were as I thankfully had a recent bootable copy of my hard drive using Super Duper. On of the many reasons I should stay completely away from messing with files on the hard drive.

[Ken Nielsen]

If I get a computer with a solid state drive then it seems the catalog would run smoother and faster if I kept it on the main drive. Would you agree with that? I want to make best decisions on this as Lightroom is central to my workflow.

TIA, Ken

[Per Berntsen]

Yes, you will get the best performance with the catalog on a modern, fast internal drive.

For reasons I won't get into here, I keep the catalog on an internal spinning drive. (7200 rpm)

It's slower than on an SSD, but not so slow that it causes any serious problems.

[Ken Nielsen]

Thank you Per, Makes good sense.

[D Fosse]

That's not true D Fosse

By @Ken Nielsen

I know, Ken, I was joking 🙂 I meant the joke to be on me, not you.

I know the feeling of panic when things don't work and you have no idea why.

[Ken Nielsen]

I've lost my computer now through this and don't know why, nothing is working right now and I've even restored all of the files I deleted to try to bring things back into order. It's the pits to be sure. The only good thing is that I have the Time Machine backups and a full bootable copy of my hard drive from just a few hours before this happened. Everything is backed up.

[Ken Nielsen]

I have been going in circles and getting nowhere with this. Lightroom refuses to back up my catalog and I want to try Exporting to a new catalog in hopes that I may be able to back up THAT catalog. I've, for weeks now, spent days giving write permissions to all folders leading up to my catalog folder on the hard drive. I moved the catalog backups location to a new folder on a new hard drive. All of the hard drives have many terrabytes of storage space available and the catalog itself continues to work just fine and I can add new images almost daily.  I've heard that Exporting a catalog and giving it a new name can be a fresh start and one person had done this and the catalog now works fine and backs up normally on every quit... like mine had been doing for years. 

Here is the menu I am looking at but being very cautious as I destroyed my last computer trying to resolve this and had to buy a new one, I do not want to go through that again. Pleas advise me simply how to export my current catalog to create a new catalog, plain and simple please, but to cover all the bases so I don't mess things up worse than they already are.

TIA,

Ken

[AxelMatt]

Goto the view "All Photographs" in the library and disable all filters and expand all stacks. Then mark all images und click on File - Export as Catalog...

More informations you'll find here:

How to Export Adobe Lightroom Catalog to a Stand-Alone Catalog > DINFOS Pavilion > How To

[richardplondon]

Yes click into "All Photographs" to indicate you want to include all photos. There is no need to select them though, so stacking does not need to be expanded. Just make sure "Export selected photos only" is left un-checked.  

If you are happy with maintaining the current file locations for all your imported images, then also un-check "Export negative files". This (IMO oddly named) option will otherwise duplicate and then reference copies of all the included source files, into a duplicated folder arrangement alongside the exported Catalog.

[Ken Nielsen]

Thank You Richard, This gets me on the right track. Nothing I want to gamble with after decades of successful working with Lightroom and now this, I hope will be the answer to being able to back up my catalog again. I will proceed carefully exacty as you have outlined and it sounds like you have experience with this so adds to my confidence in proceeding.