Why do I need to find missing folder all the time when using ext HDD?

[Scott Masterton]

Can anyone explain to me, why, when I use an external drive that is named P: when connected to my desktop and I then move to my laptop and the drive is also named P: when connected to my laptop.... that I have to go and find the missing folder (of images) each time. How come it doesn't just find the images folder as it is using the same drive letter on both?

[Just Shoot Me]

Because whatever catalog you are using on the laptop is looking for the file on a different drive letter.

Or the drive is not being recognized by the OS soon enough and or before you open LR.

First check with File Explorer that the external is being seen. Then start LR.

It is also best to store the Working Catalog on the smae external as the images and use File Explorer to open, Double Click, the catalog file from the external drive. Double clicking it will open LR and load that catalog.

[JohanElzenga]

If the external is called 'P' on both computers, then this should not happen. Where is your catalog located? Are you using the same catalog (also stored on the external) on both computers? 

[Scott Masterton]

Hi both and thanks for the comments. I think I'm managing to confuse myself but your answers have finally made me realise what is different, and perhaps wrong.

As background, I used to have my image folder and catalog folder on my internal P: drive on my desktop and I would do my work on that drive and then when I wanted to work on my laptop I would sync those two folders to my Ext HDD called M: on my desktop (but P: on my laptop). And all worked fine, I never used to have to find the missing folder because everything was working from the P: drive on both desktop and laptop.

Unfortunately it stopped working some time ago and your answer made me realise what I'd done. I'd bought a SSD for my desktop and am now run the catalogs from the C: SSD with the image folder still on P:.

Then I was syncing them like I used to do.... to the external drive M: on my desktop (which becomes P: on my laptop). 

So I guess becuase the catalog has come from C: but is now on P: it gets confused even though it still has to look at P: on my laptop to find the images folder. 

I guess I was thinking that it didn't matter where the catalog was coming from originally... as far as I was concerned it should be looking for P: as the location where it will find the images folder.

So that bit of thinking is wrong is it?

[JohanElzenga]

Your catalog should not get confused. The images still are where they are, only the catalog itself is somewhere else and that should not matter. So the question is: when you talk about 'syncing', what exactly does that mean? How do you do that?

[Scott Masterton]

I use Free File Sync to do a sync between the desktop folders and the ext hdd folders. It compares the folders on both drives and then does a mirror sync from desktop to ext HDD. After working on the laptop I do the sync again, this time doing the mirror sync from the ext HDD back to the desktop.

So essential it syncs   C:/......Pictures/LR Catalogs   >     M:/Pictures>LR Catalogs

and

P:/Pictures/LR Images  >   M:/Pictures/LR Images

Then on the Laptop, the ext HDD is mounted is P:

So In my mind on both the desktop and laptop the catalog should be looking in P:/Pictures/LR Images for the images.

[JohanElzenga · Accepted solution]

I think I know why you need to reconnect the folders each time. The reason for that is that both your catalog and your pictures are in the same folder when you work on the laptop, but not when you work on the desktop. You would think that this shouldn't matter because the pictures are always in P:/Pictures, but it does matter for the following reason:

If you store the pictures inside the same folder as the Lightroom catalog, then Lightroom will create 'relative' links to the images in the catalog. That means that the drive letter is not included in the path. This is done for a very specific reason: it allows you to copy the catalog folder with the images from one drive to another and even from a Windows system (that uses drive letters) to a Macintosh system (that uses disk names) without the connection getting lost. If you export images as a new catalog, Lightroom uses the same setup for that very reason.

In your setup it causes the problems however, because on your main computer the catalog and the images are no longer in the same folder so the relative links are no longer valid. If I am correct, then what should solve the problem is if you sync the catalog to P:/Catalogs and the pictures in P:/Pictures. 

[Scott Masterton]

Interesting, I shall go and try that and get back to you.

[JohanElzenga]

When I thought of it a little more, I doubt this is what is happening. If this was the cause, then you should see the missing folder when you switch from the laptop to the main computer, but not when you switch vice versa.

If you click on the exclamation mark of a missing photo, you should get a dialog where Lightroom is telling you that the photo is missing and the path it expected the photo to be in. Does that give any clues?

[Scott Masterton]

unfortunately remapping those folders didn't work

[JohanElzenga]

Yes, like I said, I reconsidered that option after a while. What does the 'missing photo' dialog tell you about the image path?

[Scott Masterton · Accepted solution]

AWESOMENESS has just happened.... so you were right, it's to do with relative paths, and to my horror I see that I hadn't properly typed my file paths in my earlier questions/responses. So you didn't know my exact setup with paths etc, otherwise you would have probably pointed this out earlier. 

Anyway the solution is that everthing does need to be relative a root folder, no matter what drives everything is on. So whatever and wherever the folders are placed, they must be relative to the same root folder, mine weren't. I had an extra folder name in the C: path. When I removed that so that they all had the same root, bingo!

The following image shows the correct structure that now works, I had an extra folder name where the red arrow points. Ignore the drive allocatioins, I've been mixing them up as I try to solve this. It's the relative to a consistent root folder that is important. So with all the subfolders relative to a 'pictures' folder, it works now. :o)

 

[JohanElzenga]

Good to hear!

[JohanElzenga]

Another possibility is that you made a small mistake in the folder names on both drives, for example you called the subfolder 'LR Images' on one drive, and 'LR images' on the other. The difference is just one capital letter that is easy to miss, but enough to cause 'missing folders' when you switch from one computer to the other. 

[Scott Masterton]

Yes, that thought had occurred to me before but I've checked that several times and they are correct...