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Catalog cannot be open because it's "read only"

Guest
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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Hi,

My catalog cannot be open anymore because apparently Lightroom have decided to consider it as read only, even if it's not on the system.

The whole hard drive is not in read only.

A backup works fine, but that catalog copied to another place is still read only.

I just have a few hours of work lost if I switch to the backup but I would like to know

- Is there a solution for lightroom to finally decide to open that catalog

- what did I do for the catalog to be considered read only (so I don't do it anymore)

An out of subject: Why is it so hard to get access to any support with Adobe!

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LEGEND ,
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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IltikA  wrote

The whole hard drive is not in read only.

The status of the disk really doesn't matter. You have to check the exact FOLDER (not the disk) that contains the catalog file, to make sure you have WRITE permission. You may have also check the Read-Only flag in the file Properties, please check that and make sure it is not checked.

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Guest
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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As stated (sure not explicitly) I do have the right to write and modify and all that on the folder since I can test with a backup catalog.

As stated , I can copy the catalog to any other folder even newly created and it's still considered as read only to lightroom.
As stated, the system does not consider the file as read only so it shouldn't be read only for lightroom.

as an extra information, lightroom does create the lrcat.lock when trying to open the catalog.

So what makes lightroom consider that file as read only. How could I fix it to avoid loosing the few hours of work since last backup. And what was done wrong for lightroom to mess up that catalog?

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LEGEND ,
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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You have to check the Read-Only flag on the catalog file itself. What does it show? Show us a screen capture.

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Guest
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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screen.jpg

You are right, as it seems really hard to read the 3 times I said it is not on read only, let's settle the fact that I have full control of the folder and that the fact is not on read only (forth time now).

I appreciate the help but just like critic, constructive help is better!

And just to clear that out of the way. full control on the file too

screen1.jpg

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LEGEND ,
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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What happens if you put this catalog file on some other disk, not A: and not B: ???

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Guest
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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As said in the first post

"A backup works fine, but that catalog copied to another place is still read only."

(for extra info I copied it to a new folder on the desktop to be sure to have all right)

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LEGEND ,
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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Good catch.

A and B drives are still considered floppy drives by Windows.

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LEGEND ,
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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Right-click on the folder containing the catalog in its location and change the attribute so that it isn't read-only.

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Guest
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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I would consider that since I didn't explicitly say it and didn't mention I was on windows.

Here is the stupidity of the system: Link to microsoft support

"Unlike the Read-only attribute for a file, the Read-only attribute for a folder is typically ignored by Windows, Windows components and accessories, and other programs. For example, you can delete, rename, and change a folder with the Read-only attribute by using Windows Explorer."

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Explorer ,
Feb 14, 2021 Feb 14, 2021

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Hi there, I have the same problem as above. The folder that I have used for years without problems "lightroom catalogus" can't be accesed anymore by Lightroom. If I change the read-only attribute (yes, it's Windows) all the files get changed ( 60 Gb). But then the attribute of the folder gets re-set automaticly.

I could copy the catalog to another drive and point lightroom in that direction. Then it's a matter of opening that catalog once inside Lightroom and the change the preferences to open the most recent catalog, wich would be the moved file.

Very odd, this  🙂

 

 

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Explorer ,
Feb 14, 2021 Feb 14, 2021

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I would like to add that the Lightroom Catalog folder on the external drive (the catalog I'm using now) has also the attribute set to "read-only", but that one works without problems.

 

Very odd indeed!

 

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New Here ,
May 01, 2023 May 01, 2023

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did you solve this problem? I am having the same issue but I think that either windows or my antivirus is somehow setting my drives to to read-only rather than it being lightroom itself ( all my drives set that way everytime I restart)

, but I cannot find where a setting could be that would stop this behavior

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Explorer ,
May 01, 2023 May 01, 2023

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I did buy a new PC (it was 7 years old) and there the problem didn't show.

Putting a copy of the catalogue onto an external drive (pref. SSD) solved the problem on the old PC.

 

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