Lightroom cannot use the catalog named

[dvanryn]

Hi all

I am running Lightroom 5.3 and recently tried to open it to receive a message " Lightroom cannot use the catalog named because it is not writable and cannot be opened"  Looking through previous forum discussions suggests deleleting the .lrcat.lock file which I have done only to have it reappear everytime I try to start Lightroom.  Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

David

[AxelMatt]

Do I have that understood correctly. You have this error message every time you start Lightroom?

Which operating system and version do you use?

Lightroom 5.3 is very old and not the lastest version of Lightroom 5. It was version 5.7.1. In any cases you should contact the Adobe support to get the installation files for lastest version of LR 5. These file aren't available on Adobe's public websites since summer.

BTW: Lightroom 5 is also not compatible with the new OS versions of Windows and Mac. 

[dvanryn]

Hi Axel

Yes it has been a while since I have used it.  I can load a previous catalog which gives me the option to update to 5.7.1.  Should I do that as well.

I am running Windows 10 OS.

The .lrcat.lock file appears when I try to open LR but disappears when I exit LR.

[elie_dinur]

The .lrcat.lock file appears when I try to open LR but disappears when I exit LR.

Which is by design; in order to prevent two people from working at the same time on the same catalog, possibly to cross purposes. A stranded lock file causes a different notice, something about another application being open.

" Lightroom cannot use the catalog named because it is not writable and cannot be opened"

This sounds like a permissions problem. Or a lack of storage space.

[AxelMatt]

If you load a previous catalog and then you get a message that the catolog has been converted to 5.7.1 then you work with Lightroom 5.7.1 and not with 5.3 as you wrote in your original post.

Please check the exact version of LR that you have running.

Which excat version of Windows 10 you work with? Windows 10 Build 1809. 1903, or so?

What has been changed on your system before the error occured?

It seems that there's a incompatibility between OS and Lightroom. 

[dvanryn]

Axel

I am running Windows 10 Version 1903.  I havent run LR for some time and I am getting the same errort message each time i try to open it.  I have been able to create a new catalog file so i do not hink it is a permissioning problem

David

[AxelMatt]

You don't have answer all of my questions.

Did Lightroom works fine in the past? What has been changed on your system (updates, patches etc.) before the error occur?

 >>I have been able to create a new catalog file so i do not hink it is a permissioning problem<<

I think that isn't a permisson problem too. But it seems that is an incompatibility between Lightroom and Windows 10.

Lightroom 5 is to old.

You have to change to an actual version. 

[dvanryn]

I have been running LR 5 and Windows 10 together for several years and have had no problems.  I have been able to create a new catalog so they are working together currentlyt it is just that my old catalog is locked and I am unable to access it.  Deleteing the lrcat.lock file does not help as it is simply recreated when I open LR again.  I get the impression that the system thinks that LR is already running somewhere in the background and wont let me open the catalog.

[AxelMatt]

If this error occur only when you work with the one catalog it seems that the catalog has an error.

Does LR work fine with the new catalog?

If yes then you can import the content of the old catalog to the new one.

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/merging-catalogs-overview/

Or you can try to restore the catalog from an older backup.