LR Hangs up in import

[MerkurNJ]

Hi - I have been a regular user of Lightroom and imported tens of thousands of images successfully.  I am running the latest version of Lightroom classic on a Windows 10 computer and have checked the memory/CPU resources that look good.  I tried importing 400 pictures from yesterday's photo shoot and the first 100 or so imported , then I had about ten images that imported but had file errors and then it hung up.  Last week this worked perfectly OK and there have been no hardware changes.

I have since tried re-importing with similar results, I tried importing smaller quantities of images (~50) and eventually it hung up again.  Following advice here I have tried with the GPU enabled and disabled.  I always import images from a card reader and I tried a different reader and as a backup, copied the files to a hard drive folder, backed them up, and them tried importing from the hard drive.  All with the same result.

This is bad.  I need to work on these images and cannot.  I have no outstanding Adobe updates and have run a memory test on the computer.  What are the steps to troubleshoot and resolve this?

Paul

[Just Shoot Me]

Have you tried copying the images off the card with File Explorer to a folder on your drive.

And then import them from that folder.

It sounds like there is a problem with the card, card reader or some other piece of hardware.

[MerkurNJ]

Yes, as I stated, I copied the files to a hard drive folder, backed them up, and then tried importing from the hard drive.  The results were the same.

Paul

[MerkurNJ]

Some more data here in the hope that someone will point me in the right direction.  In addition to bringing the photos from the memory card onto the C Drive and trying the import from there, I did the following, all with the same result.  Lightroom hangs up and locks up other applications as well - Google Chrome, Outlook, some elements of Windows itself etc.  The moment I stop Lightroom by ending the task in task manager, the web pages refresh, I get incoming email chimes etc.

1. I culled down the programs that execute at start-up to the bare minimum, re-booted and the same result.
2. I ran the Windows 10 Performance monitor which showed all was well with the machine and good margins on CPU and Memory
3. I did a hardware memory check with no problems detected
4. I ran System File Checker with no problems detected
5. I re-booted Windows into safe mode with low screen resolution etc and tried an import into Lightroom.  Same result.
6. I re-checked that there were no pending updates using the Adobe Updater
7. I re-checked there were no Windows updates
8. I ran a detailed virus scanner with nothing found
9. Without starting Lighroom I ran other programs, including doing some edits in Photoshop for 30 minutes and everything was normal.  Then I ran Lightroom, tried the importation and Lightroom hung up again.
10. Clicking File/Exit in Lightroom does not shut down.  I get a 'Lightroom has not finished writing Metadata' and if I click 'Shutdown anyway' I get a Lightroom not responding' and the only way to shut it down is to end the task in task manager.
11. Thinking it may be some weird corruption of an image file, I started Lightroom and then did an import of 125 old, low file-size images from my 'Pictures' folder with the same result.
12. Thinking that maybe the 'Apply during import' Develop settings file was corrupt or the 'Rename files' was causing a problem, I unchecked all the other actions that take place on an import and tried a simple import with the same result.

Any ideas anyone?  This has me dead in the water.  I can post screen shots and log files but didn't want to clutter this post.

Paul

[MerkurNJ]

More data - I disabled all plug-ins in the Plugin Manager.  All with the same result.  Lightroom will 'hang' and tie up resources or something to the extent other applications on the computer will not work correctly.  Photoshop will not start under this condition and Outlook mail will constantly wait for the server.  Web pages will not refresh etc.  The moment Lightroom is killed in task manager, everything goes back to normal.

Paul

[MerkurNJ]

Nobody has any ideas on this before I delete Lightroom altogether and attempt a re-install?

Paul

[Rob_Cullen]

IIRC some time ago (back in LR5?) I had the similar problems. Lightroom went so slow as to be unusable, and even Windows functions  stopped working (like key press Windows+x  for the system menus.).

The answer for me then was to uninstall and delete everything related to my Nvidia Graphic Drivers. A fresh download and install fixed my problems.

Not suggesting this will fix yours, but it could be worth trying also.

[MerkurNJ]

Thanks for the suggestion on this.  I was hopefull it would cure the problem.  I uninstalled the NVidia control panel and driver and rebooted using the default Windows drivers.  Tested the computer on the web, Photoshop, Outlook, then started Lightroom OK and tried an import.  Same thing.  Lightroom hung and could not even be killed in the Task Manager.  All other applications not performing correctly until a reboot was done.

No progress on this.  I am very aprehensive about doing a complete Lightroom uninstall and reinstall as I have an extensive collection (>150,000 pictures) and add-ins, templates etc.  I *believe* I have everything backed up correctly but you never know until its too late.

Can I try a re-install instead of an uninstall, running the Adobe clean-up tool and a clean install? 

Paul

[MerkurNJ]

Further to this latest test, I notice that Lightroom hung up after exactly 50 pictures were imported.  Thumbnails were shown on roughly half of them and only grey boxes shown on the others.  ALL the pictures in library grid view had the exclamation point in the upper right indicating 'Lightroom has encountered problems reading this photo' so none were actually imported correctly.

Paul

[Rob_Cullen · Accepted solution]

Reading your last post, I am beginning to think you have a hard-drive problem that might indicate it is failing ( In your list in Post#3, did you do full diagnostics on the hard-drive? Test all sectors?)

Grey thumbnails often indicate that Lightroom cannot read the original files to be able to construct a preview image.

The exclamation mark indicates Lightroom cannot find the original files is the location that it has in the catalog database.

"problems reading this photo" in the Import procedure always means that Lightroom cannot "write" the files to the hard-drive. Often it is Mac computers that throw up "Permissions" problems but Windows PCs can do also with 'Read only' folders, etc.

And if your imports (even if only some) are not writing to the drive, I still believe it all points to a hardware problem.

Why "exactly 50" I have no idea.

If you have carefully backed up your Catalog, and all the data in the {C:\Users\Your Name\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom}  folder,

Read here for better advice- https://www.lightroomqueen.com/backup-lightroom-files/

then using the Adobe CC Cleaner program and re-installing from the CC Desktop App can be a useful exercise to correct Lightroom faults.

[MerkurNJ]

Wobert - you're a genius.  I have worked this fault for over 12 hours now today and was heading in the direction of an obscure motherboard fault but not the Hard Drive.  Within ten minutes of reading your post, I had downloaded the Western Digital DataLifeguard Diagnostic program and ran it.  The Quick scan showed all was OK, but the moment I clicked 'Extended Test' it threw this error:

Test Option:	EXTENDED TEST
Model Number:	WDC WD30EZRX-00SPEB0
Unit Serial Number:	WD-WCC4E7ZALSEK
Firmware Number:	80.00A80
Capacity:	3000.59 GB
SMART Status:	PASS
Test Result:	FAIL
Test Error Code:	08-Too many bad sectors detected.
Test Time:	20:06:39, March 21, 2018

To verify the fault, I used Lightroom to import the files into a different Hard Drive volume and it worked perfectly - all 474 photos totaling 13.6GB imported, renamed, Metadata presets applied and converted to DNG.  This after uninstalling Lightroom, reinstalling and about 20-25 total system re-boots in the past two days.  Why the drive didn't report to Windows that it was having problems rather than hanging up the whole computer I have no idea.

I guess part of my preventative maintenance going forward is to periodically run the hard drive test to assess the health of the drives.  I have about 5TB of storage on this computer by the way, always buy decent quality drives and back everything up on a Drobo box.  The computer hasn't been moved or shocked.  I could reformat the drive and reload the files from the Drobo, but I am leary now that whatever caused the bad sectors, will happen again and think it best to retire it and try and get a warranty replacement as a backup.  The drive was less that 6 months old.

All the best and thanks again,

Paul

[Just Shoot Me]

Your last post speaks Volumes. We see this all the time. Things don't work right and it HAS TO BE LR's fault. We suggest testing the hardware and people post back that the hardware is fine, worse with Apple Macs because they take it to an Apple store and the Geniuses at the store say it is working properly, and in the end it is a hardware problem.

Glad you got it figured out.

[tiafos]

Interesting posts about LR in importing files.  I have a MAC.  It does not import the files from the card reader.  Mac techs tell me the computer is all fine.  I am not "tech" enough to know any difference.  I have resorted to downloading the images to the desktop and then importing from there.  A troublesome step, but at least I get the images. 

[GoldingD]

tiafos  wrote

Interesting posts about LR in importing files.  I have a MAC.  It does not import the files from the card reader.  Mac techs tell me the computer is all fine.  I am not "tech" enough to know any difference.  I have resorted to downloading the images to the desktop and then importing from there.  A troublesome step, but at least I get the images. 

Please post your problem as a new discussion.  You will probably get more visibility that way. And likely some help from other members.

When you do so, pretty please, include your system information as shown by lightroom (in LR, Help/System Information/Copy,  paste the lines from first to just before plug-ins)

Also, list where you keep your catalog, what drive, how big, how much room

And describe your SD card reader, internal, external?

[tiafos]

I don't think it is a Mac issue. When i use google as the search engine instead of safari, things import fine/easier. I just prefer safari.

[Just Shoot Me]

tiafos  wrote

I don't think it is a Mac issue.  When i use google as the search engine instead of safari, things import fine/easier.  I just prefer safari.

This is always a Computer Problem. Doesn't matter whether your computer is using Window or OS X as an operating system.

There is some part of the computer hardware, or other software, that is causing the hangs when using LR.

[Rob_Cullen]

Diagnosing faults by remote forum posts is never easy.

I am so pleased you found an answer and can move on with the great program- Adobe Lightroom.

Thanks for your detailed reply, it may help others that are reporting similar problems.

Cheers.

[LightBrigade]

Same old problem wiith LR Classic. I wrote in after the big update.  Dosen't happen every time. That's okay, I'll open them up in OnOne! No more 5 star ratings from me, however.  There's always a work around, but I'm not wasting anymore of my time with this crap.

[Nikolai0101]

"Correct answer" is absolutely useless