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larrywoodman
larrywoodman
Participating Frequently
Jul 18, 2018 1:15 AM UTC
Question

Catalog could not be opened. Internal programming error occurred

The subject statement appeared after a Forced Quit on PSE 2017. Executed the Forced Quit because it was "spinning" trying to change two tags on pictures for nearly a half hour. I cannot seem to get out of the "catalog could not be opened" situation. Have shut down Organizer and Editor and re-booted the Apple Mac Pro but no change. How do I go forward from here and get the catalog opened - only have the one catalog?

Thank-you

Larry Weaver

LS.WEAVER@GTE.NET

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10 replies

WeeChancer
Participating Frequently
Sep 3, 2018 9:27 AM UTC

This is starting to become a consistent problem - I have had to restore from my backup at least 4 times this year - this is not a hardware issue as I have moved from a single disc to a raid 1 mirror.  When the organiser closes, it is corrupting the catalog.  The work around above does not work - there are no previous catalogs and it refuses to open the one it has corrupted.

Having used elements since the first version, 2018 is the first that has given me any problems.  Sometime soon, I am going to look for an alternative and accept the incredible hardwork that transferring locations, faces, tags, etc is going to bring.....

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    ankitd
    Adobe Employee
    ankitd
    Adobe Employee
    Aug 7, 2018 5:36 AM UTC

    Hi,

    Please follow the following steps:

    1. Open Elements Organizer, when Organizer is launching keep Shift key pressed.

    2. You'll see Catalog Manager dialog.

    3. In the opened dialog click on new, specify any name, click on Ok.

    4. When Organizer is Open, in help menu click on Updates and install all the updates.

    5. Once updates are installed, again open Organizer, in file menu select Manage Catalogs.

    6. Click on Convert, a dialog will open.

    7. In the opened dialog, click on the checkbox next to "Show Previously Converted Catalogs", you'll see a catalog.

    8. Select the catalog, and click on Convert.

    9. Once the conversion is finished, close the dialog. and double-click on the name of the catalog in the active dialog to open it.

    Above steps will restore your old catalog with all the tags and information.

    Please write back if you have any questions.

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    larrywoodman
    larrywoodmanAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    Aug 7, 2018 4:42 PM UTC

    THANKS - but have a problem….

    Opened Photoshop, updated and at Manage Catalogs. Shows two catalogs - “My Catalog” (evidently the original catalog) and “AllPix” (my new catalog)

    Tried - selecting each one - independently - and clicked on “Convert” but nothing happened in either case except for opening another widow “Convert Catalog”. Although “convert” is on the window, it is not bold to allow clicking. Only “Done” or “Find More Catalogs” allow selection. Done takes me back to the previous window. Find More Catalogs takes me to a file in which some of the pix are located. Selecting it takes me back to the last window opened (the “Convert Catalog” window)

    Vicious circle….

    What’s the next step??

    Thanks and regards,

    Larry

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    mykeclay
    Participant
    Aug 5, 2018 7:04 PM UTC

    Same problem, in Adobe Photoshop Elements 18, I can open the Photo Editor, but not the Organizer. Getting error message:

    "The catalog could not be opened.  An internal programming error occurred."

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    Anonymous
    Aug 5, 2018 10:21 PM UTC

    Well, good luck with that. Adobe has been completely unresponsive to my requests for help and it’s not the first time I’ve lost work because of a failure of Elements clunky organizer. I decided to go back to using Picasa for organising and face recognition. Still the best although long since unsupported. Fast and accurate. For geotagging I have been using Geosetter for years.

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    mykeclay
    Participant
    Aug 5, 2018 11:14 PM UTC

    I thought Picasa had been deprecated. Have you tried the newer Google Photos?

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    Anonymous
    Jul 21, 2018 3:39 AM UTC

    I have something like the same problem with PE2018 in Windows 10. I get that same error when I start PE2018. I tried repairing the catalog. No change. I tried reinstalling PE2018. No change. I tried restoring from my backup. The backup completes successfully, but then No change! I have three backups since I upgraded to PE2018. An original full backup on 15 May, and two interim backups on 24 May and 2 June.

    So, I tried just restoring the ones from 24 May and 2 June. Again, PE reports a successful restore, but the same "programming error" when trying to open the catalog. The new catalog appears in the catalog manager, so I tried to repair it. The Repair pgm reported "no errors in the catalog."

    I checked PE2018 for updates. None required.

    Next I tried restoring from the Full Backup of 15 May alone. Same same. Now I am out of backups.

    What next?

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    Anonymous
    Jul 21, 2018 1:17 AM UTC

    I have the same question in Photoshop Elements 2018 and WIndows 10. Tried specifying the catalog address, and also repairing the catalog. Same error. Reinstalled Photoshop. Same problem.

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