Adobe reports all my pictures on M:\ but they are on C:\

[Gerd11]

For some reasons I can not import nor export nor access all my Pictures.

Adobe reports them all been stored on M Drive, which is not true and I can not change that.

I upgraded to 2018 with no help?

[MichelBParis]

Gerd11  wrote

For some reasons I can not import nor export nor access all my Pictures.

Adobe reports them all been stored on M Drive, which is not true and I can not change that.

I upgraded to 2018 with no help?

It's not Adobe, it's your catalog. What is recorded in your catalog is what was true when you imported the files. The drive identification in the catalog is twofold: the drive letter AND the internal serial number of that drive. If that identification is no longer true, the files are 'disconnected'.

Let me guess: did you install an SSD drive together with the old drive?

[Gerd11]

Yes, it is the catalog.

No, I did not install an SSD drive.

What can I do to correct this problem?

All my saved catalogues have the same problem.

I am using this program for 13 years with lots of information in the catalog.

[MichelBParis]

Gerd11  wrote

Yes, it is the catalog.

No, I did not install an SSD drive.

What can I do to correct this problem?

All my saved catalogues have the same problem.

I am using this program for 13 years with lots of information in the catalog.

The general answer is that the drive identification in Windows does no longer correspond to the identification made by the same Explorer before the change. Nothing has changed in the catalogs since they rightly show C: and that is true for your other catalogs. The problem is to find what has changed in Windows Explorer.

Does the Explorer show an M: drive?

If you create a new catalog and import a few test files you are sure they are on C:, do they show on C: or M: in the information panel on the right ?

[Gerd11]

I have no M drive in the Explorer.

My telephone reports as M, if connected.

When I make a new catalog with new Pictures everything is fine until I load the old catalog.

Than the new Pictures (in a different catalog) also default to M again.

When I take a 2 year old catalog, it recoveres all Pictures on C but reports it beeing on M with no possibility to access.

[MichelBParis]

Gerd11  wrote

I have no M drive in the Explorer.

My telephone reports as M, if connected.

When I make a new catalog with new Pictures everything is fine until I load the old catalog.

Than the new Pictures (in a different catalog) also default to M again.

When I take a 2 year old catalog, it recoveres all Pictures on C but reports it beeing on M with no possibility to access.

For some reason, the catalogs have a confusion between the computer drive and the telephone. I am pretty sure the 'volume table' in the database has two different entries for a C: and a M: drive with the same internal serial number. That's what happens with cloned drives (several cases reported when installing SSD drives together with the original drive). Unfortunately, that does not tell us exactly how that can happen in your case. To be sure, it would be necessary to look into the database (catalog.pse16db) with an sqlite manager program. That might confirm my diagnosis and perhaps offer a way to correct the faulty drive table. The fact that different (and new) catalogs show the same problem is very annoying. We can't trust the importation from your telephone.

How do you plug in your telephone? As any USB device? Which brand and model ? You would have no problem to download your photos from your OS directly on a folder in your computer, then importing from 'Files and folders'.

[Gerd11]

I m using an iPhone SE with a USB cable.

Now, it is not reporting as Drive M anymore, just as another mobile device.

When I open a new catalog, I can import pictures and Adobe shows them on drive C.

If I then just look at my old catalog and go back to the new one it defaults to M again.

The same thing happens when I open the known good 2 year old catalog, it defaults to M.

I reinstalled APE 18 with no help.

[MichelBParis]

Gerd11  wrote

I m using an iPhone SE with a USB cable.

Now, it is not reporting as Drive M anymore, just as another mobile device.

When I open a new catalog, I can import pictures and Adobe shows them on drive C.

If I then just look at my old catalog and go back to the new one it defaults to M again.

The same thing happens when I open the known good 2 year old catalog, it defaults to M.

I reinstalled APE 18 with no help.

I don't have an iPhone, so I can't check anything on my side. Reinstalling PSE 2018 can't change anything. The catalog file itself is corrupt (catalog.pse16db). What would probably give a clue would be a look at the volume_table table in that sqlite database.

That would perhaps show two items with the same serial.

Also, can you confirm that you are importing 'from camera or card reader' and not 'from files and folders'?

[Gerd11]

I don't think it was the phone.

I imported 'from camera or card reader' and from "files and folders', both work until I open my original catalog.

It shows C as the correct drive until I open any old catalog.

Can I send you that catalog.pse16db file (size is 55 MB)?

Until yesterday, I was using PSE 2010 with the same fault.

What else can I do?

Thanks for your support, so far.

[MichelBParis]

I sent you a PM...

[MichelBParis]

MichelBParis  wrote

I sent you a PM...

Gerd11,

Thanks for the file, I have received and tested it's useable.

- It opens ok in the organizer (with all files disconnected as expected) and with all your files shown on M:

- I can look at the volume table which is totally wrong.

For reference, here is a normal screenshot (from a different sql browser)

I'll have more time today to think about it and to comment the problems in your table; I think that the comparison could help Adobe Staff monitoring this forum to start more troubleshooting.

[MichelBParis]

Just a note about what is not normal in the volume_table screenshot:

- No mention of a C: drive (never seen that in Windows, I don't know anything for Macs)

- 'NULL' entry means a problem

- M: is seen as builtin_drive

- EOS_DIGITAL has no serial number, it would normally mean that you have downloaded files from your Canon DSLR (or its card)

The other two entries (no drive and database relative) are normal and necessary.

I have never seen such a mess. For each catalog, the downloader uses data provided by Windows to create the entries in the drives list for imported files. Windows has to correctly recognize the drives, including Mac phones.

It's quite possible to edit the sqlite table when the correct settings are known, but in this case there is no guarantee that the same issues with Windows will not happen again.

I have yet to compare the data in the volume_table with the data in the other tables.

For safety when downloading from phones, I would recommend setting the phone as an external USB drive (may need a setting on the phone), then use the explorer to move or copy the photos to a specified folder, then use the Organizer downloader to import 'from files and folders'. That does not create any new entry in the volume_table.

[Gerd11]

I have an explanation for the mess.

I am using the program for 13 years, it has seen a lot of different PSE versions, PC's, OS'ses, Cameras, Cardreaders and Phones.

As user, I can only follow the instructions given to me.

Thanks again for your efford, I hope we will get it working again.