# Lightroom crashes when opening



## Alex Mac (Mar 30, 2020)

Hi guys,

I wonder if you might be able to help please.
When I opened LR last night, it was a little slow to load in, then an adobe error report popped up, which I sent, then LR just closed down.
Tried restarting my pc, opened LR, same thing, this time I selected "dont send" but then LR just closed down again.

Then I thought I would try to open it form the creative suite , but when I double click that, nothing happens, it does not even try to open?

Is there anything else I can try?

Cheers for any help,
Alex


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## Paul McFarlane (Mar 30, 2020)

Hi Alex

Annoying! As a first step, I'd suggest resetting preferences (you could always move the file so if this doesn't help you can put it back)

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-do-i-reset-lightrooms-preferences/


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## Alex Mac (Mar 30, 2020)

Hi Paul,
I tried the re-set preferences, it did seem to take a little longer before the crash report, but it still came up with the report and crashed...  
When you say "move the file"........do you mean the LR file?
thanks for getting back to me,
Alex


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## Paul McFarlane (Mar 30, 2020)

Hi Alex

No, sorry, just meant the Preferences file. Hoping others will come along with more ideas!!


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## Alex Mac (Mar 30, 2020)

No worries....cheers.
I will keep my fingers crossed  and see what turns up...


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## clee01l (Mar 30, 2020)

Open Windows in Safe mode and then open Lightroom to eliminate any other apps from interference.   It that works, at least long enough to go into LR preferences to  turn off the Graphics Processor in the Performance tab. 
Report your results and we can proceed knowing out answers.


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## Alex Mac (Mar 30, 2020)

Hi Jim,
Just started in safe mode, started LR, but before I could start looking for the performance tab, the error report came back up.....
Thanks for your help,
alex


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## Alex Mac (Mar 30, 2020)

Hi Jim,
following on from your advice I thought I would check if the graphics card required any updates.
When I checked there was a notice to update to the latest version of Java.... (please see below)
Before I starting too much of a hole for myself 
It seems like a sensible thing to do ?


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## clee01l (Mar 30, 2020)

If disabling the GPU helped, I would have recommended updating the graphic card driver. 
Can you post a screen shot of the Error that you are getting when the system crashes the app?


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## Alex Mac (Mar 31, 2020)

Hi,
I undated the driver manually, but I am still getting the same message, please see below:  
I am not sure if the message is ant help thou... thanks for your help. alex


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## Alex Mac (Mar 31, 2020)

If it helps, the images load in, then the message appears, so there is a delay of about 5 secs before it appears, as soon as I click either send or dont send,  it closes down....


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## clee01l (Mar 31, 2020)

Let's go back to Paul's recommendation to delete/rename the Preferences file. 


Paul McFarlane said:


> No, sorry, just meant the Preferences file. Hoping others will come along with more ideas!!


. If you did it correctly the first time and still got here, then do it again. 
After rebooting the computer,  I want you to force Lightroom to open a  new empty catalog.  You do this by holding down the {Alt} key and clicking on the Lightroom app icon to start Lightroom Classic.  A Dialog box will open and a button at the bottom will let you create a new catalog.    If this is successful, report back here.
If not, do the following and report back here.
Disconnect everything from your computer except the mouse and keyboard and reboot Windows.  Try opening Lightroom Classic again after resetting preferences and restarting the computer less  your connected hardware.


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## Alex Mac (Mar 31, 2020)

Hi Cletus,
I only got as far as opening windows in safe mode, almost as soon as opening LR it fails, so I could get to the performance tab.....but I did reset the preferences from the dialogue box that opened.  
Is that what you mean to do again ?
Thanks Alex


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## Alex Mac (Mar 31, 2020)

Hello,
I tried to open LR with an empty catalog, as you described, it longer to crash but did the same thing.

I then tried to follow your 2nd idea, but when I went to reset the preferences, by clicking Alt-shift when clicking on LR short cut...I got the message below: 
sorry I am a bit lost now....
cheers alex


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## clee01l (Mar 31, 2020)

Go to your Lightroom folder where the catalog resides and look for a file with the extension “*.lock”. Delete this file it should allow LR to open correctly on the empty file.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Alex Mac (Mar 31, 2020)

Hi,
Thanks for that, sorry I have got a bit lost with the instructions 
So I do not get myself even more lost, and give you guys bum information, it might be worth just starting form the start of what steps you think are best, sorry.
should i :
Delete the "*lock" file again
Alt-Shift - open LR
Reset preferences
Close the PC
Disconnect everything, bar keyboard, mouse, screen, internet connection
Try opening LR from the short cut.........

sorry if I missed something/step 

Cheers alex


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## Alex Mac (Apr 1, 2020)

Hi with a bit of help, i manged to get a crash report, which I thought might help.
cheers Alex


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## Alex Mac (Apr 2, 2020)

Hi guys,
I just wondered if the crash report, revealed any useful information?
Or should I still carry out the ideas from Cletus form the other day?
If so I would need to double check I have understood them correctly 
Thanks again for any help,
Alex


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## clee01l (Apr 2, 2020)

Yes, every time LR crashes it leaves the ".lock" file  behind.
The steps that you outlined  are basically correct.  Try this order:

Delete the "*lock" file again
Reset preferences
Alt-Shift - open LR
Create a NEW empty catalog.
If LR stays open, import a few images into this new catalog.
Close the PC
Report back
If LR still crashes
Disconnect everything, bar keyboard, mouse, screen, internet connection​Repeat the first 7 steps.​
The Crash report was not to informative to these untrained eyes. However the mentions of Lua suggests there might be a 3rd party plugin at the root cause.
If none of the above works, you might you get the chance disable all Plugins using the Plugin Manager.

If everything above has been exhausted,  the next recourse would  be to uninstall, reboot, and reinstall Lightroom classic using the Adobe Creative Cloud app Manager.  If we get to this point make sure that you do not delete the master catalog that brought us here and that you have backups of that catalog.


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## Alex Mac (Apr 2, 2020)

Hi, thanks for your help, and I apologies if I am not understanding this correctly, it must be difficult trying to help remotely with some one with a lowish skills base..... .

I carried out the first steps.
I could not get the reset preferences box to appear this time, by  Alt-Shift as I doubled clicked.......so I followed the other instructions and deleted the preferences file manually. 
Selected the new catalog option - opened
But LR crashed as before

Then I have disconnected everything else from the pc. 
Then I checked if there was any preferences file there to delete again - there was no file to delete 
went to my LR folder to delete the" lock" file (please see below)

Sorry, this is where I am stuck, as I cant see a "lock" file to delete.

Sorry if I have misunderstood anything....


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## Alex Mac (Apr 2, 2020)




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## Alex Mac (Apr 3, 2020)

Just had a thought this morning.....do you think I would be better off, just uninstalling both creative cloud and LR, reinstall.
Then use one of the back up catalogs form a month or so a go.... 
Just wondered it that might the easiest way to get up and running again?


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 3, 2020)

The most frequent cause of crashes is the graphics card driver. Have you checked your graphics card manufacturer's website for a recent update?


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## Alex Mac (Apr 3, 2020)

Hi Victoria,
Thanks for getting back to me.
Yes I checked that the other day, then just to make 100% sure, I got a good friend of mine who is very knowledgeable with pc's. to dial in remotely and double check. 
I am a bit lost what to try now......


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## clee01l (Apr 3, 2020)

I’m at a loss too. If running LR is Windows safe mode doe not help, the using Adobe Creative Cloud to in install Lightroom classic. Would be my next recommendation. I don’t think you need to uninstall creative cloud. But you do need to remember to reboot after uninstalling before you install a new copy of the Lightroom app


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Alex Mac (Mar 30, 2020)

Hi guys,

I wonder if you might be able to help please.
When I opened LR last night, it was a little slow to load in, then an adobe error report popped up, which I sent, then LR just closed down.
Tried restarting my pc, opened LR, same thing, this time I selected "dont send" but then LR just closed down again.

Then I thought I would try to open it form the creative suite , but when I double click that, nothing happens, it does not even try to open?

Is there anything else I can try?

Cheers for any help,
Alex


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## Alex Mac (Apr 3, 2020)

hi ya,
the other thing that seems random, I have just tried to open creative cloud, via the desk top app and the windows button.......nothing happens when I double click it?
I do seem to have got myself into a right old muddle......


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 4, 2020)

That could be key Alex. When you say creative cloud, you mean the red figure of 8 icon? Have you tried reinstalling that?


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## Samoreen (Apr 4, 2020)

@alex

Since nothing usual seems to fix the problem, I have a suggestion...

There's a known (but unresolved) problem affecting both Photoshop and less frequently Lightroom and that is preventing both apps from starting without crashing. This problem is very likely a permission problem that is still not identified . But the workaround is to launch the program "as an administrator". Please try this.

If this worked, I'll tell you how to mark the Lightroom executable in such a way that it will always be launched automatically as an administrator.


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## Alex Mac (Apr 4, 2020)

Hi Samoreen,
Thank you for taking the time to send the tip......unfortunately it didn't work, LR still crashed....
The funny thing is, I tried to open Creative Cloud as well as admin,  but nothing happens at all.
God knows, but this is doing my head in now.....
Thanks again for trying..


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## clee01l (Apr 4, 2020)

Based upon later comments by others, my earlier comment             #25           should also include =ininstalling and reinstalling everything Adobe including Adobe Creative Cloud app manager.


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## Alex Mac (Apr 4, 2020)

Hi Cletus,
Thanks, I cant think of anything else, thanks, I will give that a go later this afternoon, thanks for yours and everyone help...


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## Alex Mac (Apr 4, 2020)

Sorry everyone,!!
For some reason it would not even attempt to uninstall LR !





When I tried on Creative cloud - it gave the option to try to repair, which I did, and it did download some files.... and now has today date.
So now creative cloud opens.

So I thought I would try to open Lightroom from creative cloud
I had this message again:



I still cant find a "lock" file to delete:



So I thought I would try to open with the current catalog:



That got the same message

Then I thought I would unzip one of my back ups and try that:



That got the same message......

How can I close or get rid of the catalog that is open????

Sorry I know I am being a bit of a nightmare.......


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## clee01l (Apr 4, 2020)

Do a system search using Windows Explorer for a “*.lock” file. 
What exactly is the name and path of your master catalog file. The files listed in your screen shot show a Lightroom Catalog.lrcat file not local (cloud symbol) and not modified since December 2019

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Alex Mac (Apr 4, 2020)

Hey.....we are getting somewhere 
I will explain in a moment.....but first of all it has now opened LR on the blank Catalog!

So I did a search as you suggested, and found the "lock" file, which had defaulted to my C Drive - Pictures - Lightroom See below:




I am guessing the catalog there is one we created earlier on when we forced it to open with a blank one? 

All my photos/other files are in my One Drive folder, so they are backed up to one drive.
So the One drive folder is a physical folder on the D: drive - which then syncs to One drive see blow:




So in that drive under Lightroom is where I have been looking and that is where my backup catalog go to see below:




Inside those folders are:



But now I am looking, I dont think they are catalogs ???

I am not sure why the 17/12/19 catalog has not sync with Lightroom.......

That to me looks like the latest catalog I have, or that I can find........
Now its opening via Creative cloud..........I think I should open with that catalog.....then try and tidy the whole thing up after that ????

Thank you very much for your patience....


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## Roelof Moorlag (Apr 4, 2020)

You could manualy disable the GPU (step 6 in this description)


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## Alex Mac (Apr 4, 2020)

Hi Roelof,
Thanks, I have got it opening now, I just have to sort out my catalog situation.....
Thanks for the info, I have saved it in case I ever need it it in the future...
cheers alex


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## Roelof Moorlag (Apr 4, 2020)

Alex Mac said:


> But now I am looking, I dont think they are catalogs ???


Yes, those .lrcat files are catalogs. You can open them by doubleclicking them. However, you have to unpack them from the zipfile first.


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## Alex Mac (Apr 5, 2020)

Thank god, for that 
I tried to open an older one, Dec 2019, but it was blank!
I think I need to slow down a bit, and make sure I open the right one correctly.


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## Samoreen (Apr 6, 2020)

Alex Mac said:


> I still cant find a "lock" file to delete:


Alex,

Try to rename the .lrcat-wal file. Also, you should use the Windows Task Manager (Details tab) and check whether there's a hidden instance of lightroom.exe running. If this is the case, kill it.


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 6, 2020)

Samoreen said:


> Try to rename the .lrcat-wal file.


No no no, don't rename that.


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## Samoreen (Apr 6, 2020)

Sorry Victoria, but you should have a look at this thread :

https://feedback.photoshop.com/phot...arting-even-with-a-my-catalog-lrcat-lock-file 

Making a backup of the catalog and just renaming the lrcat-wal file will do no harm. If this allows LR to start normally, it will be time to see what can be done to restore the current catalog if needed.


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## Samoreen (Apr 6, 2020)

More about this... (from the SQLite specs)

_A write-ahead log or WAL file is used in place of a rollback journal when SQLite is operating in Wal Mode..  As with the rollback journal, the purpose of the WAL file is to implement atomic commit and rollback. The WAL file is always located in the same directory as the database file and has the same name as the database file except with the 4 characters "*-wal*" appended. The WAL file is created when the first connection to the database is opened and is normally removed when the last connection to the database closes. However, if the last connection does not shutdown cleanly, the WAL file will remain in the filesystem and will be automatically cleaned up the next time the database is opened._

Write-Ahead Logging 

Since the problem is that LR doesn't even start, I don't think that losing the last changes made in LR just before the crash is very important. Moreover, the -wal file probably doesn't contain anything useful since the file is probably created before LR crashes. This can be verified by looking at the timestamp of the -wal file after trying to launch LR with the lightroom-2018-2 catalog. I hope that Alex has at least a recent backup of it.


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## Samoreen (Apr 6, 2020)

Hi again,

I have a couple of other suggestions...



clee01l said:


> If none of the above works, you might you get the chance disable all Plugins using the Plugin Manager.


Since LR doesn't even start, accessing the Plugin Manager is rather difficult, to say the least  . However, a plugin could indeed be the cause of this trouble. In order to disable all plugins without the Plugin Manager, you can process as follows :

1. I'm assuming that your plugins are stored in the default folder : C:\Users\UserName\ApData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom\Modules .
2. Temporarily rename this folder to Modules.old for example.
3. Try again. If LR starts normally, we'll have to determine what plugin is causing trouble. If this doesn't help, rename the folder to its original name.

Another problem that generally causes LR to start and exit very slowly is an issue with the AdobeIPCBroker program. This program is installed twice on your system : in *C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Adobe Desktop Common\IPCBox\AdobeIPCBroker.exe* (version 5.5.1.11) and
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\OOBE\PDApp\IPC\AdobeIPCBroker.exe (version 5.5.0.66). The one in IPCBox is causing trouble on certain systems. It can prevent PS and and LR from loading and exiting properly and it also generates issues with the Adobe CC Desktop app. details available in this thread : https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/cc-desktop-app-stuck-in-an-endless-loop . Look for AdobeIPCBroker.

The workaround is easy (but must be repeated after each update of Adobe CC Desktop if you are hit by this problem) : just rename AdobeIPCBroker in the IPCBox folder (the one in bold above). This will do no harm, the one in the PDApp\IPC folder will be used instead. This usually fixes a number of issues. If this doesn't help, rename the file to its original name.

Good luck.


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 6, 2020)

Samoreen said:


> Making a backup of the catalog and just renaming the lrcat-wal file will do no harm.


But you didn't tell Alex to make a backup...


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 6, 2020)

Alex Mac said:


> I tried to open an older one, Dec 2019, but it was blank!
> I think I need to slow down a bit, and make sure I open the right one correctly.


That's a good start Alex. If an empty catalog opens ok, then the next step would be trying to import a single photo into an empty catalog and check whether that still works. If it does, that points to a problem with your usual catalog. If it doesn't, then we're looking for a wider-ranging problem.


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## Samoreen (Apr 6, 2020)

Victoria Bampton said:


> otherwise it can lead to a corrupted catalog file or data loss.


Data loss : yes because the latest edits might be stored there as I explained above. Corrupted catalog : I don't see why. The -wal file is precisely here to protect the last known good version of the catalog in case of a crash.


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 6, 2020)

Samoreen said:


> Data loss : yes because the latest edits might be stored there as I explained above. Corrupted catalog : I don't see why. The -wal file is precisely here to protect the last known good version of the catalog in case of a crash.


I'm querying with the engineers as there's some contradictory information floating around, including some changes made in 9.0, so I want to confirm the latest information.


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## Samoreen (Apr 6, 2020)

Alex,

Copy your lightroom-2018-2 catalog to another folder (just the lrcat file alone) and double-click it to open it. There's no risk doing this.


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## Alex Mac (Apr 6, 2020)

Hi guys,
Sorry for not getting quicker, I have been sorting some family stuff out.
Thanks again, for everyone sticking with me, I i know its been a bit of a drama.
Quick summary where I am up to:
When I tried to remove creative Cloud - there was an option to repair it.
When I took that option - some files were downloaded - then creative cloud opened (it never did prior to that)
Then I opened LR from creative cloud - it opened 
But was blank.....
Then I went into LR - file- open catalog - selected last catalog in the LR folder -    but everything was blank (panicked)
As I have 3 catalogs in the LR Back up folder
I was planing to open one of those - they are only 3 or weeks old....
But first of all I was slowly reading everything I could on catalogs on the site here...
To try and ensure I did it correctly....and did not make it worse....  

That was/is my plan......
So any help - guidance-tips to do that - would be soooo helpful 
Thanks again


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## Samoreen (Apr 6, 2020)

Alex Mac said:


> When I tried to remove creative Cloud - there was an option to repair it.



Removing/uninstalling the Creative Cloud app is a chicken/egg problem. It will refuse to do so while you still have Adobe apps installed. When uninstalling your Adobe apps doesn't work, you're stuck. Uninstalling Creative Cloud can be done manually but it's a lot of work and tricks.


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## Alex Mac (Mar 30, 2020)

Hi guys,

I wonder if you might be able to help please.
When I opened LR last night, it was a little slow to load in, then an adobe error report popped up, which I sent, then LR just closed down.
Tried restarting my pc, opened LR, same thing, this time I selected "dont send" but then LR just closed down again.

Then I thought I would try to open it form the creative suite , but when I double click that, nothing happens, it does not even try to open?

Is there anything else I can try?

Cheers for any help,
Alex


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## clee01l (Apr 6, 2020)

Victoria Bampton said:


> But you didn't tell Alex to make a backup...



In an earlier post, I did get Alex to make a backup copy. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Alex Mac (Apr 7, 2020)

Hi guys,
well I have time today...
Is the best way to get myself up and running again, as LR opens now and does not crash .
To unzip one of the back up catalogs
Open LR
The file - catalog-open.......then browse for the back up file, then open with that...


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## clee01l (Apr 7, 2020)

Alex Mac said:


> Hi guys,
> well I have time today...
> Is the best way to get myself up and running again, as LR opens now and does not crash .
> To unzip one of the back up catalogs
> ...


If you open the UNZIPPED backup catalog file from its backup location, the relationship to the location of the catalog previews and the master images files will be broken.  This is OK if all you are trying to do is locate a good uncorrupted catalog copy.  To use it as a replacement, you will need to copy it to the folder where your existing troubled catalog file resides so that you can use the existing Previews folders and maintain the relative path to the master image files.  You can (temporarily) rename the existing troubled catalog file so that you do not over write it.


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## Alex Mac (Apr 7, 2020)

Hi ya,
Just to make sure I have understood correctly  and to ask one more question at the end.
As a bit of background to how my pc is set up, which might help the question at the end:
All my images and LR catalog folders are in a One drive folder which is on my D: drive
All the programs are on the C: Drive

I have extracted the back up catalog see below:





Rename the original catalog - Lightroom.Catalog.Iract (as below)
Paste in the copy of the back up catalog (as above)
Open Lightroom.....




Sorry, my last question:
If you remember when we were trying various diagnostics things and deleted the "lock" file which was in the folder above.
Then we tried some other things, and I could not find the "lock" file to deleted again.
I then searched for it as you described - and found it in the pictures folder on my C: drive - the drive that is only used for programs See below:

So i wondered if at one stage after I deleted the "lock" file in the One drive folder, the next time I closed Lightroom.
It put a new catalog into the Pictures folder on my C: drive

At last my question........does that then mean Lightroom will be looking for a catalog in my C: drive instead of where it was in my D: drive - One drive Folder? 

Sorry to go on and on, but I thought it might be worth mentioning before I start copying and renaming .....
Thanks again for your help.


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## clee01l (Apr 7, 2020)

If there was a "*.lock" file on your C: drive, then you might have been opening a catalog located on that drive when LR crashed  You can simply double click on the catalog file that you want to open to start Lightroom with that catalog file, If there is a name associated Previews folder in the folder along side that catalog file, then Lightroom will use it with the catalog that it opens.  If there is no Previews folder present in the folder where the catalog file is, then Lightroom will create a new empty Previews folder.  On opening Lightroom will automatically generate the "*.lock" sentinel file which only gets erased when Lightroom exits normally.


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## Alex Mac (Apr 7, 2020)

Cheers Cletus,
So I just rename the old catalog
So it does not over write - Is the one to rename  Lightroom-2.Icrat or........ Lightroom Catalog.Ircat (is this one not the catalog?)
Paste in the back up one - copied form the extracted back up folder
and double click that catalog to open lightroom?


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## clee01l (Apr 7, 2020)

Alex Mac said:


> So it does not over write - Is the one to rename Lightroom-2.Icrat or........ Lightroom Catalog.Ircat (is this one not the catalog?)


It is the catalog that has the same name as the one from your backup location


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## Alex Mac (Apr 7, 2020)

Hi ya,
I renamed the original with the same name.
Pasted in the one for the temp file but got this :


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## Alex Mac (Apr 7, 2020)

Sorry i meant I renamed with a different name. Lightroom2018-2temp.Icrat


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## PhilBurton (Apr 8, 2020)

Alex Mac said:


> Sorry everyone,!!
> For some reason it would not even attempt to uninstall LR !
> View attachment 14269
> 
> ...


Try a reboot.  Maybe that will  work.  Maybe.


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## Alex Mac (Apr 8, 2020)

Hi Phil,
Thanks for the tip, I managed to get Creative Cloud working again, there was an option to repair, which worked....
So thanks,
I am stuck now trying to find or load up a catalog...
Thanks alex


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 8, 2020)

Victoria Bampton said:


> I'm querying with the engineers as there's some contradictory information floating around, including some changes made in 9.0, so I want to confirm the latest information.


Just to wrap this one up, the engineers confirmed that deleting an lrcat-wal may corrupt the catalog in some circumstances, so it shouldn't be recommended. Most of the time, it may be ok, but there are some situations that would be damaging.

(And Clee is doing an excellent job troubleshooting with Alex so I won't wade in and confuse matters!)


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## Samoreen (Apr 8, 2020)

Victoria Bampton said:


> Just to wrap this one up, the engineers confirmed that deleting an lrcat-wal may corrupt the catalog in some circumstances, so it shouldn't be recommended. Most of the time, it may be ok, but there are some situations that would be damaging.



Thanks for the feedback, Victoria.

If you can obtain details about the circumstances under which deleting this file might be risky, I'm interested. I can imagine that deleting it while Lightroom is exiting, or while Lightroom is starting after a crash, or even while making edits, can actually generate a lot of trouble. But doing this would be rather masochistic  .


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## Alex Mac (Apr 9, 2020)

Hi guys,
Just wondering if you have any ideas for the next steps for me, as whilst LR is now opening, the catalog is not opening, after trying  rename the original file, copy and paste the back up file, then double clicking that catalog....
Cheers Alex


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## Samoreen (Apr 9, 2020)

I must say that I'm now totally at loss. What means "LR is now opening, the catalog is not opening" ? LR needs a catalog. It doesn't run without any catalog opened. So, if no catalog opens, what does LR ? I don't want to _wade in and confuse matters_ but I really don't understand what's going on. Alex, did you try what I suggested above : copy the catalog that you want to open to any other test folder (copy only the .lrcat file so that no other file be in the way), double-click it and tell us exactly what happens ? We want to see error messages, files created in that new folder, screen capture of LR running without any catalog opened, etc.


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## Alex Mac (Apr 9, 2020)

Hi,
If I open LR from creative cloud this is what opens:



Before it just used to generate a crash report but all my images were there.

Then I followed the instructions given to me:
Renamed the lightroom2018-2.Ircat - (renamed to lightroom2018-2temp.Ircat 
Unzipped the file lightroom2018.Ircat from the backup folder
Pasted that file into the lightroom folder
See below:




Double clicked the pasted in lightroom2018-2.Ircat file and I get:





Thanks for any help, but just to make sure we do not all get crossed wires 
Do you think we should wait for Clee to make any comment, as he was kindly helping me earlier on...
I ma trying to go through everything slowly, as I am a bit out of my comfort zone....
I hope those screen grabs were what toy meant,  thanks for getting back to me to help... 
cheers alex


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## Samoreen (Apr 9, 2020)

Alex Mac said:


> Do you think we should wait for Clee to make any comment, as he was kindly helping me earlier on...



OK. I give up for the moment (although the simple test I suggested was easier and wouldn't interfere with anything else). 

Good luck.


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## Alex Mac (Apr 9, 2020)

Hi samoreen,
The error screen shot above is the one I got when I double clicked on the catalog file, I not too sure what that means thou...


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## clee01l (Apr 9, 2020)

Alex Mac said:


> If I open LR from creative cloud this is what opens:


With Lightroom open you have created?  a new empty catalog.   What you need to do now is use the menu {File}{Open Catalog} to ope your best catalog file.  That catalog file  could be the one that you restored from back up or you might try opening the master catalog  that you started with.  If that master catalog  crashes  as it has in the past, then be sure can clear any  "*.lock" file that did not get deleted during the session.   If the master catalog file crashes, then it is somehow corrupt and you will beed to find, unzip and open the last good backup catalog file .  

There are a lot of "fingers" in this thread  So one person giving directions is probably best.    I have not been 100% available so others offering suggestion has a) been useful. b) also been confusing.


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## Samoreen (Apr 10, 2020)

clee01l said:


> On opening Lightroom will automatically generate the "*.lock" sentinel file which only gets erased when Lightroom exits normally.



As a side note, it should be noted that the .lock file is no longer a "sentinel" in the sense where it was preventing Lightroom from starting if a copy of .lock had been left over after a crash in a previous session. (I explained this in the thread mentioned above). And this is a good thing. The .lock file is now only preventing multiple programs from accessing the same catalog (database) simultaneously (for example 2 instances of LR or Lightroom and a SQLite Manager).

It's easy to demonstrate : 

- Launch Lightroom.
- Make a copy of the .lock file that was just created (in the same folder).
- Exit LR. The original .lock file is deleted.
- Rename the copy of the .lock file to the name of the original .lock file.
- You can still launch LR with the very same catalog. 

So, deleting a left over .lock file doesn't change anything : LR will launch anyway. This is because the .lock file is just a tiny text file containing *just one thing*, the process ID of lightroom.exe. When a new instance of LR is launched and if the .lock file is still there for some reason, the process ID will be different and nothing special will happen. Just, the process ID in the .lock file will be updated.

However, if a crash in the previous session left a hidden instance of lightroom.exe running, it will not be possible to run LR again until the running instance is killed. This is because the process ID in the .lock file will be the one of the hidden instance of lightroom.exe still running in the background.

So, when LR refuses to launch, the first thing to look at is not the presence of a .lock file for the target catalog. One should immediately check the presence of a running instance of lightroom.exe in the Task Manager (Details tab) and kill it if necessary.


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## clee01l (Apr 10, 2020)

Samoreen said:


> ...So, when LR refuses to launch, the first thing to look at is not the presence of a .lock file for the target catalog. One should immediately check the presence of a running instance of lightroom.exe in the Task Manager (Details tab) and kill it if necessary.


.  I think the Process ID is buried inside the Lightroom Catalog file  too although I could not find it in the open binary LRCAT file.    If Lightroom crashes and you reboot, there is no "hidden" Lightroom app running and that process ID in the sentinel file refers to a process that no longer exists in the new session.   It is when the "hidden"(?) process ID in the catalog file is present and matches the Process ID in the Sentinel file that LR refuses to open the catalog file    The sentinel file used to be an empty null file, but Lightroom has gotten more sophisticated with each release.


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## Alex Mac (Apr 10, 2020)

Hey Clee,
Its Easter....and the good Lord has smiled upon us 
I tried the file - open option but that did not work.
Then following your tip, I opened the original file that I had renamed lightroom-2018-2temp.lrcat  
At last.....it opened with all my images........there were about 1600 images syncing, but just left it, and it all seems ok.   

Clee,
First of all thank you very much for help and sticking with me.....
Last couple of things:
When I close LR...is there anything I need to now do so it finds that catalog again?
Now I am sorted, I would like to try and sort out all these files in the Lightroom folder and understand what all the different files actually do, see below:

Thanks again, you have been a super star!


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## clee01l (Apr 10, 2020)

Alex Mac said:


> When I close LR...is there anything I need to now do so it finds that catalog again?


In lightroom preferences on the General tab  Set the Default catalog to this good catalog.


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## Alex Mac (Apr 10, 2020)

Cheers, closed down and opened fine 
Thanks again, when you get a chance, no rush, I would like to tidy up all the Lightroom folder and delete what is not need and required.


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## clee01l (Apr 10, 2020)

Alex Mac said:


> Cheers, closed down and opened fine
> Thanks again, when you get a chance, no rush, I would like to tidy up all the Lightroom folder and delete what is not need and required.



Start a new thread and post a screenshot of your Lightroom folder when Lightroom is not running


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Alex Mac (Mar 30, 2020)

Hi guys,

I wonder if you might be able to help please.
When I opened LR last night, it was a little slow to load in, then an adobe error report popped up, which I sent, then LR just closed down.
Tried restarting my pc, opened LR, same thing, this time I selected "dont send" but then LR just closed down again.

Then I thought I would try to open it form the creative suite , but when I double click that, nothing happens, it does not even try to open?

Is there anything else I can try?

Cheers for any help,
Alex


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## Alex Mac (Apr 11, 2020)

Hi, will do, thank you.


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## Samoreen (Apr 11, 2020)

Alex Mac said:


> Thanks again, when you get a chance, no rush, I would like to tidy up all the Lightroom folder and delete what is not need and required.



I'm assuming you are talking about the folder containing your catalog ? Achieving what you are asking is easy, as I already described above. Assuming LR doesn't run and there's no .lock and no .lrcat-wal file in the catalog's folder (this indicating that the last session terminated properly), make a copy of the .lrcat file in any folder of your choice. Just that file. Open the catalog copy in LR. All that is needed will be automatically rebuilt. That's it.


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 11, 2020)

Thanks guys, looks like this thread has run its course. We'll look forward to Alex's next thread on clean up.


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