# Lightroom crashes on opening



## Andrew Heelis (Aug 12, 2018)

I have tried to open LR on my old MacBook (OSX 10.9.5) and it keeps crashing with associate error messages. I have done a “repair permissions” but to no avail. Can I uninstall it and then reinstall? It is Lightroom CC (2015).


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## Johan Elzenga (Aug 12, 2018)

It might help if you informed us what those 'associate error messages' are...


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## Jimmsp (Aug 12, 2018)

JohanElzenga said:


> It might help if you informed us what those 'associate error messages' are...


And:
Did you just install LR CC? 
Is this the first time you used it?
Did you use the previous version and was that ok?
Or if you used this version before ,  is this the first time it has happened?
DId you make any changes to your other applications?

Do you use LR Classic and is that ok?


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## Andrew Heelis (Aug 12, 2018)

Hi, I have this version (it is not the cloud based one) on the old MacBook and it no longer has updates, presumably because I haven’t exercised the option of upgrading the OS to Sierra. I have my photo library on an external HDD. The error message reads “Lightroom quit unexpectedly” and amongst all the subsequent text it says “ Exception Type : EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)”.
I haven’t  used LR very much on this device as I have LR Classic on my MacBook Air. I am curious to know if it was feasible to uninstall and reinstall Lightroom and what implications it might have on my images and LR catalogue.
Thank you!


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## Andrew Heelis (Aug 12, 2018)

Two more error messages:
Lightroom encountered an error when reading from its previous cache and needs to quit.

An error occurred when attempting to change modules.

I haven’t a clue what this means!


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## Jimmsp (Aug 12, 2018)

From what you have written, you have two different versions of LR on the two different machines.
Lets get specific - open up each version, then in the upper left under "help" look under "About... LR".
Tell us exactly what each version says.

Next - you said " I have my photo library on an external HDD. "
Do you read this library with each machine?
What catalogs are you using?
Where are they stored? How do you open them?


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## Andrew Heelis (Aug 12, 2018)

My MacBook Air is running Lightroom Classic CC 7.4 release. This is the version that I use and all my images are stored on this machine backed up onto a separate HDD to the device I use with my old MacBook which is running Lightroom CC 2015 1.4. Both machines are completely independent of each other and the older machine is purely an archive of my earlier images.
I should add that Photoshop on the older machine still functions. After any Adobe updates I always open the software to ensure that it is functional. It is only the images on the external HDD, the catalogue is in situ on the Mac.

Thank you for your help in this matter!


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## Jimmsp (Aug 13, 2018)

Then, I don't know what to say.
Something has changed.
If you have the install files from the version of LR that you have, I would try to reinstall it.
If you can find it on Adobe, then I'd recommend the same - assuming you have your key code.


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## Johan Elzenga (Aug 13, 2018)

Do you perhaps sync the computers via Dropbox? That can cause a recurring problem with the preview cache: "Lightroom encountered an error when reading from its preview cache and needs to quit" | Photoshop Family Customer Community


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## Andrew Heelis (Aug 13, 2018)

Thank you for your comments and suggestions, I have removed and reinstalled LR and it now seems more stable. I do note that the opening “splash screen” is different to the previous one but my catalogue is there and my archive accessible.

Regards Andrew


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## Jimmsp (Aug 13, 2018)

Andrew Heelis said:


> Thank you for your comments and suggestions, I have removed and reinstalled LR and it now seems more stable. I do note that the opening “splash screen” is different to the previous one but my catalogue is there and my archive accessible.
> 
> Regards Andrew



With the different opening splash screen, something is different (sounds like the version).
Why don't you check the "About LR .. " again and check the version number.


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## Andrew Heelis (Aug 13, 2018)

Prior to reinstalling I installed the last version of Lightroom 5, when I clicked to open it ,via Creative Cloud, my “defective” LR opened but then crashed. I opened Creative Cloud and uninstalled LR CC (2015) 1.4 selecting the “keep preferences” option. I rebooted the Mac and the apps list in Creative Cloud gave me an option to update LR 5 to CC which I did. It appears I am now running the first version of LR CC (2015) rather than the subsequent v1.4 that I had! As I am only using it for my archives I can live with that.


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## Jimmsp (Aug 13, 2018)

Good to hear that.
Have you ever thought about importing the old LR Catalog into LR Classic.?
I have a couple of large folders of old photos -- one I call "History" and one I call "Archive". Archive is kept only on an External HD (as  well as its backup). History is on an internal HD, along with my Active folder.
The history contains the photos from the last few years, 2016 to 2012, which are generally better that the ones I have in Archive ,  2011 - 2002.
Then I only have one catalog on one machine to search when I go looking for something.


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## Andrew Heelis (Aug 13, 2018)

Thank you Jim, I must look into that, having Lightroom on two machines goes back to when I used to use a PC and then my son gave me the MacBook. Creative Cloud allowed me to have LR on both platforms and when the PC “died” I replaced it with the Mac Air which was promoted to my main device.
Once again thanks for your invaluable help in getting my the problem sorted.

Andrew


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