joe_kelly_cthiz12j2vqkf

4 Messages

•

162 Points

Fri, Nov 8, 2019 2:52 PM

Solved

Lightroom Classic: Updating to version 9 but my catalog from version 8.4 is incompatible

Lightroom Classic - Updating to Lightroom Version 9 but my catalog from version 8.4 is incompatible and for some reason, it can't be updated. I can revert back to 8.4 temporarily so as not to lose my collection of work but it's not going to be a solution long term. Can you help give me some steps that might offer a solution to this issue I am encountering?

Any advice, solution or steps that I might be able to try would be most appreciated.

Thank you.

Joe

Responses

Official Solution

Rikk

Adobe Administrator

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9.5K Messages

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130.8K Points

a year ago

This should be resolved by the 9.1 update released earlier today. Please give it a try and let us know if you still see the issue after updating. Thank you for your patience!

Adobe Photography Products

Quality Engineering - Customer Advocacy

joel_gilliland

2 Messages

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70 Points

So i upgraded to 9.1 but still can't upgrade from 8.4 catalog. What am i missing?? I wasn't able to upgrade to 9.0 either. Still using 8.4.1 error points me to the lock file issue.

a year ago

nick_1273623

2 Messages

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70 Points

Same here, I also couldn't upgrade coming from 8.4 going to 9.0, then going to 9.1 I get the exact same error pointing me to the lock file issue.

a year ago

Rikk

Adobe Administrator

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9.5K Messages

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130.8K Points

Joel and Nick, I've contacted you via email for more information.

Adobe Photography Products

Quality Engineering - Customer Advocacy

a year ago

nick_1273623

2 Messages

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70 Points

Thanks Rikk, just replied.

a year ago

subharnab_majumdar

1 Message

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60 Points

It is not working for me too

a year ago

bruce_kentish

4 Messages

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114 Points

Same issue for me, I did manage to roll back to earlier version and open my catalogue, but still can't open it in 9.1

a year ago

john_woodman_6333271

21 Messages

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312 Points

Sorry to hear this is still happening with 9.1. Wasted many hours on it with 9, haven't felt ready to repeat the experience in a hurry. Seeing your comment is not encouraging.

a year ago

Rikk

Adobe Administrator

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9.5K Messages

•

130.8K Points

Nick and Joel's issues were not related to the earlier bug. This bug has been fixed. If you are still experiencing the issue complete the following.

Clean Classic Install Procedur

Close Lightroom
Restart the computer
Use the Adobe Creative Cloud App to uninstall Lightroom Classic
Restart the computer
Install Lightroom Classic via the Creative Cloud App without launching any other programs.
Restart the computer
Launch Lightroom
Wait 5 minutes

Then:

Preference Reset Procedure:

Close Lightroom.
Hold down [Alt/Opt]+[Shift] while restarting Lightroom
Overwrite the Preferences when prompted by the dialog
Close Lightroom
Restart Lightroom.

Then:

Go to Help>System Info... and verify the installed version is 9.1

Go to File>Open Catalog... and attempt to update your 8.4.1. catalog

Adobe Photography Products

Quality Engineering - Customer Advocacy

a year ago

joel_gilliland

2 Messages

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70 Points

Thanks Rikk

a year ago

bruce_kentish

4 Messages

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114 Points

Still not working. Ive also bought new MacBook Pro installed everything and then followed the procedure above and it still won't open one catalog
Ive got 4 other catalogs and they all work fine and have been updated.

a year ago

john_woodman_6333271

21 Messages

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312 Points

Finally - finally - working. Adobe, please do not do this again. I'm 75 years old, and I resent wasting days of what life is left to me on your botched upgrade.

a year ago

kirsty_wilson_2nrmeorbl59wd

6 Messages

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130 Points

I still cannot update to the newest LR. and I've tried the solution above in this thread, twice.

a year ago

david_golding_1mvs2lwngpf9v

162 Messages

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2K Points

What is your OS what version what build?

a year ago

kirsty_wilson_2nrmeorbl59wd

6 Messages

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130 Points

Windows 10 hone
version 1903
os build 18362.535

a year ago

Rikk

Adobe Administrator

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9.5K Messages

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130.8K Points

@Bruce Kentish

There is likely something wrong with the catalog. If you would be willing to share it to a file sharing service, I can have the team take a look at it.

Adobe Photography Products

Quality Engineering - Customer Advocacy

a year ago

Rikk

Adobe Administrator

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9.5K Messages

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130.8K Points

@Kirsty Wilson,

I am not clear on what you are saying. Does Lightroom not update or does your Lightroom catalog not upgrade from 7/8.x to 9.1?

Adobe Photography Products

Quality Engineering - Customer Advocacy

a year ago

kirsty_wilson_2nrmeorbl59wd

6 Messages

•

130 Points

Hi Rikk, the catalag does not update from 8 to 9.1

LR updates fine, but I cannot access the catalogue as the error mentioned above does not allow it to be updated.

a year ago

bruce_kentish

4 Messages

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114 Points

Thanks Rikk Flohr, happy to share and hope you can repair it. can you send me your email address please?

a year ago

Rikk

Adobe Administrator

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9.5K Messages

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130.8K Points

Bruce and Kirsty,

One more thing you can try before we look at your catalogs:

Close Lightroom
Locate the sync.lrdata file
Rename this file to sync.backup
Launch Lightroom and attempt the catalog upgrade again.

Let me know how it goes.

Adobe Photography Products

Quality Engineering - Customer Advocacy

a year ago

bruce_kentish

4 Messages

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114 Points

Thats great! it worked!! Thanks you!!

a year ago

kirsty_wilson_2nrmeorbl59wd

6 Messages

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130 Points

Hi Rikk,

File name changed.

Updated LR

Then tried to upgrade the catalogue

error message - Lightroom encountered problems when trying to update the format of the catalog file and cannot use this catalog in this version of Lightroom.

See Adobe Technote
Show in Explorer
Choose a different catalog
Exit

a year ago

Rikk

Adobe Administrator

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9.5K Messages

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130.8K Points

Kristy - Engineering has made the following ask:

"Can you ask to the user to check if there is a copy of sync.lrdata present in the same folder as the lr catalog? The file name will be in format <catalog-name>-sync.lrdata. If present ask user to delete it along with the actual sync.lrdata and try upgrading. If that also doesn't help than we should ask for the Catalog Upgrade logs."

Adobe Photography Products

Quality Engineering - Customer Advocacy

a year ago

kirsty_wilson_2nrmeorbl59wd

6 Messages

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130 Points

only one file with sync.lrdata on my drives. I will delete the file and retry the upgrade. I will let you know what transpires by the end of the day. Thank you.

a year ago

kirsty_wilson_2nrmeorbl59wd

6 Messages

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130 Points

YEAH!!!! Finally had a chance to work on it.

I deleted the folder and it worked.

Thank you so much, now in the latest version of Adobe products, and Windows.

Thank you

a year ago

Johan_Elzenga

Champion

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3.4K Messages

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59K Points

a year ago

Do you get an error message and if so, what does it say?

Johan W. Elzenga,

http://www.johanfoto.com

joe_kelly_cthiz12j2vqkf

4 Messages

•

162 Points

So, after updating to Lightroom Classic v9 and launching the programme, I get the message telling me that my catalog needs to be upgraded and a new catalog file will be created in a stipulated destination. I’m asked to either ‘Upgrade’ or ‘Choose a Different Catalog’.

If I choose Upgrade, the catalog will go through about 5 minutes of upgrading before I get the message

‘Lightroom encountered problems when trying to update the format of the catalog file and cannot use this catalog in this version of Lightroom’, to which I am given the options, ‘See Adoe TechNote’, ‘Show in Finder’, ‘Quit’ and Choose a Different Catalog’.

Now, I can start a new Catalog and Lightroom v9 seems to work fine, but I have none of the pictures from the last two years available, nor any of my presets for that matter but I haven’t considered that as an issue of concern yet.

a year ago

joe_kelly_cthiz12j2vqkf

4 Messages

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162 Points

I actually got it working, thank you. It wouldn't work from the start trying to upgrade my Catalog, but after creating a brand new one, I relaunched my old catalog from within the updated program and for whatever reason, that worked and has remained working after several restarts.

a year ago

Johan_Elzenga

Champion

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3.4K Messages

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59K Points

I love problems that fix themselves! Much easier to deal with.

Johan W. Elzenga,

http://www.johanfoto.com

a year ago

phyllis_peterson

1 Message

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60 Points

I have the same problem with my new catalog. None of the recently added pictures are available and I get a message that I cannot access files. How do I get out of Catalina upgrade or do what Joe Kelly did. I do not know what he means by 'create a brand new catalog. Where and how would I do that?

a year ago

christopher_barlow_1nldvzm4nh2hy

2 Messages

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70 Points

Following the upgrade to Lightroom Classic v9 (Windows 10) several catalogs upgraded successfully. But the next had the same error message as above
‘Lightroom encountered problems when trying to update the format of the catalog file and cannot use this catalog in this version of Lightroom’
I tried to upgrade the most recent backup but encountered the same error message. I am stuck - is there a solution?

a year ago

Johan_Elzenga

Champion

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3.4K Messages

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59K Points

@Phyllis: When you click 'Choose a different catalog' in the error dialog, you can click to create a new one in the next dialog.

@Christopher: Apparently Lightroom needs to read info from the images (depth info), so one thing to check when you get this error is if the originals are online. If they are not, this may cause the problem.

Johan W. Elzenga,

http://www.johanfoto.com

a year ago

christopher_barlow_1nldvzm4nh2hy

2 Messages

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70 Points

Checked and all the files are online and in the original locations.

a year ago

matthias_heidrich

1 Message

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60 Points

Having the same problem here as Christopher. Trying to role back Lightroom Classic to Version 8...

a year ago

cyndi_hathaway

8 Messages

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140 Points

Im having the same issue updated to Catalina 10.15 then upon opening Lightroom got message about catalog being incompatible and have to choose a different catalog. All my files I work with are on an external drive, I noticed that the drive is now handling file paths different than before. "volumes" is missing before the drive location. It is also showing the drive as a duplicate (same drive listed twice). Getting message file not found in develop module. How can I relaunch my old catalog? would that fix this?

a year ago

cyndi_hathaway

8 Messages

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140 Points

a year ago

jonathan_heilberg

1 Message

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62 Points

I’m having the same issue. Abode is of no help.

a year ago

Victoria_Bampton_Lightroom_Queen

Champion

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6.3K Messages

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107.9K Points

Cyndi, at what stage are you seeing the missing volume? After you've opened the right catalog or the "other" catalog you need to open in that incompatible dialog?

Victoria Bampton a.k.a. The Lightroom Queen

www.lightroomqueen.com

Author of Adobe Lightroom Classic - The Missing FAQ and Adobe Lightroom - Edit Like a Pro books.

a year ago

Victoria_Bampton_Lightroom_Queen

Champion

•

6.3K Messages

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107.9K Points

Cyndi, at what stage are you seeing the missing volume? After you've opened the right catalog or the "other" catalog you need to open in that incompatible dialog?

Victoria Bampton a.k.a. The Lightroom Queen

www.lightroomqueen.com

Author of Adobe Lightroom Classic - The Missing FAQ and Adobe Lightroom - Edit Like a Pro books.

a year ago

steve_gandy

238 Messages

•

4.7K Points

We have the same problem. Here's the error message. We are using Mac 10.14.5. Classic 9 refuses to open the catalog but reverting to 8.4.1 works. Help. Thanks in advance for your time and effort.
T Image: https://prod-content-care-community-cdn.sprinklr.com/579ad3b6-f7b1-4c16-a256-99ed28ff7b58/RackMultipart20191112122954kua-8e2fa3ac-278f-4ff2-abdd-3c4d71cefff6-2021376704.png1573601917

Image: https://prod-content-care-community-cdn.sprinklr.com/579ad3b6-f7b1-4c16-a256-99ed28ff7b58/RackMultipart20191112122954kua-8e2fa3ac-278f-4ff2-abdd-3c4d71cefff6-2021376704.png1573601917

--Steve Gandy - stevegandy.com/photography

a year ago

Victoria_Bampton_Lightroom_Queen

Champion

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6.3K Messages

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107.9K Points

It's now a confirmed issue, should be fixed in the next release.

Victoria Bampton a.k.a. The Lightroom Queen

www.lightroomqueen.com

Author of Adobe Lightroom Classic - The Missing FAQ and Adobe Lightroom - Edit Like a Pro books.

a year ago

steve_gandy

238 Messages

•

4.7K Points

Excellent! We tried everything.

For anyone else out there with the issue. There is a file created each time with a -sync -2 at the end of the file name. We were throwing those out when we retested. And sometimes a lock file would be created. But we threw those out each time as well.

The error message takes you to a page about deleting the lock files but that is _not_ the issue.

We also optimized the catalog each time we had it open in v8.4.1 so I believe the catalog is not corrupted.

--Steve Gandy - stevegandy.com/photography

a year ago

joe_kelly_cthiz12j2vqkf

4 Messages

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162 Points

a year ago

If I choose Upgrade, the catalog will go through about 5 minutes of upgrading before I get the message

david_golding_1mvs2lwngpf9v

162 Messages

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2K Points

a year ago

Try a cold reboot, worked for a couple in the Adobe Support Community. No reason.

steve_gandy

238 Messages

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4.7K Points

Didn't work for us.

--Steve Gandy - stevegandy.com/photography

a year ago

schford

1 Message

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62 Points

a year ago

I too have this issue - has it been fixed yet - I just tried to use lightroom for the first time in a few months and cannot access my pics with has decades worth of family photos!

Victoria_Bampton_Lightroom_Queen

Champion

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6.3K Messages

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107.9K Points

You can roll back to 8.4.1 for the minute, or if you want to send me the catalog, I can get it upgraded for you.

Victoria Bampton a.k.a. The Lightroom Queen

www.lightroomqueen.com

Author of Adobe Lightroom Classic - The Missing FAQ and Adobe Lightroom - Edit Like a Pro books.

a year ago

brenda_jacobs

2 Messages

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70 Points

I too have been moving and have not accessed but have the upgrade and it is asking me to upgrade. I haven't done it yet in fear that something may happen. I have decades worth of images and cannot lose them. How do you roll back to 8.4.1?

a year ago

brenda_jacobs

2 Messages

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70 Points

I meant it is asking me to upgrade my catalog and is saying it will be be compatible with previous versions. Afraid to do this.

a year ago

cyndi_hathaway

8 Messages

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140 Points

So I will tell you sometimes it is recognizing my folders in the upgrade when I launch Lightroom and sometimes it is not. I swear it has a mind of its own. For me Mac has changed the way it is handling external drives so the file path is different and lightroom thinks it has moved/missing...you can Locate the files and move them over but that isn't a long term solution when dealing with tons of files. So I'm just waiting it out. When this issue first started I was working around off my desktop with new images. I also just filled up my old drive and bought a new one, I have not had any issues with new work only old. Also as far as being lost you should have backups of catalogs stored in a folder.

a year ago

Victoria_Bampton_Lightroom_Queen

Champion

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6.3K Messages

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107.9K Points

Brenda, most people upgrade just fine. Here's information about the process: Why is Lightroom asking to upgrade my catalog and what does it do?

If you need to roll back, here's how: How do I roll back to an earlier Lightroom Classic release?

Cyndi, that might be a different issue. Post a separate thread with a screenshot and we'll help you figure it out.

Victoria Bampton a.k.a. The Lightroom Queen

www.lightroomqueen.com

Author of Adobe Lightroom Classic - The Missing FAQ and Adobe Lightroom - Edit Like a Pro books.

a year ago

steve_gandy

238 Messages

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4.7K Points

a year ago

Ahhh, nice! That's the way this forum is supposed to work, huh?

--Steve Gandy - stevegandy.com/photography

peter_koppenaal_5274372

1 Message

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60 Points

a year ago

I have been having the same problem since 9.0 was released. Just tried with 9.1 and same problem.

I tried doing this ""Can you ask to the user to check if there is a copy of sync.lrdata present in the same folder as the lr catalog? The file name will be in format <catalog-name>-sync.lrdata. If present ask user to delete it along with the actual sync.lrdata and try upgrading. If that also doesn't help than we should ask for the Catalog Upgrade logs."

There was NO FILE name sync.lrdata - there WAS a folder named that, so I renamed it .backup and got the same results.

Where do I find the Catalog Upgrade Logs, and Who do I send them to?

See image below for my LR folder and the error message

Image httpsd2r1vs3d9006apcloudfrontnets3_images1824047RackMultipart20200206-16945-oxpnw0-LR_DB_Upgrade_Prob_Feb-2020_inlineJPG1581026286

Rikk

Adobe Administrator

•

9.5K Messages

•

130.8K Points

a year ago

Responded to you via Email

Adobe Photography Products

Quality Engineering - Customer Advocacy

joe_kelly_cthiz12j2vqkf

Lightroom Classic: Updating to version 9 but my catalog from version 8.4 is incompatible

Responses

Rikk

joel_gilliland

nick_1273623

Rikk

nick_1273623

subharnab_majumdar

bruce_kentish

john_woodman_6333271

Rikk

joel_gilliland

bruce_kentish

john_woodman_6333271

kirsty_wilson_2nrmeorbl59wd

david_golding_1mvs2lwngpf9v

kirsty_wilson_2nrmeorbl59wd

Rikk

Rikk

kirsty_wilson_2nrmeorbl59wd

bruce_kentish

Rikk

bruce_kentish

kirsty_wilson_2nrmeorbl59wd

Rikk

kirsty_wilson_2nrmeorbl59wd

kirsty_wilson_2nrmeorbl59wd

Johan_Elzenga

joe_kelly_cthiz12j2vqkf

joe_kelly_cthiz12j2vqkf

Johan_Elzenga

phyllis_peterson

christopher_barlow_1nldvzm4nh2hy

Johan_Elzenga

christopher_barlow_1nldvzm4nh2hy

matthias_heidrich

cyndi_hathaway

cyndi_hathaway

jonathan_heilberg

Victoria_Bampton_Lightroom_Queen

Victoria_Bampton_Lightroom_Queen

steve_gandy

Victoria_Bampton_Lightroom_Queen

steve_gandy

joe_kelly_cthiz12j2vqkf

david_golding_1mvs2lwngpf9v

steve_gandy

schford

Victoria_Bampton_Lightroom_Queen

brenda_jacobs

brenda_jacobs

cyndi_hathaway

Victoria_Bampton_Lightroom_Queen

steve_gandy

peter_koppenaal_5274372

Rikk

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