February 19, 2007
Upgrading the Beta Library to Version 1
The upgrade path from a Beta Library is fraught with peril. Not really, but it does require patience and understanding, especially if you have a large Library.
I’ve prepared a video as I do a jump from Beta 4 to V1. Before you begin your upgrade, please read the Readme and help files. Heed the warnings about upgrading therein. Unhide all image files and Import all Photo Binders into the B4.1 Library before starting. On that note, upgrade previous Libraries to B4.1 also. The process will backup the B4 library, in the event of a failure. To aid you in your upgrade here is the video: Library Upgrade Video.
Awesome video, thanks so much Sean!
In the video you point LR to a “Lightroom PR1″ file – what is this file, why do you need to do this, and why don’t I see that file on my system after following the steps in the video? I apologize for my lack of understanding, but I am having issues with my Library after upgrading and am a little panicked. (10,000 photos, 1300 are “missing”)
Thanks
Lightroom PR1 is the parent folder where I keep my photos. You don’t see it because I created it myself. If you were using B4 and importing using ‘Copy to Lightroom Library’ then your photos are in a subfolder of the Lightroom folder called ‘Managed Photos’.
Re: The ‘Missing’ Photos. Open this list and look at it in Grid. There should be a ‘?’ beside the files. Click on this and a dialog box will appear saying where Lightroom last saw the files. They may be on CD or an external drive. It’s also possible that you moved them outside Lightroom and it needs you to tell it where.
Navigate to where the file currently resides from this dialog box. If the missing files are all in the same location, then Lightroom will find the rest of them. Repeat clicking on the ‘?’ to find other missing files in different locations.
Thanks so much for your quick and detailed response.
I suspected the PR1 was a folder of your own creation, but I think I was looking for a magic bullet to my library problem.
Let me elaborate: I click on the question-mark in the Missing Files section, I navigate to where the files are, and then the files disappear from Missing, but do not reappear in my folders. Well, almost – some reappeared as sub-folders of a new folder named after the hard drive they are on, a couple appeared as their own folders, and others have disappeared from LR altogether. (Except that in my Collection from Beta 4 they are all still visible.) Possibly a structure to the folders that I’m not picking up on, or a location in LR that I haven’t thought to check?
I know your not trying to replicate Adobe’s forums, but thanks so much for any insights.
If the have moved from Missing, then they are in the Library somewhere. Remember that the ‘Folders’ structure emulates your drives, so look in the folders that reflect the location of the file on the drive.
One other thing to remember is if you move a folder in Lightroom it will physically move it on the disk also.
Thanks again – it seems to be going more smoothly – just a couple of shoots that are ‘hiding’. It’s very early morning: I’ll switch to large font size and keep looking.
Cheers.
Hi Sean
I had the same problem and spent over 2 hours with LR tech support on the phone and they couldn’t solve it. My files were not moved or copied anywhere they were gone off the hard drive completely. I had to reload them from back up disk and redo all the work. I had that happen in 3 of the collections.
Also the collections and folder names from the beta didn’t stay the same when I upgrade to 1.0. I’m still using the same database and they suggested I deleted it and rebuild it – but how do I do that and not lose all the sorting, editing and work I’ve done on several hundred images?
Thanks
Darlene
Hi Darlene,
because we are dealing with an expired Library, can you email me? sean at seanmcfoto dot com