LIGHTROOM 4 - After Synchronizing all edits gone

Greetings All!

I have a problem that i'm hoping some poor soul has encountered and may be able to help me.

A month back I had a problem with my drobo, the drives were corrupted but the data was still there. Long story short, the solution was to buy a second backup HD dump all the data from the drobo to the new hard drive. I verified that all Lightroom Libraries were in tact along with edits and images. This Second HD is now called Drobo MIRROR.

The problem came when i reformatted my Drobo and moved all the data back from the Drobo Mirror to my original Drobo. This was done with Macs Finder.

All the data moved over without issue however Lightroom does not see all the images. Example: - When looking at the left hand column in the library module, I have both the Drobo and Drobo Mirror drives listed.

Drobo Mirror shows 2012/Aug - RAW folder - 254 images.
Original Drobo Shows 2012/Aug - RAW folder - 2 images.

It's a LARGE discrepancy which i attempted to fix with the Synchronize Folder option. LR did import all the missing images, but none of my picks, keyword tags or edits.

If i look back at my Drobo Mirror all the changes were there.

Other side notes - I did this with multiple other libraries without issue. This library i am having problems with is my personal (family) library and the .lrcat file is kept on my local drive.

Any ideas, comments or help please??

You should not have synchronised (which re-imported the images as "new").
That caused the images to be imported again (with default settings), without editing or keywords.
Either open a backup catalog or, if the original collections and such are still in the existing LR catalog (shown as "missing images"), use "find missing folder" to point LR to where the images are.

(One of) these threads should have all the info you need.

https://photography-on-the.net …ssing+folder#po​st15213173
https://photography-on-the.net …ssing+folder#po​st14964113
https://photography-on-the.net …ssing+folder#po​st14150710

Thanks Rene, Would you suggest I delete the folder in my Original Drobo, then physically move the folder using finder?

Wouldn't that have the same effect and not transfer my edits etc?

I'd suggest you don't delete anything until you have your LR up and running as it should.
Also: Don't do any moving or deleting in the Finder unless you know exactly what you are doing (which is not right now by the sound of it ). Way simpler and safer to do it within LR.

First step is to find the edited files in LR. They should probably be on "Drobo Mirror shows 2012/Aug - RAW folder - 254 images."

At least; according to LR there should be 254 images there, might be you moved them, but that's something to solve later. These 254 images are the references(that's all they are: references in a catalog) to the images you want: The edits, ratings and keywords etcetera are applied to these.

Once you have found them (in LR), you'll probably see a "?" icon on them.
Now go through the "find missing image" routing.

Once you have all working as it should, and all's back like it was, only then delete the unedited images. Do this from LR, and choose "Remove from disk".

You may need to go to a backup catalog to get the missing metadata. When you moved the files/folders using the system instead of Lightroom, then used "Synchronize" to re-import the images the result is that LR imported them as "new" images. The way to have done it would be to have LR "Find" the missing images. I'm curious as to why you took the approach you did...?

tonylong wrote in post #15290548
You may need to go to a backup catalog to get the missing metadata.

Certainly if he Synchronized using the "remove missing photo's from the catalog" option checked.

Rene,

I havent deleted anything yet!

and i appreciate the advice btw.

So going back to my original email;

Drobo Mirror shows 2012/Aug - RAW folder - 254 images.
Original Drobo Shows 2012/Aug - RAW folder - 2 images.

LR see's the missing images only when I tell it to synchronize. It gives me an exact number in a dialog box. I'm not seeing question marks on the folder, or on thumbnails so if i tell LR to update the folder location it doesn't do much because already knows its there.

Basically;
If i synchronize - LR imports images as new and i lose edits and meta data.
I have an option to "Update folder location" which does nothing.

The goal is to have two Drives, Drobo & Drobo Mirror with identical information.

The missing images are not showing in LR when you view "All Photographs" in the Library module? (without synchronizing; which basically is importing and removing "missing" images)

You probably synchronized before this with the "Delete missing images" option checked?
In that case you removed your edits from LR.

You're going to need your backup catalog. I hope you have one?

Edit: Bit unclear about this:

30Der wrote in post #15293364
=30D'er;15293364]If i synchronize - LR imports images as new and i lose edits and meta data.

So, the edits are in your catalog now? (All of them?)
Where?

30Der wrote in post #15293364
=30D'er;15293364]The goal is to have two Drives, Drobo & Drobo Mirror with identical information.

Why would you want both in LR?
It's a backup, right? So you'ld only need to use the second drive with LR if the first fails.
Just mirror the drives externally. Either by hand or using backup software.
(But get the catalog sorted first!)

What you should have seen after moving files in the Finder (except for the disk being offline that is):