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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> Lightroom 4 and External Drive!!
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Showing posts 1 - 11 of 11, (reverse)
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 02/16/2013 08:30:53 PM · #1
I can use a little help here. I have been storing and working on images in lightroom off of my external drive.

(Please don't debate whether this is good practice or not because there is a reason why I do this!)

The external drive was mapped to my computer as drive H:. When my external drive was not connected, I plugged in another external device, an Ipod, and that automatically mapped to identify as drive H:. I did not realize this and plugged my external drive in. It mapped to drive I:. I realized this after the fact. After restarting my computer, I unplugged the Ipod and my drive and tried to connect the external drive again. Unfortunately, it no longer maps to drive H:, it now maps to drive I:.

Lightroom recognizes all of my files in the catalog are mapped to drive H:. Now lightroom can no longer read my photos. Anyone have any ideas on what to do? Is there a way I can map the external drive back to drive H:? Or is there a way I can redirect the Lightroom catalog to painlessly find all my files on drive I:?

Any help would be appreciated!!


02/16/2013 08:39:44 PM · #2
i don't know how to fix this off the top of my head, but it can be fixed. first, google for forcing a drive mapping.

even though you can resolve this in lightroom, it's not completely painless, depending on the number of images you have in the catalog.

one way to do this, just click on the top of the h drive on the left hand panel. it will show that all your images are missing. click the ? on one of the images, follow the dialog to search for it (a browser navigator dialog will open), find THE image, check off "find all similar", and click ok.

i'm not home, otherwise i could walk you through more specific/detailed steps. the main thing is that you do want to find you images rather than rebuild your catalog.

along those lines, this is a good reason to force your metadata back out to your original files. that way, if you ever do lose lightroom, you won't loose your edits...

good luck!
 02/16/2013 09:02:03 PM · #3
Thank you Skip. I forgot Google is my friend. Searched for "Remap External Drive" and found the solution. Simple fix is to type diskmgmt.msc in the run command bar. Then change the drive letter. I did that and Lightroom found all my files based on it's original path.

Message edited by author 2013-02-16 21:03:18.
 02/16/2013 11:18:06 PM · #4
ELRoi, Glad you found a quick fix.

I've come across a similar issue a while back. My solution was to store both catalog and associated image files on the same drive. that way if i access a catalog, all images are always associated with it.

Then again i create a separate catalog for every event i shoot 0.o Seems a bit daunting to hear about, but it really makes management a cinch. I also have 8 usb ports on my computer -2 usb 3.0 rest 2.0 - really makes life easy ...

Message edited by author 2013-02-16 23:20:15.
 02/17/2013 08:01:26 AM · #5
I assume you fix is or a Mac. This is easy to do in windows as well is the disk manager, you can pick any drive letter you want. I usually use the other end x,y,z when I map drives so they don't reorder when cards or other disks are plugged in and its easy to remember when navigation from another PC.
 05/02/2013 03:15:21 PM · #6
Instead of starting a new thread I though of just adding here and asking my question with a problem I am experiencing. I dont believe it's entirely related to the same cause but my problem is the same in that i cant see any of my images in LR4.4. I cant even import any photos and see as they should appear on the memory card?
Everything worked fine and then one day I tried to work in LR and the images were gone (Not visible) . - Obviously the originals still on my disk but I cant see them in LR. Anybody have experience with this or a similar problem and know of a quick sollution to this? I have even tried to re-install the program but still not solved

Thanks in advance
 05/02/2013 03:33:21 PM · #7
Well I am not sure this will work after a reinstall, but I have found Lightroom tends to lose it's files. It has the thumb, it has the file, but forgets how to connect the two. I have found the "Update Folder Location" to fix the issues most of the time. Short bit on files here.
 05/02/2013 04:07:56 PM · #8
Thanks Brennan. Want to have a look at the link but not working? Im not sure if it could be related as whats weird is that it cant even view new images I want to import?
 05/02/2013 04:21:06 PM · #9
Try resetting your import destination to a new spot. If it works that means the old location has been lost and there is your answer. If it still fails....more thinking must be done.
 05/03/2013 02:41:09 AM · #10
Nope.. Still no sollution. Im really getting frustrated with LR. Im not the most techno wise person around but this does not make sense at all. I have opened a test Catal. and then changed the import destination.. Connected my card for importing of photos but it still does not display the images.. not new ones nor images I would like to now import from my hard drive. It starts off by showing the detail of the images - Exif data - general and then it disappears and the tick marks also gets removed as it normally does when it senses a duplicate image exists... Maybe this the problem?
 05/03/2013 02:42:50 AM · #11
Just checked - Not solving it. i must be doing something simple wrong.. Cant figure it out
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