Catalog corruption error FAQ | Lightroom 1.0

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 and 1.1 stores data about your photos in a catalog file. If your catalog file's structure has been compromised, one of these error messages can appear:

• The catalog "[Catalog Name].lrdb" appears to be corrupt and cannot be used.
• The catalog "[Catalog Name].lrcat" appears to be corrupt and cannot be upgraded.

It's possible that some of its data is no longer accessible.

Before Photoshop Lightroom 1.1 was released, a data corruption issue was fixed in SQLite, the third-party database implementation used in Photoshop Lightroom. Changes to Photoshop Lightroom 1.1 make it less vulnerable to this and other corruption problems.

Corrupted catalogs can occur for various reasons:

• In Photoshop Lightroom 1.0, when you import thousands of images and Photoshop Lightroom crashes.
• When the operating system crashes, or the computer is turned off while Photoshop Lightroom is running.
• When you pull the plug on an external hard disk while using a catalog stored on that drive.
• When you open the catalog from two copies of Photoshop Lightroom (multiple user switching on Windows XP). (Measures to prevent this kind of corruption were added to Photoshop Lightroom 1.1.)
• When you move a catalog without moving its accompanying -journal file, and then you open that catalog in Photoshop Lightroom.
• When you delete a catalog's -journal file, and then you open the catalog in Photoshop Lightroom.
• Data isn't written correctly to a hard disk due to faulty RAM or hard disk.
• Certain kinds of bugs in Lightroom itself can potentially cause corruption to occur.

For more technical details from the author of SQLite, see this document on the SQLite website: www.sqlite.org/lockingv3.html#how_to_corrupt.

• Do not try to continue to use the corrupted catalog, as continued use can cause further damage. If possible, make a copy of the catalog file on a different computer or hard disk. Hardware problems can cause corruption.
• File a report: http://feedback.photoshop.com
  Include in the report that you've received the corrupt database error message. Add any clues as to what could have led to your corrupt catalog, including:
  
  • Crashes in Photoshop Lightroom or the operating system
  • What you were doing when the corruption was detected
  • Whether you had a power outage, or if a forced restart occurred
  • Whether your catalog is on an internal or external hard disk
  • Whether your catalog is on a volume using disk encryption like FileVault
• Check the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom forum, the Support Knowledgebase, and the Photoshop Lightroom product page for any updates to Photoshop Lightroom.
• Use a back-up library or catalog in the default location to access your preview cache and preferences.
  

Note: If you get one of these error messages when you open a backup database or catalog, choose a different backup database or catalog.

Make regular backups of the catalog and run the integrity check. Database corruption is rare, but hardware and system software do sometimes fail, so a solid backup strategy is a critical part of managing your digital assets.

Save XMP metadata for your important photos. Not all of the data that Photoshop Lightroom uses is represented in XMP. However, the develop adjustments, snapshots (in 1.1), ratings, IPTC, and keywords can be preserved this way.