Lightroom and network storage (Page 2): I have my catalog on an external SSD drive without any problems...

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Gene51 wrote:

You can keep your images on an external, but the catalog itself has to reside on an internal drive.

I have my catalog on an external SSD drive without any problems

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

DGStinner wrote:

Assuming you mean Classic CC, the catalog file must be on local attached storage. The images can be on network attached storage.

I keep my Lightroom Classic CC catalogue in a Dropbox file. It is always available regardless of what HD I am using.

mikeroetex Loc: Lafayette, LA

DWU2 wrote:

Just as an aside, the need to ask this question is further evidence of the abject stupidity of Adobe's Marketing department, Don.

AMEN!!

goldstar46 Loc: Tampa, Fl

drdale wrote:

I have an external hard drive storage/backup (QNAP). If I try to use Lightroom CC I get an error message "Lightroom catalog cannot be opened on network volumes, removable storage, or read only volumes." This is pretty crazy. Cannot pull photos from a thumb drive or other removable storage? Must be a way around this.

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Dr. Dale.... Consider using external (off computer) storage for just that "Storage"

Put you work objects or images and functions components one of the computer's internal drive.....

Best advise I can give you is to read the below article from a company who specialized building computers for LR

Recommended Systems for Adobe Lightroom Classic CC
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https://www.pugetsystems.com/recommended/Recommended-Systems-for-Adobe-Lightroom-Classic-CC-141/Hardware-Recommendations?fbclid=IwAR16ozx9WmhewKsd5sNLoJTvBsvU5WaVzqpyUwlBLGF3KR1_WStm-LiQkpg

Hope this helps

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

mborn wrote:

I have my catalog on an external SSD drive without any problems

This is because the external drive, when connected by USB, is part of the computer it is connected to, with a drive letter, D,E,F etc. It acts like an internal drive to that machine.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

scubadoc wrote:

I keep my Lightroom Classic CC catalogue in a Dropbox file. It is always available regardless of what HD I am using.

This is one thing that gets confusing....Adobe says "you can not store catalogs on a network, but you can store your photos on a network."

Drop box is a cloud drive, but the syncing folder is on your main computer. Maybe this is why it works?

Lightroom classic also has options in the preferences to open a catalog in several ways, load most recent catalog, prompt me when starting Lightroom, and other. When you click other it comes up with a list of the computer paths. This makes it appear that your catalog can be anywhere, but Adobe says no. So why the options? This is just one of the things that's confusing to a lot of people, and the program naming is the worst.

For me it's just simple to keep my catalog with my photos on my hard drive on my computer. If I want to access any photos from the cloud I just sync them to the cloud version and then open them from my laptop somewhere else. That's the recommended way I believe by Adobe, and I always try to stay with what Adobe says.

Just my thoughts, and hope I'm not making it more confusing.

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

frankraney wrote:

This is one thing that gets confusing....Adobe says "you can not store catalogs on a network, but you can store your photos on a network."

For me it's just simple to keep my catalog with my photos on my hard drive on my computer. If I want to access any photos from the cloud I just sync them to the cloud version and then open them from my laptop somewhere else. That's the recommended way I believe.

I thought you could only sync your collections to the cloud, or has that changed with LR CC, which I haven’t yet used.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

scubadoc wrote:

I thought you could only sync your collections to the cloud, or has that changed with LR CC, which I haven’t yet used.

Thats what I said, the cloud version.

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

frankraney wrote:

Thats what I said, the cloud version.

I'm not being obtuse. Can you sync all folders, or just the collections you have made which reside in your Collections Folder

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

scubadoc wrote:

I'm not being obtuse. Can you sync all folders, or just the collections you have made which reside in your Collections Folder

Any collections. I did not think you were being obtuse, just that you did not read my full statement or I did not make it clear.

On the left side under smart collections, there is a little grayed out square. click on it and it will change to a double arrow, showing that is is syncing with the cloud version. In the photo you see the double arrow towards the bottom, I have the red arrow pointing to.

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

frankraney wrote:

Any collections. I did not think you were being obtuse, just that you did not read my full statement or I did not make it clear.

On the left side under smart collections, there is a little grayed out square. click on it and it will change to a double arrow, showing that is is syncing with the cloud version. In the photo you see the double arrow towards the bottom, I have the red arrow pointing to.

You confused me between folders and collections. So to sync, you must make a collection first, you cannot upload a regular folder in your library to the cloud. I just wanted to be sure that Adobe didn’t change anything while I wasn’t looking.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Collections sync, not folders.

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

That’s what I remember. Thanks for confirming.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

scubadoc wrote:

You confused me between folders and collections. So to sync, you must make a collection first, you cannot upload a regular folder in your library to the cloud. I just wanted to be sure that Adobe didn’t change anything while I wasn’t looking.

You are correct. It is the collections you can sync.

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

drdale wrote:

I have an external hard drive storage/backup (QNAP). If I try to use Lightroom CC I get an error message "Lightroom catalog cannot be opened on network volumes, removable storage, or read only volumes." This is pretty crazy. Cannot pull photos from a thumb drive or other removable storage? Must be a way around this.

If the suggestions made thus far do not work, contact Adobe Support! [I prefer the chat line.]

I decided early on, when the change of names occurred, that I would NOT use the new LR CC. ONLY use LR Classic CC. Not only because I do not feel the need for cloud storage, but also because it would be too easy to confuse the two. Names are too similar... I have a lot of photos, do a lot of editing, and hate it when I get error messages! I can understand how it makes you feel.