Corrupt catalog message in 2020.6 - ON1 not responding
I primarily use LR for cataloging, and occasionally use ON1 for editing. Today, I got a message that the ON1 catalog was damaged, and asked if I want to recover from backup (tried to upload screenshot, but no luck). I haven't used the program for a while, and can't seem to find info on where the catalog is even stored, or how to repair the issue. I have several hundred small files with ".on1" extensions showing up in one particular month's folder, and the original corresponding raw files seem to be gone. Can't imagine that ON1 removed them, so that makes this even more confusing. Can anyone help with this major mess, please?
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The Catalog databases are stored in your user directory at C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\ON1\ON1 Photo RAW 2023. Knowing that won't help much though as they cannot be opened or repaired. Not even the program can repair them—it deletes them and rebuilds them from scratch. To do that you press the Shift key while the program is launching then click the Reset ON1 Photo RAW 2023 button. Please review the Knowledge Base document ON1 PHOTO RAW - Delete Settings or Reset ON1 PHOTO RAW for all the warnings.
I cannot help you with the orphaned .on1 files problem. If you have a backup of that folder with the images in it you should be able to restore them. Is it possible that you moved them in Windows Explorer or in Lightroom leaving the .on1 sidecars behind? In that case you should be able to move them into the folders alongside their original photo files.
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Thanks very much for your response, Brian! I read the doc on resetting Photo Raw, and it looks like I'll have to attempt that. I'm not sure what new havoc that will create, or what I might lose in the process, but it sounds like it's the only option.
As for the orphaned files, anything is possible. I might have - as you suggested - relocated the raw files, but I'd be surprised if that was the case. I'm going to do some searches, to see if I can track down the originals.
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The Reset option basically returns the program to the same state as when it is first installed on your computer. The program is there but it doesn't have any data. You will have to reset all of your Preferences settings. Your Albums will be gone as will the Catalogs and any Extras you may have loaded or created for yourself. Your edits are safe in the .on1 sidecar files as long as they are still with their image file parents. If you still have your 2022 user data all of that will be migrated across again including your Albums and Catalogs and Presets and other Extras. If not, you will have to re-import and/or rebuilt that stuff yourself.
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So, there's no way to just rebuild the corrupted database, without essentially starting over from scratch and losing so much? The error message mentions restoring the database from a backup. Is that doable? If so, where might I find the database files? I saw some .ldb files in various places under the Roaming folder for ON1, but I don't know which file is the actual database I'd need to replace.
I did figure out where some of the missing originals went. I moved some of the files in LR to a new folder, not realizing that the ON1 sidecars wouldn't move with them. To be safe, I just backed up thousands of .ON1 files.
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I've already told you where to find the database files but that won't do you any good as you cannot open them or do anything with them except leave them alone or delete them. I've tried, they are encrypted.
If you want to try restoring from a backup of your own, just replace the entire Photo RAW 2023 folder in your user data. The problem with that is, when did the database become corrupt and can you go back far enough in your backups to get to a point before then. Otherwise, you'll just be restoring a corrupt backup copy on top of the already corrupt one the program is trying to use.
Photo RAW has a backup feature. As long as you have turned off the prompt in your Preferences, about once a week you should be prompted to do a backup. If you have done them you can use its Restore command (under the File menu) to restore from one of them. There is a folder inside your default photos folder (again, as long as defaults have not been changed) called ON1 backups. The backup files are in there. The have an .onbackup extension but they are actually just .zip files. You can open one up with a zip file manager to examine its contents if you like. It's just the Photo RAW 2023 folder we've already discussed. The ON1 backups have the same flaw as your own backups - if the corrupted database was backed up and you don't know when the corruption happened, how do you know how far back you should go to do the restore to get a clean copy of the database.
IMO, it is far easier to do the Reset function. It's a PITA to reset all your Preferences but it is the only way to guarantee a clean, useable database when you're done.
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FIW, I just went through a Reset a couple of weeks ago. I know what a hassle it can be but it does fix problems.
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Thanks again, Brian. I guess my mistake was in thinking that there was a single database file that needed to be replaced. From what I can tell, there are a slew of them, in various folders. I appreciate your detailed explanation. Looks like reset is the only way to resolve this mess.
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