Moving catalog to Dropbox - things got weird

[marcgoldring]

I want to access my LR catalog from both my iMac and my Macbook so I moved the catalog to Dropbox from my Macbook. All was fine. Then I went to the iMac and loaded LR and the catalog file was missing - I looked in the proper Dropbox folder and the .lrcat file simply wasn't there. I read some and decided to copy the lrcat file and that seemed to do the trick. But now I have 2 copies of the .lrcat file (a "conflicted copy") on the Macbook, with just one on the iMac.

I gather there's problems with LR and networked drives but I don't know whether that applies to Dropbox. If this arrangement isn't going to work, what is a reasonable work-around.

Also, while I"m asking questions - if I plug an external HD into an Airport Extreme, will LR read those files??

Thanks so much!

Marco

[mats]

I've been using dropbox to store my lightroom catalog for several years and have had no problem what so ever.
Works great as I travel with a Macbook Air but can then access my catalog from my stationary computer when I get "home".
Sounds like dropbox might not have finished syncing the files when you started using the other computer?

[marcgoldring]

I suppose it's possible that it was still sync-ing. Patience is not my strong suit. I'll look in again tomorrow and see what I can see... Thanks, Marco

[john beardsworth]

I suppose it's possible that it was still sync-ing. Patience is not my strong suit.

You got it! That "conflicted copy" has happened because you've opened the catalogue either before the catalogue had synced up to Dropbox from the first computer or before it has synced from Dropbox down to the second computer.

If you want to use Dropbox this way, you have to keep a close eye on Dropbox sync status and especially on the date and time of the lrcat file. So when you finish work on the first computer, watch to see the sync status turn to green and note its time. On the other computer, look for that date and time before you open the catalogue. A green status isn't enough - it could be green if the computer is offline or if it hasn't yet connected to Dropbox and begun syncing.

John

[marcgoldring]

Thanks, John, I'm reasonably sure that's the problem.

While I've got you, here's another question: I want to attach the hard drive that contains my image files to an Airport Extreme in hopes that I can access them via WiFi. I've read some posts on various forums that seem to suggest that LR would have a problem with that. Any insights?

Thanks

Marc

[john beardsworth]

Nothing specific, Marc. Unlike the catalogue, your images can be anywhere, including on network locations.

John

[marcgoldring]

Thanks, again! Much appreciated! And by the way, I've been following this forum for many years, asking the occasional question and mostly lurking and learning. I am indebted to everyone who takes the time to provide relevant, expertise information...

Marco

[Hans Kruse]

I want to access my LR catalog from both my iMac and my Macbook so I moved the catalog to Dropbox from my Macbook. All was fine. Then I went to the iMac and loaded LR and the catalog file was missing - I looked in the proper Dropbox folder and the .lrcat file simply wasn't there. I read some and decided to copy the lrcat file and that seemed to do the trick. But now I have 2 copies of the .lrcat file (a "conflicted copy") on the Macbook, with just one on the iMac.

I gather there's problems with LR and networked drives but I don't know whether that applies to Dropbox. If this arrangement isn't going to work, what is a reasonable work-around.

Also, while I"m asking questions - if I plug an external HD into an Airport Extreme, will LR read those files??

Thanks so much!

Marco

Your issue is not related to networked drives since Lightroom will not see this as anything else than a normal folder on your drive. Although it should work I would not recommend such an approach. I think a much better approach is to use an external USB drive that you keep the Lightroom catalog on including the previews and simply hook that drive up to you various Mac's. Clearly your image files need to be accessible from both Mac's.

I have chosen to only have one machine to avoid this problem. I use a MacBook Pro 15" retina and have the Lightroom catalog and previews on the internal SSD drive and the most recent image folders. Older image folders are on an external drive. For my office I have an external 30" display, keyboard and mouse. So when I return from a trip, all I have to do is to connect two cables (one display cable and one USB cable) and I'm using the "desktop machine".

[marcgoldring]

Thanks and yes, that's the direction I'm heading, although I'm dealing with the equipment that I currently have, which includes a desktop external HD which is a pain to cart around. But your set-up makes a world of sense to me.