Verify and Repair of database fails... what next?
Hi everyone,
I'm a new C1 convert, having finally decided to come over from Apple's abandoned Aperture. I hit a bit of a nasty snag, and of course, I'm still new enough with this that I don't have backups set up yet, and the catalog is on a drive not monitored by Time Machine. What I stand to "lose" is only one photo outing, but they're holiday photos, so I'd really like to get them back.
Having Googled around for this issue, I came across a bunch of complaints about this issue... and the most helpful one was on this very forum. The trouble is that the extensive instructions on how to recover your catalog were made for C1 version 9, and evidently something changed between then and now, as attempting to open the database with a generalized database browser results in a request for a password. I didn't set a password, so this must be some new feature that was implemented after version 9... and it leaves me stuck. (Some newer replies to that same thread indicated the same issue, but they didn't receive a reply.)
I also tried another suggestion found on that same thread of creating a new catalog and importing images from the old catalog, but it gave me an error.
Lesson learned, I'll look into the backup feature and take it seriously... but until then, how do I recover my photos? Ideally I'd like to recover the entire catalog, but if I need to start from scratch I certainly can... but there must be a way to manually extract the photos in that case?
Your assistance is greatly appreciated! I'm only sorry that my first post to this forum is over this issue, and that my 1-2 weeks with Capture One are starting off with such a catastrophic failure of a learning curve.
Edit: I found the originals, but it seems to be ALL of the originals, not just the photos I chose to keep. It was one photo outing, but around 400 photos. I'm breathing easier now, but is there any way to recover the catalog so that I can resume from where I left off? I'm sure others on the internet would like to know, as well.
For reference, the originals can be found in Show Package > Originals > and then sorted by year, then dates, and then seemingly by import session (I think). While I instructed Capture One to delete certain photos, I never emptied a trash (if that's what Capture One has), which may also explain why none of these images were removed.
I'm a new C1 convert, having finally decided to come over from Apple's abandoned Aperture. I hit a bit of a nasty snag, and of course, I'm still new enough with this that I don't have backups set up yet, and the catalog is on a drive not monitored by Time Machine. What I stand to "lose" is only one photo outing, but they're holiday photos, so I'd really like to get them back.
Having Googled around for this issue, I came across a bunch of complaints about this issue... and the most helpful one was on this very forum. The trouble is that the extensive instructions on how to recover your catalog were made for C1 version 9, and evidently something changed between then and now, as attempting to open the database with a generalized database browser results in a request for a password. I didn't set a password, so this must be some new feature that was implemented after version 9... and it leaves me stuck. (Some newer replies to that same thread indicated the same issue, but they didn't receive a reply.)
I also tried another suggestion found on that same thread of creating a new catalog and importing images from the old catalog, but it gave me an error.
Lesson learned, I'll look into the backup feature and take it seriously... but until then, how do I recover my photos? Ideally I'd like to recover the entire catalog, but if I need to start from scratch I certainly can... but there must be a way to manually extract the photos in that case?
Your assistance is greatly appreciated! I'm only sorry that my first post to this forum is over this issue, and that my 1-2 weeks with Capture One are starting off with such a catastrophic failure of a learning curve.
Edit: I found the originals, but it seems to be ALL of the originals, not just the photos I chose to keep. It was one photo outing, but around 400 photos. I'm breathing easier now, but is there any way to recover the catalog so that I can resume from where I left off? I'm sure others on the internet would like to know, as well.
For reference, the originals can be found in Show Package > Originals > and then sorted by year, then dates, and then seemingly by import session (I think). While I instructed Capture One to delete certain photos, I never emptied a trash (if that's what Capture One has), which may also explain why none of these images were removed.
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I'm also an ex Aperture user. I made the transition a few years ago, however.
Database errors are now less common the formerly, but still nasty when they happen.
Since all your images are inside the catalog, you have two choices- Re import from Aperture
- Open a support ticket and ask the support team to help recover the catalog
What I reccomend in the future is- Store your images outside catalog, and configure Time Machine to back them up.
- Configure Capture One to back up every time you close the catalog, or daily.
- Configure Capture One to back up images on import (on an external drive)
Then, if something goes wrong, you will have something to work from.0 -
Thanks for the advice. I ended up extracting the old images (not the ones imported from Aperture - I'll deal with that later - but the ones from my camera) and just starting a new catalog. I lost about an hour of work, but lesson learned... kind of disappointing, I have to admit; I always had the "vault" backup system for Aperture in case something like this happened, but it never happened. I always thought of Capture One Pro as a more premiere product than Aperture, and yet here we are, years after I last touched Aperture, and it's such a seemingly basic problem to encounter... and the repair mechanism seemed to fail so badly.
Do you think that Time Machine backups are sufficient? In theory I could just recover the catalog file from a Time Machine backup. I poked around the backup part of Capture One and I didn't see an easy way to have it be scheduled or automated, but maybe once you make a backup then there are more screens that appear...0 -
[quote="Reign of Crows" wrote:
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Do you think that Time Machine backups are sufficient? In theory I could just recover the catalog file from a Time Machine backup. I poked around the backup part of Capture One and I didn't see an easy way to have it be scheduled or automated, but maybe once you make a backup then there are more screens that appear...
I do not think that Time Machine backups are sufficient. Time Machine is an incredibly handy backup service to handle the “where was that file that I was using last week†situations. But Time Machines file and link structure can be corrupted and then you are done. Time Machine also purges very old interim backups, and this can leave you hanging.
Don’t get me wrong - I use Time Machine and like it, but I do not rely on it as my only backup.
In Capture One General preferences there is a setting where to backup the catalog, and I think it is there you indicate when to back up the catalog. I selected “every time I close the catalogâ€, and a location on an attached backup drive (not my Time Machine drive).
On the C1 import menu there is a sub menu that allows you to back up image files on import. I see this as just what is needed. One mechanism archives the files on import, another backup the organization and editing details. And then Time Machine backs up both image files and the database.
And don’t store images in the catalog. It’s fine when it’s working, but a disaster when it doesn’t.0 -
It is most comforting to have a good backup plan that defends against catastrophic failure.
I back up my catalog every time I make changes I would not want to lose. Since Capture One 8, I have only had to deal with 3 corrupted database events. When that happened, I found that only thing you have to do is replace the corrupted cocatalogdb file with the last backup. The data in other files in the same cocatalog package with the corrupted database were never the problem. Restoring from backup is supposed to be a selection from within Capture One. If it works as advertised, you would not have to manually copy the database file into the catalog package.
It is also wise to keep your raw files outside of the catalog as referenced files and a copy of the raw files in an off line portable drive along with a copy of the cocatalog. There are a number of apps, like ChronoSync, that will expeditiously sync changes/additions to your off line catalog and referenced files. Not only is this a complete backup, you can plug it into any other computer with Capture One and run it from the off line drive or keep it in your safe deposit box. Better, rotate the copy in the vault with another copy and keep both updated frequently.
Jerry0
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