Slideshow will not run

[davidrichard]

Running Mac Catalina 10.15.7 with Photomechanic 6 6890. I actually have updated to the latest version of PM as well and the same results.
I often run PM Slideshows of my work but today the images don't appear when I start the slideshow. Only the background color appears. I have not changed any settings. Any ideas?
Thanks,
David

[ahoward]

The only fix we know of for this issue is to reset Photo Mechanic's Preferences.

Preferences are stored at the following location:

/Users/<username>/Library/Preferences/com.camerabits.PhotoMechanic

Quit Photo Mechanic and then rename this folder by appending something to the end of it. For example, change it to: com.camerabits.PhotoMechanicOLD

Launch Photo Mechanic and test the slideshow.

If it works, the downside is that you now have a fresh set of preferences and it is as if it is the first time you launched Photo Mechanic. If you have important things stored in preferences, they are stored in com.camerabits.PhotoMechanicOLD (or whatever you renamed it to) and I can work with you on how we can retain that important stuff while still fixing the slideshow.

[davidrichard]

Thank you for that info. I followed the directions and the Slideshow option now works.
So what is the next step to regain my saved preferences - which are many ... lol.
David

[ahoward]

Thank you for that info. I followed the directions and the Slideshow option now works.
So what is the next step to regain my saved preferences - which are many ... lol.
David

It's a bit of a manual process. I'll be able to help you quicker with a phone call. Can you call our support line at +1-503-547-2888.

If you need to restore those preferences until you can call (and can live without the slideshow until we can assist), you can get rid of the new default folder it created and then undo the rename that I had you to have it start up with fresh preferences.

[Ben McCanna]

I'm having the same issue that David had -- slideshow is running the background color and necessitates a force quit; however, I'm not able to find this:

/Users/<username>/Library/Preferences/com.camerabits.PhotoMechanic

Where is that on a Mac?

Also, what sorts of things will I lose if I reset my preferences to default? Will I lose the IPTC data I have stored?

[Bob Russell]

Hi Ben,

The Library folder in the path is hidden by default. To access the Library folder, go to the Finder's Go menu. Hold down the Option key and now you will be able to open the Library folder.

Resetting Photo Mechanic's preferences will clear the Favorites panel entries and reset the IPTC Metadata Template, including any field popup list.  All of the IPTC metadata applied to your images will still be present.

Best regards,

--Bob

[Ben McCanna]

OMG. It worked, but, man, what a pain in the a** it's going to be to reset all my IPTC data. I wish there had been another way.

[Ben McCanna]

It's a few months later, and the issue has re-emerged. I don't want to go through the process of resetting my preferences again, so I'm just going to live without the slideshow until there's a better fix for this. Any idea why it keeps happening?

[timcowie]

Can't you just save a copy of your IPTC template and then load it back in when you have made the change??

[ahoward]

Can't you just save a copy of your IPTC template and then load it back in when you have made the change??

Absolutely. Your preferences could encompass far more than though (file uploader accounts, snapshots in the various areas of the program, keyword lists, etc). If contents of the Template are the only thing that matter to you, then just do that. If its more than that, a quick phone call is usually more efficient than us going back and forth on forum posts :-)