A persistent random problem with PM ignoring previous imports and re-ingesting

[jsmcpheeters]

I cannot find a thread to explain this but I’d like to know if there’s a way to prevent this from reocurring as it seems to occur randomly every few weeks. I insert the cards from the cameras to ingest the recent session and PM (using latest version of PM6 with latest version of Mac OS on a MacBook Pro) treats each card as if it’s brand new, re-importing every single image from all previous days that were stored on the card. It slows down my workflow as I then have to select and delete each of those contact sheets worth of already imported files.

[Kirk Baker]

PM stores a small file on your card that contains an identifier that matches a file on your hard drive where it keeps track of the images that have been ingested so far for that card.

If the file on the card is deleted, or if the data on your hard drive that is used to track the ingested files is deleted then PM will "see" the card as "new" and ingest everything.

Is the timezone on your camera or computer changing?  This can cause images to be downloaded again because the dates change.

-Kirk

[FotografodelParque]

Kirk,

Is there a way to remedy this if I have not erased either the file on the card or on my computer? Or how do I prevent erasing this identifier on either the card or my hard drive?

If the ingest starts at the beginning of a card is your recommendation to let it "do its thing" and upon completion erase those images that have been ingested in prior times? Or is there a way to interrupt the ingest and get it to only ingest the latest images on the card.

Frankly, I am reluctant to install upgrades as the issue seems to be more prevalent when I have installed an update and it seems to arbitrarily ingest the entire card instead of the most recent.

Your thoughts greatly appreciated

[Kirk Baker]

Is there a way to remedy this if I have not erased either the file on the card or on my computer? Or how do I prevent erasing this identifier on either the card or my hard drive?

Generally, if you don't format the card once you put it back into your camera, the file should persist.

If you'd like to find out why all of the files are being ingested when you have Incremental Ingest turned on then I'd be happy to help you investigate further.  I need to know what OS you're running so that I can instruct you on how to get the information that we need to know in order to investigate further.

-Kirk

[gpoole]

I have the same problem.  The modification date on the .pmingest.dat file is 6/14/2019, the first ingest I did from the card after formatting.  I have done 2 other ingests since then with the latest today 8/7/2019.   The .pmingest.dat  date has not changed and all files on the CF card were ingested.  I have always had Incremental Ingest checked.  I also have Unmount Source Disk(s) after Ingest checked.

I'm using PM 6.0 build 3331 on Windows 10 64 bit version 1903 build 18362.267.  I believe this has happened on earlier builds of PM and possibly earlier versions of Windows 10 as well.

[Kirk Baker]

I have the same problem.  The modification date on the .pmingest.dat file is 6/14/2019, the first ingest I did from the card after formatting.  I have done 2 other ingests since then with the latest today 8/7/2019.   The .pmingest.dat  date has not changed and all files on the CF card were ingested.  I have always had Incremental Ingest checked.  I also have Unmount Source Disk(s) after Ingest checked.

I'm using PM 6.0 build 3331 on Windows 10 64 bit version 1903 build 18362.267.  I believe this has happened on earlier builds of PM and possibly earlier versions of Windows 10 as well.

Have you done anything that would cause the loss of the data used to track that pmingest.dat file?  If the data on your computer that keeps track of what was ingested is lost then it won't know what was previously ingested.  Has your time zone changed?

-Kirk

[gpoole]

Time zone never changed.

Previously ingested image files and PM XMP files were moved to another drive with Lightroom import.

What files and where are the files stored on the computer that are used to track ingests?  I thought only the .pmingest.dat file on the memory card was used for tracking.

[Kirk Baker]

Time zone never changed.

Previously ingested image files and PM XMP files were moved to another drive with Lightroom import.

What files and where are the files stored on the computer that are used to track ingests?  I thought only the .pmingest.dat file on the memory card was used for tracking.

In your User directory\AppData\Roaming\Camera Bits, Inc\Photo Mechanic\ingest\incremental folder there will be a file whose name (it's a GUID) that matches the GUID inside the .pmingest.dat file on your card.  If it is missing or doesn't contain the data about what files were ingested, or the date/file size changed, then files that appear not to have been successfully ingested will be ingested again.

-Kirk

[gpoole]

All the ingest files are intact.  When I tried to re-ingest the same card to night noting was redundantly read.  Even if I deleted the folders with the ingested files from yesterday, the images were no ingested again.  So it's working just as expected.

With your explanation I think I figured out what happened.  I Ingested the same card on 2 different computers.  In read each image once on each computer.  I expected that once an image was ingested on one computer it would not ingest on another computer.  Clearly the design ti to ingest once per combination of user and computer.  The only problem was that I did not understand the design of Incremental Ingest.

Thanks for helping me understand the design.

[Kirk Baker]

All the ingest files are intact.  When I tried to re-ingest the same card to night noting was redundantly read.  Even if I deleted the folders with the ingested files from yesterday, the images were no ingested again.  So it's working just as expected.

With your explanation I think I figured out what happened.  I Ingested the same card on 2 different computers.  In read each image once on each computer.  I expected that once an image was ingested on one computer it would not ingest on another computer.  Clearly the design ti to ingest once per combination of user and computer.  The only problem was that I did not understand the design of Incremental Ingest.

Thanks for helping me understand the design.

Yes, it is per-computer.  We can't store the log on the card because the card can get filled to capacity with photos (it's when many photographers stop shooting images.)  So the log is stored locally where space is usually plentiful.

-Kirk