Windows 11 updates resets pm

[bildbaendiger]

Hello,

regarding my post http://forums.camerabits.com/index.php?topic=15053.0 I have now the same effect again after a windows update:

I have made a normal windows update (KB5014668).
After the update all catalogs from PM were gone. Instead, a default catalog was generated and displayed.
Also the location for external proxies path was empty.

Is it possible that such Winows 11 updates delete or block access to a PM preferences file that contains information about the active catalogs and the path to the external proxies?
(the last time I had also made an Windows 11 Update (KB5013943) and all the catalogs and the external proxy info were gone).

Thanks in advance
Thomas

[Kirk Baker]

Thomas,

regarding my post http://forums.camerabits.com/index.php?topic=15053.0 I have now the same effect again after a windows update:

I have made a normal windows update (KB5014668).
After the update all catalogs from PM were gone. Instead, a default catalog was generated and displayed.
Also the location for external proxies path was empty.

Is it possible that such Winows 11 updates delete or block access to a PM preferences file that contains information about the active catalogs and the path to the external proxies?
(the last time I had also made an Windows 11 Update (KB5013943) and all the catalogs and the external proxy info were gone).

That data is located in (your path will vary on drive letter and user name) :

C:\Users\kbaker\AppData\Local\Camera Bits, Inc\Photo Mechanic\

If the update is deleting anything in that path, then the knowledge of what catalogs were available, what the local paths to photos are, etc. will be lost.

-Kirk

[bildbaendiger]

Thanks Kirk.
Unfortunately, I have already reintegrated all catalogs. Or can you see in the database (cat_state.sq3) when it was changed?
I will observe this in the next update.

by the way:
I have many catalogs. For each catalog I first have to open a menu, scroll down, then open another menu and scroll again.
Only then can I press the "reintegrate" button. Now I have to repeat this dozens of times.
A great simplification would be a button "reintegrate all", which performs the necessary reintegrate for all catalogs.

Thomas

[Kirk Baker]

Thomas,

Unfortunately, I have already reintegrated all catalogs. Or can you see in the database (cat_state.sq3) when it was changed?

I doubt that the update is changing the cat_state database.  I expect that the update is deleting it entirely and Photo Mechanic Plus creates a new one when it doesn't exist.

-Kirk

[bildbaendiger]

Hello Kirk,

I thought so too.
The database (cat_state.sq3) was not deleted, it has a creation date of 2021, well before the update.
The cat_state.sq3-wal and cat_state.sq3-shm files, however, were recreated today.
Also all files in the dyn folder are new.
Accordingly, all files were deleted, with the exception of the database file cat_state.sq3 itself.

Thomas

[Kirk Baker]

Thomas,

I thought so too.
The database (cat_state.sq3) was not deleted, it has a creation date of 2021, well before the update.
The cat_state.sq3-wal and cat_state.sq3-shm files, however, were recreated today.
Also all files in the dyn folder are new.
Accordingly, all files were deleted, with the exception of the database file cat_state.sq3 itself.

Odd that a Windows Update would delete any files in your user account.

-Kirk

[bildbaendiger]

yes, but there must be something else:

If there is no data in the folder ...\Camera Bits, Inc\Photo Mechanic\ (for a test I removed them manualy on the Mac Version), all catalogs are still present, and they are displayed in yellow with maintanance for reintegration. But they are still in the active catalog list.

In the problem after the update, the list was completely empty and there was only a newly generated default catalog.
I cannot reproduce this state if I delete all files from the folder. So there must be something else that causes PM to clear the list and create a new Default Catalog.

Thomas

[Kirk Baker]

Thomas,

Then Windows Update must be deleting the amprefs.yml file in:

C:\Users\kbaker\AppData\Roaming\Camera Bits, Inc\Photo Mechanic\catalog_settings\

Or perhaps it is deleting much more than that and other default prefs being recreated aren't noticeable when you start up Photo Mechanic Plus again.

-Kirk

[bildbaendiger]

Hello Kirk,

maybe it also has something to do with the external proxy storage:

I have 16 catalogs, some with internal proxy storage, some with external on a second internal disk.
Maybe there is an access problem or something like that after the update.
The location for the external proxies path in the catalog preferences was empty.
The reintegration of the catalogs with an external storage did not work properly.
There was no error message, but all external previews are not displayed (empty frame).
The solution to this was:
Copy all proxies back to internal. Then they were displayed and they could be copied externally again.
(this error is not reproducible with forgot and reintegrate a catalog).

Thomas