unsupported file variant issues

[kingsley]

G'day from downunder,

I have an issue that has only recently occured.  I run PM 4.6.2.1, on Vista 64 (main machine) and Vista 32 (laptop) across a network, and currently shooting a Nikon D300 in raw (NEF). 

I have been using this system painlessly and without issue for a number of years.  However in the last month I have come across a problem which 1. has just occured, and 2. is a pain! 

I import my files from my camera via main machine and the images are transferred via Nikon Transfer onto the main machine.  I usually then do naming, sorting, metadata etc via PM on the laptop across the network. 

Until recently this has not been an issue however I have noticed in the last month that a fresh transfer will result in the unsupported file variant being display on the laptop displayed images (via the network) whereas on the main machine the images display fine. 

To get around this I have to make a minor adjustment eg 0.01 exposure adjustment in the raw image and resave.  When I do this, the image then displays fine... very odd (and again frustrating).

Has anyone else experienced/reported this? have you got any pearls of wisdom to resolve this issue.

Regards

Kingsley
Perth, Western Australia

PS LOVE the product - you guys rock!

[Kirk Baker]

Kingsley,

I have an issue that has only recently occured.  I run PM 4.6.2.1, on Vista 64 (main machine) and Vista 32 (laptop) across a network, and currently shooting a Nikon D300 in raw (NEF). 

I have been using this system painlessly and without issue for a number of years.  However in the last month I have come across a problem which 1. has just occured, and 2. is a pain! 

I import my files from my camera via main machine and the images are transferred via Nikon Transfer onto the main machine.  I usually then do naming, sorting, metadata etc via PM on the laptop across the network. 

Until recently this has not been an issue however I have noticed in the last month that a fresh transfer will result in the unsupported file variant being display on the laptop displayed images (via the network) whereas on the main machine the images display fine. 

To get around this I have to make a minor adjustment eg 0.01 exposure adjustment in the raw image and resave.  When I do this, the image then displays fine... very odd (and again frustrating).

Has anyone else experienced/reported this? have you got any pearls of wisdom to resolve this issue.

We've never heard of this issue.  I have no idea why it would work any different if the files were stored on a network volume rather than on a local volume.  The only thing I can suggest is to provide you with a logging version of Photo Mechanic 4.6.3 so we can see why the NEF parser is having problems.  Are you willing to test?

Thanks,

-Kirk

[kingsley]

Thanks for the quick reply Kirk. 

More news - I did a bit of digging around last night and checked the files individual to see if I could spot any differences.  The only thing I could find was that the Sharing function/tag had been set differently for the newer files.  I re-enabled the Share function and everything seems to be fine again. 

My suspicion is that a recent upgrade of Nikon Transfer must reset the share tag - I'm just making this up now... but it does seem likely.  I should just bite the bullet and use PM (which I love) to do the ingesting.... I'm just not that confident on all the bits and pieces.  Oh well... time to learn. 

I will retry with PM and see if the same issue recurs.

Thanks

Kingsley

[kingsley]

oh - I forgot to mention - yes I am willing to test... but it maybe resolved.

Kings

[Kirk Baker]

Kinglsey,

More news - I did a bit of digging around last night and checked the files individual to see if I could spot any differences.  The only thing I could find was that the Sharing function/tag had been set differently for the newer files.  I re-enabled the Share function and everything seems to be fine again. 

Does this 'Sharing function' have to do with file sharing?  As in, 'if it isn't set' then other computers can't read it?

-Kirk

[kingsley]

Hi Kirk

Yes it does.  I had previously enabled File Share (via the Share) command in Windows Explorer for the main directory where the photo subdirectories are housed.  I looked at the older files and could see that they had sharing enabled, as did the files I had slightly modified, however the ones that weren't modified did not have Sharing enabled... which is odd.  The result was as you have stated...that I was unable to view those (unshared) files on the network machine.  Now when I refreshed the file sharing feature...problem resolved.  I am happy to provide you with any information I can on the configuration setup I have.

Kingsley

Does this 'Sharing function' have to do with file sharing?  As in, 'if it isn't set' then other computers can't read it?

-Kirk

[Kirk Baker]

Kingsley,

Yes it does.  I had previously enabled File Share (via the Share) command in Windows Explorer for the main directory where the photo subdirectories are housed.  I looked at the older files and could see that they had sharing enabled, as did the files I had slightly modified, however the ones that weren't modified did not have Sharing enabled... which is odd.  The result was as you have stated...that I was unable to view those (unshared) files on the network machine.  Now when I refreshed the file sharing feature...problem resolved.  I am happy to provide you with any information I can on the configuration setup I have.

I think the problem is solved.  Photo Mechanic is able to get a file listing of the files that aren't enabled for access, but cannot access them, thus the error.  Once the files are accessible, PM can view them.

-Kirk