Need help with Lightroom: "Unknown error while writing metadata to this photo"

BBW

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OK, I need help. All of a sudden - could be after I upgraded to the latest Lightroom iteration, I keep getting this message "There was an unknown error while writing metadata to this photo. Retry?" after I have edited my photograph in Color Efex Pro 4. If I "reset" then I lose all may changes. I can export to Flickr...but I don't like seeing the exclamation mark with the lines off to the left and really don't know what to do?

I honestly can't say that this happened after the upgrade. I first noticed it about a week ago when I was trying out the GRD IV, so it probably was right after the upgrade.:(
 
Thanks, Chuck. I didn't have that XMP file thing activated.
In fact you do not need xmp-files at all - unless you need/want to view your photos with the LR edits in another Adobe program (such as Bridge). But for LR alone, xmp-files are not necessary.

I would suggest that you uncheck the box <Automatically write changes into XMP>. You still can save to xmp but you have to do it manually. I do it in Grid View selecting all photos that I've worked on and press Ctrl + S. I probably miss quite a few but it doesn't matter for LR to display all the changes correctly (including keywords!).

It's just so odd that all of a sudden this is happening. At first I thought it had to do with the GRD IV files...but I'm pretty sure I'd already updated Lightroom.
 
Did you shut down your computer after installing new version of LR? That's a step I used to take all the time with Windows machines; not sure it's relevant to the Mac world...?
 
Still having this problem. I have reinstalled the latest Color Efex Pro update...4.01 and it hasn't made a difference. My photos look fine, the metadata shows up when I upload to Flickr...but the little question mark with lines below it remains on the TIFF file created after using Color Efex. I honestly don't know if this is a current LR bug, or Color Efex related.

If anyone here has a Mac and uses Lightroom and Color Efex Pro, I'd really appreciate your letting me know and perhaps you can give me a hand at figuring things out.(y)
 
Thanks, Chuck - no rush. I should add that the same thing happens when I edit in Silver Efex Pro 2 but not Define - which I rarely use but tried yesterday to see what would happen. Let's see what we can discover!
 
BB, I gave it a try:

Step 1: Image (RAW CR2) processed in LR 3.5 then within LR Photo>Edit In>Color Efex 4.00. Image adjusted in Color EFex and saved as TIFF. Result: no error message or flag.

Step 2: Upgraded to LR 3.6 and ran all steps as in 1. Result: no error message or flag.

Step 3: Upgraded to Color Efex Pro 4.001 and ran all steps as in 1. Result: no error message or flag.

So I guess I struck out....

p.s. Are you using standalone or plug-in for Color Efex Pro? I'm using plug-in...
 
Plug in. All I do is import my files from my SD card, convert to DNG in Lightroom 3.6, Edit in the newest Color Efex Pro and the Silver Efex Pro 2, save as TIFF, see the little arrow with the lines, Save Medatata to the files - and that's when it turns into the exclamation mark with the lines under it.

I will send you a PM later on...have a busy day ahead so it may take me a while. I really appreciate your trying to help me out with this, Chuck.
 
Ah, well there's one step that I left out: I don't convert to DNG in Lightroom (probably should but never thought much about it). I'll figure out how to do that and see if that makes a difference. Ditto on the busy day - later!
 
Well, Don taught me to do that - it's just an option one chooses...but it's never had a negative impact... This all seems to have come about after my upgrade to the latest LR... I may need to start a new catalogue or ? Now that I will need some serious hand holding for, Chuck. If it comes to that perhaps we can screen share sometime down the line. I really do appreciate your help, very much.
 
BB, happy to try to help. I'm (obviously) not an expert in anything, but I have that engineer's "find out what's broken and fix it" mentality...:redface:

I just looked at the Help section of LR regarding conversion to DNG and see there are several options, some related to how the conversion is done and what's saved. Do you recall what options you selected? I'm guessing that the way metadata is saved may be somewhat dependent on the option chosen.

Will PM you later.
 
It's just the Copy RAW to DNG upon import, I think. I'll have to check exactly later. Like you, I must get off line...and I don't want to bore the board to death with this. Your engineer's and friend's approach is much appreciated!:th_salute:
 
Just an update on this issue for anyone using Lightroom Version 3.6:

It appears that a bug/incompatibility was introduced into 3.6 that triggers the problem reported here by BB. The Adobe forum has this thread going:

Adobe Forums: "unknown error while writing metadata" error while working in Silver Efex Pro2 and Lightroom 3.6

Adobe folks are apparently looking into it, at least according to the "Community Professional" who participates on the forum. Until it gets resolved - either by an intermediate release or v. 3.7, reverting to 3.5 is suggested. Not a great solution for those who upgraded to 3.6 to gain support for their new cameras, but...

Continuing to watch this thread to see if anything new pops up.
 
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