Card Reader causing software failure??

[roghun]

This may seem like a software issue, but it's now been suggested by Adobe that it could be a hardware related issue.

My i7 16GB RAM Maestro AIO Desktop has an integrated 4 in 1 Card Reader. It runs Windows 10.

I'm an enthusiast photographer and upload all my photos using the SD slot on the PC.

I use Adobe Lightroom (latest version) to Import the photos from the SD card.

The actual Import works fine but as soon as it's finished the importing process, Lightroom stops working and I have to close the program down and then re-open it. The photos that I imported have been successfully written to my hard drive and the Lightroom catalogue.

I've spent over 3 hours online with Adobe, where they took control of my PC remotely and were able to recreate the issue several times. We even re-installed Lightroom.

Apparently, it's now being suggested that there must be some kind of issue between the software and the SD Reader such that it cannot continue to function!

The Adobe Community Forum have also suggested a hardware/card reader 'fault' as well.

I'm totally bemused, but thought I better check here to see if anyone can throw some light on this issue (which doesn't happen on my other AIO running Windows 7).

My first question is . . . . how do I check whether the card reader/drivers etc are all in working order (must be somewhere in Devices, but I can't find it!).

Thanks for any help/suggestions.

 

[steaky360]

Strange one!

Has it always happened?

The first thing I'd try is to see if the thing copies (without using lightroom) I assume (perhaps wrongly...) that when you put a SD card in it appears as a removable drive in the 'my computer' window? If so, just try to copy some photo's into a folder.

If that works, it isn't a hardware issue (at least I wouldn't suggest it is) I'd say its perhaps a compatibility problem between this piece of hardware and Lightroom)

Obviously if it doesn't work properly then it certainly could be a hardware issue.

 

[ubuysa]

Strange one!

Has it always happened?

The first thing I'd try is to see if the thing copies (without using lightroom) I assume (perhaps wrongly...) that when you put a SD card in it appears as a removable drive in the 'my computer' window? If so, just try to copy some photo's into a folder.

If that works, it isn't a hardware issue (at least I wouldn't suggest it is) I'd say its perhaps a compatibility problem between this piece of hardware and Lightroom)

Obviously if it doesn't work properly then it certainly could be a hardware issue.

I agree that trying a simple read and write to a card from file explorer would be the best way to check for a hardware fault. I'd also suggest the ensure your drivers are up to date. There might be a separate driver for the card reader or it might be in the motherboard driver(s).

 

[roghun]

@steaky360 and ubuysa . . . . .

thanks for your responses.

I've now done a few more tests.

1. The contents of the SD card can be copied to a folder on the hard drive without any problems, suggesting to me that there isn't a problem with either the SD card or the internal card reader.

2. I was able to use Lightroom to Import the photos from the folder on the hard drive. The Import completed as di the 'Building Standard Previews' bit. I was then able to switch to Develop mode and work as normal.

3. I repeated the Import process again but this time from the SD Card. Same problem! It's Importing the photos but seems to crash once it starts 'Building Standard Previews' or, depending on the number of photos being Imported, immediately after it has built the standard previews.

4. I did find on one forum, a suggestion to lower the quality of Standard Previews from 'High' to 'Medium' with a view to speeding that part of the process up, but when running another test with this change implemented, it made no difference.

5. There is a facility within Lightroom called 'GPU Acceleration'. Like most, I turn mine off because it apparently works well with very high spec grpahics cards. In spite of this, I ran the test again with GPU Acc switched on, but it made no difference. Still crashes during the Import preocess (specifically when Building Standard previews).

As you suggested, this seems to point towards some kind of incompatibility issue between the software and the hardware.

Just so I know, please can you tell me how I identify the driver for the internal card reader and find out whether it's 'up to date' (although I would add that this is a brand new i7 Maestro PC only bought in January this year).

Thanks for your help both!

 

[roghun]

@ ubuysa . . . thanks for your reply . . . please see my response to Steaky360