@KeithRj and @jch2103 going from left to right under my desk we have Win 10 machines T, M and S with T and M having PL5 installed and S handling the database and the photo files in place of my NAS which doesn’t seem to want to play nicely with the PL5 database open command (which may or may not be a problem depending on whether it is my configuration of the NAS which is causing the problem).
Fortunately I have another PC which is also a Win10 PC but of an earlier generation than the two 4790K (an overclocked I7 2700K) and LAN access between the PCs is faster than access to the NAS. I ran a series of tests including keywords and given that it appears to be impossible to run PL5 on both PCs at the same time this seems to be the safest configuration and all appears well on the limited size tests that I have run including keywords assigned by either PL5[T] or PL5[M]; but I have not mixed in externally allocated keywords (yet).
The main problem that I want to test again is the one where having the photos on the NAS but local PL5 databases seemed to work, I am puzzled as why it worked!?
After reading all the posts with tests (thanks all for trying this suggestion) here are some comments:
I don’t think Windows and Mac will share a database due to possible differences in the structure of the database.
NAS devices often have permission problems. The most common issue is disk format. I would highly recommend formatting the drives as NTFS if using windows and if using Macs them use the disk format used by Macs (I am not familiar with their formats). This should fix permission and/or locking issues which is probably what is causing problems with the database on the NAS.
DOP files should be compatible between Windows and Mac as they are frequently shared on these forums between users who use both Windows and Macs.
When the database is opened another temporary database file is created for logging (write ahead log). This file is removed when the database is closed (PL closed)
I changed in the preference the place of the database to the nas and did uncheck the save settings in sidecar file and load setting from sidecar file. Closed PL and restarted it again. Changed a picture, added a new keyword, closed pl and restarted it again. Everything ok.
Database was written on the nas. No problems.
@KeithRJ , @jch2103 and @George and anyone else who hasn’t lost interest, I have been repeating the test where the files are held on a NAS (in this case machine S being accessed by T and M running PL5) to see why it appears to work if the application is run only on one machine at any time but with the database running local to the copy of PL5 i.e. machines T and M have their own copy of the database.
The photo files and associated DOPs and ‘xmp’ sidecars are held on the disks of S. I was monitoring the Uuid of interest while opening on one machine and then another and then the same a number of times just to mix it up a bit and the Uuid of interest simply did not change throughout the test. That is more than enough for today (almost yesterday).
Dear @sgospodarenko
did you know if DOP Files are compatible between the OSes, or if they will be in nearer future?
And maybe someone of DXO could moderate this post?
As far as I know from a while ago, some of us have exchanged DOP files and they were compatible, but it would be good to check that it is still the case.
that is basically a good idea, but the tests would be quite extensive and exceed my possible time expenditure for a purchase software.
I would actually expect DXO to make clear and reliable statements about this.
I don’t want to test, for example, with 60% of the possibilities, then work with a clear conscience for a few weeks and then catch a function that produces errors, and I get annoyed.
There are a few other things that I find progressively not good.
This morning, for example, I installed V5 on my main computer under Windows in addition to an already installed V4. Of course only after I created a current backup of the V4
What would be so difficult that the installation routine of the V5 recognises an existing V4 and then gives me the option via query to possibly remember the V4, or also immediately gives the option to select for DB and cache directories. I know that the versions are separated in the user profile, but then you first have to start the V5, change the settings in the preferences (which is not possible with MAC) in order to be able to work.
Certainly complaining on a high level, but why not
For me the time of image processing starts now, so there is no time for testing.
Compared the sidecars written by Win (thanks, @Guenterm) vs. Mac…
The structure of the files is the same
WIN files have more “Base” settings and many more “Overrides” than MAC files
Number of lines are different, Win files have additional 90 lines, some of which results from putting closed brackets and following commas on separate lines (which is irrelevant)
Settings in MAC sidecars are ordered alphabetically, in WIN files, things look randomly scattered
Summary: The sidecars use a structure that makes them interoperable for WIN and MAC versions of PL. Due to different entries, mostly in the “Overrides” section and the tests I’ve run, I can say that the files are still different and that “ping-ponging” files between Mac and Win versions of PL might result in some information loss. There are enough differences between those PL versions to make me shrug away the differences though.
As for MAC sidecars, they look like being able to be a backup of database entries including IPTC and keyword entries, but not for history. Nevertheless, delete the database at your own risk.
I used to have this problem. I spend a few months every year in France and the rest of the time in the United States. I had an iMac in both places and a laptop; twice a year, I would make a clone of one of my iMacs and take it with me when traveling to the other one. This is a pain in the neck for reasons that go well beyond PhotoLab, so after several years of working like this, I sold both my iMacs and replaced them with good displays. I then replaced my 2017 MacBook Pro with one of the new October 2021 models with plenty of storage. Now all my data is always wherever I am. Problem solved: I can work in either place as well as on the road. Not the cheapest way of going about it, but incredibly simple and convenient. Plus, it also solves the problem for those software titles that don’t give you three seats as I only need one.
Suggestion - check out the Mac Mini, either with Intel chip (save $$) or the new Mac chip (newer). It’s 8" square, and an inch high, and has as much power as you want. Mine has 1TB of flash drive, lot of RAM, and does everything I want - except ports. I bought a port extender which I plug the Mini into, which solved that issue.
I bought a nice Logitech mouse and keyboard, both with Bluetooth. You would need two of each, for both your locations.
I don’t think you understood what problem I wanted to solve, because with two Mac minis the issue of carting data back and forth across the ocean would have been exactly the same as with my two iMacs. Aside from that, I’m not looking for solutions as I have already purchased my 14" McBook Pro (M1 Max, 32 GB RAM, 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 4 TB SSD). Everything is now in one machine, I have displays with mouse and keyboard in both locations, and I can easily work on the road if I want to or have to. The Mac mini is a great machine, but it doesn’t address my needs of portability and avoiding carrying data from location to location.
No, I meant ONE Mini. You would un-plug it from one location, and carry it with you to the other.
The Laptop is essential for this, but you used to have both a laptop and an iMac - my suggestion was just to replace two iMacs with one Mini, along with two each of display, keyboard, and mouse.
I guess I’m not very good at humor. I started to write something humorous, but on a whim, did a search, and found this: Roll-up computer screen
Time to stop thinking, turn off my computer, and go out for a nice walk, followed by cooking a nice dinner, with a nice glass of wine, and freshly ground and brewed coffee.
(…and a big thank-you to everyone responding about these things, as you all saved me from a lot of un-necessary work.)
About 6 years ago I stopped using a home PC and replaced it with a powerful laptop as I do a lot of traveling and always take it with me to process my photos. I have never looked back!
I purchased an external 1Tb SSD for my photos which works great. When I get home I plug in my external monitor and I now have a full workstation and I do not need to copy photos to another computer. The only thing I do is backup to another hard drive which goes in my fireproof safe (I use a USB disk caddy for that so the I can have multiple backups for myself and my wife).
This setup has served me well for many years.
For those interested, I recently purchased an MSI Creator z16 laptop (Core i9, 32Gb RAM) https://au.msi.com/Content-Creation/Creator-Z16-A11UX and I can happily say that it performs wonderfully even with DeepPrime and would highly recommend it.
