Trying to delete lock/journal files

[Sally Mais]

I'm having difficulty opening one particular catalog. I've tried to delete the lock and journal files but LR keeps generating copies. Other catalogs are fine - it's just this one. If I try to open LR with it , there's just a grey blank screen with no error message - nothing. Permissions seem fine within the folder so I'm really struggling to know if the catalogue is corrupted and I need to reload the shots or if there is a fix. Thanks to anyone who can help.

 

[clee01l]

Welcome to the forum.
Lightroom generates each of these file everytime it opens the catalog. LR will remove them automatically when you close the catalog file and exit LR properly.
The Lock file is a sentinel file that tells the LR app that the catalog file is already open by some user. If LR crashes and does not get to clean up the folder as it would when it exits properly, these files get left behind and you can't open this catalog file until you remove the sentinel file.
The Journal file OTOH, contains LR catalog updates that have not been written to the database inside the catalog file. While it might be empty, it could also contain updates that had not been committed to the database before LR crashed. You can safely leave the Journal file and LR will process its contents the next time it starts properly.

None of this explains why you are getting a blank gray screen when you open LR. Press and hold the {Opt} key while clicking on the LR icon in the dock. This will open LR but not your catalog file. You will be presented with a list of recently used catalogs and the option to create a new empty catalog. Choose the Create new Catalog option and see if LR will start up with a new empty catalog. If it does then we can explore other options to get back to tour master catalog. What is your most recent catalog back up file in case we need to recover from a backup catalog?

 

[Sally Mais]

Thanks so much for the quick response. As I was exploring other options, I've tried to open an updated version of the catalog in lightroom 6 which it has thankfully been able to do but I'm still unsure as to why the original catalog wouldn't open.

Welcome to the forum.
Lightroom generates each of these file everytime it opens the catalog. LR will remove them automatically when you close the catalog file and exit LR properly.
The Lock file is a sentinel file that tells the LR app that the catalog file is already open by some user. If LR crashes and does not get to clean up the folder as it would when it exits properly, these files get left behind and you can't open this catalog file until you remove the sentinel file.
The Journal file OTOH, contains LR catalog updates that have not been written to the database inside the catalog file. While it might be empty, it could also contain updates that had not been committed to the database before LR crashed. You can safely leave the Journal file and LR will process its contents the next time it starts properly.

None of this explains why you are getting a blank gray screen when you open LR. Press and hold the {Opt} key while clicking on the LR icon in the dock. This will open LR but not your catalog file. You will be presented with a list of recently used catalogs and the option to create a new empty catalog. Choose the Create new Catalog option and see if LR will start up with a new empty catalog. If it does then we can explore other options to get back to tour master catalog. What is your most recent catalog back up file in case we need to recover from a backup catalog?