"There was an error parsing the file"

When I open a bunch of RAW files in Photoshop ACR and scroll down through them to check for sharpness etc, periodically the thumb appears blank and when I click on it, I get a message "Unable to switch the current image. There was an error parsing the file." I have to manually scroll to an image that has no parsing error.

This is alarming because I cannot access what could have been a fantastic image.

I don't know if this error relates to the camera (Canon R3 and R5 - have had this issue with images from both), the computer (Dell XPS 13 Plus), the card reader (Delkin), or the external hard drives (Sandisk Extreme Pro older 2TB and 4 TB bought a year or a bit more ago), or the hub which is this one. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07ZVK ... UTF8&psc=1

I am using Sony cards 128, 256 or 512 GB like this: https://thecamerastore.com/products/son ... 2a15&_ss=r

I don't think it is the card because in one case I had not yet reformatted the card when I discovered the parsing error on some images and I was able to download those images onto my desktop computer without error. And I could even download them onto my laptop without error.

(Note that within Bridge itself, these faulty images initially show as a thumbnail BUT that disappears and shows a blank as soon as I click on it. I cannot  individually open a single faulty image in ACR but when I select a bunch of images including these faulty ones, I am able to open ACR.)

Has anyone experienced this problem and what is the fix?

Thanks,
Roberta Olenick

Does it always happen with the same card? If so there may be a weak cell on the card. What I would do if it is a single card is to reformat the card on a Windows PC and making sure that the quick format option is not checked. This will do a bit by bit format rather than just erasing the FAT and it will mark off any bad bits.

If it is on multiple cards than the card may be overunning the card reader's ability to handle the data. I seriously doubt it's the computer or HD's but it's not impossible if there are some weak or defective RAM cells on your computer's main memory.

Thanks E J.

Unfortunately, I can’t answer your question about whether it’s multiple cards because I never notice it until I’m back home and I’m actually going through all the images one by one. I will have to pay more attention to note what card was used in future.

I can certainly try formatting all the cards in windows.

If it is the card over running the card reader, is there a card reader that you can recommend that might be better?

I'm a fan of the ProGrade card readers

BTW I failed to mention that the full format (quick format box unchecked) will take some time for each card.

E.J. Peiker wrote: I'm a fan of the ProGrade card readers

BTW I failed to mention that the full format (quick format box unchecked) will take some time for each card.

Thanks!

On further investigation, I don't think the issue is the card because here is what I just found out.

When I was in the field, I copied the cards first to an older 2TB Sandisk Extreme Pro HD. Once the images were on there, I sometimes tweaked a few and then copied everything from the 2TB drive onto a 4TB Sandisk as a backup. In order to do that backup, I had to plug the 4TB directly into the Dell laptop because the hub did not have enough juice to run the 4TB drive at any reasonable speed. So that meant that I had to run the Dell either on battery or by plugging it into the hub because the Dell does not have enough ports for me to run both it and the 4TB drive directly from laptop ports.

I still have all the images from my most recent shoot saved on both the 2TB and the 4TB Sandisk travel drives.

I just had a look now at one of the parsed error files on the 2TB Sandisk and that image is just fine on that drive, no error and I can open it. But the very same file shows as having parsing errors when I look at it on the 4 TB Sandisk.

I guess when I copied the images onto my desktop for full editing, I must have taken them from the 4TB drive with the parsing errors. And it is now that I am doing the full edits that I am discovering files with parsing errors.

So this tells me that the parsing error is occurring not on the card but when images are transferred from the 2TB to the 4TB drive with the laptop on battery or running off the hub.

So what does that tell us and what do I need to avoid this in future?

Here is my best guess as to what I need to do, assuming there is nothing faulty with the Dell itself.
I do want to be able to take a small portable 4TB SSD hard drive in the field rather than several TB ones now that my image files are so big. So I need either a hub that is bus powered but that can properly power either the Dell and/or the 4TB drive. OR I need a 4TB drive that does not draw as much power as the Sandisk.

Am I right or am I missing something?

If I am right, can you recommend either a compact hub and/or a 4TB SSD drive, maybe one of the Samsungs that would work better than what I am using now? (Are the Samsungs rugged enough for extensive field work?)

Here again is the hub I am using https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07ZVK ... UTF8&psc=1

Here is the 4TB drive https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08RX3 ... =UTF8&th=1

Thanks,
Roberta

That particular 4TB drive has had a lot of problems, as I previously posted here:

viewtopic.php?t=301771

I would never recommend it. Read the one star reviews on the link you provided:

https://www.amazon.ca/product-reviews/B ... geNumber=1

Or on the WD's very own site, even more alarmingly, where there are more one star ratings than five star ratings:

https://www.westerndigital.com/products ... 1-4T00-G25

Joe

Besides the problems Joe mentioned. You might need to do the same thing to it that I recommended on the card earlier - format on a PC with the fast format option unchecked.

I have done what you recommended on the cards, E J. But I don’t think it’s the cards because the image transfer is just fine to my old or slower 2 TB SanDisk drive. It is when I copy the back up from that drive to the newer 4 TB SanDisk Extreme PRO hard drive that I am getting the parsing errors. The larger drive is twice as fast as the older one and maybe that is the problem. I have ordered another 4 TB drive that has the same speed as my older 2 TB. I am hoping that will solve the problem.

E J, what small compact travel 4 TB drive do you recommend then?
Thanks.

neverspook wrote: E J, what small compact travel 4 TB drive do you recommend then?
Thanks.

I have never once had a problem with a Samsung unit:
https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/me ... pe4t0s-am/

E.J. Peiker wrote:

neverspook wrote: E J, what small compact travel 4 TB drive do you recommend then?
Thanks.

I have never once had a problem with a Samsung unit:
https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/me ... pe4t0s-am/

Thanks!

E.J. Peiker wrote: I'm a fan of the ProGrade card readers

BTW I failed to mention that the full format (quick format box unchecked) will take some time for each card.

I ordered a ProGrade card reader. It came with an alarming notice that it has a magnet that can damage hard drives etc and must not be near them. Pretty hard to keep the hard drive and laptop away from it since both have to plugged into the same small hub. Do you have version of ProGrade reader without a magnet?

This is the one I just bought: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B085PWGSMT?psc ... ct_details

From what you've written, you aren't using hard drives.  You are using SSDs so it won't matter.  You are talking about 4TB external SSDs and unless you laptop has an HD in it, most don't these days, you have nothing to worry about.  Laptops usually have either an nVME or SSD, not an HD unless they are very old or very cheap.  Even if you have a true HD in your laptop. unless you are attaching the reader via its magnet to the laptop right over the HD, you don't have anything to worry about.

E.J. Peiker wrote: From what you've written, you aren't using hard drives.  You are using SSDs so it won't matter.  You are talking about 4TB external SSDs and unless you laptop has an HD in it, most don't these days, you have nothing to worry about.  Laptops usually have either an nVME or SSD, not an HD unless they are very old or very cheap.  Even if you have a true HD in your laptop. unless you are attaching the reader via its magnet to the laptop right over the HD, you don't have anything to worry about.

Thanks for the reassurance. So the magnets don't affect memory cards either, right?

I do have one Lacie rugged non-SSD drive I use at times. How far away does the ProGrade have to stay from that?

Thanks,
Roberta

Yes, magnets do not affect solid state memory, just magnetic memory like hard drives
Keep it 6 inches or more away from the LaCie and you should be fine. I've had my Prograde reader stuck to the side of my computer case for years and it's maybe 4 inches away from the hard drives and it's not been a problem.

E.J. Peiker wrote: Yes, magnets do not affect solid state memory, just magnetic memory like hard drives
Keep it 6 inches or more away from the LaCie and you should be fine.  I've had my Prograde reader stuck to the side of my computer case for years and it's maybe 4 inches away from the hard drives and it's not been a problem.

Thank you!