+++ BUG +++: SEVERAL MINUTES until ONE RAW file is displayed in DXO Labs 8

Many years ago, the bug was fixed after customer suggestions and then crept back in later:

If you open a RAW file in Windows Explorer with a right mouse click → DXO Labs, it takes SEVERAL MINUTES until this file is displayed in DXO Labs 8. Even if only this RAW file is present in the folder in question. This is simply an imposition that you don’t want to put yourself through with a Core i7 + 32GB RAM + Nvidia 4080 Super 16GB OC and two fast SSDs.

Kind regards
DXOtestit

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Reminder: This is a user forum.

For DxO attention, I suggest you raise a format bug alert via official DxO Support.

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Tried it with a single pic in a folder (normal HD), that PL8 hadn’t seen yet … 30 sec.
PL8 closed and reopened … 20 sec.

You mean a RAW file?

I routinely load RAW files into PhotoLab in this way, using the Windows 11 context menu and image files from various folders. I’ve never had the problem you’re describing. Open a ticket via DxO Support and they will try to figure out why PhotoLab 8 is taking so long to open the RAW file on your computer.

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As already mentioned, the same error from DXO had been OFFICIALLY confirmed and fixed years ago. I was one of the first to use DXO and reported this bug back then.

Then it worked fine for years and now it’s happening again. Apparently, a Windows Explorer context call is handled differently than a call from DXO Labs, which works normally. Since I no longer use the same computer as back then, it’s unlikely to be a problem that only affects me.

I can’t speak to what you are experiencing in Windows 11, but I am not have that issue with PL 8 in Windows 10.

Mark

In my case, when selecting an image in the file browser and have it opened with PL8, it opens the program and loads the selected directory. It only highlights the selected image. Also when I select another image that way, the image is only highlighted.
Win10.

George

@dxotestit I am not sure exactly what you are experiencing.

Does this happen every time you submit an image from ‘File Explorer’ to PL8, which it sounds like from your description or only the first time? Are these new images to the database, do they have a DOP “in tow”?

You stated that that it was a problem many years ago and by the sounds of it you have changed hardware since then but did it work

  1. on PL7 or an earlier release that you owned?
  2. If you still have those earlier releases installed on the new machine do they behave as PL8 is behaving?

The reason I am asking those questions is because I, and other posters here, are not experiencing what you are.

When using ‘File Explorer’ to pass an image to DxPL the whole directory is loaded whereas from (e.g.) FastStone only a single image is loaded, as an ‘External selection’.

However you covered that in your statement

I have right mouse click issues with my 5900X (32GB + 3060) but having waited for the menu to finally appear

the load time was 44.433 seconds which is slow by many other peoples “standards” and improved upon in the repeat of the tests below. The image is on HDD, the Program and OS on C:\ (SATA SSD) and the DB and Cache on an NVME.

The whole directory was loaded and the selected image highlighted, confirming @George’s post above

I cleared the database but not the cache, isolated the image and DOP to a new directory and repeated the test and got a slightly more respectable time of 22.325 seconds.

I repeated the test on my 5600G(32GB + 2060) and got a time of 28.268 seconds. The data on the 5600G was updated yesterday so the image was loaded from the copy of the files used in the 5900X test, they are not on the same brand of HDD but both are 8TB 7200 rpm disks so that should make only a slight difference (if any).

On this machine the file is also on HDD (as stated), the program on SATA SSD and the DB and cache in the default locations on C:\ (SATA SSD).

So like others posting here I cannot reproduce your problem, fortunately for me but not much help to you so can you remember if anything was made clear as to the nature of the problem that was “fixed”?

Just tried it with several JPG and RAW images, some of them known to PL8, some of them not. Result when using the context menu in Windows Explorer: works fine for me on Win 10 and Win 11.

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I can only test PL7 so perhaps what follows is not relevant:

  1. System Specs
    My PC is old, it has a 3rd gen Intel Core i5 CPU, a Nvidia GTX 1050Ti GPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD for system files (which is about half full), 10 TB internal HDD for data but it’s also where the PL database is located. It runs Windows 10, fully up to date. In summary, the PC is not exactly a speed demon.
  2. Basic opening of PL7
    From double clicking on the desktop icon for PL7 to PL7 being fully open and ready, it takes about 25 seconds. Remember, while PL7 is installed on a SSD, it has to access its db from a traditional HDD.
  3. Opening a 35 MB Canon .CR3 RAW file via File Explorer, from the SSD
    From double clicking one of my RAW files in a folder on the SSD and which both the file and the folder have never been accessed previously by PL7 it takes about 50 seconds.
  4. Opening a 35 MB Canon .CR3 RAW file via File Explorer, from the HDD
    From double clicking one of my RAW files in a folder on the HDD and which both the file and the folder have never been accessed previously by PL7 it takes about 50 seconds.

None of those times are lightning fast but neither are they the “several minutes”, reported by @dxotestit, i.e. like others here, I can’t reproduce this problem.

@dxotestit What are your system specs? In particular:
a) how much RAM is installed?
b) is the disk on which PL is installed a modern SSD or a traditional HDD?
c) how much free space is the the disk on which Windows is installed?

Hi,

like mentioned in my first post:

Core i7 + 32GB RAM + Nvidia 4080 Super 16GB OC and two fast NVMe SSDs
Windows 10 Prof. 64 Bit
Free Space on C:\ → 945GB

Kind regards
DXOtestit

Hi,

thanks for your hints!

As far as I can remember, when DXO fixed the problem back then: Then only the desired RAW was opened in DXO and not, as is currently the case, all the other image files in the directory were also read into the image browser.

If you’re going to do it that way, then the selected single RAW file should be loaded and displayed FIRST, instead of first loading additional files from the directory for the image browser at the same time and only displaying the only desired RAW from this set at the end.

Best regards
DXOtestit

Sorry, my bad. That’s waaaaaay ahead of my machine so your problem shouldn’t be hardware related.

I presume too you are using the latest Nvidia Studio driver for your 4080?

What about your settings in Edit | Preferences?

Apart from the cache location, mine are at their defaults settings:

Your cache seems to be full.

George

Hi,

yes - I am using the latest ASUS Studio Drivers. I am running an ASUS Pro Art 4080 OC 16GB RAM.

Even when DXO Labs 8 is open (without an image viewer) and I then opening a RAW file in Windows Explorer that is in a directory with only 10 other RAWs, it takes an extremely long time for the image to be displayed and for the other RAWs to be displayed in the image browser.

Incidentally, even the times you have quoted – e.g. approx. 40 seconds – are much too slow for my taste. If DXO Labs 8 is already loaded, there is absolutely no comprehensible reason for such long loading times for a single RAW. If I click on the same RAW in the image browser, the image is displayed immediately.

I think I’ll take a closer look at the whole thing with an analysis tool in the next few days to find out what processes take place after opening a RAWS in DXO Labs 8.

Kind regards
DXOtestit

When PL8 open and the directory already loaded it takes less then 4 sec.
I must correct my former statement. My image browser was laying over the editing window. The image opened, I had only to remove the image browser. When the image browser doesn’t cover the edit window the image is shown direct.

George

My timings were made without PL7 running, i.e. they include opening PL7.

If PL7 is already running and I browse my folder structure using PL’s ‘PhotoLibrary’ tab then the thumbnail images appear within seconds but it can take a while for PL to update each one. The more images in the folder the longer it takes to complete the thumbnail updates but I don’t think I’ve ever seen PL take several minutes to finish rendering the contents of a folder. Mind you, I’m only an amateur / hobbyist and I rarely have more than 60 (30 RAW + 30 camera JPEGs) images in a folder.

Is that a humorous quip?

Hi,

as long as I search for an image in the image browser and then open it in the results list, it is immediately displayed in DXO Labs 8.5.

The problem I described at the beginning is primarily related to opening a RAW file from Windows Explorer (context menu), which is of course unfortunate.

Since I manage most of my RAW files on a Synology NAS (5Gbit LAN) and, according to my research, problems with Windows Defender can occur when network drives are accessed, I have added these as exception paths in Defender. This has further improved performance when loading within DXO Labs, but unfortunately has not resulted in any improvement when opening a RAW file from the Windows Explorer context menu.

It almost seems as if DXO Labs 8 is being completely reloaded instead of using the application instance that is already loaded/running.

Kind regards
DXOtestit