Problems with Leica DNG thumbnails.

rafiki · October 23, 2016, 03:09:41 PM

The thumbnails of my Leica DNG files are tiny compared to those from Fujufilm RAF and Canon CR2 RAW files. How can I get the DNGs to show like the others? I have the latest Fastviewer codec pack installed.

Mario · October 23, 2016, 04:57:21 PM

Do you have a WIC codec installed which supports the Leica DNG format variant?

Select one of the DNG files in a File Window in IMatch, then go to Help menu > Support > WIC diagnosis.
Attach the output to your reply.
This will tell us if you have installed a DNG codec and if the codec handles the file.

Just in case: Download and install the latest WIC codec from the Leica web site. After installing it you may need to reboot.
Restart IMatch, select one of the failed files and press <Shift>+<Ctrl>+<F5>.
In the dialog, choose "Rescan".

See "WIC" in the IMatch help system for details, and this article in the IMatch Knowledge base: WIC Support and Codec Availability

rafiki · October 24, 2016, 07:57:44 AM

Thanks Mario. I have the latest Fastviewer Codec Pack installed. The web pages say that Leica is supported. I attach the WIC diagnosis.

Mario · October 24, 2016, 08:02:46 AM

This looks OK. The FPV codec cannot extract a thumbnail or preview (which is unusual because DNG files usually always have an embedded preview). But it can extract the full-size DNG RAW and this is what IMatch then uses to produce the thumbnail / cache image.

Select the failed files and force a refresh via <Shift>+<Ctrl>+<F5>. If this does not help, attach the IMatch log file (Help > Support > ...) so we can see if there are any warnings or errors reported.

rafiki · October 24, 2016, 08:16:18 AM

Thanks again. The forced rescan worked this time with just the problem files selected. Before contacting you I had done a forced rescan on the whole folder (a mixture of DNG and RAF files) which failed to solve the problem.

Mario · October 24, 2016, 10:04:51 AM

It should work either way (always the same code executed).
Please repeat your folder forced refresh and attach the log file from that. Maybe there is a problem caused under stress or when Windows needs to switch between different codecs or something...

herman · October 24, 2016, 10:39:09 AM

Another thing you may want to check.....
I had exactly the same symptom with my Leica DNG files after I replaced my PC and re-installed all software on the new box.
What happened in my case is that the location of the cache on the new machine was the default location in stead of a dedicated folder on the SSD I reserved for databases and which was registered in the .pts file I transplanted from the old machine to the new one. I don't know how this could happen, there is no way I can reproduce it (short of wiping and re-installing everything), so I did not report it.
I recall though that one other user reported something like this happening after an update of IMatch / Windows / ....??
It is a long shot but maybe worth looking at....

Mario · October 24, 2016, 01:42:37 PM

As detailed in the release notes, IMatch 5.7.2 and later now store the cache folder on a per-machine basis.
This makes it much easier to move databases and settings between computers.

See the description of the Portability Options in the release notes: https://www.photools.com/release-notes/?productId=107

By default, and in ways of seamless migration, the default is to use the "last used" cache settings if none are found for a given computer. This seems to work well on nearly all computers. But it may fail on some. This has been documented in the release notes of the next version: https://www.photools.com/release-notes/?productId=110

Like I said in the release notes, just do a quick check after installing the 5.7.2 update to see if these settings are as you need them.

rafiki · October 27, 2016, 10:07:46 PM

Quote from: Mario on October 24, 2016, 10:04:51 AM
It should work either way (always the same code executed).
Please repeat your folder forced refresh and attach the log file from that. Maybe there is a problem caused under stress or when Windows needs to switch between different codecs or something...

This is the log from the rescan this evening. I was wrong when I said all the DNGs were previewing OK. I found many that are not. This log is of a forced rescan of selected Leica DNG files that are still showing in thumbnail size in preview mode.

Mario · October 27, 2016, 11:32:40 PM

The attached log file does not contain even single entry for one file being updated. No files were added or updated.
Did you do a forced rescan via Shift+Ctrl+F5?

rafiki · November 12, 2016, 01:24:27 PM

Quote from: Mario on October 27, 2016, 11:32:40 PM
The attached log file does not contain even single entry for one file being updated. No files were added or updated.
Did you do a forced rescan via Shift+Ctrl+F5?

I did but I have just done another forced rescan and am still having trouble with Leica DNG files. iMatch reported errors. The log is attached. Also a screenshot of a typical folder.

Mario · November 12, 2016, 02:01:54 PM

This log file shows no signs of a forced rescan. No files were add or updated. No AddOrUpdate file logs in this log file. Is this the log file from the session where you did a forced rescan? How do you do a forced rescan?

The correct method is to select the files in a file window, press <Shift>+<Ctrl>+<F5> and then choose "Force Update" in the dialog.

But I see a ton of error messages from WIC/DirectX created by the Quick View Panel or the Viewer.
WIC returns the errror code D2DERR_RECREATE_TARGET which usually means that the monitor or graphic card has changed or ran into an error. The required response to this is to re-create all DirectX resources. IMatch does this automatically and typically this solves such issue.

But your log file is full of this error messages. This usually indicators a problem with the graphic card or the driver. Please try to update to the latest driver. If you don't let Windows update automatically, make sure you have the latest DirectX version for your Windows version installed.

rafiki · November 12, 2016, 02:23:29 PM

Hi Mario.

Thank you. I can assure you that I carried out the forced rescan this time and the last time exactly as you describe. I will do it once again.

Mario · November 12, 2016, 02:44:03 PM

A log file from a session where you have added or updated files contains log entries with AddOrUpdateFile .
You can search for them in the log file to be sure.

rafiki · November 12, 2016, 03:46:58 PM

Quote from: Mario on November 12, 2016, 02:44:03 PM
A log file from a session where you have added or updated files contains log entries with AddOrUpdateFile .
You can search for them in the log file to be sure.

Just tried again.

Mario · November 12, 2016, 06:38:04 PM

That's better. This log file shows more about what happens when you process your DNG files.

You have installed the Adobe DNG WIC codec. Which seems to be bad news...

IMatch is extracting thumbnails fine from your DNG files. They don't see the contain embedded previews so IMatch has to load/process the full DNG via the DNG codec. This means processing 6000 x 4000 pixel files. It takes almost 10 (!) seconds for the WIC codec to load the file. That's not really fast.

This works well for some files. Then, with file "LEICA_SL_0110258.DNG" problems happen.
WIC reports error 8, which means (I had to look that one up) "Out of memory".

And indeed, a few lines later in the log file, IMatch reports that the process has suddenly used a whooping 3 GB RAM (IMatch can use up to 3.5 GB, which is plenty).

To me this looks like the usual Adobe "memory hog" problem. The Adobe DNG codec does not seem to handle your Leica DNG files well, using up more and more memory until everything breaks down and no files can be loaded anymore.

This would also explain why the Viewer / Quick View panel receive panic messages from DirectX when loading your DNG files.

Solution: Try to update the Adobe DNG codec to the latest version. If this does not solve the problem, get rid of it.
Windows 10 has a built-in DNG codec anyway.

Or get yourself a decent codec pack like the Fast Picture Viewer Codecs used by many IMatch users.

rafiki · November 13, 2016, 06:24:37 PM

DNG thumbnails all seem to be displaying correctly now Mario. I am not sure why. I uninstalled the Adobe DNG codec but I already had the Fast Picture Viewer codec installed. I only installed the Adobe offering because that didn't seem to be doing the job. After uninstalling the Adobe codec I ran a repair on the Fast Picture Viewer codec and again forced a rescan. From there things normalised. Thanks for your assistance - and patience.

Mario · November 14, 2016, 08:20:04 AM

If you have multiple WIC codecs for the same format installed, Windows WIC 'picks' one when IMatch asks "Give me a WIC coded for this file". In your case, the Adobe DNG codec was chosen and performed badly,.

If you had FPV before, the FPV installation may been broken by the recent Windows 10 Anniversary update. Some users reported problems with that. Re-installing the FPV codecs always does the trick.