My darktable 2.6.2 doesn't start anymore (Windows 10)

Software darktable
1

My darktable 2.6.2 doesn’t start anymore. I see the CMD for a fraction of a Second, and that was it. I did already a uninstall (more then once) but it still doesn’t start after new installation.

I do have also 2.7dev on an external HDD (usually not connected) and I presume that 2.7 [censored] the 2.6.2 installation (by overwriting the db?).

Strange thing is, I don’t see much darktable remains on the main drive, so I wonder what it won’t start. There must be some hidden remains somewhere.

I will keep 2.7dev, but not force it to a portable.db with its folder on the external drive.

Fixing hints are very welcome!

2

You identified the problem well.

Your choices:

  1. restore a backup from a 2.6.2 DB (you have one, right :slight_smile: )
  2. backup and delete the 2.7 DB and start 2.6.2 ‘new’. You will loose your settings, styles, etc, but darktable 2.6.2 will work.

Next time when darktable asks if it can change the DB to a new version, make sure you have a backup of the existing one, just in case :wink:

3

I am on another PC now, 2.6.2 still works. But when I start 2.7 it asks me to upgrade db. Strange, I start with:

G:\Cam_Stuff\darktable\dt-270oct\darktable\bin\darktable.exe --library G:\Cam_Stuff\darktable\dt-270oct\darktable\userdata\portable.db

Isn’t that how to force dt to a different db?

…a few hours later…
I managed to make 2.6.2 (a new install) run again by delete \user…\darktable\ directory. So 2.6.2 is fine again.

However, the 2.7 dev version still wants to use the same data.db. The --library command has no practical effect, it creates the db, but doesn’t use it.

So how to make 2.7 run without [censored] up 2.6.2?

At this point, a huge praise to the Rawtherapee team for providing zip installers for all dev versions, that all run fine in parallel :wink:

4

If you want everything separate, there are quite a few options to pass at the command line. --library alone will not do it. See darktable man page - General Commands | ManKier