All files missing meta data

[NASr710]

So I was working on cleaning up my files when I noticed that all my metadata is completely wrong. They are all showing the same date. Photos, documents, etc. I don't know when this occurred but I suspect fairly recently.

Any ideas????

 

[NASr710]

I don't know if this helps but the computer I usually use is a Mac. I recently changed to an SMB share. But I do not know exactly when it happened.

 

[NASr710]

So I played with it a bit. When I import some of the photos into apple Photos, some the metadata comes back (camera type, GPS location, and date photo taken). So it must still be there, but for some reason, when I select 'get info' from the file, on the Mac, of a file located on the NAS, I get the transfer date. I have looked at the dates before and I am pretty sure this is something new.

If I copy a file to my desktop, then hit 'get info' on each file, the file that was just copied onto the desktop has additional metadata, but not the 'date taken' info. For some reason the Mac can't read it off the NAS.

So this is may be a Mac issue.

I really need to know when a photo was taken as this is critical.

 

[winnielinnie]

Not familair with Mac OSX myself, though I have a suspicion "Get Info" is a basic file property tool. To view all embedded EXIF fields for an image, a legitimate photo/image application is your best bet, such as Photos or the cross-platform XnViewMP. You even noted that importing the images into Photos revealed the "Date Taken" EXIF field.

Taken from a different forum post from 2015:

I have lots tools to see all the EXIF but when my sister asked me, "When was that picture taken?" I'd like to be able to tell her how to easily find out on her Mac. For now her only solution is to copy the files onto her Windows desktop computer in her basement and use "Properties".

It's kind of sad that a MacBook Pro with Retina (a photographer's dream) displays less info than a Windows machine...

the Finder Get Info was not designed to be a fully equipped images metadata viewer. What it displays is a bit of a grab bag that hasn't really changed much since the beginning of OS X. It is more a showcase of file metadata that other applications can leverage with an appropriate UI.

Even this guide from Help Desk Geek corroborates this limitation, with further instructions on how to view more EXIF image metadata that is missing from "Get Info".

EDIT: To add my personal experience with this, if I browse or open any images on my NAS share from a Windows or Linux computer using XnViewMP, I can see all of the EXIF metadata, including "Date Photo Taken". This is all done directly on the shared network folder. Nothing is copied over to the local PC. Right-clicking the file on the shared network folder and selecting properties, whether from Windows or KDE (Linux), also displays the EXIF metadata, including "Date Photo Taken".

 

[winnielinnie]

This photo (.jpg) is sitting on my NAS, and nothing is copied over to my local PC. I'm directly doing Right-Click > Properties, and again opening it up in XnViewMP. The is a standard SMB share from TrueNAS.


This is from Right-Click > Properties in my file browser

This is in XnViewMP, Edit > Properties

 

[NASr710]

So, 'get info' would give me the proper date info in the past. I remember that. So at some point, something changed and since I was able to confirm that the data is there (Thank GOD), then is just about fixing this issue. I realize that this is a basic way of getting the info, but it should at least give me the correct info, even if it does not give me everything. I will call Apple on Monday and see what they say.

I will also look for another app. But get info is quick and practical. Having to open up another app is a pain. Thank you for your help.

 

[winnielinnie]

I will call Apple on Monday and see what they say.

I'm curious to know what they say on this matter, and don't let them give you the run'around. Make it clear you're referring to photo EXIF metadata "Date Photo Taken", not "date modified" or "date created".

I will also look for another app. But get info is quick and practical. Having to open up another app is a pain.

This is the exact same grievance someone made back in 2015, which I quoted above. So it looks like this annoyance with "Get Info" existed for a while now. I have a hunch this is OS-specific, and I doubt that storing the files on an SMB share should ever affect the existing EXIF metadata. (Doing so would imply the file's data itself is being modified, which is a big "no-no!")

What happens when you test this out on a locally saved image?

 

[NASr710]

See post number 3 above. I was able to get additional metadata once I saved to desktop but it was only when I imported it into the Mac Photos app that I was able to get all the info.

I have a serious problem in that I have not yet figured out how to organize and access my photos. I have kind of embraced apple, but have had difficult completely letting apple control my life (hence the NAS). I am using Photos since it is practical and a great way to organize photos for quick access from iPhone, Mac, iPad etc. The problem is apple sucks and milks its clients dry by charging them excessive fees for cloud storage. I was looking at ways of setting up my own cloud storage on the FreeNAS server, but this seems like a huge headache. Need to find the time to do more research. Also discussion for another thread :)

 

[winnielinnie]

I was able to get additional metadata once I saved to desktop but it was only when I imported it into the Mac Photos app that I was able to get all the info.

Exactly.

Which is why I wrote above,

To view all embedded EXIF fields for an image, a legitimate photo/image application is your best bet, such as Photos or the cross-platform XnViewMP. You even noted that importing the images into Photos revealed the "Date Taken" EXIF field.

That's why I suspected it has something do to with "Get Info" limiting how much EXIF metadata it wants to show you. This is confirmed in the post from 2015 and another guide from 2018 that alludes to this limitation with Finder's "Get Info".

I was looking at ways of setting up my own cloud storage on the FreeNAS server, but this seems like a huge headache.

This is very possible. I know that XnViewMP supports this on Windows and Linux (never tried it on a Mac since I haven't any Apple computers.) The interface can be very intimidating, but it is also highly, highly configurable and has more settings than one could ever ask for. I find its performance to be one of the best of the free options I've tried.

Does Photos not allow you to leave images on a remote server / network share, then browse, manage, and view them without having to copy them to your local machine?

 

[NASr710]

Like I said, I need to spend a little times to do more research on photos. I found out by accident that you can have multiple libraries. Truth is, I should be able to pull most pics off my phone and keep essential and albums. Then I would not need so much cloud storage. Problem is I have too many hobbies, and not enough time, and kids :)

I will report back once I talk to apple.

 

[NASr710]

So I finally got around to calling Apple. First I spoke to a level 1 tech who did not even know what metadata was. The level 2 tech went though and reproduced the same issue on his Mac, running Big Sur (my computer is running Catalina). He said there was not much he could do except put in a suggestion to apple. And recommended I do the same. Below is the link to anyone who is frustrated by this to log a complaint/suggestion with Apple:

Product Feedback

We would love to hear your comments about any of our hardware and software products. Send us your thoughts.

www.apple.com

I voiced my annoyance at him that this overpriced computer should have better attention to detail than leave out this major issue/ability.

That said, I guess I need to find a replacement until they are able to fix this issue, IF they decide to fix it. XNViewMP is on option... are there others for Mac?

 

[winnielinnie]

I voiced my annoyance at him that this overpriced computer should have better attention to detail than leave out this major issue/ability.

I hope they live up to their reputation about quality products, but since this has been an issue for over half a decade I wonder how "important" they consider it.

That said, I guess I need to find a replacement until they are able to fix this issue, IF they decide to fix it. XNViewMP is on option... are there others for Mac?

Not that I know of, only because I don't have any Mac computers. I love XnViewMP because it has the same features, works, looks, and acts the same across Linux, Windows, and Mac. (The "MP" meaning "multi platform.) And if you use its "Keep current image" and "Read one image ahead" feature under Settings > Viewer > Cache, scrolling through images in the Viewer is super fast! It's like a three-in-one program, and I rarely ever use its Browser, but all three components (Viewer, Editor, and Browser) are feature-rich and have a focus on details. It's not Photoshop, but for a free program, it brings a lot to the table.

One caveat is that it's one of those applications that has "so many options" that it comes off as confusing and intimidating at first. If you decide to use it, I suggest slowly going through the options and gradually customizing the GUI / buttons / layout. You can customize the layout for the Viewer and Browser to a crazy amount of personalization. Once you're done, you can export the settings, so that you can always import the settings on a new system or re-install.

Regardless of any of this, I think the "real" solution is for Apple to provide more metadata from Finder's "Get Info". After all, you want to be able to right-click on any image file and view all its EXIF metadata. Having to rely on third-party apps is unfortunate. Even on my Linux (KDE) computer, you can see in the screenshot (from the default file manager) there are four tabs of information (General, Permissions, Checksums, Details), and it reads a lot of EXIF metadata out-of-the-box without any plugins.

Like you said, Apple is used by photo enthusiasts, so I'm scratching my head and wondering why it's not a built-in feature.

 

[NASr710]

Thanks for the info. I am pretty sure it is a recent change, within last year or so. I remember being able to get this basic info. In fact, the tech said he had gotten a call about a year ago on same issue.

I will mess with XnViewMP. Just starting to play with it. It does seem a bit overwhelming.

I recently bought and MX keys keyboard, Mac version. I found that one key, the equal = button on numeric keypad does not work, in windows computer. It took better part of 2 weeks and a level 2 tech to figure out that since it was the Mac keyboard, they said tough luck. There was compatibility but they would do nothing since it was a Mac keyboard. I was pissed since essentially, the programers were sloppy and forgot to program one key. Instead of owning up to their mistake they just blame it on the product being designed for Mac. If that was true, then half the keys would not work.

 

[winnielinnie]

I will mess with XnViewMP. Just starting to play with it. It does seem a bit overwhelming.

Oh believe me, I know. I spent an entire free day customizing every little detail and getting the GUI layout for the Browser and Viewer "just right". Down to the very details of enough "breathable" space (for my mouse cursor) between the thumbnail cards, to the foreground and background colors, the image format colors (which I disabled), to what info is displayed under each card, etc, etc, etc. Even how thumbnails are generated makes a difference (by default it uses lossless thumbnails for the catalog, so I changed it to lossy high-quality.) I prefer more streamlined layout, but the program defaults to ultra cluttered and crammed. So it was quite the undertaking to get it to look and perform to my preferences. But now I have my config file exported and I just load it up on any new system.

The one cool thing is (at least for Linux and Windows, haven't tried on Mac), it auto-detects SMB network shares, and you can right-click > Add to Favorites for each network folder on the left sidebar. It'll catalog it and generate thumbnails just like any other folder. But like I said, I mainly use it for its Viewer, and configured the GUI for a minimal look (to show nothing on the screen but a menubar and the image itself). Occasionally I will use it to make fast edits to images (cropping, rotation, levels, hue, etc) without having to fire up GIMP or the likes.

I was pissed since essentially, the programers were sloppy and forgot to program one key. Instead of owning up to their mistake they just blame it on the product being designed for Mac. If that was true, then half the keys would not work.

Yeeeesh! What's going on over at Apple?

Maybe for the Finder / Get Info issue, it was a missing feature, introduced later, and then once again removed for reasons unknown?

 

[NASr710]

The MX Keys keyboard is a Logitech product. They are nice keyboards that allow you to flip between computers by hitting a key on keyboard. It has a nice look and looks like metal but actually is plastic. Found out because they sent me a broken one. So another disappointing thing is it is really heavy and I think they just put a piece of steel in there to make it feel like the keyboard is actually made of metal. Haha. So by making it really heavy, they reduce the portability of the product.