Lightroom 3+ (Mac OSX) Spinning Beach Ball on Import only?

Question

Hello --
  When I first starting using Lightroom 3 on my 27" quad-core iMac, detection of an inserted memory card (Compact Flash or SDHC) was instantaneous.  It's one of the things that really attracted me to Lightroom -- plug in, and go!
  Sometime after around 3.2 or so, the spinning beach ball (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinning_wait_cursor) started appearing for about 60 to 120 seconds every time I inserted a card.  I first thought it might be the cheap $10 Compact Flash USB 2.0 reader I was using, so I invested in a firewire reader from Synchrotech, since it appears the Lexar one has disappeared off of the market.  No change.
  Here are some other facts:
- This happens every time I import with no exception.
- Once the spinning beach ball goes away, performance is as expected (very fast).
- The spinning beach ball almost never appears anywhere else in Lightroom.
- Outside of Lightroom, the finder recognizes the cards immediately after inserting, and I can get to the files and copy them without any issue.
- I have tried Sandisk and Lexar cards of a variety of speeds and sizes.  No difference.
- The problem happens with catalogs that already have images and brand new catalogs (no difference in performance).
- My catalogs are stored on local disk, and the photo files are located on a fileshare over GB ethernet.  This environment has been the same before and after I experienced the spinning beach ball during import.
- During the spinning beach ball, the network switch is "bored," so I have a pretty good idea that the Mac isn't trying to scour or index the fileshare.
- I have updated to the latest:  the just-released Lightroom 3.4.  No change.
- I have tried both the "automatically bring up the Import dialog on card insert" as well as the manual approach where I have to click on Import in the Library module.  I have also tried going into the Import section and then inserting a card.  All have the same effect -- a guaranteed beach ball when Lightroom figures out a card is there.
  I hope someone else is experiencing this issue and can give me a tip or two to make it go away.  Two minutes to wait for the system to do absolutely nothing every time I put in a card is ridiculous!
-- Justin

Answer 1

a lock file is created every time LR is opened. It stops the database being accessed by more than one application. Sometimes, due to an improper shut down of LR the lock file remains. As  you have discovered, in this case, you cannot open LR until you delete the lock file.