ExifTool Forum

Hey again,
Is there a way to delete just the Motorola group? 

e:\exiftool\exiftool -Motorola:all= "E:\CellPhonePics\201607\2016-07-13 14.26.20.jpg"
Returned error:  Warning: Not a deletable group: Motorola

Yet this deletes all groups just fine.
e:\exiftool\exiftool -All:all= "E:\CellPhonePics\201607\2016-07-13 14.26.20.jpg"

Thanks for your help.  You guys have been great.

Try deleting it as a block
exiftool -Motorola= file.jpg

Or maybe
exiftool -MakerNotes= file.jpg

-Motorola= won't work.  Instead, use -MakerNoteMotorola= to delete only Motorola maker note info, or -makernotes= as StarGeek said to delete any type of maker notes (this is a Shortcut tag (https://exiftool.org/TagNames/Shortcuts.html) which includes all makernote types).

- Phil

Is there a way to get ExifTool to output a list of makernotes available in a file? 
I want to query the file for makernotes, giving me the ability to have the makernotes in a list where I can choose
"-MakerNoteMotorola" for example for deletion or copying. 

I had success with Phil's grep advice for creating a list of group names.  Maybe I can do something similar with the makernotes.

Also, if ExifTool will output the list of the 10 shortcut tags, I would like to know how to do that. 

Now I'm working on pictures from a Pixel XL cell phone. 
All the pictures throw this error in ExifTool:
>> Warning : [minor] Unrecognized MakerNotes
Is there a way to make that warning go away?

When I try to delete makernotes, ExifTool responds:
>> Maker Notes cannot be parsed. 
...and the >> Warning : [minor] Unrecognized MakerNotes is still reported by ExifTool. 

I also tried the healing -exif:all= -tagsfromfile @ -all:all -unsafe
But the Unrecognized MakerNotes persists.

I'm trying to make a geo track file out of these files but the GPS fields are not filling in.  I see the GPS fields all there.  But they are not extracting.  I am able to get Galaxy Note 9 images to make a tracklog file, so I think I am going it right but maybe there is something wrong with the makernotes.   

Thanks again guys.

Can you share some of the problematic images?

- J

Attached is a file from a Pixel XL cell phone with unrecognized MakerNotes. 

I was looking at the -F[OFFSET] (-fixBase) option.  But have not figured out how it works yet. 

Quote from: dwlott on May 24, 2022, 05:42:01 PM
I was looking at the -F[OFFSET] (-fixBase) option.  But have not figured out how it works yet.

Normally exiftool will give a possible offset to use with the -F option.  But it doesn't for this file, so any changes probably won't fix it and might make things worse.

Double checking the Google Pixel XL file in the ExifTool Meta Information Repository (https://exiftool.org/sample_images.html), it also gives the Unrecognized MakerNotes warning.  So this is probably not a fixable problem.  Phil may not have been able to decode the Pixel MakerNotes or hasn't had the time to do so.

The tracklog is now working with the Pixel XL files that have the warning message. 
I'm not sure if adding -ee3 as an option was the fix. But that's the only thing I am doing differently and now it works.
e:\exiftool\exiftool -ee3 -fileOrder gpsdatetime -p "e:\exiftool\fmt_files\gpx.fmt" "e:\mySourceFolder" > "E:\exiftool\myGPSLog.gpx"

So now that the tracklog is working, I'm not as concerned about the warning messages.  Thank you StarGeek for pointing out that the meta information repository can be used as a reference.
I am using the following method to repair a file.  Are there other common methods?  How did you work the -F option StarGeek?  I don't see very many examples of how the -F option works.

e:\exiftool\exiftool -exif:all= -tagsfromfile @ -all:all -unsafe "e:\mySourceFolder" -o "e:\myTargetFolder\%f.%e"

Quote from: StarGeek on May 24, 2022, 08:39:33 PM
Normally exiftool will give a possible offset to use with the -F option.  But it doesn't for this file, so any changes probably won't fix it and might make things worse.

Double checking the Google Pixel XL file in the ExifTool Meta Information Repository (https://exiftool.org/sample_images.html), it also gives the Unrecognized MakerNotes warning.  So this is probably not a fixable problem.  Phil may not have been able to decode the Pixel MakerNotes or hasn't had the time to do so.

 

I don't think I've ever used the -F (-FixBase) option (https://exiftool.org/exiftool_pod.html#F-OFFSET--fixBase).  I don't let any program other than exiftool touch my photos and programs that incorrectly edit files are the most common cause of MakerNote problems.  And usually, exiftool can still pull correct data from the files.  If a file reaches the point that exiftool can't read the MakerNotes, they are just dead weight at that point anyway and I would remove them.  And MakerNotes are very rarely read by programs other than exiftool anyway.

If I have to "fix" a file, I usually clear all data with -All= and copy it all back, though checking my fix command, I see I have to add ICC_Profile to it.  I have come across files downloaded from various websites where even though the error was in a specific group, I had to delete everything and add it back.  Mostly some very badly formed XMP data which couldn't be cleared with -XMP:All=.  Those were very rare and I haven't seen one for quite a while.

Quote from: StarGeek on May 25, 2022, 02:35:08 AM
If I have to "fix" a file, I usually clear all data with -All= and copy it all back, though checking my fix command, I see I have to add ICC_Profile to it.  I have come across files downloaded from various websites where even though the error was in a specific group, I had to delete everything and add it back. 

StarGeek, I'm wondering if you are using a sidecar to store the data for "add it back".  I have not tried it yet, but I'm guessing that one could use a sidecar to copy meta out, clear meta, then copy meta back in. 

I'm pretty excited that I can geotag now.  I sure appreciate your guys help. 

Quote from: dwlott on May 23, 2022, 06:36:10 PM
Is there a way to get ExifTool to output a list of makernotes available in a file? 

exiftool -makernotes FILE

QuoteAlso, if ExifTool will output the list of the 10 shortcut tags, I would like to know how to do that.

There is no option to do this.  The Shortcuts Tags (https://exiftool.org/TagNames/Shortcuts.html) page is the best place to see this.

- Phil

Quote from: StarGeek on May 24, 2022, 08:39:33 PM
Phil may not have been able to decode the Pixel MakerNotes or hasn't had the time to do so.

They contain no recognizable structure.  Maybe they are compressed somehow, I don't know.

- Phil

Quote from: dwlott on May 26, 2022, 02:24:30 AMStarGeek, I'm wondering if you are using a sidecar to store the data for "add it back".

No, I use the same command except with all data.  I have a command saved in a text expander shortcut, so I can just type "exiffix" and it expands to this (which actually does included the ICC_Profile in the ColorSpaceTags shortcut):
exiftool -all= -tagsfromfile @ -all:all -unsafe  -P -ColorSpaceTags -overwrite_original /path/to/files/

Note that this does have the possibility of removing data that exiftool doesn't know how to copy, but that's usually going to be rare and obscure metadata or custom metadata. 

QuoteI have not tried it yet, but I'm guessing that one could use a sidecar to copy meta out, clear meta, then copy meta back in.

An XMP sidecar file can only contain XMP data.  There are corresponding tags in XMP to EXIF data, but, IMO, it would not be a good idea to copy data to an XMP and remove it from the original file.  You would have to take the extra step of converting to and from XMP.

I don't use XMP sidecars, but that's just personal preference.