Sudden issues with 8.1.0 on macOS 12.7.1

[Grant@personalsecurity.us]

Just updated to digikam 8.1.0 from 8.0.0, now having major issues.

1) Any function on any image generates the message “The storage location of this image is currently not available”. (Images are stored on an external HDD, which is connected, and which all other apps are accessing with no issues. Disk Utility shows no problems.) Things like “Open with default application” and “Open in file manager” simply don’t work; neither does Preview.

2) The appearance of the app has changed; the theme is the one I’ve been using, but now all of the menus and dialogs are now a light grey with white text — impossible to read. Changing themes doesn’t change those, only the colors used in the body of the app.

Where do I start troubleshooting these issues?