Catalina not downloading iPhotos (optimization turned off).

Hi,

I am using an old iMac (2012 with 4TB SSD) as a backup machine for my iCloud files. This is working well for docs, music, TVs, books, etc, but photos are not downloading. I did set the iCloud from "optimize" to "download full resolution copies". As it's not working (I also rebooted), are there any other steps I could try to force a download without risking losing any of my iCloud photos?

Thanks in advance.