I can't open my Photos Library after iOS Sonoma 14 upgrade - I get phphotoserrordomain error 3111.

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Level 1

8 points

I can't open my Photos Library after iOS Sonoma 14 upgrade - I get phphotoserrordomain error 3111.

I had my Photos working fine before upgrade and post upgrade as soon as I open Photos I had the phphotoserrordo,main error 3111. Pre-upgrade I had a local Photos library that I had activated icloud on. I also did the repair which did nothing post error.

Tried to read the other links but they are very confusing and seem to assume that no local copy (icloud / external). This was not the case for me, I had a local copy and a copy in documents on icloud that I used to transfer from my old Mac to the new one (could have been move not copy). Now it seems when I search there is only the icloud copy (600gb) that I am not convinced is the one I had been using only the same day of the upgrade. of course wont let me open it as its not local anymore and also it has the cloud crossed out as per the other posts i read.

Dont understand why should have to copy the library back to my Mac when the reason I use the icloud is to not have the full images locally.

I opened an old (much smaller local test copy) photos library and it opens fine.

How do I get my Photos working with my icloud library?

Thanks, Phil (very frustrated Mac user)

MacBook Pro 14″

Posted on Apr 28, 2024 10:22 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 28, 2024 11:02 AM in response to PhilipDavies

A Photos Library can not be used when it is located on iCloud drive or any network or cloud drive, but only on drives that are connected to the Mac by cable. To avoid damaging the Photos Library an external drive must be formatted in either APFS format or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. Additionally, the drive can not have had Time Machine on it since it was formatted. There have been so many problems with using incompatible drives that the newest macOSs won't even allow a Library on a non-Mac formatted drive to open, since there is a chance of damaging the Photos database. See this:

Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

Every Photos app on every device has a local Photos Library. iCloud is a synchronization service that ensures that the pictures at iCloud Photos and on each device's connected local Library are all exactly the same.

iCloud has an iCloud drive for storing documents that can be seen by all connected devices. But apps won't work there, and neither will Photos Libraries. So when you go to iCloud.com, you will see the drive in one part, some other things, and then Photos in a separate section.

So, if you find a ".photoslibrary" package somewhere on your computer, you need to move that to the Pictures folder or to a properly formatted drive connected by cable. It may have become corrupted and possibly unrepairable.

If your Library is irreperably damaged, then your best bet is to take advantage of your connection to iCloud Photos. Have you looked at iCloud.com to be sure that your pictures are all there? If so, then create a new Library (close Photos and option-click on the Photos icon), name it something you like, and make it your System Library (in Photos>Settings>General).

Then connect this new Library to iCloud (Photos>Settings>iCloud) and wait for Photos to download all your pictures from iCloud Photos. This could take a week, so be patient.

Let us know how it goes...

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

195,123 points

May 1, 2024 1:16 AM in response to PhilipDavies

Your screenshot is showing that your Photos Library is currently in your Documents folder - the path is iCloud Drive > Documents > iPhoto > Photos Library.photoslibrary

Perhaps the option "Desktop & Documents" has become enabled only recently after the Sonoma Upgrade in your System Settings > iCloud > iCloud Drive.

When your Documents folder has been moved to iCloud Drive, it also moved the Photos Library to iCloud. The Photos Library should not have been in the Documents folder in the first place - the proper place would have been the Pictures folder. But it would not have mattered, until Documents has gotten moved to iCloud Drive.

You may want to check, if you can drag the Photos Library back from iCloud Drive > Documents > iPhoto to your Pictures folder. This should not require any extra storage, as the huge iCloud Photos Library in your Documents folder could not have been uploaded to iCloud Drive anyway. There is a size limit of 50GB for files on iCloud Drive. It is already stored locally on your Mac, but it needs to be moved to a different folder, a local folder like your Pictures folder, or you cannot use the library at all.

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Answer 3

PhilipDavies Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 30, 2024 4:22 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Hello Richard,

I am confused as Photos was working since I got the laptop and I only have the internal drive and icloud. My photos is set up with this store in icloud option (and was working fine before upgrade).

Note that my 1TB HDD is almost full and my laptop clearly is storing the photos library locally as my laptop is mainly used for Photos (no music, films, games etc). Looking at my storage I have 622GB icloud on my HDD and Photos still calculating. see below:

When I seach for .photoslibrary I only have the one on icloud.

Something has gone wrong with apple "store in icloud" as part of the Sonoma upgrade, the icloud storage is on my Mac 622gb and I dont have any space to do what you suggest.

Based on this what should I do?

Thanks, Phil

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Answer 4

Apr 30, 2024 7:47 AM in response to PhilipDavies

It looks like your Photos Library has found its way to iCloud Drive where it can not work. The Photos Library has never worked, there. I can't even copy a file named ".photoslibrary" to the iCloud drive! Notice the "not in iCloud" symbol next to the Library that I tried to put in iCloud Drive:

This means that it is not really in iCloud Drive, but rather it is actually just stored on my hard drive in Library/Mobile Documents.

What do you see with your Photos Library that appears to be in iCloud Drive?

Go to Finder and type Shift-Command-L to get to the Library. Then go to Mobile Documents. You should find your Library there. Drag it to Pictures, and then double click on it.

Does this work?

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Answer 5

PhilipDavies Author

Level 1

8 points

May 1, 2024 12:45 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Hello Richard,

I also see the "not in iCloud" symbol for the Photoslibrary in icloud. so the same as your example.

That said, I can't find the Mobile Documents folder in Library on my HDD. Am i looking in the right place?

One other thing to check with you. I do have an "old" photoslibrary in my laptop Pictures folder, its only 4gb and created 2015. I assume this was an old one given the small size and that when I opened it (after the upgrade error) thinking it was my photos there are only pre-2015 photos in there. Looking briefly at the contents of the package almost all the documents and folders are either march 2023 or 2015 modified dates. Is this an old one or some how related to the error?

Thanks for your help

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