Bert DW

Q: Unable to view photos in iPhoto, although all pictures are still accessible via Finder?

Last week, I was trying to import some pictures from a USB flash drive. During the import, I got an error that some of the pictures were corrupt and iPhoto '08 7.1.5 stopped the process. At that time, iPhoto still showed all my events and pictures correctly.

 

The next day however, iPhoto was completely empty and did not show any event/picture. It simply says 'no photos' at the bottom (in Dutch):

 

 

None of the rebuilding features solve the problem (iPhoto 6 and later: Rebuilding the iPhoto library).

 

Via Finder, I'm able to access the iPhoto library (and I only see 1 library at the location) and view the master files all sorted per year. All pictures open perfectly when I double click them in preview.

 

If I simply try to drag these pictures to iPhoto, I get an error saying that they are unrecognised/unreadable:

 

 

How do I get these events/pictures back in iPhoto?

 

Thanks for your help!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8), iPhoto '08 7.1.5

Posted on Aug 24, 2014 6:16 AM

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Q: Unable to view photos in iPhoto, although all pictures are still accessible via Finder?

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  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Aug 24, 2014 6:16 AM in response to Bert DW
    Level 10 (139,597 points)
    iLife
    Aug 24, 2014 6:16 AM in response to Bert DW

    That library has been corrupted.

     

    Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)

     

    This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.

     

    Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.

  • by Bert DW,

    Bert DW Bert DW Aug 24, 2014 6:35 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 24, 2014 6:35 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    Any alternative for an older OS? ILM is only compatible with OS 10.6.8 and higher, mine is 10.5.8?

  • by Terence Devlin,Helpful

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Aug 24, 2014 6:37 AM in response to Bert DW
    Level 10 (139,597 points)
    iLife
    Aug 24, 2014 6:37 AM in response to Bert DW

    Go bak tp the website and you'll find the link for older versions of the app.

  • by Bert DW,

    Bert DW Bert DW Aug 24, 2014 6:38 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 24, 2014 6:38 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    Deleted (double post)

  • by léonie,Helpful

    léonie léonie Aug 24, 2014 6:39 AM in response to Bert DW
    Level 10 (108,738 points)
    iCloud
    Aug 24, 2014 6:39 AM in response to Bert DW
  • by Bert DW,

    Bert DW Bert DW Aug 24, 2014 6:54 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 24, 2014 6:54 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    Thanks, ILM 3 is indeed compatible.

     

    I launched ILM, and it found the correct library, with 43 GB of photos in it:

     

     

    However, I got the following error when selecting the rebuild feature: "this library cannot be rebuilt because its XML file contains no image records".

     

    Any tips? FAQ on ILM site does mention this error on its page explaining the rebuild feature.

  • by Old Toad,Solvedanswer

    Old Toad Old Toad Aug 24, 2014 8:09 AM in response to Bert DW
    Level 10 (141,598 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 24, 2014 8:09 AM in response to Bert DW

    It appears you'll haver to do the following:

     

    Starting over from scratch with new library

     

    Start over with a new library and import the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from your original library as follows:

     

    1. Open the library package like this.

     

    open.PNG

     

     

    2. Launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.

     

    3. Drag the subfolders of the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the open iPhoto Library package into the open iPhoto window a few at a time.

     

    iPhotolibcontents.PNG

     

     

    This will create a new library with the same Events (but not necessarily the same Event names) as the original library but will not keep the metadata, albums, books slideshows and other projects.

     

    Note:  your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.


    OTsig.png

  • by Bert DW,

    Bert DW Bert DW Aug 31, 2014 12:46 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 31, 2014 12:46 AM in response to Old Toad

    was able to try OT's solution this weekend and it did the trick!

     

    I already tried to re-import the pictures that way before, didn't work at the time. Maybe because it was not a new library, or because I tried to import them all at once.