Nils1406

Q: how to move the photos library

I have my Photos Library on an external disk. Now I want to move it to another external disk (SSD). 56 GB

I don't manage to do it, I get some failure report just at the end.  I tried to zip an reopen, but no success.  Is there an Idea to quit Photos and reinstall it?

 

In iPhoto there is an option to change libraries, but I do not see any possibilty for that in Photos.

Glad for any help!

MacBook Air, OS X Mavericks (10.9), Macbook air 13 inch november 2013

Posted on May 20, 2015 11:16 AM

Close

Q: how to move the photos library

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 20, 2015 11:34 AM in response to Nils1406
    Level 10 (106,883 points)
    iLife
    May 20, 2015 11:34 AM in response to Nils1406

    Now I want to move it to another external disk (SSD). 56 GB

    I don't manage to do it, I get some failure report just at the end.  I tried to zip an reopen, but no success.  Is there an Idea to quit Photos and reinstall it?

     

    How are you moving the library to the external drive?  It should suffice to drag and drop the library in the Finder from one drive to the other drive.

     

    The external drive should be directly connected and formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled).  Enable the "Ignore Ownership on this volume" option.

     

    I get some failure report just at the end.

     

    What error message exactly?  Perhaps an "Error -36"?  Post back with the exact error message.

     

    In iPhoto there is an option to change libraries, but I do not see any possibilty for that in Photos.

    In Photos you can switch to a different library by dragging that library onto the Photos icon or by holding down the alt/options key while launching Photos. That will bring up the library chooser panel.

     

     

    To set the "Ignore Ownership" flag on your external drive select it in the Finder and press the key combination ⌘I to open the Info panel. Th flag in in the sharing and permissions section of the Info panel.

    Screen Shot 2015-05-20 at 20.31.51CEST.png

  • by Nils1406,

    Nils1406 Nils1406 May 20, 2015 11:40 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Safari
    May 20, 2015 11:40 AM in response to léonie

    I started Photos with alt/cmd, and the library is now getting repaired.  When that is done I'll try and move the library by dragging it to the new SSD.  If I don't succeed, I'll make a note of the error message.

    Thanks for caring!

  • by Nils1406,

    Nils1406 Nils1406 May 20, 2015 12:03 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Safari
    May 20, 2015 12:03 PM in response to léonie

    You were right, Léonie.

    Error 36

     

    Any solution?

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 20, 2015 1:22 PM in response to Nils1406
    Level 10 (106,883 points)
    iLife
    May 20, 2015 1:22 PM in response to Nils1406

    Error -36 is an i/O error.  One or more files in your library cannot be copied.

     

    There may be several reasons for that - bad media files, incompatible file names, permission errors, a drive that  is failing.

     

    Is your new SSD correctly formatted as MacOS Extended (Journaled)? You did not answer that part of the question.  If the  file system is still FAT32 or another Windows file system, you get exactly this kind of errors (iPhoto: Issues with FAT32-formatted drives)

     

    Launch Disk Utility (from the Applications > Utilities folder) and select your drive in the sidebar.

    Check the file system format, and run "Verify Disk".

    Screen Shot 2015-05-20 at 22.19.29CEST.png

  • by Nils1406,

    Nils1406 Nils1406 May 20, 2015 2:04 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Safari
    May 20, 2015 2:04 PM in response to léonie

    The format of the SSD is EXFat.

    Please advise me how to get it over to MacOSExtended.  I have tried to find out, but have not succeeded (I am fairly familiar with Disk utility...)

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 20, 2015 3:19 PM in response to Nils1406
    Level 10 (106,883 points)
    iLife
    May 20, 2015 3:19 PM in response to Nils1406
    The format of the SSD is EXFat.

    That may be causing the I/O errors when trying to copy.

     

    Do you have any files on the drive, that need saving?  Reformatting will erase all data on the drive.  Copy the files that need saving to another drive.

    Then proceed as described in this Support document:   https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201909

  • by Nils1406,

    Nils1406 Nils1406 May 20, 2015 11:14 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Safari
    May 20, 2015 11:14 PM in response to léonie

    Thank you.  I managed to delete the SSD and reformat to MacOSExtended,

    Now I also managed to drag and drop the Photos Library to the new SSD. My next task will be to let Photos "understand" that Library has a new address...

    I'll try to drag the Library down to the icon while I press alt/cmd.

     

    If I'm wrong - please correct me!

  • by léonie,Solvedanswer

    léonie léonie May 21, 2015 4:56 AM in response to Nils1406
    Level 10 (106,883 points)
    iLife
    May 21, 2015 4:56 AM in response to Nils1406

    Eiter drag the copied library onto the Photos icon to open it

    or hold down the alt/options key while double clicking the Photos icon to bring up the Library Chooser panel and to open the library in Photos.

  • by Nils1406,

    Nils1406 Nils1406 May 21, 2015 5:59 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Safari
    May 21, 2015 5:59 AM in response to léonie

    Thank you!

    I have all my files from a "normal" external disk to an new SSD, and everything works!

    Thanks again!

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 21, 2015 6:09 AM in response to Nils1406
    Level 10 (106,883 points)
    iLife
    May 21, 2015 6:09 AM in response to Nils1406

    You're Welcome