hunter351

Q: Photo Library - Reinstall from Time Machine

I have a 15k + library in which I've been using iCloud photos and had copies on my Mac that were being back up by Time Machine.  I recently got rid of my previous Mac and am using a different one.  I am in the process of doing a restore from Time Machine and am getting an error message.  I recovered the library from Time Machine and when I open the Photos app it says "The library "Photos Library" has inconsistencies that must be repaired.  I click on repair and once it goes through the process I get the message "Photos has attempted to repair the library "Photos Library", but is unable to open it.  All of my photos/video are in sync via icloud.com and the photos app on my phone, but the app on my Mac is now not working and not being synced with the others.  Thanks in advance.

Mac OS X (10.6)

Posted on Jun 29, 2015 6:32 AM

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Q: Photo Library - Reinstall from Time Machine

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jun 29, 2015 7:42 AM in response to hunter351
    Level 10 (107,827 points)
    iCloud
    Jun 29, 2015 7:42 AM in response to hunter351
    I recovered the library from Time Machine and when I open the Photos app it says "The library "Photos Library" has inconsistencies that must be repaired.

    How did you "recover from Time Machine" ?  Did you launch Time Machine and restored the library from the Star Wars display?  And did you restore it to your internal drive or an external drive?

    If the library is on an external drive, how is the drive connected and how is it formatted?

  • by hunter351,

    hunter351 hunter351 Jun 29, 2015 7:44 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 29, 2015 7:44 AM in response to léonie

    Did just that.  Went to the Star Wars display and restored to the internal drive.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jun 29, 2015 8:25 AM in response to hunter351
    Level 10 (107,827 points)
    iCloud
    Jun 29, 2015 8:25 AM in response to hunter351

    Photos has only this one Repair option.  If that does not help, there is not much you can do to rescue the restored library.  You could try to restore an earlier version, in the hope, that this version will be better.

     

    All of my photos/video are in sync via icloud.com and the photos app on my phone, but the app on my Mac is now not working and not being synced with the others.

    If all your photos are in iCloud, you could try to start with a new, empty Photos library and sync this library with iCloud.  Photos will download all photos and albums, but the Faces data will be missing.  DO you have a fast internet so this would be feasible for you?

    This document describes what will be restored from iCloud to your Mac.  It will be just like syncing to a different mac, see:    Use Photos and iCloud Photo Library on multiple Mac computers - Apple Support

  • by hunter351,

    hunter351 hunter351 Jun 29, 2015 8:31 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 29, 2015 8:31 AM in response to léonie

    Once I open the Photos App, I get the Repair Library warning stating The library "Photos Library" has inconsistencies that must be repaired. 

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jun 29, 2015 8:35 AM in response to hunter351
    Level 10 (107,827 points)
    iCloud
    Jun 29, 2015 8:35 AM in response to hunter351
    Once I open the Photos App, I get the Repair Library warning stating The library "Photos Library" has inconsistencies that must be repaired.

    Even, when you hold down the alt/options key while launching Photos, and keep the key held down until you are seeing the Library Chooser panel?

     

    This should let you create a new library.

  • by hunter351,

    hunter351 hunter351 Jun 29, 2015 8:38 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 29, 2015 8:38 AM in response to léonie

    I haven't tried that yet.  Will this "new" library override the existing one?  It just creates a new one?  And then it should automatically populate based on what I have via the cloud?  Thanks for all of your help with this!

  • by hunter351,

    hunter351 hunter351 Jun 29, 2015 8:42 AM in response to hunter351
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 29, 2015 8:42 AM in response to hunter351

    Just to make sure it's just that one key and not the command/alt options combo you are referring to?

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jun 29, 2015 8:47 AM in response to hunter351
    Level 10 (107,827 points)
    iCloud
    Jun 29, 2015 8:47 AM in response to hunter351
    Will this "new" library override the existing one?

    In the Library Chooser panel click "Create New".

    Pick a different name for the new library, so your existing library will be saved.

    Screen Shot 2015-06-29 at 17.42.49.png

    It just creates a new one?

    Yes.

    And then it should automatically populate based on what I have via the cloud?  Thanks for all of your help with this!

    Once you see that the new, empty library works well, open the Preferences in Photos,  and click the button "Use as System Photo Library"  on the "General" tab of the preferences panel.  Then  enable iCloud Photo Library for this library in the iCloud pane of the preferences.

    Only make sure, you have enough storage on your drive.  You may need to move the old library to an external drive, if storage is an issue.

  • by hunter351,

    hunter351 hunter351 Jun 29, 2015 8:49 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 29, 2015 8:49 AM in response to léonie

    Awesome!  Will try this once I get home.  I really appreciate you taking the time!!

  • by léonie,Helpful

    léonie léonie Jun 29, 2015 8:51 AM in response to hunter351
    Level 10 (107,827 points)
    iCloud
    Jun 29, 2015 8:51 AM in response to hunter351

    Yes, it is only the options key (on some keyboards called alt key), that will bring up the library chooser.

     

    If you use the command/alt options combo,  you will launch  Photos into the Repair mode, that you are seeing all along.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jun 29, 2015 8:51 AM in response to hunter351
    Level 10 (107,827 points)
    iCloud
    Jun 29, 2015 8:51 AM in response to hunter351

    You're welcome.  Good Luck.

  • by hunter351,

    hunter351 hunter351 Jun 29, 2015 2:24 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 29, 2015 2:24 PM in response to léonie

    Looks like it is slowly working.  I have a 75/75 internet speed and it seems like it's still really slow.  Am I able to close out of Photos and still have it downloading in the background, or does the app need to be open?  I noticed my internet has been going in and out as well because of this.  Is that normal?  I also noticed that if I click on one of the pics thumbnails that it seems to speed up the download process, but I don't want to do that for each pic.  Thanks again for your help!

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jun 29, 2015 2:37 PM in response to hunter351
    Level 10 (107,827 points)
    iCloud
    Jun 29, 2015 2:37 PM in response to hunter351

    You can hide the Photos window, but I would not quit Photos.  In the Photos > Preferences panel is a button "Pause for one day". You can click this, if you need your network for other purposes.

  • by hunter351,

    hunter351 hunter351 Jun 29, 2015 3:02 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 29, 2015 3:02 PM in response to léonie

    Seems like the only way to speed up the process is by opening each one.  Shouldn't just do all that by itself.  The downloading number stays stuck but when I open up each one, they get downloaded.  Make sense?

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