Mitch1984

Q: iPhoto Library on External Drive failed to upgrade library - subfolders in Old Masters but they are empty.

I was juggling some files around with my Mac & External Drive to make space, and after having a backup for a while I no longer had enough space for my iPhoto Library AND a Backup. So I opted to keep my iPhoto Library on the external drive.

 

Anyway, I can't remember if it was after an OS X upgrade or because iPhoto had been asking me to repair permissions a lot but while upgrading the library, it hung for ages, I forced iPhoto to quit. I then attempt to repair the library but it was only finding a 1000 or so pictures.

 

Now when I 'Show Package Contents' Masters has some from 2015. Old Masters has the folders for all my events but they have no images in.

 

Thing is from a data recovery perspective I believe the images are still there somewhere because when you delete a file (on purpose) it changes the file to allow it to be overwritten right? I might be wrong but I've tried not to write any files to the disk for this reason.

 

I have tried a couple of Data Recovery applications but they aren't fantastic. What is my best option to get these images restored to masters or old masters?

 

I know I should've had a backup but I couldn't afford a decent solution, I had a backup until my library got too big to keep the main on my Mac. This happened in between Apple announcing iCloud Photo and actually releasing it...gutted.

VIN, MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2010), Other OS

Posted on Jun 22, 2016 12:00 PM

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Q: iPhoto Library on External Drive failed to upgrade library - subfolders in Old Masters but they are empty.

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jun 22, 2016 12:20 PM in response to Mitch1984
    Level 10 (107,112 points)
    iCloud
    Jun 22, 2016 12:20 PM in response to Mitch1984
    Anyway, I can't remember if it was after an OS X upgrade or because iPhoto had been asking me to repair permissions a lot but while upgrading the library, it hung for ages, I forced iPhoto to quit. I then attempt to repair the library but it was only finding a 1000 or so pictures.

    There is a very critical phase during the library upgrade, where iPhoto is string the photos in Old Masters, and if it force quit during that time or crashes, the library will be left in an inconsistent state. If you repair the library afterwards, the photos may be collected in an event "recovered items" .  Is there such an event or album?

     

    Did the data recovery find missing photos?  You cannot hope to restore them directly to the Masters folder. You can try to reimport them to photos or to link them again, if you open a photo with a missing original file and when prompted to find the missing file, point iPhoto to the original that the data recovery found.