Esther Le Sieur

Q: iPhoto Library transfer problem Leopard to Snow Leopard

I have a G4 Mini running Leopard (10.5.8).  About a year ago I accidentally moved the iPhoto library to a flash drive, instead of just copying it as I had intended, so after that I could only view my pictures in iPhoto via the flash drive.

 

Now I have an Intel Mini running Snow Leopard.  I want to get my photos into iPhoto on this computer.  I found this discussion answer as to how to do that at this link:  iPhoto 11 library: from lion to snow leopard

 

"--  Connect the two Macs together (network, firewire target mode, etc)  or use an external hard drive formed Mac OS extended (journaled) and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity from the old Mac to the pictures folder of the new Mac - launch iPhoto on the new mac and it will open the library and convert it as needed and you will be ready move forward."

 

I checked my flash drive, and unfortunately it is formatted as MS-DOS (FAT 32), not MacOS Extended Journaled.  I'm afraid if I put the i Photo Library that's on it into the pictures folder of the Intel Mini it will cause a BIG problem.  Will it? I'm guessing that if I tried to reformat the flash drive, I'd lose the content on it, right?

 

If so, the only other place I have my photos is on a bootable external drive with OS 10.5.8 that I've been backing the G4 mini up to it regularly with Time Machine.  Is there any way I can make use of this to get my photos onto the Intel mini?  If so, how?  I don't actually know how to use Time Machine, so giving me specific steps be extremely important and very helpful.

 

As a senior citizen, I'm way out of my depth here, so any ideas/help will be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM

Posted on Aug 14, 2016 8:15 AM

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Q: iPhoto Library transfer problem Leopard to Snow Leopard

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  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Aug 14, 2016 8:53 AM in response to Esther Le Sieur
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    Photos for Mac
    Aug 14, 2016 8:53 AM in response to Esther Le Sieur

    As a start connect teh last drive to the new Mac and drag the iPhoto library to the pcitures folder and launch iPhoto - does it work - it might and if it does test it and you sholud b fine - if it does not then psot back for help in restoring the TM backup

     

    BTW - TM does not make bootable backups

     

    LN

  • by Esther Le Sieur,

    Esther Le Sieur Esther Le Sieur Aug 15, 2016 4:07 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (73 points)
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    Aug 15, 2016 4:07 AM in response to LarryHN

    I tried to move the iPhoto library from the flash drive into the Pictures folder on the Intel Mini.  It prepared all the files and then told me there was another older library named iPhoto Library in Pictures (I'm assuming it meant the Intel Snow Leopard Library was the older one which would have been installed first into the Pictures folder) and asked if I wanted to replace it.  I stopped the process there b/c I'm afraid if I do that it will mess up the newer iPhoto app by replacing the Snow Leopard iPhoto Library t(Intel mini) with the Leopard iPhoto Library (G4 mini).  Any ideas or suggestions?

     

    My external drive running Leopard is bootable, i.e. I installed the whole OS on it.  It has been really useful to be able to boot from the external drive when the G4 mini has crashed.   Since I've been using TM to backup to that drive, I didn't know if the drive being bootable was relevant or not.

     

    I did find my iPhoto Library in TM from last August, but I can't restore it to the G4 mini b/c I don't have enough space on it's hard drive. 

     

    Please let me know what other information you might need from me to help figure this out.  I have no idea what might be helpful.  Thanks so much!

     

    EL

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Aug 15, 2016 8:23 AM in response to Esther Le Sieur
    Level 10 (84,190 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 15, 2016 8:23 AM in response to Esther Le Sieur

    Do you have any photos in the iPhoto library on the newer Mac Mini?

     

    LN

  • by Esther Le Sieur,

    Esther Le Sieur Esther Le Sieur Aug 16, 2016 12:12 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (73 points)
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    Aug 16, 2016 12:12 AM in response to LarryHN

    No, no photos in the Snow Leopard (Intel) iPhoto Library yet.

     

    The iPhoto Library from the G4 Leopard is in a blue folder.  The iPhoto Library in the Intel Snow Leopard just looks like an icon, not a blue folder. Everything else in the Intel Snow Leopard User Folder > Library Folder is in a blue folder.

     

    I'm wondering...I see there's an import feature within the Snow Leopard iPhoto app.  In the G4 iPhoto Library on the flash drive, when I open it, there are folders for each year.  If I open one of those, there are folders for each month.  If I open one of those, there is a folder for a date within the month.  If I open that, there are the jpg's themselves.  Is there some way I could import the photos by either importing the old iPhoto Library folder itself via import feature within the Intel Snow Leopard iPhoto app, or the year or month or day folders, or the jpg's themselves (which would be tedious and take forever)?

     

    Obviously I have no idea how any of this works.  Thanks for your efforts in trying to work this out!

     

    EL

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Aug 16, 2016 2:13 AM in response to Esther Le Sieur
    Level 10 (139,475 points)
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    Aug 16, 2016 2:13 AM in response to Esther Le Sieur

    The iPhoto Library from the G4 Leopard is in a blue folder

     

    What else is in that blue folder? Specifically, are there files called library.iphoto or similar?

  • by Esther Le Sieur,

    Esther Le Sieur Esther Le Sieur Aug 16, 2016 3:41 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (73 points)
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    Aug 16, 2016 3:41 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    Here's a screen shot of the G4 iPhoto Library contents:

     

    iPhoto Library from G4 Mini.png

     

    Yes, there is a file called library.iPhoto.  Hope this helps.  Thanks.

  • by Esther Le Sieur,

    Esther Le Sieur Esther Le Sieur Aug 16, 2016 3:48 AM in response to Esther Le Sieur
    Level 1 (73 points)
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    Aug 16, 2016 3:48 AM in response to Esther Le Sieur

    P.S.  The G4 iPhoto Library is in the User Folder>Pictures.  Here is what is in the Intel User>Folder Pictures:

     

    Intel iPhoto Library .png

     

    When I click on this iPhoto Library it just opens the iPhoto app (Snow Leopard).  No pictures are in the app yet.

     

    E

  • by Terence Devlin,Helpful

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Aug 17, 2016 2:24 AM in response to Esther Le Sieur
    Level 10 (139,475 points)
    iLife
    Aug 17, 2016 2:24 AM in response to Esther Le Sieur

      I'm afraid if I put the i Photo Library that's on it into the pictures folder of the Intel Mini it will cause a BIG problem.

     

    It won't, and that' the first thing to do. Drag the Library from the flash drive to the Pictures Folder.

     

    Then Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and point it at the library you have moved.

  • by Esther Le Sieur,

    Esther Le Sieur Esther Le Sieur Aug 16, 2016 5:59 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (73 points)
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    Aug 16, 2016 5:59 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    So just to be clear, when I tried moving the G4 iPhoto Library it to the Intel pictures folder before, I got a message that there was an older iPhoto library already there, and it asked if I wanted to replace it.  So when I do it this time, I should just say yes, and then launch iPhoto?  No conflict between the G4 and Intel platforms?

     

    Thanks.

  • by LarryHN,Solvedanswer

    LarryHN LarryHN Aug 16, 2016 9:12 AM in response to Esther Le Sieur
    Level 10 (84,190 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 16, 2016 9:12 AM in response to Esther Le Sieur

    Again if you have no photos in iPhotos on the new machine then you can replace the existing empty iPhoto library with the one from your previous system (be sure iPhoto is not running)

     

    As originally answered

     

    As a start connect the flast drive to the new Mac and drag the iPhoto library to the pcitures folder and launch iPhoto - does it work? - it might and if it does test it and you sholud be fine - if it does not then post back for help in restoring the TM backup

     

    LN

  • by Esther Le Sieur,

    Esther Le Sieur Esther Le Sieur Aug 17, 2016 2:23 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (73 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 17, 2016 2:23 AM in response to LarryHN

    Yes, it did work.  A few of the photos from the old library don't appear in the new iPhoto library in the "Photos" view--there are just square white outlines with no photo inside in them.  I'll see if I can move them directly from the old library as jpg's into the new iPhoto.  Overall, it has gone well.

     

    Thank you so much for your patience with me, and continuing to answer my posts.  I'm very grateful to have my precious photos available to me again.

     

    E

  • by Esther Le Sieur,

    Esther Le Sieur Esther Le Sieur Aug 17, 2016 2:30 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (73 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 17, 2016 2:30 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    Thank you, too.  Your answer was most helpful and also solved the problem.  The designator button is only letting me give you a "Helpful", but your answer was also the solution.

     

    E