MikeyC23

Q: Photos effectively empty after repair

I was prompted to repair the Photos database after a crash. It went to 100% without any errors, but on opening it only shows blank folders and albums. On checking Photos Library > Show Contents, they all seem to be safely there in the Masters folder thank goodness, but no photos appear in the app itself. I re-ran the repair command to double check, but no change.

 

I think Database/photos.db is the file that's effectively recreated when you try that repair command, but the other files are are a mystery to me. Has anyone any ideas as to what's acting up? I've made a backup of the Masters folder and of the malfunctioning Photo Library, but unfortunately my latest backup came after the issue had started.

 

I'm running Photos v.2 on a late 2012 iMac, Mac OS Sierra (yeah, I probably had this coming)

macOS Sierra (10.12), 3.4 GHz Intel i7, 3 TB Fusion Drive

Posted on Sep 26, 2016 8:53 AM

Close

Q: Photos effectively empty after repair

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Tom Ritch,

    Tom Ritch Tom Ritch Sep 26, 2016 11:22 AM in response to MikeyC23
    Level 2 (206 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 26, 2016 11:22 AM in response to MikeyC23

    Similar issues of thumb images missing after Repair or El Capitan -> Sierra conversion are sdiscue]ssed in a different thread.

     

    Edited photos in Photos App is missing after MacOS Sierra update

     

    One solution reported for edited photos was to revert to the original photo. 

     

    Another solution, if you use iCloud Library, is to re-sync with iCloud.  It seems the sync which automatically follows Repair does not restore missing thumbs.  However, if you turn off iCloud for the library on your mac, then turn it back on, the sync that follows will restore missing thumbs.  The example where this was reported used El Capitan Photos.  It might also work in Sierra. 

     

    Do you use iCloud Photos?

  • by MikeyC23,

    MikeyC23 MikeyC23 Sep 26, 2016 11:49 AM in response to Tom Ritch
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 26, 2016 11:49 AM in response to Tom Ritch

    Thanks Tom. I don't use iCloud Library unfortunately.

     

    My issue is a little different as I don't even see thumbnails with exclamation marks - just nothing. Totally empty folders &  albums. Oddly, if I click on People, I can see a number under people's names but no actual photos there.

     

    Screenshot_26_09_2016__19_48.jpg> Screenshot_26_09_2016__19_48 2.jpg

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Sep 26, 2016 11:54 AM in response to MikeyC23
    Level 10 (85,108 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 26, 2016 11:54 AM in response to MikeyC23

    What happens if you revert to original on one of these problem photos?

     

    Have you done any disk cleanup or run and clean up software like CleanMyMac?

     

    LN

  • by MikeyC23,

    MikeyC23 MikeyC23 Sep 26, 2016 12:08 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 26, 2016 12:08 PM in response to LarryHN

    Hi Larry. There aren't any actual photos visible, literally nothing I can click on. I know they're there in the Masters folder - thankfully - but the database tool doesn't acknowledge any.

     

    I'd create a new library in a heartbeat but for the years of albums etc I'd lose, unless anyone knows how to keep those.

     

    I haven't done anything more complex than a first aid check in Disk Utility.

  • by Tom Ritch,

    Tom Ritch Tom Ritch Sep 26, 2016 12:53 PM in response to MikeyC23
    Level 2 (206 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 26, 2016 12:53 PM in response to MikeyC23

    My issue is a little different as I don't even see thumbnails with exclamation marks - just nothing. Totally empty folders &  albums.

    That sounds like what I was seeing.  But not quite totally empty.  While there were no empty rectangles with exclamation marks, there were empty spaces where the photo images should be.  I found that if I double-clicked the empty space, a large empty space replaced the grid of empty spaces, as though the image had opened for viewing.  At the upper right of the blank image, was an Edit button.  Clicking the Edit button opened the image for editing, and the actual image appeared, sometimes after a couple of clicks on the Edit button.   At this point, reverting an edited photo, or editing and saving the edit changes for an unedited photo, led to display of the missing thumb image.  This is discussed in more detail in the linked thread.

     

    If you double-click an "empty" white space, does the blank "image" open in an edit window?  Can you manipulate it as described?  Does you missing thumb image appear?

  • by MikeyC23,

    MikeyC23 MikeyC23 Sep 26, 2016 1:16 PM in response to Tom Ritch
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 26, 2016 1:16 PM in response to Tom Ritch

    I'm afraid not Tom. I clicked a few areas and went into several albums, into the Faces & Places sections etc, hoping to see at least one (and perhaps work out if there was a pattern at play). Literally nothing.

  • by MikeyC23,

    MikeyC23 MikeyC23 Sep 27, 2016 5:34 AM in response to MikeyC23
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 27, 2016 5:34 AM in response to MikeyC23

    Tried to add a folder of photos as a test and found something interesting: it marks these photos as already imported. So I tried two things: importing, and checking the album the photo used to be belong to (sadly doesn't appear there), and not importing, which doesn't change anything.

     

    If I import, I can see a duplicate photo appearing in a folder in Photo Library marked with today's date and time. This is so annoying tbh.

     

    Screenshot_27_09_2016__13_30.jpg