iPhoto Network Library = SLOW SLOW SLOW

Is there already an fix for the 'iPhoto '09 library is very slow slow slow on an Time Capsule' bug?
I work for many years with very big iPhoto library's (65 gig and 115 gig) on an wireless NAS. iPhoto '08 worked very stable in that situation. Till the '09 version...
Anybody?

Douwe-Jan

You can occasionally rebuild the library while selecting the last option only. That can speed up the library considerably.

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No that won't work for me. I made an whole new library special for version '09.
That takes me more than 2 days. It's really an bug with iLife with an wireless lan.
The same library on the same LAN but wired doesn't have any problems at all.

I'd the same time-out problems with publishing iWeb from an wireless NAS.
If I publish the same website from the same NAS but wired there no time-outs.

Douwe-Jan

I'm seeing this issue, too.

I'm having the same problem. Just started today. I don't know why it is doing this. Just yesterday it was working fine.

Here is a suggestion that I hope will help, this will only help when using AFP to connect to the library (i.e., when the library is stored on a disk connected to another Mac or on a disk connected to Airport) unless the NAS used supports AFP and you use AFP.

Open a Terminal Window and type in:
defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.AppleShareClient afp wanquantum 131072;
defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.AppleShareClient afp wanthreshold 1000;

This will more force the AFP client to use 128K blocks even when the initial response for connection was a bit slower. I also changed:
defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.AppleShareClient afp_maxDirCache 240
defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.AppleShareClient afp_maxFileCache 240

Not sure what they do but I assume it has something to do with the maximum to be used for caching. All these settings are to be done on the client (thus the computer you use iPhoto on with the library stored on a network drive).

From my initial feeling it seems to be faster, especially with the 1st 2 settings but I have not worked in iPhoto long enough with these settings to make sure. After changing it please ensure you disconnect from the shared volume (or reboot) so that these settings get into affect.

I got this information from: http://www.afp548.com/article.php?story=20060329213629494

Hope it helps people.

Want to add something else do this. Also open your iPhoto using Command+Option keeping both keys held while starting iPhoto. A dialog box will open providing multiple options for rebuilding the iPhoto database. Deselect everything except the last one which states to reclaim space. It will then take a little while to go through but I noticed further improvements from this.

While it was doing this I did a sample of the iPhoto process and it seems to be doing a SQLLite vacuum on the iPhoto databases. Google "iphoto vacuum" for more information on it but this seems to be doing it.

Also see: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2638 for information on the rebuilding but this article does not include the option from the latest iPhoto to reclaim the space.

Again, hope this helps. So far it sure did for me.

I have the same problem (iPhoto library on TC - very slow). I like iPhoto, but sharing the library between my Mac Pro and Macbook Pro has made it unusable. My solution? Picasa. Very fast, picks up my shared iPhoto library and all other pictures on my computer. When they fix iPhoto, I'll go back.. until then, Picasa it is.

Message was edited by: amnesiac103

I am also experiencing the same performance issue that makes iPhoto 9 unusable with network attached storage.

I have a wired network with iPhoto 8 on some Macs (mini and eMac) and iPhoto 9 on a new iMac.

Before I connected the NAS drive, I shared the disk with my iPhoto 8 library and pointed to it with iPhoto 9. It cranked away for several hours and created an iPhoto 9 library on the iMac. This works great on the iMac (with the library stored on the local disk). However, when I copy the iPhoto 9 library to the NAS drive, iPhoto opens, tries to process the faces, and then grinds to a halt. I get the spinning beach ball and it says that it has 8,000 hours to go. It then crashes before it can open.

I then copied the iPhoto 8 library to the NAS drive and opened it with iPhoto 8 on the Mac mini. Opening the library took about 15 seconds and things worked fairly well (maybe a second or 2 delay every once in a while) after that.

Based on my experience, I concluded that this is a problem with iPhoto 9 and networked attached storage.

(I have filled out the feedback form for iPhoto.)

Andy

Hmm. I just set this up. My config is a 1.66 Mini hosting the library running 10.62, and I am opening the iPhoto Library with a Mac Pro over Airport Extreme. At first I thought it was really slow but I was simultaneously copying 24GB of iTunes music. Once that was done, iPhoto starting working just fine. Slight delay on launch (what I would expect) and slight delay accessing libraries, but nothing like you guys are describing. I did disable the sharing and automatic checking just to help a bit. The only difference I can think of is that I do not allow the faces or locations. I have never let it run to check either. The library itself is about 6.5 GB. Now that I look at it I'm not even sure how to make it do a faces check but I don't want it to.

Ok one more tidbit that may or may not make any difference. The mini is hardwired to the Airport Extreme by Ethernet cable. However, the Mac Pro is wireless and on another floor of the house.

There's a difference between running a Library over a Network and running a Library from Network Attached Storage (a NAS).

The danger with running a library stored on a remote disk accesed via wireless is the risk of a dropout. A strong warning: If you're trying to edit the Library (that is, make albums, move photos around, keyword, make books or slideshows etc.) or edit individual photos in it via Wireless be very careful. Dropouts are a common fact of wireless networking, and should one occur while the app is writing to the database then your Library will be damaged. Simply, I would not do this with my Libraries.

Storing on a NAS means in the majority of cases the disk is not formatted appropriately. iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, saving edits and sharing the photos.

Regards

TD

I consider myself warned. Since the library can be rebuilt, and since I am obsessive about backups, I'm not too concerned. I also have the Mac Pro, Mini, external drive, and airport on a UPS backup power supply.

All of this is in experimental mode with me, so I'll see how it goes.

i'm running on a wired iMac with a synology NAS (connected via ethernet).
Just started to worked with iphoto and find the performance ultraslow.

initially, i created the iphoto library on the same networkdrive, but even after 20 hours it's still unbearable. I just moved the the library -not the pictures (!)- to the local drive of the iMac.
so:
library local
pictures network via 100mb network

it's not super yet, but it's already 20 times faster!

I just moved the the library -not the pictures (!)- to the local drive of the iMac.

I would caution you that using a Referenced Library where the files are on one volume and the Library on another can lead ot all sorts of problems. The main one is should the link between the files and the library be changed - by a change in the file path, for instance - then you could find yourself resolving the aliases in the iPhoto Library that point to the files on the NAS +one by one for your entire library+.

Regards

TD