Cannot import photos from camera, "problem writing to the volume"

The iPhoto Library is on local drive i.e. the internal HD. Wasn't that clear from the original post ?

Thanks for "replying" and increasing your post count!

Have you made any changes to your system or upgraded any other software recently?
Upgrade to iLife 09 and latest Security Updates were the only things i did recently.

this is strictly a user forum so talking to Apple here accomplishes nothing - to talk to Apple - iPhoto menu ==> provide iPhoto feedback
I know. Certain things best be understood and left w/o digging. Also "they" do monitor the discussion boards for potential trends.

I've not seen reports of this - it clearly is an issue with your system - not a software bug - so the solution is to find the issue that you had and fix/avoid it
Then you are not watching enough. There are several reports here itself :
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8971388
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1907134&tstart=0
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1885964&tstart=0
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?p=1372496

How much free disk space do you have on your internal drive?
I have 13GB free on the internal drive and my iPhoto Library is 5GB, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Now, something in general for you. Please read your reply and see what value are you adding ? I mean, if it would come from someone with a post count of less than 50, it is perfectly ok, but with 8455 posts, show some maturity. Do you have any database of "recent updates" vs "iphoto problems" ? you aren't even aware of the similar problems posted in this very section. About disk space question, what's your logic ?

Take care.

The first two links have exactly the same problem as mine and are unsolved. I would suggest you read them again. The next two links have traces of the same problem.

Now, again, answer these questions :
Do you have a database of "recent updates" vs "iphoto problems" ?
Have you come across a single instance of insufficient disk space leading to iPhoto 09 not able to import photos ? (The user in link 2 didn't have that problem. The responder just assumed it. You shouldn't.)
If not, then why ask these irrelevant or misleading questions.

As I stated I have NOT seen this problem before and it is clearly a specific problem with your system not an iPhoto bug

It is perfectly valid to not have come across this problem, as iPhoto 09 is very new, but to ascribe someone's problem as not a bug is a hazardous guess. The best wisdom is to stay away if you don't have the sufficient knowledge to help someone. Even if you can't stop the urge to respond, it would be fair to say "I haven't come across this problem, if you think it is a genuine problem, please file a bug report with Apple." Simple.

Also, to say "Apple is not listening" or "Apple is not here" etc is more insulting to the real "users" of Apple products who come here for an expert opinion after searching the web for a possible solution to their problems.

Cheers.

I tried all things, but iPhoto is failing to import the photos from my Sanyo Xacti. Here is a way out if you are encountering this problem :

1. Open Image Capture from your Applications folder, set the preference to open the application when connecting the camera to Image Capture instead of iPhoto.
2. Eject the camera.
3. Switch the camera to standby mode.
4. Switch back to "PC connection" mode.
5. Download the photos using Image Capture to any folder. It works perfectly.
6. Import the downloaded photos to iPhoto using File->Import to Library.

It is important to not let iPhoto touch the photos in your camera. It is misrendering some photos and finally failing to "write to the volume" which is such a vague message.

Here is what i tried :

I have 118 photos of 1MB each in my camera. Every time iPhoto tried to "import all", it failed at no. 78. And it also misrendered no. 80, 83 and 114,115 and 116.
So, next time, i tried to "import selected" from 1 to 80. Again it failed at no. 78.
Then, "import selected" the no. 78. Success!
Then, "import selected" from 73 to 113. Success!
Then, "import selected" from 77 to 118. Failed.

I also tried to import using Image Capture AFTER iPhoto failed. Even Image Capture failed to import the affected photos. So, there is something wrong that iPhoto 09 is doing with the photo rendering. If you look at affected photo in the Finder before and after the iPhoto import attempt, you can see the photo which was clearly visible in the Finder, is now turned into a half or full blocked photo. E.g. here is a comparison :

!http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3304/3295210767_276a89a3ba.jpg! !http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/3295210615_01e9b4b1d6.jpg!

So, use the Image Capture till Apple releases a bug fix.

Message was edited by: Host

Thanks mn_apple for sharing your fix.

This is what makes the discussion forum useful. It is users like you, who take the trouble to create an Apple ID just to help a fellow user.

Message was edited by: Host

It is a Sanyo Xacti C1, purchased in 2004 and has served tremendously well so far.

But this particular problem is not specific to any camera model as many users of other brands also have reported this problem. It is a bug in iPhoto 09 for which Apple will have to release a fix. Also, as i mentioned in original post, it works perfectly fine with iPhoto 5. So go ahead and buy the new and improved Xacti model.

I have two similar configurations: one intel PowerMac an one intel 24" iMac with external HD with the iPhoto library. Both HD's with plenty discspace.

I guess you meant Intel Mac Pro.

I am sure this is an internal permissions issue.

To me, it seems like a reading/buffering problem internal to iPhoto 09 logic as "import selected photos" works fine for a small number of photos. There is really no problem with writing to the volume as suggested in the error message. And disk space is absolutely not a problem even if you have only 1 GB free space, much unlike some of the "top users" suggestion that you need 10 gigs for virtual memory, temp files etc! These "post counters" are only doing a disservice to the Apple user community by providing wrong diagnosis.

Hopefully an update is due very soon!

Yes, i hope too.