NO NAME camera won't go away!

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Level 4

2,405 points

NO NAME camera won't go away!

I searched the forum but could not find a match to this problem.

I have a Camera called NO NAME appear at the bottom of the album list every time I launch iPhoto 5. The application loads and then NO NAME is automatically selected and I get the screen No Items To Import all the time now instead of seeing my photo library.

The eject button on the NO NAME camera does nothing. The actual camera is not even plugged in. Plugging in the actual camera does nothing, it appears in the list along with NO NAME and ejects and disappears normally when I am done importing.

I have dragged the plist to the trash and let iPhoto build a new one. NO NAME shows up still. I then dragged the .db the .xml files and NO NAME still remains.

I drag the NO NAME camera to the trash when iPhoto has launched and it disappears. However the next time iPhoto runs, the NO NAME camera is back again and it is automatically selected.

I am thinking a few more things but not coming up with anything concrete as to what is causing this.

Posted on Sep 16, 2005 1:35 PM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

215,778 points

Sep 16, 2005 3:04 PM in response to Jan Johannsen

Try creating a new library by launching iPhoto with the Option key depressed and select new when asked. If that library opens without the No Name camera then we can assume it something do do with the library itself. If so try the following:

Rebuild the library. First make a backup copy of the current iPhoto Library folder. Then launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys depressed and follow the instructions to rebuild the library. Of the various options only the database one should be relevant. If you want to go the whole 9 yards select all of the options. If the rebuild does not go as intended you still have the backup.

If the camera shows up in the new library then reinstalling iPhoto 5 seems like a good next step. To do so you should delete the application and all files with iPhoto in the file name that reside in the HD/Library/Receipts folder. Then install iPhoto 5 from your iLife 05 disks or from the software disk that came with your Mini. Then run the Software Updater immediately followed by a permissions repair with Disk Utility.

Good luck.

OT

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Answer 2

Jan Johannsen Author

Level 4

2,405 points

Sep 16, 2005 8:02 PM in response to Old Toad

Nope, that rotten NO NAME camera shows up in a new library. Now I am thinking it might be below the iPhoto application layer and some snafu with OS X itself and a messed up mount or now ghost mount of a past camera connection.

I did a CMD+OPT rebuild of every option listed and it still remains.

I did an initial peek into the iPhoto package contents and there is a ton of files to go through inside there. Usually such plists therein are defaults and copied out to the user library folder, but I already tried the plist route without success.

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

215,778 points

Sep 16, 2005 8:34 PM in response to Jan Johannsen

Log into another account on your Mini and see if that ghost camera shows up. If not them it may be a incompatibility with one of the other preference files in your User/Library/Prferences folder. One way to check it out is:

Trouble Shooting Preferences
Go to HD/Users/Your_name/Library. Move the Prefs folder (in its entirety) to the desktop. Start iPhoto. Determine if problem is fixed.
If the problem IS fixed, then go to the new Prefs folder that the OS will have created and open it up. Except for those items that are obviously not related, move the contents to the old Prefs folder on the desktop, replacing what had been there. When in doubt, move the item. The worst thing that can happen is a harmless "alert" message. Then, trash what remains of the new folder. Finally, move the old (but modified) Prefs folder back to the library.
If the problem is NOT fixed, trash the new Prefs folder and move the old one back to its original location.

The next step would be a download and reinstall of the 10.3.9 COMBO updater followed by a permissions repair.

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Answer 4

Sep 16, 2005 9:19 PM in response to Jan Johannsen

Hi Jan, do you have a camera phone or some other kind of hard drive or devise that holds images connected to your computer?

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Answer 5

Jan Johannsen Author

Level 4

2,405 points

Sep 17, 2005 2:50 AM in response to Old Toad

Logged into new user and NO NAME was not in that users iPhoto so it is account specific.

I installed XCODE 2.1 to get the property list editor to look in plist files

Inside user/library/preference/byhost

I dragged out com.apple.ImageCapture2.randomnumbers.plist to the desktop.
I launched iPhoto
NO NAME is gone!

but what bugs me is when I quit iPhoto and dragged the plist back and relaunched it didn't appear again so now I don't feel 100% solid on this file as the fix. the problem is now solved however, thank you.

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Answer 6

Jan Johannsen Author

Level 4

2,405 points

Sep 17, 2005 2:53 AM in response to lori_diloreto

only one camera Nikon CoolPix 4500
only other items on the USB bus are Brother HL-5150D duplex laser printer
the hub built into my LCD monitor
and Microsoft DSS 80 digital sound system

actually I am dual booting Tiger 10.4.2 and Panther 10.3.9 to determine if all the bugs in Tiger make me want to go back.

this problem and other small annoying ones are always popping up in Tiger. I have my fingers crossed tightly for the 10.4.3 update [last heard that over 400+ bugs are finally fixed]

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Answer 7

Old Toad

Level 10

215,778 points

Sep 17, 2005 11:39 AM in response to Jan Johannsen

Good job of sleuthing. How did your arrive at that file?

What's strange is that I don't have that particular file. I have an Image Capture pref file but not that one. I don't use it much so maybe never use the feature of IC that would create that file. You probably could trash it and not worry. They get recreated the next time they are needed by the application. What is the creation date on it?

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Answer 8

Jan Johannsen Author

Level 4

2,405 points

Sep 17, 2005 6:53 PM in response to Old Toad

It just looked interesting and having just installed XCode developer tools, double clicking it brought up the property list editor and it said iPhoto inside so just felt like pulling it for a test.

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