Trying to edit picture: iPhoto not showing ANYTHING!

Question

Trying to edit picture: iPhoto not showing ANYTHING!

Hi guys,
have to admit I´m a bit pi**ed off. Spent around 6 hours yet on repairing the iPhoto 6 on my wife´s G4-Macbook (running 10.4.11).
As we had a couple of problems with iPhoto (dotted lines + questionmark, Mail-Export didn´t work etc…) I decided to reinstall the software. Well, first I forgot we once had updated the originally included iPhoto 5 to iPhoto 6 – so I installed the "5" first. Then I realized my fault, so I installed the "6" from the iLife 06 DVD.

Now my problem is, whenever I try to edit imported photos, they simply don´t show up in the main-screen. I have the thumbs on top, but the main window area is blank. I´m meaning this literally: BLANK! No dotted line, nor questionmarks or so.

So I´ve tried to rebuild the database (Apple+Alt start), then I installed the iPhoto-Updates 6.0.4 through 6.0.6, after that I reinstalled the 10.4.11-Combo-Update. Then I deleted iPhoto (was still not working), repaired the startup-volume, repaired rights, used Onyx for all possible mainenance-issues and re-installed a fresh iPhoto 6. Still same result: blank screen for editing pix.

Before I download Picasa: Is there a **** solution for this issue??
Thanks in advance (and it was me convincing my wife to buy a Mac: "There won´t be any probs…“ – haha)

Till

G4 Powerbook, Mac OS X (10.4.11), iPhoto 06

Posted on Apr 4, 2009 12:14 AM

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Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Apr 4, 2009 12:18 AM in response to SpeedyGonzales

Till

I suspect that you’ve wasted 6 hours looking for a solution in the wrong place.

All you efforts have been aimed at the iPhoto application. I think the problem is with your Library.

Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.

Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.

Regards

TD

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Answer 2

Apr 4, 2009 12:34 AM in response to Yer_Man

Thanks for the quick shot answer – but I probably forgot to mention this: After reinstalling the software I used an entirely new library created by the software. I just imported some photos for testing purposes… (this was also after having re-built the original database using the apple-alt-command while starting iPhoto prior to reinstalling).

Till

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Apr 4, 2009 12:53 AM in response to SpeedyGonzales

Till

After reinstalling the software I used an entirely new library created by the software.

What software? Iphoto? iPhoto Library Manager?

I just imported some photos for testing purposes…

And the result was?

The more specific and detailed information you give then better chance we have of figuring this out.

Regards

TD

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Answer 4

Apr 4, 2009 1:03 AM in response to SpeedyGonzales

Actually, I´m not sure why my topic seems so misunderstand-able…
I reinstalled a completely new version of *iPhoto 6* after having massive problems with my old installation. This created a completely new library which I used to import a couple of pictures for trying if my problems are solved. They weren´t. Still I get a blank screen with the thumbs atop when changing to the "edit"-mode within iPhoto.
Is this precise enough? Thank you!

Greets, Till

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Answer 5

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Apr 4, 2009 1:09 AM in response to SpeedyGonzales

Yes, that was helpfully concise.

Create a new account (systempreferences -> accounts) and see if the problem is repeated there.

Frankly, I’ve simply never seen a problem like this that persisted into a new Library.

Regards

TD

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Answer 6

Apr 4, 2009 1:20 AM in response to SpeedyGonzales

OK, off we go. There is exactly the problem within iPhoto after having created a new user-account on the Mac. I just created that account, switched to it, started Safari for dragging off a .jpg from the Apple-Site, then opening iPhoto – importing - clicking on the "edit"-button (twice! As the first click didn´t result in any action – this is the same for double-clicking thumbs by the way: The first double-click doesn´t do anything).
This is really strange (and I now know that Picasa is no alternative on a PPC-machine)

Till

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Answer 7

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Apr 4, 2009 3:09 AM in response to SpeedyGonzales

Are you getting any messages in the Console?

Did you delete the receipts before re-installing?

Regards

TD

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Answer 8

Apr 4, 2009 3:17 AM in response to SpeedyGonzales

Thanks for spending your time for this!!
Well, I used AppZapper for deleting iPhoto and all receipts as well before re-installing a clean version. I get the following message in the console when clicking on the editing-button:
*2009-04-04 12:08:40.232 iPhoto[3720] * +[CIPlugIn _addPlugIn:allowNonExecutable:]: selector not recognized*
I get this twice, as the first click does not change iPhoto from grid-view to edit-view.

Also, I don´t have any other version of iPhoto to try. The ´08-version that came with my iMac is a bundled version which I believe I´m not able to install to the Powerbook (despite the legal issues, direct install from DVD won´t work as the installer recognizes it´s not an iMac. Installation of the iPhoto 08 package using Pacifist didn´t work either (iPhoto wouln´t even launch). Only thing I haven´t tried is hooking up the Powerbook in Target Mode and installing it via my iMac.)

Greets, Till

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Answer 9

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Apr 4, 2009 3:34 AM in response to SpeedyGonzales

No you need an Installer to install iPhoto 08 and later. There are a lot of shared Libraries and that are required in the later versions and dragging over from another Machine simply won’t work.

That reference in the Console is to a Core Image filter and that’s at OS Level. I’m beginning to wonder if iPhoto is the symptom of an Issue at OS level.

Here’s why: The issue occurs in multiple accounts - that points the finger at the Application and not the Library.

Usual solution: Re-install the Application

But this hasn’t worked and that points the finger towards the OS. This reference to the the Core Image libraries adds weight to the suspicion as these are at OS level.

Would you consider doing an Archive and Install of the OS.

Regards

TD

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Answer 10

Apr 4, 2009 3:51 AM in response to SpeedyGonzales

Well, re-installing the OS would be my next step after wasting hours onrepair (sorry, with this I don´t mean your efforts).
My last idea before this: We have a back-up of the whole system on a firewire-disk (via SuperDuper). That version of iPhoto had a rough working condition at least: We had probs with some links to originals (dotted line, questionmark) and exporting originals to Mail or onto the desktop – these issues could be related to the missing links, though – I don´t know).
If I understood you correctly the problem could be caused by the system. So, if I copy back all iPhoto-related files from backup (the one mentioned above) to startup-disk and it still won´t do the job – then it must be caused by some system-level issue, right?! I´m already seeing myself setting up my wife´s computer this weekend… :-o

Till

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Answer 11

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Apr 4, 2009 5:55 AM in response to SpeedyGonzales

Certainly restoring from the SuperDuper back up will work *if the damage occurred after the back up*. However, if the damage predates the damage, obviously it won’t help.

In relation to this:

We had probs with some links to originals (dotted line, questionmark) and exporting originals to Mail or onto the desktop – these issues could be related to the missing links, though – I don´t know).

That sounds like database corruption, and my first step would be to rebuild that DB using iPhoto Library Manager as detailed above. Of course, this os secondary to getting the basic editing feature working.

Regards

TD

Another thought: Is that SuperDuper a bootable backup? Can you boot from the back up to test it?

Regards

TD

Message was edited by: Terence Devlin

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Answer 12

Apr 4, 2009 6:38 AM in response to Yer_Man

Hi Terence,
I´ve finally decided to install the computer from scratch. Yes, the backup is bootable, but as my wife had worked on some documents since then, it would have been exceedingly difficult to tell which files had been changed after the backup was written. Thanks again for all your efforts and time, I´ve brewed a fresh coffee and started installation…

Greets, Till

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Answer 13

PacBlue

Level 1

29 points

Apr 26, 2009 4:28 PM in response to SpeedyGonzales

Speedy (or Till as the case may be), I'd be curious if this solved the problem. I have the exact same problem. If I create a new account and transfer the files to the new account and add them to iPhoto, I get the blank image when I try to edit. Even worse, it is blank when I run a slide show, too. Some photos come up blank, others don't. When I transfer files to the other account, the problem persists with the same photos (the ones that were blank before are also blank in the new account, those that worked before continue to work).

I'm wondering if there's a problem with the files. I tried all sorts of permission fixes (including the one you get when you run iPhoto with Option-Command). I just can't get iPhoto to display the photos full size. (They show up fine in thumbnail. Preview and Quickview can display the photos... including in slideshows with no problems. It's just iPhoto that has the problem with some of these photos. Very aggravating.

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Answer 14

PacBlue

Level 1

29 points

Apr 26, 2009 4:47 PM in response to PacBlue

Here's the console error I get when I try to display the affected pictures. (These messages do not come up when I view a picture that works.)

Apr 26 16:30:02 XXX iPhoto[856]: have info and image but no ciimage
Apr 26 16:30:02 XXX iPhoto[856]: have info and image but no ref

(I've blanked out the computer name.)

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Answer 15

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Apr 26, 2009 10:57 PM in response to PacBlue

PacBlue

The question is "what's different about these pics"? Examine them with Graphic Coverter and especially compare their metadata - Exif and IPTC, Colour Profle - with the ones that display correctly

Regards

TD

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