Restoring photos using time machine

trythisalias wrote:

Hi, and welcome to the forums.

I am having trouble restoring photos using time machine. I have an external hard drive, where my iphoto library resides, attached to a macmini . The external drive is formated as Mac OS Extended. Time Machine is running on the macmini and backing up to a time capsule wirelessly.

I have entered time machine and found the past libraries where the photos are. When I tried to access the file I receive a permissions error.

That's correct, Time Machine uses special "deny everybody everything" permissions on the backups; so us mere mortals won't fool around via the Finder and corrupt them.

I then tried entering time machine while iphoto is open. Time machine opens with iphoto as the screen. When I try to go back in time using either the arrow or time bar nothing happens.

Do you mean the backups don't appear (either in the "cascade" of iPhoto windows, or in the Time Line)? You should be able to navigate to the backup you want, then select +Restore All,+ or select one or more photos, then click Restore to restore only the ones selected.

I know the libraries are there by entering time machine with finder open. Is time machine able to restore single photos or just entire libraries?

You should be able to do either.

Try doing a +*Repair Disk+* on your backups, per #A5 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

Also be sure you're signed-on as the user who "owns" the backups. If you have multiple iPhoto libraries, be sure you're looking at the right one.

trythisalias wrote:
Thank you for the response.

I don't think I was completely clear. It appears I can restore any file from any time machine backup except the iphoto library. After reviewing several of the posts within the forum, I entered time machine while iphoto was the active screen. The cascade only has the present iphoto screen and no backups.

Are you doing this while the external drive with your photos is connected? And signed-on as the user who "owns" the iPhoto library?

If so, and all you see is the +Today (Now)+ display, try starting from iPhoto, but right-clicking the TM icon in your Dock and selecting the +*Browse . . .+* option. That should show a single "sparse bundle" on your Time Capsule; when you select it, you should see the "Star Wars" screen.

This is different than when I enter time machine with any other application active. With those I can go back in time and see all the changes.

There are only three with special handling: iPhoto, Address Book, and Mail. All other apps use the Finder.

And your iPhoto library is a different animal. It's a special kind of folder called a "package." That's why you can't see the contents or restore individual photos via the Finder version of Time Machine; that can only be done via the special handling when you start with iPhoto.

The interesting thing is, if I have the external hard drive actively open and enter time machine I can go back in time and "see" the iphoto library backup.

The other thing I did not mention, is I manually backup weekly with time machine and do not leave it turned on.

Why not? You're defeating much of the advantage of Time Machine. In fact, if you're only going to back up weekly, you may be better off with a different backup app.

Before I try repairing the time capsule as described in #A5, is there something simple I am missing with iphoto or how I am backing up?

Try the Browse option, with the external attached, and signed-on as the correct user, as above.

trythisalias wrote:
I have never setup different logins, so I am assuming that I am logged in as the appropriate owner.

I tried the Browse different ... and got the same result. When the star wars screen came up, the external hard drive was accessed and all the present photos were loaded. The title bars on the cascade screens behind the present are all blank. When I go to the timeline bar on the right, all the backup dates are there, but don't do anything when clicked.

Are you doing this while the external HD is connected? It's not necessary if you go in via the Finder, but it may when using the special handling of iPhoto (I don't have my photos on a separate drive, so it's hard to be sure).

You might also want to try the things in #E4 of the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum. I don't think any of them would cause this particular problem, but it's worth ruling them out.

When I started using time machine, I did not have the external drive. Is it possible that this could be causing an issue even though I can see the iphoto library in time machine when opened through finder.

It shouldn't, but you never know. Is there a separate iPhoto library on your internal HD? If so, and it's empty, I'd be inclined to delete it and try again. If there's one there, with photos, TM should back them up, but I don't know what the TM display will do with it.

I am not too attached to any photos I am trying to recover, so if I can not get them I am fine with that, but I am concerned about future losses. Is there a way to reset time machine and still keep the old backups, or must I start over from scratch?

Let's see if we can fix it. With iPhoto closed, run a backup (choose +Back Up Now+ from the TM icon in your menubar or right-click the TM icon in your Dock).

Click here to download the +Time Machine Buddy+ widget. It shows the messages from your logs for one TM backup run at a time, in a small window. There may be a message there about doing a "deep traversal" on your iPhoto library, and a reference to a "missed reservation." That means that TM "caught up" on the backups.

Also, Click here to download the TimeTracker app. It shows most of the files saved by TM for each backup (excluding some hidden/system files, etc.). That should let you figure out just what got backed-up on each run (except the very first).

trythisalias wrote:

. . .

Could there be an issue with the name of the folder?

No, there shouldn't be.

Regardless, the current setup seems to be working. Thanks for the help.

Yay! 🙂

One last question. I turned time machine off when itunes started skipping when I played it wirelessly to other speakers. I thought it may be the traffic from backing up wirelessly, so I turned it off. Since looking around the forums, it appears to be a software issue. So the question is does time machine slow down the wireless communications (itunes, internet, etc...) when backing up wirelessly, or is it programmed to only transmit if bandwidth is available?

As far as I know, your TM backups and other WIFI traffic should compete on an equal footing. But I'm not all that familiar with the "works" of WIFI on a Mac, so I can't swear to it.

You might want to try all the things in #D2 of the Time Machine - Troubleshooting Tip to minimize the effect of your backups.