"Photos cannot load adjustments for this image" error since upgrading to Catalina

Steps to reproduce:

* Migrate large photos library from Photos Mojave to Photos Catalina (in my case 120,000+ photos migrated using migration tool and time machine backup).

* A subset of photos (in my case 10,000+ photos from 2016/2017) cannot be edited: when you click on the edit button you get "Cannot start editing: Photos cannot load adjustments for this image"

* Hypothesis: it is likely that the affected photos where previously edited with Aperture and/or earlier versions of iPhoto.

* This the exact same problem as reported in "https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251602029 (That thread was closed due to lack of activity and cannot be re-opened)

* I have already tried all of the following: repair library, boot in safe mode. Nothing helped.

* The same subset of photos can also not be exported anymore; see https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251602029

* Already spent several hours on the phone with Apple tech support but to no avail (case is open).

MacBook, macOS 10.14

Posted on Aug 10, 2020 8:24 AM

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25 replies

Oct 3, 2020 9:18 AM in response to Old Toad

@OldToad I only have a laptop [MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020)]. I don't have a desktop.

Oct 3, 2020 9:20 AM in response to threeleggeddog

PS: I upgraded to 10.15.7 and it did not fix the problem.

Oct 3, 2020 9:22 AM in response to threeleggeddog

PS: I upgraded to 10.15.7 and it did not fix the problem.

Old Toad

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Oct 3, 2020 9:38 AM in response to threeleggeddog

What I'm asking is did you notice in your searching thru other topics if there were more users with laptops than desktops or vice versa?

Oct 3, 2020 9:41 AM in response to Old Toad

@OldToad Ah, sorry, I misunderstood. No, I did not notice one over the other.

Old Toad

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Oct 3, 2020 9:42 AM in response to threeleggeddog

Well that shoots down another brilliant theory. 😔

Sep 8, 2020 11:26 PM in response to léonie

RE> Is your Photos Library on a case-sensitive volume?

It is on an APFS volume (see below), which I believe is not case-sensitive. So, probably the com.apple.photos vs com.apple.Photos observation is a red herring.

$ diskutil info /

Device Identifier: disk1s1

Device Node: /dev/disk1s1

Whole: No

Part of Whole: disk1

Volume Name: Macintosh HD

Mounted: Yes

Mount Point: /

Partition Type: 41504653-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

File System Personality: APFS

Type (Bundle): apfs

Name (User Visible): APFS

Owners: Enabled

OS Can Be Installed: No

Booter Disk: disk1s3

Recovery Disk: disk1s4

Media Type: Generic

Protocol: PCI-Express

SMART Status: Verified

Volume UUID: 0795397A-1843-4197-8A78-D7C517BEAEC3

Disk / Partition UUID: 0795397A-1843-4197-8A78-D7C517BEAEC3

Disk Size: 2.0 TB (2000796545024 Bytes) (exactly 3907805752 512-Byte-Units)

Device Block Size: 4096 Bytes

Container Total Space: 2.0 TB (2000796545024 Bytes) (exactly 3907805752 512-Byte-Units)

Container Free Space: 619.7 GB (619731922944 Bytes) (exactly 1210413912 512-Byte-Units)

Allocation Block Size: 4096 Bytes

Read-Only Media: No

Read-Only Volume: Yes

Device Location: Internal

Removable Media: Fixed

Solid State: Yes

Hardware AES Support: Yes

This disk is an APFS Volume. APFS Information:

APFS Container: disk1

APFS Physical Store: disk0s2

Fusion Drive: No

APFS Volume Group: FD56893B-AC96-4F29-96E9-9F91FC3774A2

FileVault: Yes

Locked: No

Oct 3, 2020 3:32 AM in response to léonie

Update from Apple Technical Support on 29-Sep-2020 (Translated from Dutch):

So far we haven't received any new updates on our side, so I can only ask you to wait and see. If you have already updated to MacOS 10.15.7, and this turned out not to be the solution to the problem, an upcoming update will hopefully resolve the problem. I therefore request that you make updates as soon as they become available.

If another solution to the problem is offered (or possibly a workaround), other than a software update, we will contact you to go through the offered solution. So unfortunately I can't do more than ask you to wait and see.

léonie

Level 10

200,519 points

Oct 3, 2020 7:53 AM in response to threeleggeddog

That you for posting the bad news.

I am having several photos with similar symptoms in my library.

If the symptom is only " Cannot Start Editing, Photos cannot load adjustments for this image.", I can fix this by reverting the photo to the original. This effects only photos, that have been migrated to Photos from Aperture or iPhoto with adjustments applied. The older adjustments have to be discarded, before we can add new adjustments, because Photos cannot replicate the Aperture or iPhoto edits. This is normal and has been announced by Apple in the support documents for the migration.

What is new, that I am getting the same problem with photos, that have been adjusted on my iPhone X Pro Max with iOS 10.14. I have to revert them also to the original, before Photos for Mac can add adjustments.

Duplicate photo:

Error = Failed to download assets for duplication

This problem is new in catalina. I am having it for all photos that are differently edited versions of the same original. When I add adjustments a photo, I like to preserve the previous adjustments by duplicating the photo. This used to work well, but is now a disaster. In my iCloud Photos Library. the second, duplicate version is having all the symptoms you are describing. The only thing I can do with it, is deleting it and revert the first version to the original.

Oct 3, 2020 9:28 AM in response to léonie

@Leonie

RE> This effects only photos, that have been migrated to Photos from Aperture or iPhoto with adjustments applied.

This is consistent with what I am seeing. (I have thousands of these)

RE> The only thing I can do with it, is deleting it and revert the first version to the original.

I tried "revert to original". I a also tried copying the photo and deleting the original. I tried all combinations of the previous. None of it helps. I continue to have the same problems: (a) edit photo => cannot start editing, photos cannot load adjustments for this photo (b) export photo => unknown error (4)

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"Photos cannot load adjustments for this image" error since upgrading to Catalina