Using iCloud Photos from a user on an external drive

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Level 1

22 points

Using iCloud Photos from a user on an external drive

A while back I moved the user that contains my large family photo and video collection onto an external drive. I was not using iCloud Photos at that point.

Now I would like to start using iCloud Photos, but I'm unable to do so because the user is on an external drive. Moving the user back to my internal SSD is proving difficult because my SSD is only 1 GB and I don't have room.

Any suggestions on how to solve this? Thanks! I'm on a 2019 iMac 27 inch.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Aug 15, 2020 12:57 PM

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Answer 1

markwmsn

Level 6

16,715 points

Aug 18, 2020 3:24 PM in response to Pentictonish

Has that external been used as a destination for Time Machine backups? There is a known conflict between T.M. volumes and Photos libraries. The absence of the "Ignore ownership" box is suggestive of T.M. use on the drive at one time.

You may need to move the library to another drive that has not been used for Time Machine backup storage. After that, just opening the library (as by closing Photos and double-clicking on the library or dragging the library onto the Photos app icon) should set that library as the one to open by default.

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Answer 2

markwmsn

Level 6

16,715 points

Aug 19, 2020 5:23 PM in response to Pentictonish

Once you have the library on an appropriately formatted non-TM volume, you should be able to designate it the System Photo Library for that user, which would enable it to be linked to iCloud Photos for that user.

The system I'm using to type this is an old iMac. Its Photos library outgrew the internal drive, so I moved my Photos library to an external drive, where it happily syncs with iCloud Photos. (This is different from your situation, in that I don't have the whole user directory there, just that library and a few other large ones.)

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Answer 3

markwmsn

Level 6

16,715 points

Aug 16, 2020 9:28 PM in response to Pentictonish

You say you "moved the user" with your photo and video collection to an external drive. More information would be helpful:

In what form was this collection before the move? Was it an old iPhoto library, a Photos library of some vintage, or a set of folders and separate files for each photo and video?

In what form did you "move the user"? Did you copy the entire home directory? Did you archive the whole home directory? Did you only copy parts of it?

How is the external drive formatted? (HFS+, APFS, ExFAT, something else?)

Is file ownership enabled or disabled on the external drive?

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Answer 4

Pentictonish Author

Level 1

22 points

Aug 17, 2020 6:25 AM in response to markwmsn

Hi, and thanks for your reply.

The collection was a Photos library. Not an old one, as far as I know. I am running Catalina so I assume it's all up to date. There were other items in the Pictures folder, too, including an old iPhoto library, but my main concern is the current Photos library (which contains everything that was in the old iPhoto library plus newer content).

To move the user, I transferred the whole home directory to the external drive using the technique set out here:

https://www.idownloadblog.com/2017/01/25/how-to-move-mac-user-folder-to-another-drive/ The user was moved entirely, kept intact. I then used "Advanced Options" in Users and Groups to point to the external drive for the home directory. Exactly as shown in the link.

The external drive is formatted as Mac OS Extended (case-sensitive, journaled). I don't know the answer to your question about file ownership. When I use Get Info it doesn't show me the check box for "Ignore ownership on this volume". Under Sharing & Permissions it says "You can only read" and has Read & Write permissions for System and Wheel. Not sure if that is helpful information to you...

Thanks again for replying!

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Answer 5

Pentictonish Author

Level 1

22 points

Aug 19, 2020 4:27 AM in response to markwmsn

Yes, it contains the moved user and my TM backups. I can move the user to a different drive that has not been used for TM.

But I'm unclear on how this will address my ultimate problem. My goal is to start using iCloud Photos for the photos in the moved user. Photos/iCloud isn't letting me do so right now, and I think that's because the moved user is not on my internal SSD. So I've been trying to move the moved user back to my SSD, but I can't because I don't have enough space there. Are you saying that if I make the changes you're suggesting, I'll be able to use iCloud Photos without moving the user back to my internal SSD?

(By the way, I have tried slimming the moved user down by copying back only parts of it to the SSD--leaving out, for instance, my Music folder and an old iPhoto Library. But the copying process fails after two hours or so.)

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Answer 6

Pentictonish Author

Level 1

22 points

Aug 25, 2020 6:08 AM in response to markwmsn

I moved the user to a newly formatted 2TB external drive. I formatted it first to make sure there was no Time Machine conflict. I then pointed the account to the new drive and opened the user. After a bit of initial difficulty (black screen with only a cursor), I rebooted and was able to get into the moved user. I then launched Photos and designated the Photo Library. After that I went into System Preferences and tried to enable Photos in iCloud.

That's where I hit a snag. It said "Checking Library". I left it for about 45 minutes and when I came back it was still Checking Library.

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Answer 7

markwmsn

Level 6

16,715 points

Aug 26, 2020 2:30 PM in response to Pentictonish

I'm running out of suggestions, but I have a few more questions that might be relevant.

Is the new external drive a spinning platter drive or solid state? (I've noticed Photos 5 can give the drive a real workout.)

If it is a spinning platter drive, what speed does it claim?

How is the external drive attached? (Thunderbolt, USB3? USB2?)

Is the new external drive also formatted as case-sensitive? (That's not part of the suggested format.)

How large is the library in question? (item count and package size)

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Answer 8

Pentictonish Author

Level 1

22 points

Sep 3, 2020 5:19 AM in response to markwmsn

The new external drive is SSD. It's attached by USB2 I think. All my drives are Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled). I don't know how to determine the item count and package size of the library. It's my photos and videos since about 2000, including photos/videos of my children, plus a bunch of CDs I ripped when that was a thing. So it's big but not indy filmmaker big.

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