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User profile for user: butterteam
butterteam Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Photos on external drive - Photos cannot play this video because the resource is unavailable

I moved my Photos library to a G-RAID external drive several months ago, and everything works well because the laptop is usually connected to the drive and a desktop monitor. The issue is when I need to disconnect and take the laptop elsewhere. (I don't open Photos when it's not connected to the external.)


The problem is when I plug back in, the drive shows up and I can open + see my photos, but I get the "Photos cannot play this video because the resource is unavailable" error.


I know in other forum questions people asked what types of video files, it's every video file, any and all formats. This only happens when I disconnect the external drive (the correct way, shutting down Photos, ejecting drive, mounting drive before opening Photos).


If I repair the entire library, things work again, but that takes hours and hours. I need to be able to use my laptop without it always being connected to the external and without always needing to repair the library just because it was unplugged for a few hours.


How do I avoid this?


Current: Catalina 10.15.6

Macbook Pro 2019


MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 26, 2020 12:51 PM

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User profile for user: TonyCollinet
TonyCollinet
User level: Level 7
23,960 points

Posted on Nov 26, 2020 1:15 PM

Is the external drive correctly set up for using with a photos library?


It must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled), and not be (or have been) used for time machine. It must have the 'ignore ownership" checkbox ticked. It should not be on a memory stick, SD or similar. It stands to reason that if you want any sort of reasonable performance it should be a fast drive with a fast connection.


See

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201517

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User profile for user: TonyCollinet
TonyCollinet
User level: Level 7
23,960 points

Nov 26, 2020 1:15 PM in response to butterteam

Is the external drive correctly set up for using with a photos library?


It must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled), and not be (or have been) used for time machine. It must have the 'ignore ownership" checkbox ticked. It should not be on a memory stick, SD or similar. It stands to reason that if you want any sort of reasonable performance it should be a fast drive with a fast connection.


See

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201517

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User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
197,505 points

Nov 26, 2020 1:18 PM in response to butterteam

It will be safer to log out off your user account before dismounting the volume with your Photos Library. Even if you are not working with Photos, the background processes will need access to your system photo library whenever you are signed into your user account.


What is the file system format of your external volume? If the file system format is incompatible, Photos may not be able to reconnect to the volume, once you plug it in again. Could it be, that the format of your external volume is case-sensitive? This could cause the problem with views not playing.



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Photos on external drive - Photos cannot play this video because the resource is unavailable

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