The library “Photos Library.photoslibrary” is from a newer version of Photos. Please upgrade Photos to open this library.

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The library “Photos Library.photoslibrary” is from a newer version of Photos. Please upgrade Photos to open this library.

Photos are on external hard drive that was connected to machine that upgraded to Big Sur. That computer won't recognize the photos on the drive. Tried to attach external drive to another computer running Catalina 10.15.7 and I get the above message, I am pretty sure the photos are still on the drive i just cant get to them, help!!

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 28, 2020 6:44 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 29, 2020 12:44 AM in response to stephenfromoak harbor

OK - that is not good. Next things I would try would be

1 - Create a second user account (settings>users) and see if you can open the library when logged onto that account.

2 - If not, try starting the mac in safe mode and then trying. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=start+mac+in+safe+mode

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Answer 2

Nov 28, 2020 1:20 PM in response to stephenfromoak harbor

So what happens when you try to open photos in Big Sur. Do you open this library? Do you get an error message?

If so, What is the error message. As much information as possible will help. Screenshots, even better.

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

200,531 points

Nov 29, 2020 2:59 PM in response to stephenfromoak harbor

Have you tried to open the Photos Library on your external volume by double-clicking the library on the external volume in the Finder? Can you see the library in the Finder, when you sign into your new user account?

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Answer 4

Nov 28, 2020 4:20 PM in response to TonyCollinet

When I open photos on Big Sur, the libraries that are on the hard drive on the computer open up just fine. But when I Click on the external San Disk SSD I don't get anything.

When I tried yesterday I got the message "repairing the library". it repaired 7% and then automatically shut down the computer and restarted. This happened several times.

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Answer 5

Nov 29, 2020 9:48 AM in response to TonyCollinet

I am setting up a second account and it appears to be downloading the photos which may take a while.. So this is step one you suggested when I see that this works I will follow the steps in the next post. I really appreciate your help I will probably have questions if this first step works. I will be back in touch with the photo download is complete

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Answer 6

Nov 29, 2020 1:07 PM in response to TonyCollinet

When I set up a new user and attached the external

drive the photos downloaded and run just fine when I am logged in to the new account. Photos still crashes on the original account. I would like to make this the system photo library and download any new originals to my thunderbolt SSD drive. would this cause problems? As far as I know the originals are already on this drive. if I use this account is there a way to merge the mail, documents, etc from the original account or do I need to keep two accounts. I really appreciate your help Tony.

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Answer 7

Nov 28, 2020 12:50 PM in response to TonyCollinet

b

it looks like my drive is formatted correctly. I would like to run it on this computer with Big Sur. I am on a MacBook Pro 2019, what should I do now?

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Answer 8

Nov 28, 2020 7:47 AM in response to stephenfromoak harbor

So when you accessed the library from Big Sur - it upgraded the format. That format is no longer compatible with Catalina - so you won't be able to open the library with Catalina.

First - do you have a backup? Recovering a catalina compatible backup of the library might be the fastest way of getting running again.

If not, then you are going to have to fix things so you can open it in Big Sur. We'll start with chekcing if the external drive is correctly set up:

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

You can check most of this by clicking on the drive, and opening the info panel (CMD-I). Mine looks like this.

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Answer 9

léonie

Level 10

200,531 points

Nov 29, 2020 1:08 AM in response to stephenfromoak harbor

What does the Finder Info show on your Big Sur Mac, when you select the Photos Library volume in theFinder and enter ⌘I ?

What does Disk Utility show on your Big Sur Mac for the external volume?

What kind of volume drive is it? Is there any backup software installed Has it ver been used with Time Machine? Does the volume have a wired connection (USB or Thunderbolt)?

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Answer 10

Nov 29, 2020 1:10 PM in response to léonie

The drive was new with 6 months ago and has never been used for anything but photos. The finder and the disk utility show the drive but when I go to open photos it crashes. when I set up a new user account as suggested by another expert, it works.Now I just need to get them to work together.

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The library “Photos Library.photoslibrary” is from a newer version of Photos. Please upgrade Photos to open this library.

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