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User profile for user: Striderchen
Striderchen Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Photos Library opens upon restart but frequenty cant open or be repaired after awhile

As title,

Sometimes, after I browse a few websites and play some videos and music, my photos library will no longer be able to open nor can it be repaired. But typically after a restart the photos library can be opened again.


I think around 500 of the photos in my photos library cannot be displayed, perhaps the file is damaged, and I highly suspect that is the issue.


What might be my options here? I would really like some way to purge the photos that can no longer be displayed (it's just an empty white box when i try to view) as I suspect that might be the problem; yet of course i dont want the act of purging to have any chance of ruining my photos library forever.


Or perhaps it's nothing to do w/ the damaged photos, is there a way to find out maybe some kind of malware (though i definitely dont notice any other symptoms)... i really dont download and install much, VLC, steam, evernote, line.

Posted on Jun 22, 2021 8:52 AM

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User profile for user: Old Toad
Old Toad
User level: Level 10
207,577 points

Posted on Jun 22, 2021 11:14 AM

Try the following:


1 - as a test launch Photos with the Option key held down and create a new, test library.  Import some photos and test to see if the same problem persists. Does it? This tells us if the problem is limited to your current library or is more wide spread.


Then reopen your original library and see if there's any change in performance.


2 - log into a basic admin user account, Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac,  repeat #1 and see if the problem persists. This tells us if the problem is limited to your user account or is system wide.


If the problem persists in #1 and #2 the continue to #3,


3 - boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support and test your original library to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.


NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to nearly twice as long as a normal boot as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files



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User profile for user: Old Toad
Old Toad
User level: Level 10
207,577 points

Jun 22, 2021 11:14 AM in response to Striderchen

Try the following:


1 - as a test launch Photos with the Option key held down and create a new, test library.  Import some photos and test to see if the same problem persists. Does it? This tells us if the problem is limited to your current library or is more wide spread.


Then reopen your original library and see if there's any change in performance.


2 - log into a basic admin user account, Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac,  repeat #1 and see if the problem persists. This tells us if the problem is limited to your user account or is system wide.


If the problem persists in #1 and #2 the continue to #3,


3 - boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support and test your original library to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.


NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to nearly twice as long as a normal boot as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files



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User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
194,923 points

Jun 22, 2021 9:10 AM in response to Striderchen

Can you tell us some details about your Photos Library and how you are using Photos?

  • Which system version is running on your Mac?
  • Where is the Photos Library stored? On your system volume or on an external drive? If the library is on an external drive, what is the file system format and how is the drive connected to the Mac?
  • Are you using iCloud Photos?
  • What is the format of the image files or videos, that are showing white thumbnails? JPEGs, RAW Files, HEIC files?
  • How much free storage is on your system volume?
  • Did you ever run any cleaning software to remove duplicates from your library?


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User profile for user: Striderchen
Striderchen Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Jun 22, 2021 9:48 AM in response to léonie

Here are the details:

my mac mini is running big sur 11.0.1

Photos Library are stored on an external drive connected via usb-c, the file format is APFS

I dont believe im using icloud photos, at least when i open Photos on my cellphone it still asks me if i want to enable icloud for photos and i click no.

Just to be clear the photo doesnt show as a thumbnails nor a picture

100GB

Nope

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Photos Library opens upon restart but frequenty cant open or be repaired after awhile

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