Updating Library (5% complete)

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Updating Library (5% complete)

I have just upgraded from El Captain to High Sierra on my late 2013 MacBook Pro. My photo library is 225 Gb and stored on an external 1Tb Seagate drive. Never had a problem with it.

I launched Photos about three hours ago and the App appears to be stuck on the library update page. I can use the demo but nothing else.

I use iCloud for sharing only with 274 photos and 51 videos in the cloud, so not that much. I have 130 Gb available in iCloud.

In Finder, the Photos Library on the external drive shows as being updated 26 minutes ago. The file size has changed slightly from a back-up I took before commencing. 224.7 to 225.2

Is this normal for updating the OS?
Will it work?
How many hours/days will I need to wait? I have power settings set to not close the Mac down when on the charger.
Does it matter if the screen saver starts?
Does it make it easier if I free disk space on the MacBook. Currently I have free space of 146.41 GB (83.88 GB purgeable) out of 500.07 Gb.

Any other advice at this stage?

Thanks

Paul

MacBook Air 13″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Oct 7, 2021 8:53 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

kiwiappleman Author

Level 1

15 points

Oct 8, 2021 7:00 PM in response to kiwiappleman

Problem solved. I forced the Photos App closed and reopened it. The Updating Library task relaunched and took about 30 minutes. The album is now opening just fine and I am looking forward to using the new tools.

Thanks for participating in the Community.

Paul

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Answer 2

Oct 7, 2021 11:29 PM in response to kiwiappleman

Hi

Let me guess that the format of the external volume is not APFS or MacOS extended (journaled).

If that is correct, the library will need to be moved to a drive that is correctly formatted as one of the two mentioned above), and directly connected (USB or Thunderbolt - no wifi or ethernet).

See

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

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Answer 3

kiwiappleman Author

Level 1

15 points

Oct 8, 2021 4:35 PM in response to TonyCollinet

It is very hard to imagine a process for a modern system to run for 24 hours. This update has been left for about 20 hours and has not moved beyond 5%. The Activity monitor shows the App is not using CPU so I have to assume it has failed and I should force quit and see what happens next.

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Answer 4

kiwiappleman Author

Level 1

15 points

Oct 8, 2021 4:36 PM in response to TonyCollinet

It is very hard to imagine a process for a modern system to run for 24 hours. This update has been left for about 20 hours and has not moved beyond 5%. The Activity monitor shows the App is not using CPU so I have to assume it has failed and I should force quit and see what happens next.

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Answer 5

kiwiappleman Author

Level 1

15 points

Oct 7, 2021 11:56 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Hi Tony,

Thanks for responding.

USB External Physical Volume • Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

Connected by USB.

Now what?

Thanks again

Paul

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Answer 6

Oct 8, 2021 3:01 AM in response to kiwiappleman

OK - then it might just need time.

I've heard of 24 hours or more for update of a large library.

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Updating Library (5% complete)

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