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Just migrated from on older iMac (Monterey) to a new M3 running Sonoma 14.4. After the Photos library has been opened and upgraded there seem to be a number of issues with Albums/Projects etc being partially scrambled. My main issue however is the I cannot edit and save images (unable to save - try later message). Any ideas what has happened or how to fix?
iMac 21.5″, macOS 12.7
As a test you may want to make a smart album (File > New Smart Album ⌥⌘N) with the rule "Photo is referenced". This will tell you, if Photos is considering the migrated Photos Library as a referenced library. In that case you need find out, where Aperture has been expecting the originals to be. There are two possible reasons for an Aperture Library being referenced:
Photos may not be able to find the originals, even if the library is not referenced. This can happen, if the library is stored on an encrypted volume, or a volume with an incompatible file system format, or is stored on a synced volume like iCloud Drive or in a Dropbox folder. The syncing can break the internal links. Another possible reason can be the damage done by cleaning applications to remove duplicates. Some cleaning apps are removing the originals as unnecessary duplicates and are replacing them by links to the edited versions, but sometimes incorrectly. If the library has become damaged in this way, try to find a backup copy.
In the Sonoma version of the Photos Library you should be finding the originals in the subfolder "originals" if they are still there, when you of the library package by ctrl-clicing it and use the command "Show package content".
The previews of the edited versions are stored in the subfolder "resources > renders" or "resources > derivatives".
But be careful not to modify anything, when you browse the package content.
Apologies for vagueness of info.
It have additional info below all of which seems to suggest that the problem library has been wrongly migrated at some point in the past and lost the original files - even though the thumbnails are still loaded:
I have 2 Photo libraries that have been migrated from Monterey to Sonoma. The oldest one (I'll call it L1) dates back to 2014-ish on a mid-2011 iMac and was originally a Aperture3 library that was migrated to Photos. This is the one I have problems with in Sonoma.(more on this coming) The second library (L2) also dates back to around 2017 but was created in Photos.
L2 seems to be working fine on the new platform (Sonoma 14.4.1 (23E224 & Photos Version 9.0 (646.2.101))
All functionality looks good including editing/ saving.
L1 behaviours differently as follows:
I have an old external drive that I will search through or connect to see if originals are present!
Meanwhile, if that is fruitless, is there a way I can 'rescue' the thumbnails or save/export them somehow in a usable (editable?) format?
Many thanks
Can you tell us more about exactly what is not working? Can you view thumbnails? Can you hit space bar and view the full screen preview? What happens when you choose Edit? Are the adjustments available? What do you mean by "save images?" Do you mean you can edit but it doesn't take? or do you mean you can't Export?
Do you use iCloud to sync Photos on your devices? If so, does your Library look OK at iCloud.com?
Unable to save Photos edits on new iMac
