iPhoto won't remember location of library (NAS drive)

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Level 1

13 points

iPhoto won't remember location of library (NAS drive)

Hi,
I've just finished a major renovation of all my digital media content, including a 65GB photo library and a 114GB music library. After moving all this content to a NAS drive, which is accessed by up to 4 computers, I have discovered a few issues in the way iPhoto, iTunes, and various other native apps are working.
1. iPhoto will not remember the location of the Library. Every time I open iPhoto, it prompts me to either select the default library (local) or choose another. I was told by someone more experienced than I that iPhoto should memorize that external drive location after you open it the first time (in other words, that it should default to the new library location unless you 'option+click iPhoto')
2. iTunes will not remember the location of the music library unless the external drive mounts before iTunes is launched, even though the external drive is included in the startup group.
3. When browsing via Finder, for example, to upload a file to a website, I am unable to access the iPhoto images that would normally be filtered using the 'All Photos' option in the left margin.
4. When attempting to attach a photo to a mail message, the iPhoto library does not populate the photo browser.

There are a few other examples of how this is causing trouble, but they are all related (I believe) to the library not being located locally. Any suggestions for getting the various apps to remember the location of the libraries?

Thanks much!

iMac, 15" MBP OS X(10.6), Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Sep 13, 2010 11:10 AM

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Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,396 points

Sep 13, 2010 11:30 AM in response to nf207

All of your queries are directly traceable to the Library being on a NAS. The will persist as long as you have the Library there.

iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, saving edits and sharing the photos. Bluntly, most NAS devices are not appropriate for an iPhoto Library.

Secondly, a NAS is not an External Drive. It's a headless computer with it's own operating system. So, your library is on another computer.

Having these libraries on the NAS pretty much explains all the behaviour you're seeing.

IFor instance: the iPhoto Library is on another computer. The All Images search refers exclusively to your Mac not to other computers. And, because of the way iPhoto writes XML (needed for sharing) the NAS saves a corrupted version of the sharing files. Hence Mail can't see the Library and so on.

BTW: Never, ever access photos in an iPhoto Library via the All Images search. It's a very good way to damage your Library.

There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:

*For Users of 10.5 and later*

You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Command-Click for selecting multiple pics.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

(Note the above illustration is not a Finder Window. It's the dialogue you get when you go File -> Open)

You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

*For users of 10.4 and later* ...

Many internet sites such as Flickr and SmugMug have plug-ins for accessing the iPhoto Library. If the site you want to use doesn’t then some, one or any of these will also work:

To upload to a site that does not have an iPhoto Export Plug-in the recommended way is to Select the Pic in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export and export the pic to the desktop, then upload from there. After the upload you can trash the pic on the desktop. It's only a copy and your original is safe in iPhoto.

This is also true for emailing with Web-based services. However, if you're using Gmail you can use iPhoto2GMail

If you use Apple's Mail, Entourage, AOL or Eudora you can email from within iPhoto.

If you use a Cocoa-based Browser such as Safari, you can drag the pics from the iPhoto Window to the Attach window in the browser.

*If you want to access the files with iPhoto not running*:

For users of 10.6 and later:
You can download a free Services component from MacOSXAutomation which will give you access to the iPhoto Library from your Services Menu. Using the Services Preference Pane you can even create a keyboard shortcut for it.

For Users of 10.4 and later:
Create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser

Other options include:

1. *Drag and Drop*: Drag a photo from the iPhoto Window to the desktop, there iPhoto will make a full-sized copy of the pic.

2. *File -> Export*: Select the files in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export. The dialogue will give you various options, including altering the format, naming the files and changing the size. Again, producing a copy.

3. *Show File*: Right- (or Control-) Click on a pic and in the resulting dialogue choose 'Show File'. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.

Regards

TD

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Answer 2

nf207 Author

Level 1

13 points

Sep 13, 2010 11:42 AM in response to Yer_Man

Thanks Terence, that was all very helpful. I know there were other posts that addressed some similar issues but I didn't think any of them were directly applicable to my situation. The only part of your answer that I'm struggling with is the 'open/attach/browse' dialog (which I referred to in my post incorrectly as a 'finder' window - thanks for the clarification). Here you say that you can access your iPhoto library via the 'Media' heading - Photos. Mine photos do not appear here since I moved the library off the local drive.

I did anticipate issues, but the end goal of having my photos accessible by multiple (cross-platform) machines in addition to my PS3 for viewing on my HDTV seemed more important at the time I made my decision. I love the way all of the iLife applications and other native apps integrate with the media files in OSX, and I am disappointed with the fact that these features are now defunct. To the point that I may consider moving my library back to a local machine and living without them elsewhere. Do other folks have this challenge and how have you solved?

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,396 points

Sep 13, 2010 12:02 PM in response to nf207

Here you say that you can access your iPhoto library via the 'Media' heading - Photos. Mine photos do not appear here since I moved the library off the local drive.

The problem isn't that they've moved off the local drive, the problem is they're on another computer. You can easily put the Library on a USB or FireWire drive as long as it's formatted appropriately.

the end goal of having my photos accessible by multiple (cross-platform) machines in addition to my PS3 for viewing on my HDTV...

Here's the real catch: iPhoto has no cross platform ability whatever. Your Albums and so on would not be available on these devices. All you could is access the files, and then you have to choose between the edited and originals...

Then theres the problem that if you make a change from any of these other devices you might damage the Library.

Do other folks have this challenge and how have you solved?

Yes it does turn up from time to time. One workaround is to put the library on a DMG that's formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and store that on the NAS, but I'm not sure the other devices can access the dmg and the issues of not reading the Library and so on persist.

Regards

TD

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