iPhoto '11 stuck in loop trying to upgrade.

tHe sR5 wrote:
I think I solved this issue, I went to my iPhoto_Library file, right clicked "Show Package Contents" Deleted "InterruptedUpdate, ThemeCache, ProjectDBVersion.plist, Projects.db, Projects.db-journal" Restarted iPhoto did the upgrade, Closed and reopened and BAM! works like a charm... Hope this works for everyone else! Small note i was in Safe Mode when i did this.

Thank you sir, worked perfectly for me.

I had a 160GB iPhoto database file until iPhoto 11 decided to delete the entire db. I have a TimeMachine backup from Sept 9, 2010 and have had 3 events after that date. I have downloaded the Stellar Phoenix for Macintosh and have let it run for 3 days. Finally after looking at what it found, almost none of my pictures showed up. I basically stopped using the computer so that it would not rewrite over the deleted files. Which type of recovery did you try to do? Any suggestions for me?

I solved this problem in the following way:

1_ restore iphoto 2009 from TM
2_ restore iphoto library
3_ fix/regenerate the library by opening iphoto keeping command+alt pressed (keyboard)
4_ delete all the "unsupported" cards/books
4_ put back iphoto 2011
5_ convert the library

enjoy...

In my case it was clearly the old cards causing the culprit.
Thanks for the data and informations i found in this post.

Salut! 🙂

My 3 days of not getting past the upgrade has come to an end.
First, I did the following under normal boot, not Safe Mode:
I restored my iPhoto Library from a Time Machine Back Up to the external hard drive.
I then launched an old copy of the iPhoto 09 Application holding down the option key to point iPhoto 09 to the restored library. Once I saw that it opened and all my pictures were there, I quit iPhoto 09 and then re-launched it holding down Apple and Option and choose to repair permissions. Once the repair was complete and iPhoto 09 opened I deleted the pictures in the trash (not sure if that mattered) and then quit iPhoto 09.
Next I launched iPhoto 11 holding down Option, choose the restored library that was still on the external drive and iPhoto 11 asked to Upgrade which took about 15 minutes on 25,000 pictures.
I have quit and relaunched a few times and have never been asked to re-upgrade as some are experiencing. iPhoto 11 seems to be very snappy and is working quite well.

I hope this can help others.

So did you delete iPhoto 11 before you did all of the above and the "new" iphoto library? Thanks

++So did you delete iPhoto 11 before you did all of the above and the "new" iphoto library? Thanks++

No, I left iPhoto 11 alone.
I haven't update iLife on all of my Machines so I simply used a copy of the Application (iPhoto 09) that was on another networked machine that I hadn't updated yet.

I installed iPhoto '11 and updated my library with no problem. Then I quit iPhoto. When I re-launched I got the endless spinning spikes. I remained at that stage for several days as I tried the many techniques suggested above.

What finally worked for me was the suggestion given by vaddelfanatic, to delete iPhotoMain.db, then rename iPhotoMain.db.bak to iPhotoMain.db. When I then relaunched iPhoto, a dialog announced that the library needed to be rebuilt, the rebuild proceeded and everything worked fine. When I started to quit a dialog warned that iPhoto processes (I forget exactly what) were ongoing and should not be interrupted. I waited, and later quit and restarted iPhoto several times with no problem apparent.

Knowing so many have such diverse issues, I tried to observe more details. Before and after the described rebuild, I compared the package contents of the iPhoto Library being rebuilt with a backup copy which works with iPhoto '09. One large difference is creation of a large "Database" folder in the iPhoto '11 library. Another is reduction of the size of the iPhotoMain.db file, from about 5 MB to 8 KB for my 1,300 photo library.

My guess is that creation of the new iPhoto '11 database structure is a complex process which is subject to disruption by a number of conflicts, such as from DivX or Keepsake files, or from interruption before its creation is completed. In my case, after my initial attempt at conversion to iPhoto '11 form, my iPhoto Library did not even have any Database folder. Replacement of the greatly reduced iPhotoMain.db file with its backup allowed creation of the Database folder, after which everything seems to work well.

I hope this helps someone.

I was having the same issues. I got by it by doing a permissions repair on the HDD, then I uninstalled Divx. Fired iPhoto 11 back up and it did the conversion.

Didn't work for me. Just opened differently. All the squares showed up with the custom titles underneath, but the pictures are not there. Can't find a way around this.

**No, no and no . The risks are too great for such manipulations, and you will never be sure that at least (some) of your photos didn't get lost.
If you can't wait for apple's (official) fix, then check my site: http://iphoto11.wordpress.com/
The fix is really easy AND safe.

I also ran into problem during my iphoto 11 upgrade. I had several iphoto libraries and the update worked on one of them but on the others I got the message that iPhoto is "unable to open this library". I made numerous attempts to fix (using a restored backup each time) and sometimes got part of the library, but never the whole thing. I finally also thought about using the program batchmod referred to in the wordpress blog above. It worked beautifully for me.

Not if you backup the library first and then try. You can always go back to the backup copy if it doesn't pan out.

Your Batchmod method has been suggested previously in other topics and has worked for some and not for others. There just doesn't seem to be a one fix fits all this time around.

I finally got my problem solved....

Turns out that there are some plug ins that are causing problems with the upgrade of the iPhoto library to iPhoto '11. I had the pleasure of meeting an iPhoto engineer (at my house), who took a copy of my 73 GB iPhoto library to Apple to determine why my IPhoto would crash during the library update. (Yes, I gave Apple my personal library). I was selected since I am near the Apple Campus.

I told the engineer that they are playing with people's lives, because our photos are very important to us. He told me that they are aware of that, and are investigating the problem.

It turns out an old plug in from the Joe Soft application, called Hear was causing my problem. Even though this was a iTunes enhancement application, it had ties to the movie files (via Quicktime) that are in my iPhoto library.

Other plug ins that can cause problems are the DIVX plug in and AVI Converter plug ins.

Once I removed the offending plug in, my library converted within a hour and I was happy to be enjoying the new version of iPhoto. I will keep my old iPhoto 9 Library, just in case if I have a problem. (I am testing importing photos from all of my cameras and iPhtos, just to make sure import works.)

I was also told that I can do the conversion in "Safe Mode" (hold Shift Key down during startup) if I didn't want to remove the plug ins. However, I needed to know if it was really the plug in, so I did the upgrade in the regular mode with the offending plug in removed.

I have to say that I had moved a copy of the original iPhoto Library to a stripped computer (has no plug ins) and tried converting it to iPhoto '11, and it converted without any problems Therefore, I know it was a plug in issue.

I was told that I can move a the converted library to my main computer (that has the plug ins) and should not have any problems running iPhoto. The plug in problem only occurs during the conversion process.

Regarding the Projects (Books) items, they all converted without any problems. I have open them and verified. All albums are working and all 26,000+ photos are working!

I have shut down and restarted iPhoto and also shut down and restarted my computer, then launch iPhoto without any problems. I actually think iPhoto '11 loads much faster than iPhoto '09

A regular fix is in the works.

Hope this helps.

Thanks again iPhoto Team!

ticzon,

Can you be specific about how to find these plug-ins, what and where to look for them?
We're not all equally computer literate, but we do experience some of the same problems.

The best thing to do is first do a search with Spotlight, and see if any of the plugs can be found.

Then I would go to my boot drive (your drive that has your operating system) and look at the library folder. Then start hunting in the Application Enhancers folder, the Application Support Folder, Preference Folder. Also, I would check around in the other folders in the Library Folder.

I hope this helps. Good Luck.