How to move iPhoto library to NAS

Question

Level 2

164 points

How to move iPhoto library to NAS

Hi. I want to move all my media content to a NAS - my iTunes music and movies, and my iPhoto photos. How do I move the iPhoto library? As FYI, I am using iPhoto 09 but plan to upgrade to iPhoto 11 shortly. Thanks

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Dec 16, 2010 5:14 PM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

207,373 points

Mar 19, 2017 11:49 AM in response to Daniel Mccarter

Hi I am running iPhoto 09 and would like to move the library to my external drive

How is the EHD formatted. It must be formatted as shown in this screenshot:

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If it is then just drag the iPhoto library from your Pictures folder onto the EHD's icon on the Desktop and let it copy. When the copying is completed double click on the library on the EHD to open it with iPhoto. Verify that the EHD library is complete and working as it should before deleting the library from your boot drive.

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Answer 2

Mar 18, 2017 9:31 AM in response to Gofannon

Thank you so much for your very logical replies. I abandoned iPhoto because like most people that have taken digital photos and videos for ten years, I have well over 100GB of media and I don't want to buy a new laptop and bigger internal hard drive just to use iPhoto/Photos. Nor do I want to fork over hundreds of dollars a year for iCloud storage.

iSCSI makes so much sense, I can't believe I didn't try it. Perhaps because I didn't want to pay for an iSCSI initiator.

Again thanks so much for the solution. Photos is still the most usable media manager, but I'm so tired of the closed Apple ecosystem and lack of network storage support.

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Answer 3

bujka

Level 1

8 points

Jun 8, 2017 5:30 PM in response to Gofannon

Hi Gofannon,

I was wondering if you have had issues with iSCSI and Sierra with your photos on the NAS? My Photos lib keeps getting in a corrupted state. I am using Kernsafe iSCSI Initiator, there is a free version if you only use one Initiator. Have you had problems?

Thanks

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Answer 4

Niel

Level 10

726,755 points

Dec 16, 2010 5:19 PM in response to pomme4moi

Drag the iPhoto Library of the Pictures item in the Finder's sidebar over, launch iPhoto with the Option key held down, and point it there.

(55532)

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Answer 5

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Dec 16, 2010 9:11 PM in response to pomme4moi

Unless the NAS is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) you will not be able to run the iPhoto library on it

If it is then Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)

And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto

And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive

LN

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Answer 6

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,290 points

Dec 16, 2010 11:02 PM in response to pomme4moi

As Larry says: 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.

iPhoto 11 will give you an message telling you the Disk is unsupported.

Workaround: Put the Library on an appropriately formatted Disk Image and store that on the NAS.

Regards

TD

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Answer 7

pomme4moi Author

Level 2

164 points

Dec 17, 2010 8:51 AM in response to pomme4moi

Thanks. Is there a NAS on the market whose disks can be formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)? I looked at the Synology and QNAP NAS devices, and they appear not to support OS Extended ...

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Answer 8

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Dec 17, 2010 9:20 AM in response to pomme4moi

Not that I've seen - using a corrected formatted disk image does work according to many reports

LN

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Answer 9

Dec 17, 2010 9:39 AM in response to LarryHN

Please define "NAS"
Is that some kind of external drive, like a LaCie?
thanks

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Answer 10

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Dec 17, 2010 10:22 AM in response to skyelement

No - it is a Network Attached Storage device - basically another computer on the network dedicated to being a storage server

Google is your friend - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network-attached_storage

an external drive is just that - an external drive

LN

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Answer 11

pomme4moi Author

Level 2

164 points

Dec 18, 2010 4:28 PM in response to pomme4moi

Thank you all!

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Answer 12

odysseus

Level 3

940 points

Dec 19, 2010 9:04 PM in response to Yer_Man

Would this work on a 3rd-generation Time Capsule (these units are much faster than the old ones -- mine does 40 MB/sec on reads)? But what happens if two people access the library at the same time?

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Answer 13

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,290 points

Dec 19, 2010 11:13 PM in response to odysseus

I'm not sure about the TC, frankly. However, will this be a wireless connection? A strong warning: If you're trying to edit the Library (that is, make albums, move photos around, keyword, make books or slideshows etc.) or edit individual photos in it via Wireless be very careful. Dropouts are a common fact of wireless networking, and should one occur while the app is writing to the database then your Library will be damaged. Simply, I would not do this with my Libraries.

But what happens if two people access the library at the same time?

They won't be able to.

Regards

TD

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Answer 14

celtxian

Level 1

8 points

Dec 30, 2010 4:29 AM in response to Yer_Man

Hi

I am trying to do this but after it copies about 1.6GB across it throws up a -22 error message. Both source and destination disks are Mac OS Extended (Journaled) drives and the library size is less than half he size available on the destination drive.

Not sure what the issue is as I have tried searching error code but not very helpful answers to the issue. Also, tried different naming conventions for backup library.

Any help appreciated.

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Answer 15

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,290 points

Dec 30, 2010 5:20 AM in response to celtxian

Try rebuild the Library to the extnernal using iPhoto Library Manager. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.

Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.

Regards

TD

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