Your photo library is damaged or unreadable and cannot be opened. Please re

Question

Level 1

5 points

Your photo library is damaged or unreadable and cannot be opened. Please re

While importing photos from our camera, iPhoto froze up and became unresponsive. We restarted our computer. When we tried to open iPhoto we got the following error: Your photo library is damaged or unreadable and cannot be opened. Please restore from a backup. I've tried rebooting several times, but the error message keeps appearing. I run a daily backup using time machine to an external hard drive. I'm not that savvy at using a Mac and could really use some help getting our photos back.
Thanks.

iMac8,1, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Mar 24, 2011 1:43 PM

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Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,402 points

Mar 24, 2011 2:15 PM in response to BasicApple

Welcome to the Apple Discussions.

Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.

If that fails:

Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. 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, faces and places 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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Answer 2

BasicApple Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 24, 2011 2:55 PM in response to Yer_Man

Thank you so much for your help. That worked and I was able to restore all of the photos. I'm very grateful for your help-you saved me from having to pay a good chunk of money and/or dragging computer to the apple store.

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Answer 3

Apr 11, 2013 9:14 AM in response to Yer_Man

Thanks so much Terence; I'm new to the Apple community and this is the first time I utilized Apple Suport. I tried your suggestion and it worked, saving me a lot of time and effort. Thanks again.

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Answer 4

SSFD110

Level 1

0 points

Apr 8, 2014 9:18 AM in response to Yer_Man

Option 1 worked for me. However everytime I quit iPhoto and then re-start I get the same error message.

Any suggestions?

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Answer 5

Old Toad

Level 10

207,751 points

Apr 8, 2014 9:20 AM in response to SSFD110

With the amount of information you've provided it's impossible to offer a potential solution. We can't see your computer so we need to know the details of your problem and setup, i.e.:

what version of iPhoto are you using?
what system version are you running?
what do you see when iPhoto opens?
what fixes have you tried?
where is your library located?
did you apply any updates or upgrades just prior to the problem occurring?
are you running a "managed" or "referenced" library?

what type of Mac?
how much free space on your boot drive?

OT

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Answer 6

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Apr 8, 2014 9:23 AM in response to SSFD110

Where is your iPhoto library stored?

LN

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Answer 7

SSFD110

Level 1

0 points

Apr 8, 2014 4:50 PM in response to Old Toad

-iPhoto 11 Ver 9.4.2

-MAC OS X v10.7.5

-When I open iPhoto I get the error message "Your photo library is damaged or unreadable and cannot be opend. Please restore from a backup

-I held option and command while starting iPhoto, I tried all the options and the only one that worked was the bottom option. Rebuild Database. However once I close iPhoto I get the same error message.

-I have it set to the default (Managed Library)

-I'm not sure about any updates right before the problem

-I have a MacBook Pro

-I'm not sure where my iPhoto is stored or how much free space is on my boot drive. How do I find this information?

Thanks so much for the help.

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Answer 8

Old Toad

Level 10

207,751 points

Apr 8, 2014 5:37 PM in response to SSFD110

Try this:

Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library

Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.

Click on the Add Library button,

and select the library you want to add from those in the selection window.

Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option

In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.

Click on the Create button.

Note 1: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.

Note 2: Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.

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