How do get rid of the gray triangle/exclamation point

Question

How do get rid of the gray triangle/exclamation point

I have iphoto 9.1.5. Recently I have had trouble accessing some of my older photos. When I go to photos and double click on a photo to make it bigger the photo flashes quickly and is replaced by the gray triangle with an exclamation point. The photo is visible in the bar at the bottom or top of the screen and if you go into the Master folder the picture is there and will open with Preview. It appears that iphoto cannot locate the photo. Thus far I have done the following:

Started iphoto holding down the command option and have repaired, rebuilt the library and thumb nails.
Used iphoto library manager and created a new library. Of the 9764 pictures 4426 did not get copied with an error message stating that they could not be copied because they could not be found in the original library

I am not sure how long this problem has been an issue as it effects older pictures but I suspect something happend at the last upgrade to 9.1.5

How can I get iphoto to recognize all of the photos and get rid of the gray triangle? Help would be much appreciated as I seem to exhausted the suggestions I can find on line.

iPhoto '11, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Aug 19, 2011 5:13 PM

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Answer 1

Joe Gramm

Level 5

6,449 points

Aug 19, 2011 10:13 PM in response to keithfromsouth yarmouth

Have you read this Thread in the Apple Support Communities. Hopefully it will help.

Is that South Yarmouth, MA or England

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Answer 2

Yer_Man

Level 10

166,098 points

Aug 20, 2011 12:36 AM in response to keithfromsouth yarmouth

If rebuilding with iPhoto Library Manager fails then you'll ned to recover these files from the Master folder and import them to the new library.

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Answer 3

Aug 20, 2011 7:58 AM in response to keithfromsouth yarmouth

Joe: It is South Yarmouth MA having tried most the options in the thread I think I'm stuck re-importing them from the master file

Terence: As I have over 4500 photos to reimport what do you suggest as the easiest way to do this. Should I copy all the need photos from the Master to a desk top folder then open the rebuilt I photo and import them?

Also is it possible to reimport them into the existing library or will I end up with the same problem or duplicates? Thanks

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Answer 4

Yer_Man

Level 10

166,098 points

Aug 21, 2011 1:21 AM in response to keithfromsouth yarmouth

You know have two Libraries.

A is damaged

B is the Rebuilt.

You have to recover the files from A and import them to B

To Recover: Go to your Pictures Folder and find iPhoto Library A there. Right (or Control-) Click on the icon and select 'Show Package Contents'. A finder window will open with the Library exposed. Find the files in the Msters Folder. Drag them out of the Library.

Launch iPhoto. It will open Library B. Import the files to it.

Regards

TD

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Answer 5

Aug 29, 2011 4:52 PM in response to keithfromsouth yarmouth

Terence: I move some photos from the damage iphoto library to the rebuilt library. I idenfied the photos is the master folder and move them from there to the desk top, opened the rebuilt library and imported them. They imported fine but when I try to open them they open small and will not open to full screen.

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