The iPhoto Library is locked, on a locked disk, or you do not have permission to make changes to it

Access iPhoto library through iMovie. Open iMovie, create movie project, click on iphoto library, select event, slideshow, album or wherever the desired photos are in iPhoto library and copy photos into project timeline. iMovie Project now has the desired photos. I recovered slideshow photos but without music.

What version of iphoto? Assuming 09 or later

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 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

As weird as it sounds I saw on another thread to unplug your mac from the back...wait and plug it back in. That worked for me.

I'm on Lion, 10.7.3, and had this problem after iPhoto locked up during start-up of the application. I rebooted, and that fixed it.

I had this same problem when I upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion. I used the disk utility program and told it to repair all permissions. This worked.

Worked like a charm. Thanks.

I had this happen because I networkong with my other computer and tried to open iphone from the opposite computer. I was getting same message intil I disconnected my connection

I had this problem today. I'm on Mountain Lion. The trick of holding down alt & control while opening iphoto did not work for me , I think because I keep my iphoto library on my Time Capsule. It did not bring up the menu with the option to repair permissions etc. I tried copying my iphoto library from the time capsule to my mac, but the copy died saying I didn't have permission to copy something in it either. Thankfully I found this trick on another forum and it worked perfectly - the bit near the end about iphotolock.data. Now I've got iphoto back I need to make a copy of it somewhere else before it gets corrupted again!

http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-112726.html

Thank you, this fixed my issue.

While on the subject - can anyone suggest a credible alternative to iPhoto please?

I am having this problem too. I took my Mac into the Apple store about a week ago to have the Seagate hard drive replaced and have had a number of issues since. I was told that Time Machine would restore my computer as it was before but all I have is headaches! Time Machine no longer backs up. My Mac puts itself to sleep and then is reluctant and long-winded to wake up. Ditto if I put it to sleep. Previously, a touch on the keyboard or mouse was enough to bring back the screen. The machine now freezes regularly. When I backed up from Time Machine my dock became loaded with duplicate icons and I'm reluctant to fiddle until I know a bit better what to do. I had upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion and the Apple store reinstalled Lion.

And now the latest problem I found was when I tried to open iPhoto I got the same message quoted in others' posts. I have not yet tried the options outlined in the posts. I really think now I should have taken a risk and kept the old drive which was functioning satisfactorily. There was a replacement policy for Seagate hard drives which were failing in certain iMacs.

iPhoto alternative. I always load my images into a file outside iPhoto, and then import into iPhoto.

J

i have the same problem. i tried loading an iPhoto library (perfectly functional, saved as backup by time machine and restored by time machine). not only did iPhoto NOT load said library, it also does not work anymore: it keeps on trying to repair library and, after failing to do so, shuts down.

i tried repairing permissions with disk utility, with no success (as all other proposed solutions here did NOT work either). maybe it is because i am using SLOW LEOPARD, which seems to be one of the apple's windows millenium editions (rag on vista, which is REAL BAD, but sLow leopard is way worse).

as a mac, linux, android, chrome and windows OS's user, i have to say that apple's Unices are the most expensive systems with the least intuitive interfaces that i have ever seen (and i have been around OS's since before DOS).

the whole concept of needing to repair permissions and delete preference folders is ludicrous: the result of lousy design and terrible execution. add to that secret hermetic "OPTION+COMMAND at startup" or "load while looking to Mecca and standing on your head and pressing OPTION with your nose" suggestions...

i am very, very frustrated every time that i have to fix my mac machines. unfortunately, some of my designers belong to the Church of Jobs and refuse to work with better machines and more stable OS's.

It's astonishing how so many people who claim to understand computers and are so experienced etc etc etc can't seem to understand iPhoto. Yet people with very little experience can.

I suspect that the reason you feel "very, very frustrated" when you have to fix your Macs is because you don't understand the basic concepts of how they work. Maybe if you learned then you'd find them very easy, like I do.

In the meantime, if you have an actual question do feel free to ask it, and remember, we're just Users like you and while we like to help people with issues you'd be amazed how little we're interested in your opinions.

for someone amazingly uninterested, you seem to have taken a lot of time answering my post. nevertheless, you sidestepped any advice relevant to the basic issue this thread addresses: "

The iPhoto Library is locked, on a locked disk, or you do not have permission to make changes to it"

therefore, my question is: "how does one fix the pemission problem importing iPhoto libraries (a problem which afflicts a large number of people and for which i have not found a working solution yet)".

BTW, i have been working with macs since 86 and unices in general (sysV) since 84. now, mr wise, please show me why you earned your 102K+ points and give me a solution to this problem.

<Edited by Host>

You never asked a question, you just editorialised. Like I said, if you've been working with Macs since 1986 and you still find them "very, very frustrating" then you've had a long time to not grasp the essentials. And no, this forum is not for venting frustrations. It's for people who have a problem to seek help. Your issue crops up from time to time, and even a quick search would find the solution I've posted for it:

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 Repair Database. If that doesn't help, then try again, this time using Rebuild Database.

If that fails:

Option 2

Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In Library Manager it's the FIle -> Rebuild command)

This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, 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