NZLes
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: can't copy iPhoto library to external hard drive

Recently, despite careful file management  my internal hard drive has reached its capacity so i purchased a 2TB WD My Book to move many of my files to to make room. After reformatting it (Mac OS Extended Journaling) i  starting copying stuff over but I struck a problem when i tried copying my iphoto library file over.

Its about 47gig and every time i try it begins to copy but then it suddenly stops around 600mb saying it cant read or write something in the file.

 

Is the file too big? Do i need to format the drive it differently? Hopefully not as ive already moved a heap of files over

 

Any advice appreciated

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jun 6, 2012 1:33 AM

by petermac87,Apple recommended
petermac87 petermac87
Level 5 (7,402 points)
A:

NZLes wrote:

 

The exact message reads...

 

 

The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “iPhoto Library” can’t be read or written.

(Error code -36)

Sounds like some corrupted files. If you Cotrol + Click on iPhoto library and click Show Package Contents, it gives you access to all your photos. I would probably be inclined to try copying that file and if the problem persists, then try backing up a few at a time and you may be able to narrow it down to the corrupted files.

 

Otherwise you could try Terence Devlin's excellent advice given here

 

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3123684

 

Good Luck

 

Pete

Posted on Jun 6, 2012 2:24 AM

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NZLes

Q: can't copy iPhoto library to external hard drive

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  • Helpful answers

  • by NZLes,

    NZLes NZLes Jun 6, 2012 1:45 AM in response to NZLes
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 6, 2012 1:45 AM in response to NZLes

    The exact message reads...

     

     

    The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “iPhoto Library” can’t be read or written.

    (Error code -36)

  • by petermac87,Apple recommended

    petermac87 petermac87 Jun 6, 2012 2:24 AM in response to NZLes
    Level 5 (7,402 points)
    Jun 6, 2012 2:24 AM in response to NZLes

    NZLes wrote:

     

    The exact message reads...

     

     

    The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “iPhoto Library” can’t be read or written.

    (Error code -36)

    Sounds like some corrupted files. If you Cotrol + Click on iPhoto library and click Show Package Contents, it gives you access to all your photos. I would probably be inclined to try copying that file and if the problem persists, then try backing up a few at a time and you may be able to narrow it down to the corrupted files.

     

    Otherwise you could try Terence Devlin's excellent advice given here

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3123684

     

    Good Luck

     

    Pete

  • by NZLes,

    NZLes NZLes Jun 6, 2012 5:23 PM in response to petermac87
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 6, 2012 5:23 PM in response to petermac87

    Thanks Pete

     

    Did what you said and narrowed the corrupt file down somewhat.

     

    Appears several files in the "iPod Photo Cache" folders are corrupt. Whenever i try backing those up i get a message similar to ...

     

    "The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “T4541.ithmb” can’t be read or written.

    (Error code -36)"

     

    Having trouble finding a feature in iPhoto that clears the cache though. Can you simply delete the corrupt files or will that cause more problems down the track?

  • by ds store,

    ds store ds store Jun 6, 2012 6:21 PM in response to NZLes
    Level 7 (30,400 points)
    Jun 6, 2012 6:21 PM in response to NZLes

    In your iPhoto Library folder is a folder called Originals, duplicate and copy that out, and any other originals files.

     

    Then run this, supposed to resolve issues like this.

     

    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT2638

     

     

     

    Can you simply delete the corrupt files or will that cause more problems down the track?

     

    Likely so if they are corrupt, after all they won't work anyway.

     

    Thing about cache files, they supposed to rebuild themselves if deleted, it's a troubleshooting technique, but I've never see it used for iPhoto before.

     

     

    If you've got the originals out, you can always create a new iPhoto Library and import the originals once again.

  • by Pie.man,

    Pie.man Pie.man Aug 26, 2013 11:33 AM in response to petermac87
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 26, 2013 11:33 AM in response to petermac87

    ds store,

     

    Many thanks for this, I've been able to get at my original photos, which at the end of the day is all i need.

     

    Things went wrong for me when returning after holiday and importing about 500 odd photos onto my iMac.  At the time, imports were happening, photo stream was updating and iPhoto was doing it's gimmicky stuff searching for faces.

     

    At the same time I was also on iTunes serching for a movie to buy after being given a voucher to spend.  As I clicked on the pre-order button for a film, everything stopped reponding. My external hard drive became locked, disk utility said I needed to re-format the drive and back up as many files as I could

     

    After a re-start, iPhoto wouldn't open becuase it's on a locked volume.

     

    That confused me for some time.... I thought an iTunes problem had occured, since the problem seemd to coincide with an iTunes button click.

     

    The hint of "show package contents" got me going again.

    When copying it seemed to get stuck on the faces.db file within the data bases folder.

     

    Anyway, I am now able to copy over the files and I think I'll be able to get all our stuff back.

     

    Thanks again.

     

    S

  • by aburn06,

    aburn06 aburn06 Jul 19, 2015 11:23 AM in response to petermac87
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jul 19, 2015 11:23 AM in response to petermac87

    I know this is a super old thread but I'm having the same problem. I'm trying to take an old iPhoto library, move it to a new external drive (AND create a NEW Photos library from it), from an old one and I'm getting that same error as this user did in 2012...

    "The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “iPhoto Library” can’t be read or written.

    (Error code -36)"

    I was able to open the package contents as you suggested which is great because at the very least I have a backup now (I couldn't even run a back up with super duper, that would fail as well)... so now I think I may have found the corrupt files, or at least where they start, when I copied the 2012 folder, it stop in the December 26th folder... what would you suggest I do now, delete the photo(s) right after the last one and then perhaps rebuild the library (I did already "repair" but that didn't work and didn't want to rebuild until I knew I had a copy of my photos safe somewhere.) and then my main quesiton/object if is, if that rebuild and copy doesn't work, is there any way to create a new library (I'm guessing I still have to create a new one in iPhoto and THEN open in Photos?) AND salvage my data from iPhoto, mainly Faces?

    Thanks!

  • by aburn06,

    aburn06 aburn06 Jul 19, 2015 11:53 AM in response to petermac87
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jul 19, 2015 11:53 AM in response to petermac87

    Also, as I'm copying files separately, I came across another file that stopped copying - however when I went to that file, it not only copied the files after it fine, it also copied that file over when I did it by itself? Any idea why that would happen? Should I still keep that file out of my library (and possibly the one after it?)