iPhoto 11 taking ages

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Level 1

24 points

iPhoto 11 taking ages

I just changed my MacBook Pro. The new one runs Lion. During set-up I transfered everything from my old one running Tiger, using Firewire.

I use iPhoto Manager to sort photos into 12 libraries, a few on an external drive for safety.

Generally I start iPhoto from iPhoto Manager, so that I'm in the right library. I selected a small one (400MB) last night and iPhoto showed it's Catherine Wheel (white not colored) all evening until I shut down the machine. Today it resumed, but has not finished. It appears stuck somewhere, although it will shut down correctly without problems.

I can create a new library within iPhoto Library Manager and open it; even import photos into it. Everything appears to work normally. However, when I exit and re-start, whether I pick the new library or one of the old ones, the Catherine Wheel starts spinning again.

Any clues please?

iPhoto 11 (version 9.2.2)

iPhoto Library Manager (version 3.8.5)

Posted on Oct 10, 2012 6:48 AM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

216,536 points

Oct 10, 2012 11:37 AM in response to ontravel

Make a temporary, backup copy of your library if you don't already have one (select the library and type Command+D) and apply the two fixes below in order as needed:

Fix #1

Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.

Since only one option can be run at a time start with Option #1, followed by #3 and then #4 as needed.

Fix #2

Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library

Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.

Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.

Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File ➙ 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: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.

OT

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Answer 2

Yer_Man

Level 10

166,098 points

Oct 10, 2012 11:40 AM in response to ontravel

Rebuild the Library.

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

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Answer 3

ontravel Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 10, 2012 1:25 PM in response to Old Toad

Thanks.

First a question re the backup. I have everything, still running, on my old MacBook Pro. I also have a backup of the home directory made with Apple's old "Backup" utility on an external drive and a backup made with SuperDuper on a different bootable external drive, from which I uninstalled or (Zapped with ApZapper) anything which I knew or deemed to be incompatible with the new OS.

Is that sufficient backup material or do you suggest a new backup under Lion on the new system?

It's vital for me to be able to retain all of the descriptions and meta data.

Thanks

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Answer 4

ontravel Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 11, 2012 7:44 AM in response to Yer_Man

Thanks, but I have a lot a stake here.

Before I follow these tips, what do I need to back-up exactly?

I don't know where all the meta data is stored.

You say back-up library:

Do you mean:

1. Macintosh HD / library

or

2. Macintosh HD / users / myusername / Pictures (this is where my 12 photo libraries are)?

Better a little delay than get it wrong!

Thanks

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Answer 5

Yer_Man

Level 10

166,098 points

Oct 11, 2012 8:00 AM in response to ontravel

You mean you don't have a back up already?

You back up your iPhoto Library - or all 12 of them.

Most Simple Back Up

Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to another Disk. This will make a copy on that disk.

Slightly more complex:

Use an app that will do incremental back ups. This is a very good way to work. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically. Examples of such apps: Chronosync or DejaVu . But are many others. Search on MacUpdate

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Answer 6

ontravel Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 11, 2012 8:09 AM in response to Yer_Man

First a question re the backup. I have everything, still running, on my old MacBook Pro. I also have a backup of the home directory made with Apple's old "Backup" utility on an external drive and a backup made with SuperDuper on a different bootable external drive, from which I uninstalled or (Zapped with ApZapper) anything which I knew or deemed to be incompatible with the new OS.

Is that sufficient backup material or do you suggest a new backup under Lion on the new system?

It's vital for me to be able to retain all of the descriptions and meta data.

Terence Devlin wrote:

You mean you don't have a back up already?

Yes.

So the meta data is stored within each photo library?

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Answer 7

Yer_Man

Level 10

166,098 points

Oct 11, 2012 8:20 AM in response to ontravel

So the meta data is stored within each photo library?

Yes.

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Answer 8

ontravel Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 12, 2012 5:13 AM in response to Yer_Man

I'm wondering whether these processes are really functioning correctly?

All apps are closed except iPhoto, activity monitor, terminal and console

I tried the "examine & repair" option first.

The catherine wheel was still rotating after over 12 hours!

I closed iPhoto (it shut down correctly) and I'm now working on the next option:

Repair - nearly 5 hours so far + the catherine wheel is still spinning

My photo libraries are 64GB

My drive is only 1/2 full

I have 8GB RAM

The fans are quiet

iPhoto is only using around 1,2% CPU.

I would have expected the fans to be whirring with this task with much more CPU usage.

Thanks.

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Answer 9

Yer_Man

Level 10

166,098 points

Oct 12, 2012 6:13 AM in response to ontravel

To me it suggests that whatever damage is there is not repairable by those functions.

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Answer 10

ontravel Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 12, 2012 8:57 AM in response to Yer_Man

Sincere thanks for all of the good tips from both of you.

This is really baffling. The iPhoto rebuild function didn't work either.

I also tried the rebuild function with iPhoto Library Manager but got this error:

"Rebuild complete

0 photos were successfully copied.

104 photos could not be copied because they could not be found in the original library. Click the "View Log" button to see which photos could not be found.

107 errors occurred during the process. Click the "View Log" button for more details."

That prompted me to check the contents of the package is this particular library. Here is a screenshot, which might throw light on the subject.

BTW, All of my photo libraries are still working perfectly on my Tiger MacBook with iPhoto '08 (vers 7.1.5)

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Answer 11

Old Toad

Level 10

216,536 points

Oct 12, 2012 9:42 AM in response to ontravel

Check the contents of the Originals folder. If it's empty then you're out of luck.

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Answer 12

ontravel Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 12, 2012 9:51 AM in response to Old Toad

The originals folders are all full. I suspected it all along due to their size.

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Answer 13

ontravel Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 12, 2012 11:08 AM in response to ontravel

Additionally, might this entry from Console help in finding a solution?

"iPhoto: An instance 0x3869400 of class MWController was deallocated while key value observers were still registered with it. Observation info was leaked, and may even become mistakenly attached to some other object. Set a breakpoint on NSKVODeallocateBreak to stop here in the debugger. Here's the current observation info:

<NSKeyValueObservationInfo 0x42c3a30> (

<NSKeyValueObservance 0x42c39f0: Observer: 0x406e520, Key path: currentAlbum, Options: <New: YES, Old: YES, Prior: NO> Context: 0x0, Property: 0x42c3a70>

)"

Thanks

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Answer 14

Old Toad

Level 10

216,536 points

Oct 12, 2012 2:21 PM in response to ontravel

All I can suggest is:

Starting over from scratch with new library

Start over with a new library and import the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from your original library as follows:

1. Open the library package like this.

2. Launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.

3. Drag the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the open iPhoto Library package into the open iPhoto window.

Click to view full size

This will create a new library with the same Events (but not necessarily the same Event names) as the original library but will not keep the metadata, albums, books slideshows and other projects.

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

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Answer 15

ontravel Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 13, 2012 6:34 AM in response to Old Toad

Many thanks to you both for being so patient.

Your suggestions helped to devise a different strategy, as there was a great deal of work invested in my photo descriptions, which I could not afford to lose.

As all pertinent files are within the individual iPhoto library package(s), I did this:

Moved the iPhoto library packages from the Pictures folder to another location.

Copied the original library packages from the old MacBook to that Pictures folder.

Entered iPhoto Library Manager and started the first library.

The need to convert screen appeared almost immediately (which it didn't before) and then it was just a question of waiting.

Before I had waited hours (even overnight) because I had no idea how long this process might take. As a clue to others, this the data from my largest library:

Size 61GB

18,000 files

Time to complete 15 mins.

Then I opened all the other libraries for for conversion process.

I still don't know the reason for this problem, but I am amazed that the set-up process for a new MacBook did not go more smoothly. (The next task is discovering why many of my PDFs no longer open, but that another topic).

Thanks again

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