Photos show in Photos/Events/Names lists, but originals are missing from Library.

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Level 1

27 points

Photos show in Photos/Events/Names lists, but originals are missing from Library.

Hi.

It's frightening --- but at least 20 images in my ~20000 photos library are missing --- I see them in their Event, and in the Photos list, and even in some albums and in "Faces" that appear on them, but when I double-click to see the full photo, I see a strange gray icon (circle with vertical line in the middle). "Show Original" and "Show File" will fail after a good few seconds.

These are IMPORTANT photos, and the big trouble is I DO NOT KNOW how many have I lost, because there is no tool to VERIFY the state of the database agains the Library.

I tried rebuilding the iPhoto Database (launch with command+option), and even instructed it to rebuild all its thumbnails (hoping to get some visual indication of missing image files) but the database looks exactly as before, the photo entries and thumbnails still show, and the same happens --- no way to find/open the original photo.

Please advise ---

1. Is there a tool TO VERIFY my library?

2. Is there a tool that will map and report/cleanup such missing images?

3. If, indeed iPhoto rebuilt its thumbnails from scratch --- then the original photos DO EXIST somehwere in the library --- How do I find them and persuade iPhoto they're there?

Thanks for any hint.

iPhoto '08, Mac OS X (10.7.5), iPhoto '09 v8.1.2 (424)

Posted on Oct 13, 2012 2:45 PM

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Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,338 points

Oct 13, 2012 3:00 PM in response to Motti.Sh

What version of iPhoto? You list two.

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

207,541 points

Oct 13, 2012 3:01 PM in response to Motti.Sh

What you're seeing when you try to view the original file is the warning that iPhoto had broken the file path/link to the orignal file. Try this: make a temporary, backup copy of your library if you don't already have one (Control-click on the library and select Duplicate from the contextual menu) 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 3

Motti.Sh Author

Level 1

27 points

Oct 14, 2012 12:21 PM in response to Yer_Man

Hi Terence,

I use iPhoto '09 (v8.1.2 build 424). The reason for 2 different versions is that When I initiated this discussion, I was forced to choose from a limited set of products --- which did NOT contain my version. The closest I could select was '08'. Anyway, it is 09'.

In the "option-command-launch" of this version, there is no selectable option to "Rebuild Database". See screenshot below.

I suspect this is because the combination of all these options sums up in "rebuilding the database". So, I chose ALL the options, and let it go. Results were as I said --- the missing photos are still in the list, with thumbnails, information, faces and all. I wish the photos were there too...

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Answer 4

Motti.Sh Author

Level 1

27 points

Oct 14, 2012 12:47 PM in response to Old Toad

Hi OT, and thanks for the detailed suggestions. I already read these in another discussion here, but wanted more information before I start fix #2 as it is time consuming.

If you read my original note --- I already used all the checkboxes and options in iPhoto's internal "rebuild"ing system, to no avail.

I was reluctant to recreate my library using IPLM because I spent many hours specifying faces, locations, building nice slide-shows and specifying locations (no GPS in my camera). I have quite an old iMac, and over 20000 rather large photos in my library, plus hundreds of movie clips taken by my stills camera.

As I write this note, I'm running Fix #2, this time only in hope of getting a good knowledge of my library's state. It goes very slow, and the worst part is that it uses iPhoto (probably via AppleScript) and there is no report-collection system in IPLM.

Each time iPhoto encounters a problem, it stops the process, and presents me a dialog with the details of the problem. I already got 6 of them, and the whole IPLM process won't proceed until I'll press the "OK" button in iPhoto. Again ---- I have 20000 photos, and it took IPLM about an hour for the first 850 photos. Obviously, I can't attend 20 hours of the process. So It will probably take longer.

In the mean time, I have a few more questions you might know the answers to.

1. I got errors importing .psd (photoshop) images that were in my original library. These images never gave me problems, and were visible and usable in iPhoto. Whatever happened to iPhoto that it refuses to accept them now?

2. Provided that my missing photos are really missing, How could iPhoto's "Rebuild Thumbnails" process recreate them? From what? Some kind of an "Original" must exist, if iPhoto tells the truth and is really "rebuilding" those thumbnails. How can I track its paths and maybe locate my originals?

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Answer 5

Old Toad

Level 10

207,541 points

Oct 14, 2012 12:58 PM in response to Motti.Sh

You may have to resort to this if you can't repair your current library (this is assuming that the original files are in the Originals folder of your library but just can't be linked to):

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.

Therefore, open you current library package with the Finder

and check the subfolders in the Originals folder to see if the original files are there. If they are you can proceed. If they are not there's nothing you can do to recover them except to have a backup of the library from a time when all was well.

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