Recently my iPhoto just started bothering me by not letting me reorder and sort my albums manually, and this aggravates me so much because it's something I prefer, rather than sorting by daye, time, bla bla bla. Please help me with my problem 😀
iPhoto '11
What happens when you try to drag an album to a new position in the sidebar?
What happens is that if I try placing it between other albums, it only gives me the possibility to create a folder with the album I'm moving, and one of the two I'm trying to put it inbetween. .-.
So, you don't see the line with the circle on the left appearing between the two albums where you're trying to place the album? That line should appear and the word "ALBUMS" should be highlighted when the line appears (that is, a round-rect should appear around it).
And just to be clear, you're trying to move albums within the section of the source list under "ALBUMS", right?
No, none of these things happen anymore. They used to, but like I said, all of a sudden it stopped working .-.
And yes, I am trying to move albums within the "ALBUMS" section of the source list :)
Wow, that's really strange. It sounds like the program is damaged.
Let's figure out if this is a problem with your user account or with the entire program. The easiest way to check this is to try iPhoto in another account on your Mac. If it works fine, then you know it is's a problem in your account.
If you don't have a second account, create one and move a few photos into iPhoto (just for testing). You can easily remove the new account when you're done.
However, the first fix is the same for both problems:nrepair permissions. (Applications --> Disk Utility and select the drive where iPhoto lives. With the First Aid button selected, you should see a button for Repair Disk Permissions.)
You'll want to repair permissions from your main account where you saw the problem. Let me know how it goes.
Have the same problem ... not been able to fix it yet:
Good confirmation—but I'm sorry that you've got the problem, too!
Have you tried reinstalling iPhoto? If the problem is damaged software and not a bug, then this might fix the problem. The method for reinstalling depends on how you got the application. (Of course, make sure everything is backed up before you reinstall or otherwise change your system.)
So I checked the iPhoto on another account, and iPhoto works properly on that one. I also tried the permissions repair, but the problem persists.
Since iPhoto is working properly in a different account on the same Mac, the problem lies within your user account.
Try a safe boot. This will prevent the system from loading a lot of third-party things that might be causing the problem. Hold down shift when you boot the computer, and additionally hold down shift when you click the login button (if you don't auto-login).
It might take a lot longer to boot your computer; don't worry. Also, some things might be "missing" -- like third-party fonts, for example. That is normal.
When you're logged in, open iPhoto to see if the problem persists.
I I tried the safe boot, but the problem still persisted. At this point I would think you'd suggest reinstalling the program.
To do so, I need to back up the library, correct? Does the backup file occupy a loto of space, or will it fit into a 4GB pen drive? You might have to guide me through it hahaha this is the first time I've had real problems with my Mac...
At this point I would think you'd suggest reinstalling the program.
That's pointless, as there's nothig wrong with the program. We know this because it worked okay in the other account.
I need to back up the library, correct
You should always have a back up of any important data on your computer,regardless of brand, OS, whatever. Windows, Mac, Linux all need back ups end of story.
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
Reinstalling the program won't help, as the problem is specific to your user account. The safe boot tells us a little more.
The problem is possibly due to a corrupted iPhoto support file. Perhaps a cache somewhere, preference list, etc. Hunting down all of them and removing/replacing them is not straightforward, but it's not likely to damage your system. I'll see if I can dig up any specifics about iPhoto.
In the mean time, you should back up your photo library. I'm not saying this because I think your library is in any specific danger—everyone should back up their photos (and other data). See Terence Devlin's notes above.
Are you using Time Machine? There's no easier way to back up your entire system, including your photos.
One additional question: are you running any type of iPhoto plug-ins?
After you've backed up everything, I suggest you delete the iPhoto preferences and cache (iPhoto should not be running when you do this.) When you restart iPhoto, new (clean) versions of these files will be created. Note that any change you have made to the preferences in iPhoto will have reverted back to its original setting.
I recommend making a copy of these file first—drag them to the desktop. (Keeping a copy will allow you to quickly revert to your earlier settings.) Then delete the originals.
They are located in the Library folder of your home directory. This folder is hidden by default in Mountain Lion (I presume that's the OS you're running? That's what your profile says.). To see the hidden folder, open Finder and click on the "Go" menu while holding down the Option key. "Library" should appear on the drop-down list. Select it, and the Library folder will open.
Here are the files to delete:
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iPhoto.plist.lockfile
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iPhoto.LSSharedFileList.plist.lockfile
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iPhoto.LSSharedFileList.plist
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iPhoto.plist
You will have to wait a little, I'm working on it, don't worry 🙂 I'm also having problems with my wifi, so I'll get back to this asap.
I have the exact same problem. Everything was fine until suddenly one day iPhoto would not let me sort Albums (same as stated above... it kept trying to force me to create a new File, and no 'line' ever appeared between the Albums. I have several iPhoto libraries, and all the others are working just fine.
Has anyone tried deleting the caches and preferences as suggested? Did it work?
My iPhoto '11 won't let me sort ALBUMS manually. How can I fix this?
