all iphoto pictures gone. rebuild not working.

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Level 1

1 points

all iphoto pictures gone. rebuild not working.

I have iphoto 11. All pictures are gone. In their place, the thumbnails are empty. When we look at the pictures, there is a black triangle with an exclaimation point in the middle of it. I have tried the option+command control with iphoto and tried all the options twice. That had no improvement. I also downloaded iphoto manager to see if that helped and that also made no difference. I am open to any suggestions before I give up and try the apple store or some local repair place. I know that the pictures are still there - when i scroll through the list of blank events, there is a flicker when the actual pictures show up and then goes away again. thanks.

iPhone 4, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Feb 10, 2013 2:42 PM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

207,367 points

Feb 10, 2013 3:07 PM in response to cab boy

The exclamation mark appears when the link/file path to the orignal file has been broken. 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 #3, followed by #4 and then #1 as needed.

Fix #2

Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library

1 - download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.

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

3 - 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.

4 - In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.

5 - 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. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost. 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

cab boy Author

Level 1

1 points

Feb 11, 2013 6:41 PM in response to cab boy

I have tried the option+command thing - first #3, then #4 and then #1. no improvement. I also tried with the iphoto library manager and rebuilt the library and no improvement.

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,260 points

Feb 11, 2013 11:02 PM in response to cab boy

I also tried with the iphoto library manager and rebuilt the library

Any error messages from Library Manager?

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Answer 4

Old Toad

Level 10

207,367 points

Feb 12, 2013 9:08 AM in response to cab boy

We have another option:

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 subfolders of the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the open iPhoto Library package into the open iPhoto window a few at a time.

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 5

cab boy Author

Level 1

1 points

Feb 14, 2013 5:59 PM in response to Old Toad

It only went back to the last few events and replicated them into multiple repeating events. It scrambled the names of the events. Pictures from months ago and years ago did not show up. It took a 300-500 pictures and made into 8000+ pictures that it transferred over. When I switch from library to library, my original one has the events all labels corrected and going back for years but still blank thumbnails and individual pictures. when i scroll through the pictures, a glimpse of pictures shows up just for a second. originally i thought they were the original pictures but now i see that they are more recents ones showing up over old events. I am still hoping that my pictures and events can be used as they are. I am open to trying anything. let me know and thanks for the help so far even it did not solve the problem.

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