Q: iPhoto crashing

Are you using teh ATC as just an external drive? Or are you using it as the Time Machine backup drive?

LN

What your screenshots are showing,  is not an  crash, but a hang. The first screenshot shows a problem with with opening or accessing the iPhoto library - this may be a problem of a library corruption; the second shows, that iPhoto is stalling while updating thumbnails.

Keeping a photo library on a Network share is not recommended by Apple. See this document:

Use locally mounted Mac OS X Extended volumes for your Aperture library

It has been written for Aperture, but iPhoto and Aperure share the same library format, so it is valid for iPhoto to.  Apple's recommendation:

Also, it is strongly recommended that the Aperture library be stored on a locally mounted hard drive. Storing the Aperture library on a network share can also lead to poor performance, data corruption, or data loss.

I suspect that the problems you are having with your iPhoto library are do to data corruption caused by network transmission and transaction errors, that can cause inconsistencies in the database files in the iPhoto library.

Try to repair the permissions in your iPhoto library and rebuild the library, but move it to a locally mounted drive, before trying such a critical repair. To repair or rebuild, launch the the library first aid tools, by holding down the key combination option-command ⌥⌘ firmly, while double clicking the iPhoto icon to launch iPhoto. Select "Repair Permissions" from the panel. When finished, do also a "Rebuild". But make a backup copy of your library, before you are doing this.

Regards

Léonie

I use it as an external drive but it also backups with time machine.

But how are you backing up your iPhoto library, since it is on the Time Machine volume? Original and backup on the same drive will not protect your photos, when the drive should fail, like all drives will do sooner or later.

That and you should not have the iPhoto library on the same volume as the Time Machine backup - that is a recipie for problems adn guarentees that there is not backup of the iPhoto library when the problems occur.

LN

Good Luck! 

So far the Copy from TC to MBP keeps stopping and not completng.

What is the error message you are getting, when you are trying to copy? Sometimes it is a single corrupted media file inside the photolibrary package, that cannot be copied between drives. Or a permissions problem may be preventing the copy. If the error message is related to insufficient permissions, try to run the First Aid Tools (launching with ⌥⌘ held down) directly on the drive, but only the "Repair Permissions" part.

If it does not seem to be permissions related, try to copy the library in parts, in small installments.

• Open the iPhoto library package in the Finder by ctrl-clicking (right clicking) the library icon in the Finder.
• You will see a Finder window with folders like Masters, Previews, etc.
• Create an empty folder on your new drive, name it something like iPhotoLibraryBackup and drag the items from your current iPhoto library on by one to this new folder.
• When the copy fails, e.g. for the Masters folder, check, how much could be copied. The first file, that not could be transferred, is probably the bad image or video.

Delete this file from your Library (using iPhoto) and then try to copy the rest.

Post back, when you discover what cannot be copied.

Regards

Léonie

Good to know - I am glad, it is working for you again