iphoto not working after a Mavericks update. Any suggestions?

Yes I have the original but after iPhoto said it was updating it to the new version the original appears as an empty folder but if I check the info it is over 100gb so clearly is not empty. It is that that I imported into the latest version of iPhoto (it clearly saw the folder was not empty!) , there was no other alternative and what came in was scrambled.

Forgot to add, the upgrader does nothing. It cannot "see" the iphoto files. If I got to where they are they are greyed out and cannot be opened. Something went drastically wrong when the latest version of iPhoto installed itself and then chose to update the file, the updating process scrambles the exisiting record. Thinking I had done something wrong I started again, deleted the whole application and all its files then installed afresh, to find the file could not be opened so I went to the backup and it scrambled that as well. Nothing opens the original version.

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 early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)

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

Thanks Terence,

Neither of these work. They cannot "see" the original library. Nothing does but I found by dragging what appears to be an empty folder and dropping it into iPhoto it installed but scrambled. I will persevere re-editing it all. It needed it anyway!

Richard.

Unfortuantly that is importing your iPhoto library into another iPhotolibrary this does not wrok and creates a massive mess with all face thrumnails and three different version of every photo in the resulting library

You would be much better off starting over nad importing your originals into a new library keeping the existing event structure - Old Toad posts an excellent tutorial on this

LN

That's what I did do - import into a new library. The event structure has disappeared and I suspect that happened when I first tried to run the updated version of iPhoto and it said it needed to update the library. Whatever updating it did took all of 1 second and it exited. What was then imported into a new library has no event structure but groupings are more or less together and the events have been given file names which are the dates akin to the photos in them.

Richard.

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.

Go to the app store and in the updates section it should have you update iPhoto

Thanks jonomills for the explanation & link: it worked perfectly for me.
(Don't know why my reply is not under the comment I was responding to.)

Hi Terence,

I have the same problem. I have a MacBookPro that I have updated to Maverick and the iphoto was 9.2 on my old system which I believe was OSX 10.7.2 so I followed your instructions and removed it to the trash and have tried to re-install according to your instructions. Unfortunately I don't have my original discs as I just transferred everything from my previous MacBook and never upgraded iphoto. I keep trying to download from Purchases which tells me that I don't need to purchase but just download. It tries to download but just comes back a while later with "an error has occured" in red.

I can't even take my previous iphoto out of the trash as it keeps telling me it is an alias!

It tries to download but just comes back a while later with "an error has occured" in red.

Contact App Store support. There's a link on the right hand side of the App Store Window.

after installing mac os x 10.9.2 iphoto did not want to work for me either. i updated iphoto from the itunes store and still no luck. this icon is what showed.

but i did go to the applications folder and opened up iphoto from there. once updated again from the applications folder, all of my photos were viewable. but for some reason it still shows the same dissabled icon on my desktop.

iTunes is only used to update iPhoto on an mobile device, an iPhone or iPad, and not on your Mac. The App Store is used to update apps on your Mac.

This screenshot shows which previous versions of iPhoto are compatible with Mavericks. It also indicates which versions qualify for a free upgrade to iPhoto 9.5.1 and which require a purchase:

Note 1: every day more users are reporting problems with iPhoto 8.1.2 so I've included it in the non compatible category.

Note 2: If your previous version of iPhoto was iPhoto 7 (08) or earlier you'll need to download and run the iPhoto Library Upgrader 1.1 application on the library before opening it with iPhoto 9.5.1.

OT

Note to Old Toad: You get most of the info by dragging the Originals over. However, as you pointed out the event names can get messed up. Also, if you've modified any pictures, those modifications are lost, but not entirely. They are in the Modified tree and can be moved over. You'll have to merge evenrts and the association between original and modified is sadly lost. At least when upgrading from iLife 09...

It is quite sad that Apple hasn't maintained enough compatibility that the upgrade Just Works. 😟

I'm not sure what issue you're referring to. If it's the OP's original post it's simple. If you don't have a certain version of iPhoto installed you'll need to purchase the iPhoto 9.5.1 upgrade. Upgrading an earlier version of the library to the current version is straight forwared and does not compromise event names, modifed versions, etc.