nmlilwood
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Aperture deleted.  Have tried 4 Recovery programs.  Is there anything else I can try?

Hi!  If anyone can throw me a life line, I'll be super grateful.  Long story short... Hubby trashed Aperture from Finder window, took back out of Trash but didn't know that links to masters would be severed by this mistake.  I cleared Trash.  Computer shut down.  Issue not noticed for a week or so.  I've run Photorec, and had a local shop run Data Rescue 3(plus Renee plus a Wondershare one).  Almost nothing was recovered.  I've lost  most of our family pictures from the last two years, since the last time I did a data backup.  It still makes me really upset to think about it. I feel like such a fool for not running backups regularly, but I can't change that now.  So the question is, is there anything else I can do?   Anything that doesn't cost thousands of dollars and lose me my working computer?  Thanks in advance, and if there's nothing else, maybe I can spare someone my heartache.  Aperture stores files differently from iPhoto, and *there's NO WARNING if you accidentally drag the icon to the Trash with other files*!  The link between the library and the Masters is severed, and you need to do damage control immediately.  I know I should have kept up with Time Machine, and I just learned about the Vault system, but I'm a busy mom, and you fill the day with the right priorities the best you can, and the end of the day, I didn't get around to it a thousand times.  Please Apple, if you read this, find a way to flash a warning on that one.  20,000-odd masters deleted with one mistake.  No warning.  Again, thanks in advance for any advice.         

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jan 19, 2014 12:05 AM

by Najinsky,Solvedanswer
Najinsky Najinsky
Level 3 (670 points)
A:

Just to be clear we are talking about the same thing,

 

When I right-click my Library in my Pictures foler, I can choose 'Show Package Contents'

 

Screen Shot 2014-01-22 at 02.24.10.jpg

 

Which then shows me the contents of my library in Finder:

 

Screen Shot 2014-01-22 at 02.28.20.jpg

In there, I can navigate the Previews folder and its subfolders, to get to an image that I can see, or open by double-clickng it.

 

And when you do the same for your image:

 

/Previews/2013/12/19/20131219-175741/25COyPDZTFmLNFWYkgu%0w/DS C_1678.jpg

 

When you get to DSC_1678.jpg you see some kind of place holder, not an image, and you can't open it?

Posted on Jan 21, 2014 11:42 AM

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nmlilwood

Q: Aperture deleted.  Have tried 4 Recovery programs.  Is there anything else I can try?

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  • by Najinsky,Helpful

    Najinsky Najinsky Jan 19, 2014 12:51 AM in response to nmlilwood
    Level 3 (670 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 12:51 AM in response to nmlilwood

    Here's a lifeline. Doing what you described would not have deleted your masters, so if what you have written is really what you did, you should be fine. (And as a side point, it would also explain why the search for deleted files didn't fine very much). So I think you still have reason for hope.

     

    So It becomes a question of trying to really figure out what really went on.

     

    Lets take it step by step.

     

    "Hubby trashed Aperture from Finder window, took back out of Trash but didn't know that links to masters would be severed by this mistake."

     

    What did he trash? The Aperture application from your Applications folder or the Aperture Library that usually lives in your Pictures folder and usually called 'Aperture Library'.

     

    Regardsless, of which it was, putting it in the trash and taking it out again doesn't do anything to it. It comes out just the same as when it went in. So if you/he took out what he put in, nothing should have been lost.

     

    So when it was taken out of trash, where was it put back to. When most people take stuff out of trash, they just drag it to the desktop.

     

    So as an inital premise on what might have happened: The Aperture Library was moved to trash from your Pictures folder. It was then dragged back onto the desktop. So when you next launched Aperture, not finding it's library it created a new empty one in your Pictures folders, making you think your images have gone.

     

    Is this what could have happened?

     

    If so, you should find you have a new empty library in your 'Pictures' folder, and your real library is where it was dragged from trash too; most likely Desktop, but worth checking elsewhere too.

     

    So try looking for these first, and then let us know what you find.

     

    Andy

  • by nmlilwood,

    nmlilwood nmlilwood Jan 19, 2014 12:10 PM in response to Najinsky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 12:10 PM in response to Najinsky

    Hi!  Thanks for answering.  I've got my husband here, and he's remembering what happened as best he can.  We were deleteing a whole bunch of individual files from the Picture folder (scanned images that we had backed elsewhere), and he didn't realize that the Aperture library was in the list.  He began the "Compress" function (new rule:only compress 20 things at a time) and it was compressing the list.  He then *did* get a warning window (new info) that said something to the effect of "cannot delete... in use..."  We don't know if it said folder or file or library.  So at that point he thinks he dragged the Aperture library icon back to the Picture folder.  Now, when I did do a backup in January 2012, we copied the entire HD to a RAID external drive, and so in the process of trying to understand where my pictures were, I managed to load the backup library as the working library.  Where I'm at now, is that I can see one HD based library and two RAID based librairies (this makes sense, because the HD was backed up twice that January in the process of setting up an automatic  backup system that I didn't know how to use) to choose from on the Library menu within Aperture program.  The current Default library is the User > Pictures > Aperture Library.  When you highlight it in the menu, the number of masters is listed at 41,000-odd masters, which would be the number if none had been deleted.  But when Aperture is running, all of the projects that were not a part of the 2012 backup appear with blank thumbnail windows.  When you try to open them you get nothing, and when you try to export, you get a pop-up window that says "Versions with Unavailable Master Files cannot be Exported, The selected master file is either not found or is offline.  Please reconnect it and try again."  Which I though meant that it had been deleted. 

     

    A clarification on what I said about the link to the masters being severed when you trash the aperture library. When I was first trying to find information to fix this issue, I found a page somewhere here in Mac's user help documents that refered to this.  The way I remember it, it said that if you are inside the Finder window and you trash Aperture (in retrospect, I'm not sure if it was talking about the library, or the application; I didn't really know what I was looking for), that this movement will sever the pathways to the masters.  Of course, I can't find the reference again now that I am looking, or I would link it.

     

    I feel like I'm being as clear as mud.   I'm so sorry.  I'll do my best to find more info on what happened if it's needed. 

  • by nmlilwood,

    nmlilwood nmlilwood Jan 19, 2014 12:23 PM in response to nmlilwood
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 12:23 PM in response to nmlilwood

    When I rest the mouse icon on Aperture > File > Switch to Library... the yellow box lists this:

     

    /volumes/raid/backups.backupdb/N*****

    ******************'s Imac/

    2012-01-15-093900/Macintosh HD/users/

    N**** ************ *****d/Pictures/Aperture

    Library.aplibrary

     

    I just noticed this.  I don't know if it means anything.  I would have thought that this refered to 2 libraries, give the text and how I understand pathways, but given the placement of the backslashes, I don't know.  I obviously only have the foggiest of ideas about this stuff.   I've blanked out the user name information to respect the principle of annonimity on the forum, not because I don't trust you!

  • by nmlilwood,

    nmlilwood nmlilwood Jan 19, 2014 12:27 PM in response to nmlilwood
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 12:27 PM in response to nmlilwood

    Because the blank thumbnails still bear the file name, I've done basic Finder searches for them, and the images did not come up. 

  • by nmlilwood,

    nmlilwood nmlilwood Jan 19, 2014 12:38 PM in response to nmlilwood
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 12:38 PM in response to nmlilwood

    One more theory: my husband thinks that because the pop-up warning happened when he was in the midst of a "Compress", the the lost files were being deleted out of the library folder, and it wasn't until it hit a file that was in an open folder (Aperture was in use at the time) that it refused to delete it.  I don't know if files could be deleeeted out of a library in this fashion. 

     

    Again, thank you truly.  Even if I can't sort this out with a happy recovery, I'll be grateful for your time spent helping me.    I've taken a look through the obvious finder menus, and I didn't see a stray Aperture library.

  • by léonie,Helpful

    léonie léonie Jan 19, 2014 12:45 PM in response to nmlilwood
    Level 10 (107,610 points)
    iCloud
    Jan 19, 2014 12:45 PM in response to nmlilwood

    /volumes/raid/backups.backupdb/N*****

    ******************'s Imac/

    2012-01-15-093900/Macintosh HD/users/

    N**** ************ *****d/Pictures/Aperture

    Library.aplibrary

    At one point you must have opened the Aperture library inside a Time Machine backup - the path you are showing points into Time Machines backup database.

     

    An Aperture library cannot be used directly from the backup. There you will see plenty of broken links.

    A backup of an Aperture library needs to be restored using Time Machine before you can use the library.

     

    What happens, when you double-click the library that you put back from the Trash? Do you see any images inside?

     

    We were deleteing a whole bunch of individual files from the Picture folder (scanned images that we had backed elsewhere), and he didn't realize that the Aperture library was in the list.  He began the "Compress" function (new rule:only compress 20 things at a time) and it was compressing the list.

     

    What happend to the compressed images in the Pictures folder?

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jan 19, 2014 12:59 PM in response to nmlilwood
    Level 10 (107,610 points)
    iCloud
    Jan 19, 2014 12:59 PM in response to nmlilwood

    I don't know if files could be deleted out of a library in this fashion.

    That is unlikely. When you compress a folder using the Finder's Compress command, this will create a copy and leave the original unchanged. Or what did you use to compress the folder?

     

    the the lost files were being deleted out of the library folder, and it wasn't until it hit a file that was in an open folder (Aperture was in use at the time) that it refused to delete it.

    Compressing the Pictures folder would have mattered, if you had imported your images into Aperture as referenced and not as managed. Can you remember, what the Import settings were, that you used to import into Aperture? Have you set Aperture to store the original Image files in the Aperture library or have you opted to store them in the Pictures folder?

    Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 21.57.03MEZ.PNG

  • by nmlilwood,

    nmlilwood nmlilwood Jan 19, 2014 6:34 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 6:34 PM in response to léonie

    First off, I made a goof.  I said that he did a Compress and I should have said he he did an Empty Trash.  The other details were right.  The list was being deleted, and then it stopped.  He unfortunately can't remember what the pop-up warning was.  Whatever it was, he looked at the Trash list, saw the Aperture icon, and dragged it back, he thinks, to the Picture folder.

     

    I know that I stored files in the Aperture library.  Photos that were in iPhoto before, or were stored on the RAID in later dates, were unaffected.

     

    When I click on the Aperture library icon that is curently in the Pictures folder, it opens the Aperture application.  The Projects browser shows image folders that are older, that I imported from iPhoto, and new Projects that have loaded since the deletion (before I realized that photos were missing) , and Projects that were originally stored to the RAID.  The missing files still show as empty Thumbnails.  Which I wonder about, because when I "Delete Master" within the app, there's no grey placeholder remaining. 

     

    So, is there a process or dedicated software that lets me look back in time to track changes in the pathways? I was only looking for solutions for deletion, becacuse we thought that with the amount of memory that we cleared, that the files must have all been marked as deleted.  I'm going to double check those numbers, because we never did much of a number crunch for that.   

     

    I know there are options for Rebuilding the Thumbnail Cache and Reprocessing Masters and for Rebuilding Libraries, but I've never gotten in to what those all do.  And I'm pretty scared to now.  Are there options for pathay repair? 

     

    Also, with all of the file recovery software we've run, nothing has ever shown up for the missing Projects.  I figured that if we Deleted it, we should have gotten at least some files recovered?  But nada.

  • by nmlilwood,

    nmlilwood nmlilwood Jan 19, 2014 8:25 PM in response to nmlilwood
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 8:25 PM in response to nmlilwood

    So, I used right-click to open the contents of the Aperture library listed in the Picture folder, and it only shows the masters loaded after the Trash-ing.  But there was the stop in the Empty Trash action, and he thinks he brought the icon back in to the Picture folder.  So, what happened then?  I'm gonna keep trying to figure it out!  I'm going to see if anything is lost in the RAID directory.

  • by Najinsky,

    Najinsky Najinsky Jan 19, 2014 10:49 PM in response to nmlilwood
    Level 3 (670 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 10:49 PM in response to nmlilwood

    Hi,

     

    It's getting a bit complex to follow, so it's probably easier to take a different approach.

     

    Let's use terminal to see if we can find any other libraries, or one of your missing images.

     

    The terminal App is located in your Applications/Utility folder. Navigate to it in finder (or use launchpad and start type 'ter' to find it. When you find it, lauch Terminal.app

     

    This will give you a command line window where you can type various commands to examine your system.

     

    First, copy the following command and paste it into terminal, then press return to run it.

     

    find . -iname "*.aplibrary" 2>/dev/null

     

     

    This will search all of your user folders for any Aperture library and report the path of any that it finds.

     

    Copy and paste (using the mouse) the output from this command into your reply to this post.

     

    Next, let's look for one of the files you think has been lost to see if it is hiding anywhere.

     

    Again, copy the following command to terminal. However, before you press return to run it, use the left arrow key to move the cursor, and backspace/del to delete my example name of IMG_1234.CR2 and replace it with your own file name for one of the image files you think has been lost.

     

    find . -iname "IMG_1234.CR2" 2>/dev/null

     

    This will search all of your user folders for the image. It's like the search you did in finder, but much more thorough.

     

    Again, copy and paste (using the mouse) the output from this command into your reply to this post.

     

     

    Andy

  • by nmlilwood,

    nmlilwood nmlilwood Jan 19, 2014 11:27 PM in response to Najinsky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 11:27 PM in response to Najinsky

    Okay, here we go.  I knew this was getting labrynthine to read.  I was thinking about taking what I've learned here to reformulate and repost my issue, so thank you for your patience!  Here's the line I got back:

     

    ./Pictures/Aperture Library.aplibrary

     

    Second command:

     

    ./.Trash/V BBGB V B/30/gbg'. :o/12 August 2010/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./.Trash/V BBGB V B/30/gbg'. :o/18 August 2010/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./.Trash/V BBGB V B/30/gbg'. :o/4 August 2010/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./.Trash/V BBGB V B/30/gbg'. :o/9 August 2010/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/Aperture Library.aplibrary/Masters/2013/12/06/20131206-215634/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/Aperture Library.aplibrary/Previews/2013/12/06/20131206-215634/2T2OvthJT2+Q9oO9StDZTw/DS C_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/Europe Trip 2010/12-Aug-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/Europe Trip 2010/18-Aug-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/Europe Trip 2010/4 August 2010/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/Europe Trip 2010/9-Aug-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2009/Schumachers - Lakyn Turns 1/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/100ND70S/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/11-Jul-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/12 August 2010/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/12-Aug-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/18 August 2010/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/18-Aug-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/29-Sep-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/31-Oct-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/4 August 2010/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/4 August 2010_3/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/9 August 2010/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/9-Aug-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/Catching with Kappo/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2011/19-Feb-11/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2011/24-Apr-11/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2011/26-Feb-11_2/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2010/100ND70S/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2010/11-Jul-10/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2010/29-Sep-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2010/31-Oct-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2011/19-Feb-11/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2011/26-Feb-11_2/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2009/Schumachers - Lakyn Turns 1/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/100ND70S/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/11-Jul-10/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/12 August 2010/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/12-Aug-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/18 August 2010/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/18-Aug-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/4 August 2010/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/4 August 2010_3/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/9 August 2010/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/9-Aug-10/DSC_0421.jpg

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/Catching with Kappo/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2011/19-Feb-11/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2011/24-Apr-11/DSC_0421.JPG

    ./Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2011/26-Feb-11_2/DSC_0421.JPG

  • by nmlilwood,

    nmlilwood nmlilwood Jan 19, 2014 11:48 PM in response to nmlilwood
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 11:48 PM in response to nmlilwood

    I have to go to bed,but I'll be back at it tomorrow.  Thank you so much, Andy and Leonie.  I owe you guys one! 

  • by Najinsky,

    Najinsky Najinsky Jan 19, 2014 11:51 PM in response to nmlilwood
    Level 3 (670 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 11:51 PM in response to nmlilwood

    Well that seems very positive.

     

    From the first command:

     

    ./Pictures/Aperture Library.aplibrary

     

    Tells us there aren't any rogue copies of the library lying around.

     

    And from the second:

     

    ./Pictures/Aperture Library.aplibrary/Masters/2013/12/06/20131206-215634/DSC_0421.JPG

     

    Tells us your image DSC_0421.JPG is stored in that Aperture library (and was imported into Aperture on 6th December 2013 at 21:56:34.

     

    So this image is not lost, is is located inside the Aperture library.

     

    Before continuing, you sould make a full copy of your Aperture library just for safety. Don't use time machine, use a spare disk, or your internal drive if you have room. It looks like your images are safe, and we don't want something to go wrong while trying to fix the library, so a backup is essential (as I'm sure you now realise).

     

    After taking your backup, use the library first aid tools described here:

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3805?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

     

    Run the first two options and see it that recovers your library. If not, run the third option.

     

    Let us know how it goes.

     

    Andy

  • by nmlilwood,

    nmlilwood nmlilwood Jan 20, 2014 8:31 AM in response to Najinsky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2014 8:31 AM in response to Najinsky

    Okay, I will do this this morning, and tell you how it goes.  Andy, I'm going to find you and hug you.  

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