'iphoto will open as soon as the iphoto library is available. Time machine might be backing it up" - message been cycling for hours now. Can't access anything in photos

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'iphoto will open as soon as the iphoto library is available. Time machine might be backing it up" - message been cycling for hours now. Can't access anything in photos

Up till yesterday, our iphoto was working correctly. At one point, I noticed the slideshow wasn't displaying, so I opened iphoto and the message said there was a newer version, so I selected upgrade. The next message said the library needs rebuilding. Selected rebuild. Next,

I got the message in the header, and it's been cycling for hours now with no result. I'm not computer friendly, so I could use some help.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Apr 6, 2014 2:42 PM

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Answer 1

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Apr 6, 2014 3:40 PM in response to Sarawan

start with details - what version of i{Photo did you have)? What version do you have now? What version of the OS (10.6.2 is really old - is that really what you have as you state?)

Try restarting your Mac and see what happens

LN

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Answer 2

Sarawan Author

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Apr 6, 2014 7:49 PM in response to LarryHN

Thanks for the reply.

I was wrong - the OS is 10.6.8. Is that old, too? I don't know where to find the version of iphoto I had and which one is trying to upgrade. Where would I find that. I restarted and still the same message.

"Your photo library will not be readable by previous versions of iPhoto after the upgrade. The upgrade process for very large libraries may take an hour or more to complete." selected upgrade:

"iphoto is unable to open this library. The library has issues that require rebuilding. The iphoto library is missing required database files and must be rebuilt before it can be opened" selected rebuild:

Next message is: "waiting for iphoto library...will open as soon as library is available. Time machine might be backing it up" and cycling.....

During this time, the iphoto file is unavailable, all options greyed out.

I have an external hard drive connected and time machine is on.

Like I said, not literate with computers, so I hope I'm giving the right information

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,260 points

Apr 6, 2014 10:54 PM in response to Sarawan

Restart your Mac and try again.

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Answer 4

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Apr 6, 2014 11:10 PM in response to Yer_Man

version of iPhoto - iPhoto menu ==> about iPhoto or int the finder ==> applcations older - selec iPhoto - get info

LN

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Answer 5

Sarawan Author

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Apr 7, 2014 1:38 PM in response to LarryHN

Thank you again for replying.

iPhoto version 9.2.3. I'm not able to use any options in the iphoto app, all are greyed out, so I accessed the info in finder, as you suggested

Restarting doesn't change anything.

"Unable to open iphoto, there are issues that require rebuilding... missing database files"

I wonder what database files are missing. where did they go and why?

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Answer 6

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Apr 7, 2014 4:19 PM in response to Sarawan

Back up your iPhoto library, Depress and hold the option (alt) and command keys and launch iPhoto - rebuild your datbase

LN

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Answer 7

Sarawan Author

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Apr 7, 2014 6:43 PM in response to LarryHN

Thank you for the tip about the shortcut keys. I couldn't back up the library from iphoto, i found 'all images' in the finder, and copied all of those. Then used the alt and command keys and was given several options for rebuilding.

All of them lead back to the orignal message.

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Answer 8

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Apr 7, 2014 6:55 PM in response to Sarawan

stay away from the "all images" list - it is not a place but a list of images and if you make any changes using it you can destroy your library

And it s not possible to backup your iPhoto library from the all images list

And you do not backup the iPhoto library from iPhoto - you do it from the finder or using (a much better plan) backup software like Time Machine or others

DownloadiPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - and use the free trial's rebuild command to rebuild the library to a new library leaving the existing one intact for future use as needed

LN

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