iPhoto library causing kernel panic

Hi, strange problem here that I'm hoping you can help with. I am 99% sure my iPhoto library is causing my Mac mini to kernel panic when iPhoto isn't even open.

I say 99% sure because this is the second Mac mini this has happened to with the same iPhoto library. I purchased a late 2012 2.6Ghz i7 mac mini running Mavericks a couple of months ago and after migrating over all of my files etc I started having kernel panics when the computer would wake from sleep. I worked with apple support for a few weeks trying to isolate the problem and they finally just decided it was a DOA machine and sent me a new one. With the new machine I was a bit more calculated in adding files, first running the computer with nothing added for a few days, then upgrading the RAM, then adding my iTunes library and finally adding my iPhoto library by copying the library file from my external disk into the pictures folder of my new mac. Within hours of adding the library the computer experienced a kernel panic.

I can open iPhoto just fine and browse all of my pictures. I've imported pictures from my iPhone just fine too, but somehow the library is causing kernel panics behind the scenes.

One other note that may help. This library was actually first on a macbook pro laptop that died (hopefully salvageable with a new HD but we'll see). Before we knew that the laptop was dying however, my wife was importing a bunch of pictures from her iPhone and the computer restarted mid-import. There were a few anxious hours after we turned the machine back on where it wouldn't recognize the library at all and we thought all of our pictures were lost. We were able to repair the library and get access to the pictures and promptly backed them up but I'm wondering if the library was corrupted at that point and has remained so.

Would rebuilding my library help in this situation? Should I try importing the pictures into a new iPhoto library knowing that I'll lose albums/faces/etc? Any other thoughts or action plans? I deleted the library from my computer in the interim although I'm now nervous that it will have corrupted my machine and I'm going to come back tomorrow to a gray "your system restarted..." screen!

Thanks for any help in advance

Posted on Jun 30, 2014 10:35 PM

17 replies

léonie

Level 10

201,965 points

Jul 2, 2014 12:07 PM in response to jsamuelsen

I'm not at home so I haven't been able to look to see how many chips the stock memory has but have you ever come across this? Memory not being compatible due to the number of chips on the module?

When I follow the link to "Memory Upgrade Instructions" in the "About this Mac" panel,

it says " For best performance, fill both memory slots and install an identical memory module in each slot."

My Mac definitely performed better after I filled the available memory banks with identical modules.

jsamuelsen Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 2, 2014 12:26 PM in response to léonie

Thanks leonie! To be clear, my upgraded memory was two identical 8gb modules, upgraded from two identical 2gb modules. What the Crucial rep told me is that the upgraded memory has to be identical to the original memory in terms of number of chips. I can't find any other reference to that.

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iPhoto library causing kernel panic