Graeme Ison

Q: iPhoto 9.6 Yosemite asks to do upgrade and then permissions repair

After the Yosemite upgrade, iPhoto was updated and was all running fine. Could access photos etc.  iPhoto previous version was the Mavericks one, so not v7 or before, requiring the Library upgrade tool.

 

Last night when trying to access iPhoto, it comes up with a message saying the library needs to be upgraded.  (https://www.dropbox.com/s/9svb2pc91821sm0/Screenshot%202014-10-24%2014.00.48.jpg ?dl=0)

 

Ignoring the fact that this doesn't make sense as I have been using this library with the updated 9.6 iPhoto, I then click the Upgrade button.  iPhoto starts 'Examining photo library' for a while and then comes back with a message saying the Library cannot be opened and that the permissions need to be repaired.  After asking it to repair permissions, it fails and says the file cannot be opened.  (https://www.dropbox.com/s/vc3w6c8rh24hpyk/Screenshot%202014-10-24%2014.07.40.jpg ?dl=0)

 

After trying the following, the symtpoms changed slightly.

 

1) Restarted the Mac (as you do)

2) Deleted iPhoto and re-installed it (advised in another thread)

3) The file was on an external USB drive, which was Mac OS Extended Journaled (and has been working on there for 2 years), so just in case, I moved it to the main hard disk in the Pictures folder

3) Ran Disk Utility repair permissions just in case, but no errors found in that file.  Rebooted and ran again to make sure.

4) Showed Package Contents of iPhoto Library file and moved out the iPhotoLock.data file

 

After trying all this, it now skips the permission repair option and just goes straight from the upgrade screen to the failed to open screen.

 

I have now tried the iPhoto Library Manager tool and that opens the Library just fine (version 4.19), which suggests everything is there and working, but that iPhoto has just stopped working.  However, if I use iPhoto to open or create other iPhoto Libraries, it works fine, which indicates a problem with the Library itself.

 

I have also tried opening the file from my iMac (also Yosemite and iPhoto 9.6), but it comes up with the same messages and errors.

 

Now trying a complete rebuild using iPhoto Library Manager as iPhoto won't open the file to do a rebuild using CMD-Option.  This may take days for the 130Gb Library, so just wanted this post up in case anyone else is having similar issues and may have found a solution.

 

Any and all ideas welcome!

 

Thanks,

Graeme

Mac mini (Late 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10), 16Gb RAM, 2.3Ghz Core i7

Posted on Oct 24, 2014 6:43 AM

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Q: iPhoto 9.6 Yosemite asks to do upgrade and then permissions repair

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  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Oct 24, 2014 7:29 AM in response to Graeme Ison
    Level 10 (139,532 points)
    iLife
    Oct 24, 2014 7:29 AM in response to Graeme Ison

    Rebuilding with Library Manage is the next step.

  • by Graeme Ison,

    Graeme Ison Graeme Ison Oct 24, 2014 8:58 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 24, 2014 8:58 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    Thanks for the feedback, even if it is depressing

     

    I would love to know what went wrong as nothing unusual happened (at least not recently!)

     

    Thank you,

    Graeme

  • by Graeme Ison,

    Graeme Ison Graeme Ison Oct 27, 2014 7:16 PM in response to Graeme Ison
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 27, 2014 7:16 PM in response to Graeme Ison

    Final feedback on this - the rebuild did fix the issue, BUT, I now have no Albums after 7 years of setting them up to sort out all my photos, and no faces recognised in any photo's and I somehow lost 8Gb of images for reasons not mentioned in the log files.

     

    In summary, it is a fix, but a pretty awful one and not a solution I would choose again if I could possibly help it.

     

    Failure of the highest order.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 27, 2014 7:52 PM in response to Graeme Ison
    Level 10 (84,540 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 27, 2014 7:52 PM in response to Graeme Ison

    Then restore your backup from just before this occured

     

    LN

  • by Graeme Ison,

    Graeme Ison Graeme Ison Oct 28, 2014 2:01 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 28, 2014 2:01 AM in response to LarryHN

    I would if I could, but as I mentioned in my original post, the file was on an external drive which isn't backed up by Time Machine and only has a live copy (rather than historical ones), which means the copy is also affected

     

    One of the reasons for the external drive is I share the library amongst 2 other Mac's and it's the only way to turn off ownership.  If you can't turn that off, it breaks the Library every time someone else opens the library.  This has been working fine since I put it on there 2 years ago, so I wish I could find out what broke it to prevent future occurrences.

     

    Next.....

  • by Chris Kerins,

    Chris Kerins Chris Kerins Oct 28, 2014 9:19 AM in response to Graeme Ison
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 28, 2014 9:19 AM in response to Graeme Ison

    I have the same issue and even when I restore from backup it just gets me back to square one of having to upgrade, then restore permissions, and then it just hangs and then it doesn't recognize the old library. All the photos have been moved to a folder called Old Masters, Old xx, etc. inside the package with no photos in the normal Masters, Thumbnails..

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 28, 2014 9:31 AM in response to Graeme Ison
    Level 10 (84,540 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 28, 2014 9:31 AM in response to Graeme Ison

    Does the EHD have ownership ignored? Not checking that can cause permission problems for a shared library

     

    and if your photos have any value to you then you must correct your backup strategy and include the EHD so it is packed up too

     

    LN

     

    Ans PS after reading it twice I do not see no backup in the original post - if it is there is is lost in the mass of text

     

    LN

  • by Graeme Ison,

    Graeme Ison Graeme Ison Oct 29, 2014 3:46 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 29, 2014 3:46 AM in response to LarryHN

    Yes, the ownership is ignored - it doesn't work otherwise. I implied that in my last post, but didn't state it directly, much like with the backup.  I will be more specific in future

     

    By default the EHD isn't backed up and because it had so much stuff on, I used local sync to another EHD and also online backup to keep 2 copies.  This doesn't work as well as Time Machine for restores, as it doesn't do a point in time snapshot, so it's fine for keeping copies of all the photo's, but not so great for restoring the Library in a consistent manner, and doesn't offer the option of rolling back a few days or weeks for example.

     

    Thank you for your replies and sorry for the mass of text

     

    Cheers,

    Graeme

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 29, 2014 8:07 AM in response to Graeme Ison
    Level 10 (84,540 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 29, 2014 8:07 AM in response to Graeme Ison

    OnLine backups are not an option for the iPhoto library - the length of a restore is an issue but most of the time the restored library is unusable - they are fine for photos but not for an iPhoto library

     

    At this time is everything working well for you?  think so but am not sure

     

    LN

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Oct 29, 2014 10:34 AM in response to Graeme Ison
    Level 10 (141,085 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 29, 2014 10:34 AM in response to Graeme Ison

    Do you still have the original library that you used iPLM to rebuild.  I as because I didn't see anywhere that you used iPhoto itself to repair the database.  If you still have it try the following:

     

    1 - launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down to open the First Aid window. Be sure to follow the circled recommendation in the screenshot.

     

    iP95firstaid4.png


    2 - run Option #4, Rebuild Database.

     

    OTsig.png

  • by Graeme Ison,

    Graeme Ison Graeme Ison Oct 29, 2014 12:54 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 29, 2014 12:54 PM in response to Old Toad

    Thanks for your reply.

     

    I can't see your screenshots, not sure why, but they show up as ? marks.

     

    I could not use iPhoto to repair it as it would not open the file in the first place.  I did try repeatedly.  It came up with the options, but then went back to the permissions issue and would not open the file to do the repair.

     

    Thanks,

    Graeme

  • by Graeme Ison,

    Graeme Ison Graeme Ison Oct 29, 2014 12:56 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 29, 2014 12:56 PM in response to LarryHN

    Thanks LN,

     

    iPhoto now opens the rebuilt database, but with the hundreds of lost albums, it's now a major mission to find any photos in the 2,247 events, so it is working, but I would not call it well

     

    Thanks again,

    Graeme

  • by BrianSteffens,

    BrianSteffens BrianSteffens Nov 1, 2014 7:28 PM in response to Graeme Ison
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 1, 2014 7:28 PM in response to Graeme Ison

    I've just experienced a similar problem with a library on an external drive. Was working, but then got the library "needs to be upgraded" message. Then alert saying to repair permissions. Got as far as rebuilding thumbnails when to MacAir froze. Had to force quit everything in order to shut down and reboot. After that iPhoto doesn't recognize the library. I can pick "other" from the open library window, and find the library, but it doesn't open. I can double click on the library icon, but it doesn't open/display. If I can't open it, how can I repair it?

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Nov 1, 2014 8:14 PM in response to Graeme Ison
    Level 10 (84,540 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Nov 1, 2014 8:14 PM in response to Graeme Ison

    what format is the EHD and how is it connected to your Mac?

     

    LN

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