Why am I having this problem importing photos from iPhone to iPhoto?

I'm getting the error:

Error downloading image.
iPhoto cannot import your photos because there was a problem downloading an image.

when I "Import All..." from my iPhone. Trying to import individual images I get

The following file cannot be imported. (The file is in an unrecognized format.)
IMG_0301.JPG

I can import the Photos when I am logged-in with other user profile in same macbook air.

It's not working with Image capture and Preview too.

PS: Images are not corrupt as it's getting imported through other user profile,so it's the issue with Iphoto.

I have done below steps but none of this fixed the issue:

1. Uninstalled Iphoto and installed it again.

2. Deleted the old iphoto library and created a new one.

3. Rebuild the library.

4. Repaired permissions using Disk Utility,

Could anyone give me solution for this.

Thanks in advance!!!

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Nov 25, 2014 7:33 AM

Reply
12 replies

Nov 25, 2014 7:46 AM in response to vishad17

If you can import in one user account, but not from your regular account, you may have either corrupted user preferences or are using start-up items that are not active in your other account.

To check for start-up items and clear some caches restart your mac in Safe Boot mode and try again to import from your phone. Does that work?

See this link: OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode? - Apple Support

Nov 25, 2014 8:33 AM in response to vishad17

The steps suggested by you would fix the problem or it's just a workaround.

It is a diagnostic measure. In Safe Boot mode third party kernel extensions and start up items are disabled. If you can import, while your Mac is running in safe mode, we will know, that probably some third party software is interfering, that is disabled by safe mode.


In that case check the "System Preferences > Users&Groups" panel and compare the Login items in your Admin account with the other account. Also check, if you are using any helper applications in your admin account, that you are not using in your test account. Any application you only installed for the current user and not for all users.


Occasionally, restarting in Safe Mode will fix things, because it does reset some settings back to the default.

Nov 25, 2014 10:45 AM in response to vishad17

As a Test:


Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library'


Import a few pics into this new, blank library. Is the Problem repeated there?


If it's not then the root cause is a corrupted Library.


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

Nov 26, 2014 10:44 AM in response to vishad17

You might try resetting the Home folder permissions for your administrative account as described by LInc Davis in this post:

Linc Davis

Re: Reset Home Folder Permissions and ACLs not working?

This helped meRe: Reset Home Folder Permissions and ACLs not working?

Apr 30, 2014 10:06 PM (in response to plcmms)

Triple-click anywhere in the following line on this page to select it:

{ sudo chflags -R nouchg,nouappnd ~ $TMPDIR..; sudo chown -R $UID:staff ~ $_; sudo chmod -R u+rwX ~ $_; chmod -R -N ~ $_; } 2>&-


Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:

Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

In the Finder, select Go Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.

Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.

You'll be prompted for your login password. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.

The command may take a few minutes to run, or perhaps longer if you have literally millions of files in your home folder. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear, then quit Terminal.


If you are uncomfortable with using the Terminal to do the job here's another method by Linc by booting into the Recovery volume:

Linc Davis

Re: When I click on an "event" no photos are displayed. The library is ok because it works in Aperture using the same library

Jun 6, 2014 10:33 PM (in response to hemero)

Back up all data.

This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership, permissions, and access controls to the default. If you've intentionally set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it, but you do need to follow the instructions below.

Start up in Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select

Utilities Terminal

from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open. In that window, type this:


res

Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:


resetpassword

Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.

Select your startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.

Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.

Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.

Select

Restart

from the menu bar.


User uploaded file

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Why am I having this problem importing photos from iPhone to iPhoto?

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