iPhoto library empty after upgrading to iPhoto 9.6

As you have no back up there is no cure except to start over from scratch, importing those files in the Old Masters folder to a new Library.

There are several reports on here from folks who's upgrades have failed. I doubt that anything Apple might do will recover the situation.

I got a notification that I needed to upgrade my library. I clicked on the upgrade function and was then notified that a mistake was found and a repair was necessary. The repair was ongoing when iPhoto froze and entire system failed, giving note that startup disk was nearly full.

I would guess that the ultimate cause of the problem is here.

Consider to send a detailed bug report to Apple, using the bug reporter at the public Developer forum.

See the link: Detailed and Effective Bug Reporting | Apple Support Communities

It will increase the chance, that Apple has more data to work on a fix.

and....

Here is the step by step method to recover your photos into a new Library....

Please read the warning below first.....

The current emergency only workaround fix for this issue when the user hasn't made or doesnt have access to any backups, is as follows....

Quit iPhoto

In Finder, Select iPhoto Library

Control Click on iPhoto Library and choose Show Package

Drag Masters or Old Masters folder to either desktop or external HD if not enough space on System Drive

Delete or preferably move iPhoto Library file to new location so at a later date one can recover the library again if needed..

Restart Mac

Launch iPhoto... (It should then create a new Library automatically...)

Drag and drop the Masters or Old Masters folder(s) onto iPhoto's icon... or use the menu option in iPhoto to import photos and point to the Masters or Old Masters folders saved out previously.

Be patient............

Photos will then be re-added to iPhoto... and added to the new library...

Note: If you have both Masters and Old Masters folders then add them one at a time, letting iPhoto import and index all the photos from one folder before adding another....

Important Warning!!!: All modifications and folder structures/albums from the original library will be lost.... but at least the original photos are rescued... and a new library is created that should be free of issues with the current iPhoto/Yosemite combination.

Nearly the same situation here. Yosemite 10.10.2 with a 225 gig iPhoto library on an external drive. Clearly all the data is there but iPhoto is blank as a ****. I have make that 'had' a couple hundred albums spanning more than a decade of travel for me and my family. Sure I can back up and rebuild into a new library. But we're talking about dozens if not hundreds of man-hours to re-organize and re-construct all that history and re-identifying faces for facial recognition.

I've been an avid Mac person since OS6 on a Mac classic: PowerPPC's, QuadG5 tower even an Xserve and raid at one time. iPhone and iPad since gen1 now in an iPhone6+. Three AppleTV boxes in my home right now, so my iTunes library is clearly vital as well. But I think I'm done. I bought my latest MacBookPro JUST for iPhoto and iWeb because I have so much work and time in those applications: How much more dedication can one man be expected to exhibit? I guess I should have just stopped, stayed with an older machine, older OS, older software and stayed with what was working. How silly of me to want to stay current and up-to-date. What was I thinking?

I just can't see myself spending a couple hundred hours rebuilding my iPhoto library, then have to re-integrate that with iWeb (yeah I know its old but I like it and I already have a 10 year web site built in it)... Just to have it all fall apart again the NEXT time Apple upgrades, or abandons a product, and doesn't provide fixes.

I have 756gig in TV shows, 780 gig in movies and 298 gig in music in iTunes. Is that the NEXT library to go amnesiac with the next update? I simply can't risk that. Better to migrate to Plex or something similar now before I am in 'recovery mode'.

I think its time to investigate Windows based alternatives for all of my iLife. "Apple: It just works" was a long time ago. Mr. Jobs your absence is evident.

Maybe you should try fixing the problem? You spent so much time on autobiography I don't know if you did or not.

What did you want me to try to fix it? I happen to be a software developer but without their source code I can't fix their program. Many people have had the same problem. The upgrade scrambles something in the iPhoto database and it looses all knowledge of the photos, the albums and so on. The photos are still on the hard drive, but the organizational database is wiped out.

I have tried every 'fix' I can find on the 'net. There isn't a fix that seems to work. The best you can do is start over, which as I said amounts to hundreds of man-hours in re-organzing a couple decades worth of photos.

If you have a fix that will revive my library complete with all the albums in tact please share and I'll let you know if it works.

Sure a very simple one - restore your backup from before this problem occured

I would really think that a "software Developer" could actually figure that one out on their own since it is the most basic and simple solution to problems caused by failures of people, hardware or software

LN

You're absolutely right! I should have started with the assumption that the upgrade would fail, that everything would be ruined. Its my own fault for not having a duplicate 24 terabytes of storage dedicated just to backing up multiple incremental backups. And the fix for a dented fender is to go back and drive the spare car you keep in the garage. Restoring to a back-up isn't a *fix*: Its a work-a-round for a bug. A big that in this case is widely reported but not being addressed by Apple. That's the complaint/rant here: That Apple is not resolving the issue.

In fact I do have LOTS of backups of most everything on my computers. All my actual media for example is backed up twice. In a worst case all I can loose is the organization but not the data itself. Worst case is I have to re-organize. But am I going to back up the 225gig iPhoto library to DropBox over the internet every time iPhoto updates? I don't think so.

In this case I am protected to a degree. I do have a complete backup of the Mac pre-update (this isn't my first rodeo). And each time I point the new 9.6 iPhoto at a copy of the pre-updae photo library it once again goes blank. iPhoto 9.6 consistently does this. Therefore I have to back-grade the installation of iPhoto. Every tried that? Its easier to format the computer and start over, install the older version and decline on-line updates. But that's probably what I'll have to do this weekend: Format the Mac, reinstall, countless updates but NOT for iPhoto.

But there does come a point where you have to have some level of faith that a simple upgrade won't completely frag everything - otherwise you spend more time watching your drives spin and backup than you spend actually getting something done. Its not reasonable to run a multi-hour back-up each and every time some program or another updates: There just aren't that many hours in the day. And if the program and the OS is that untrustworthy that you have to do that for each and every little thing then is it worth having?

Yeah well, a lot of opinions, no back ups, no information that would allow anyone else to help you. Good luck with your issue.

Lots of opinons: Yes

No back-ups: No. As I said, I have backups. Its just a hassle having to roll back my machine.

I guess we are miscommunicating our main points. I'm upset that this happened and that I have to roll back to recover, BECAUSE Apple rolled out this broken iPhoto update that didn't take enough safeguards with users' libraries - then publically stated that no more development will be done on iPhoto because they are migrating everyone to the Photos app THAT ISN'T DONE YET.

I'm not mad about loosing data: I have the data backed up.

I'm mad that their last act was to strand people with broken libraries then abandon iPhoto with no replacement ready to deploy. iPhoto wasn't broken so they should have left it until Photos was ready. Then they could have given people the option to stay or migrate.

Why are you telling us? Tell Apple.

Hmm.... discussion.apple.com - The footer of the page shows (Apple Logo) / Support /

It kinds looks like I'm discussing it on the Apple website monitored by their support people.

Of course I sent a direct complaint as well. But discussion forums where lots of people are sharing their bad experiences and thoughts about jumping off the Apple ship do get attention as well and let the maker know just how far off the mark they have gone and just how unhappy people are.

Never mind. I realize that you're really saying "Your problem. Shut up and deal with it on your own." I just wonder why it is if you don't want to hear about such things why do you monitor discussion threads in the first place? (Rhetorical)

Hmm.... discussion.apple.com - The footer of the page shows (Apple Logo) / Support /

It kinds looks like I'm discussing it on the Apple website monitored by their support people.

While the following User Tip is specific to Logic Pro group it also applies to the Community in general....

Why doesn't Apple answer the questions that we ask about Logic Pro?

As a Dev I would have thought you would have already been aware of the situation in these User supported communities...

Maybe you should read the terms you agreed to when you signed up. It explains what the forum is for - and indeed, why I read them. You see, if I can help you with your problem I will. Quite happy to. I have a fair track record now at doing just that. However, you're rather too busy with opinions on backing up and all that to actually provide any information that would allow me to help you. So, what I'm really saying is "Your opinions on backing up sound like a childish attempt to hide your embarrassment that you made some bad choices, and none of that s getting you one inch closer to a solution."

Thank you so much!! You saved me. I have been battling with my mac book and the auto sync switching to photo. I have all of my photos in iPhoto and like the way it organizes much better. I did not want to switch. When it forced me to ‘upgrade’ I lost disability and did not know where to retrieve and put library back. Your instructions were awesome and saved me a lot of anxiety. I would have freaked if I lost my digital memory. (over 19k photos!)

If you have any suggestions for better photo program I would appreciate it.

Cheers,

Katrina