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iPhoto was rebuilding library and MacBook crashed

A couple days ago iPhoto reported there was an update. So, I usually just accept and have it update the program. This went smooth. But when iPhoto re-launched, it reported it needs to "rebuild the library" -- so, I said, "OK".


Problem happened when I guess the operation utilized all the RAM assailable and paused all the other programs active at that time; all of them. So, I force closed them all except iPhoto; hoping it would complete its operation.


But then it reported "Not Responding"


After a long while, I just re-booted (needed to do a hard-reboot by holding down the power button). I guessed this may not be ideal but the computer was completely a brick at that point.


When I rebooted, iPhoto was updated but the library was completely empty.


I found my entire library, in tact, in a folder called, "Old Masters" and "Old Previews."


Question is: how do I get these back into iPhoto the best way possible (i.e. without having to re-drag over 300GB of images back into iPhoto)???


Any help would be very much appreciated!

Chris

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Mar 3, 2015 6:46 AM

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2 replies

Mar 3, 2015 9:49 AM in response to Chris in NY

I found my entire library, in tact, in a folder called, "Old Masters" and "Old Previews."


You've been bitten by a known bug in iPhoto 9.6. There is no formal fix for it but a user zaxe got instructions from Apple Support that worked for him. Check out his post in this topic: Yosemite, iPhoto 9.6 upgrade, large photo library is not recognised.


If that doesn't work you can do the following:


Starting over from scratch with new library


Start over with a new library and import the the Masters or Old Masters (iPhoto 11) folder (whichever has your image files or both) from your original library as follows:


1. Open the library package like this.


User uploaded file



2. Launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.


3. Drag the subfoldersr the Masters/Old Masters folder from the open iPhoto Library package into the open iPhoto window a few at a time.


User uploaded file



This will create a new library with the same Events (but not necessarily the same Event names) as the original library but will not keep the metadata, albums, books slideshows and other projects.


Note: your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.

User uploaded file

iPhoto was rebuilding library and MacBook crashed

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