Exclamation Point while importing photos into my iphoto

Question

Level 1

0 points

Exclamation Point while importing photos into my iphoto

Hello,

I have just bought a new mac using the YOS operating system.

I had a Mac mini using snow leopard and had about 20 thousand pictures in my iPhoto file that I wanted to move to my new mac.

I have my iPhoto library on an external drive and tried to open it from there.

The computer said I had to update the files. I said yes.

It made all the events from my old library. It says there are a number of photos in each event. When i open the folder there are just empty squares. I click on them a exclamation point comes up.

I have repaired the file by pushing the command and alt keys and then I rebuilt the file the same way.

I have had no luck getting to see my pictures.

Any other advice?

MacBook Pro, iOS 8.1.3

Posted on Mar 4, 2015 11:39 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,320 points

Mar 4, 2015 11:52 AM in response to breyerfrk

It means that iPhoto has lost the link to the original files.

What format is the external. It needs to be formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Download iPhoto Library Managerand 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.

Reply

Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

194,785 points

Mar 4, 2015 11:53 AM in response to breyerfrk

I have just bought a new mac using the YOS operating system.

Did iPhoto crash during the update of the library to iPhoto 9.6?

Then ctrl-click or right click the iPhoto Library and use the option "Show Package Contents". In the Finder window that opens look for folders with "Old" in the name. Do you see folders "Old Masters"?

If yes, then you are having a problem with a terrible bug, that corrupts iPhoto Libraries.

See this discussion: Re: Yosemite, iPhoto 9.6 upgrade, large photo library is not recognised.

Reply