G.Lenn

Q: Photos for Mac, stuck on "updating" trying to upload to iCloud Photos Library

Hardware

  • Late 2013 MacBook Pro Retina
  • 2.6 GHz Intel Core i5
  • 8GB RAM
  • Intel Iris Graphics

 

Software

  • Yosemite 10.10.3
  • Photos (latest release that is on Mac Appstore as of 2015-04-10)

 

Problem

Uploading status of Photos to iCloud Photo Library seems to be stuck at "Updating".  No change of progress bar despite hooking up my Mac through wired ethernet for 24 hours.

 

I've tried turning off Photos in iCloud settings and then turning them back on.  Restting, shutting down, all that stuff.  No photos are populating on my iCloud Photo Library from my Mac as far as I can tell.  Not even 1.

 

My Upgrade Process

  • Downloaded Photos Update
  • OPTION + CMD opened Photos app
  • Selected my iPhoto Library on an external USB 3.0 drive
  • Photos started converting the library

 

Photos library finished converting

  • I then tried to enable iCloud Photos Library, but it advised that only the System Photos Library can be used with iCloud.
  • I then changed my System Photos Library to the one on my harddrive.
  • I now am able to successfully enable iCloud Photos Library on the Photos App.

 

Again the problem I am having is that the uploading status seems to be forever stuck at "Updating" in the Photos App.

Anyone with similar problems?  Anyone found a fix / work around?

 

 

Supporting Screenshots

 

iCloud Settings in Photos App

Screen Shot 2015-04-10 at 11.13.19 AM.png

iCloud Settings in System Preferences

Screen Shot 2015-04-10 at 11.31.30 AM.pngScreen Shot 2015-04-10 at 11.32.01 AM.png

 

System Prefs > iCloud > Options Pane

Posted on Apr 10, 2015 8:39 AM

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Q: Photos for Mac, stuck on "updating" trying to upload to iCloud Photos Library

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  • by chadfromlymington,

    chadfromlymington chadfromlymington Apr 17, 2015 2:05 AM in response to G.Lenn
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 2:05 AM in response to G.Lenn

    10.10.4 Yosemite Beta was seeded yesterday. I'm not a developer so can't open it but there's a Photos.app update within  - lets hope there's a fix for this issue.
    Screen Shot 2015-04-16 at 22.25.49.png

  • by Retiredtaxman64,

    Retiredtaxman64 Retiredtaxman64 Apr 17, 2015 7:51 AM in response to koocmj
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 7:51 AM in response to koocmj

    Its not that you are a Mac newbie.   I'm a old **** that has been with Apple since one of the first Apple II's and was an early 1984 Mac guy.  I know how to use the computer and this one has gotten to me.    I think I'll give it six months and try again.   It doesn't pay to be an early adopter, I think.  The new Photos software seems like a good replacement for iPhoto on a stand alone basis.   Its the Cloud that isn't ready for prime-time.

  • by jschwietert,

    jschwietert jschwietert Apr 17, 2015 9:03 AM in response to G.Lenn
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 9:03 AM in response to G.Lenn

    Hi all, i had the issue where the Photo's iCloud status said "Updating..." constantly. At one point I restarted and it looks like it uploaded 50 images and then another 10...but it hung on the 10 stating "Updating 10 items". Yesterday I rebuilt my Photo library, then restarted my laptop, then opened Photos and it still had iCloud Library checked. It automatically started "Preparing 16972 items". That worried me because I already had 16,952 photos+videos in iCloud and didn't want it to duplicate anything. However, once it started "Updating 16972 items" it never ended up duplicating anything - so even after a rebuild it appears to correctly identify existing items in iCloud. I also checked to make sure my metadata was ok after the rebuild: photos that i had manually rotated are still rotated correctly and location data is still present. I left it overnight and it looks like everything is synced up (Photos says its "Updated just now", & changes reflect everywhere) and the number of items is the same between my Macbook Pro/iPhone 6/iCloud.

     

    I believe in my case the library was almost completely updated before it hung and stopped working. The iCloud storage taken up by photos went from 58.25GB yesterday before i rebuilt to 58.31GB this morning after everything is updated.

     

    Just wanted to pass this on in case it helped anyone.

  • by yendoggy,

    yendoggy yendoggy Apr 17, 2015 10:26 AM in response to G.Lenn
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 17, 2015 10:26 AM in response to G.Lenn

    Yup... FAIL.  I upgraded a couple of days ago just to see if it was worth my $10 a month... wouldnt upload anything... didn't matter what I did... I just downgraded to my free again...

     

    I'll keep an eye out and see if it ever actually works then maybe try again, but apple is going to lose a lot of business it could have potentially had by people that will just abandon it and never go back....

     

    lame.

  • by Retiredtaxman64,

    Retiredtaxman64 Retiredtaxman64 Apr 17, 2015 11:02 AM in response to yendoggy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 11:02 AM in response to yendoggy

    Maybe this snafu is a blessing in disguise, at least for me.  Its making me question whether I actually need this.   I take too many pictures already.   When I look through them I find so many that I wonder why I took them and why I keep them.   I'm not sure being able to keep them synchronized in lots of places adds much value actually.   

  • by koocmj,

    koocmj koocmj Apr 17, 2015 11:11 AM in response to Retiredtaxman64
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 11:11 AM in response to Retiredtaxman64

    I Have a funny feeling you are right!  Maybe it's just something we don't need. Managed all these years without!

  • by tunold,Helpful

    tunold tunold Apr 18, 2015 12:48 AM in response to koocmj
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apr 18, 2015 12:48 AM in response to koocmj

    Ok this is what finally got me out of the "Updating..." situation:

     

    • In Finder, press Shift-Command-G.
    • Type in: ~/Library/Caches/CloudKit.
    • When it eventually loads, move CloudKitMetadata, CloudKitMetadata-shm, and CloudKitMetadata-wal to the Trash.


    Alternatively, open Terminal (it’s in /Applications/Utilities), and enter:

    rm ~/Library/Caches/CloudKit/CloudKitMetadata*

     

    I had noticed that Finder performance had also taken a hit, so I came over this solution by Adam D to solve that, which incidentally also took care of my "Updating..." problem.

  • by Skalp,

    Skalp Skalp Apr 18, 2015 1:52 AM in response to tunold
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 18, 2015 1:52 AM in response to tunold

    Thank you, this worked for me. It now went from "updating" to "preparing 1090 objects".

    (don´t know why its only preparing 1090 because my library has 25000 photos, and only 15000 has been uploaded to iCloud before it got stuck on "updating". Maybe its preparing the videos before the photos?

  • by jmrtexcol,

    jmrtexcol jmrtexcol Apr 18, 2015 5:13 AM in response to tunold
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 18, 2015 5:13 AM in response to tunold

    tunold wrote:

     

    Ok this is what finally got me out of the "Updating..." situation:

     

    • In Finder, press Shift-Command-G.
    • Type in: ~/Library/Caches/CloudKit.
    • When it eventually loads, move CloudKitMetadata, CloudKitMetadata-shm, and CloudKitMetadata-wal to the Trash.


    Alternatively, open Terminal (it’s in /Applications/Utilities), and enter:

    rm ~/Library/Caches/CloudKit/CloudKitMetadata*

     

    I had noticed that Finder performance had also taken a hit, so I came over this solution by Adam D to solve that, which incidentally also took care of my "Updating..." problem.

    Thanks tunold.  I tried the Terminal option and typed what you wrote.  Do I just press enter and wait or do I restart the iMac?

     

    Tried first option too but when CloudKit opened, the Metadata folders you mentioned did not show up.  Any thoughts on that?

  • by sunsear,

    sunsear sunsear Apr 18, 2015 5:38 AM in response to tunold
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 18, 2015 5:38 AM in response to tunold

    tunold wrote:

     

    Ok this is what finally got me out of the "Updating..." situation:

     

    • In Finder, press Shift-Command-G.
    • Type in: ~/Library/Caches/CloudKit.
    • When it eventually loads, move CloudKitMetadata, CloudKitMetadata-shm, and CloudKitMetadata-wal to the Trash.


    Alternatively, open Terminal (it’s in /Applications/Utilities), and enter:

    rm ~/Library/Caches/CloudKit/CloudKitMetadata*

     

    I had noticed that Finder performance had also taken a hit, so I came over this solution by Adam D to solve that, which incidentally also took care of my "Updating..." problem.

    I'm a little bit afraid of what this will do to a library that was partially uploaded like mine. I can imagine this giving all sorts of conflicts. Any thoughts on that?

  • by jmrtexcol,

    jmrtexcol jmrtexcol Apr 18, 2015 5:43 AM in response to sunsear
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 18, 2015 5:43 AM in response to sunsear

    sunsear....I am not sure but I tried what he suggested.  In the last 35 minutes my iMac uploaded 150 pictures which is MUCH better than anything I have seen since I began this frustrating process.  If I can keep this upload rate going it will upload about 7,000 pictures in 24 hours.  In the last 6 days I have only been able to upload 2,500

  • by Raffibeutler,

    Raffibeutler Raffibeutler Apr 18, 2015 5:53 AM in response to lucianf0
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 18, 2015 5:53 AM in response to lucianf0

    Great Hint it works for me.

  • by koocmj,

    koocmj koocmj Apr 18, 2015 6:18 AM in response to Raffibeutler
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Apr 18, 2015 6:18 AM in response to Raffibeutler

    I Was very hopeful too.  Left the Mac uploading and it seemed to rattle through nicely, uploading about 400 photos in about an hour and a half.

     

    it has hung at exactly the same place as before.  Not sure why.  Of those it uploaded there are photos taken and put in from various sources. I cannot see any common thread. 

     

    unfortunately i must have a different bug to this one.  I had also turned iCloud Photo Library off on all devices, deleted everything from the iCloud photo webs and started again.

     

    am  going to give this up as a bad job.  Apple seem to be very bad at releasing functioning software.  Not sure one isn't better with Microsoft.  At least there you expect it to be rubbish and everything is way cheaper!

  • by tunold,

    tunold tunold Apr 18, 2015 4:25 PM in response to Skalp
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apr 18, 2015 4:25 PM in response to Skalp

    Skalp wrote:

     

    Thank you, this worked for me. It now went from "updating" to "preparing 1090 objects".

    (don´t know why its only preparing 1090 because my library has 25000 photos, and only 15000 has been uploaded to iCloud before it got stuck on "updating". Maybe its preparing the videos before the photos?

    Glad to hear it worked for you as well.

     

    To your question - could it be that you like me and migrating from Aperture library with referenced files? You will need to "consolidate" referenced files into the Photo Library if you want them to be uploaded to the iCloud Photo Library.


    This is not really an option for those of us who have referenced files on an external hard drive and the library on the internal drive. I really hope they allow upload of referenced files to iCloud Photo Library sooner rather than later. Do send Apple feedback if you (like me) would like this feature!

  • by paulfuller75,

    paulfuller75 paulfuller75 Apr 18, 2015 5:54 PM in response to G.Lenn
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 18, 2015 5:54 PM in response to G.Lenn

    Anyone get this message when they open their Photo Library from the Finder? I am fine opening the library through the Photos app. I have tried rebuilding but this message (and the uploading problem persists). I have also tried creating a whole new library (migrating from iPhoto) which produces exactly the same problem. Might be another clue that helps us track down what is causing this problem.

     

    Screen Shot 2015-04-19 at 8.08.26 am.png

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