Q: Opening Photos first time from iPhoto on external drive - Please help!!

I've got a very similar problem. My iPhoto library is stored on a second internal HDD, due to its size and is the library used for iCloud. I wasn't given the option to select this library when I opened Photos for the first time. Trying to select the iPhoto library when opening Photos with the option key, my iPhoto library was greyed out and not selectable. I tried to use the Library Updater app available from the Apple website, but was informed my library was already up to date (which I already knew as my version of iPhoto is up to date).

I can't import my iPhoto library either, as the library is greyed out when attempting to select it. iPhoto continues to work as before and does not need repairing or anything. I've moved the Photos library onto the same HDD as my iPhoto library. Both Photos and iPhoto work fine, but I still can't import from or use my iPhoto library in Photos. My only options seem to be either manually importing the photos event-by-event and then recreating all the metadata (no way) or somehow conning Photos into believing that my iPhoto library is a valid source.

iMac 27 inch Mid 2011

3.4GHz i7, 16GB DDR3

OS 10.10.3, iPhoto 9.6.1, Photos 1.0

What format is the disk? How are you connected to it?

It's an internal HDD, so it's connected the same way any other internal HDD is connected - directly into the motherboard. It's formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Edit: the disk in question has three partitions - two are Bootcamp partitions formatted as NTFS, and the other is the Mac OS Extended (Journaled). The Library itself is, of course, on the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) partition, and nothing OS X related is on either of the Bootcamp partitions.

Referring here to the iPhoto 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

find the photo library file on your Mac and delete it ...

It's called 'Photo Library.xxx' cant recall what xxx is since mine is rebuilding...

empty your trash to make sure it goes away - no idea if you need to or not but I did

Then just start Photo and it should ask you where your Iphoto album is and you can select it.. mine too is on an ext HDD ..

As I mentioned in the OP, the iPhoto library itself is perfectly fine. iPhoto Library Manager indicated it did not need repairing or rebuilding.

I have a potential hack, which I'm attempting at the moment - appending the iPhoto library with the .photoslibrary file name in Finder allows me to select it as the library to open when starting Photos with the option key (and changes the icon of the iPhoto Library to that of a Photos Library). Photos is currently "preparing library" - it's moving very slowly (as to be expected with a large library) but should hopefully be working.

Don't consider this a fix though, because I have no idea whether it's upgrading my iPhoto library to a Photos library or just completely screwing it up

@Gkinghrn - that's not a fix, as my iPhoto library is not considered a valid file to open by the Photos app. All deleting the Photos library does is equivalent to opening Photos with the option key held down.

Just telling you the way I did it that worked after having similar problems to you .. I didn't say it was the fix but it did help me ...

i initally saw it in the ~username/pictures directory  , thereafter i noticed a version on my external HDD drive as well ... try Spotlight and see if it can find it?

Just an update: for my issue (not being able to open iPhoto library with Photos), the fudge I did worked out alright. If anyone else gets the same problem (on the off-chance), here's a fix:

Locate your iPhoto library, which will be a package file. It defaults to being in your Photos folder, although you may have moved it

Right click on the package and select "get info"

Give the file the extension .photoslibrary

Hence if your iPhoto library is called iPhoto Library (which is the default), it should now read iPhoto Library.photoslibrary underneath "Name & Extension"

You should get a warning asking if you want to change the file extension - select okay

Open the Photos application, holding down the function key (either ⌥ or Alt)

Select the photo library you've just created

Let Photos do its thing

Note: Photos takes what feels like an age to upgrade an iPhoto library into a Photos library. It will appear to hang several times and you may even think its crashed. It probably hasn't - it's just very very slow. Sometimes it speeds up though too. My library took about 4 hours to upgrade, though I'm sure it could take a dozen hours if your library is big enough. The best thing to do is just to close down any unnecessary applications, switch off the wifi, turn off all the energy saver settings and just leave it to do its thing.

@perallin are you able to connect the external drive by USB or something similar?

Hello perallin & lumpygumbo,

A while ago I moved my iPhoto Library to an external disk.

When installing Yosemite 10.10.3 and Photos 1.0 the latter one opened an empty library on my boot disk. I guess this must be standard.

I proceeded with a right click and choosing opening with option onto the iPhoto library on my external disk and chose to open with Photos.

It took quiet a while to 'tansform' the library for Photos but it finished.

iPhoto does not seem to affected and Photo does seem to be working with the original library.

I say seem because modifications made to photos with Photos does not reflect in iPhoto. I guess that I will have to understand how both do interact with the library.

Hoping this tip might help...

iMac early 2008 now running Yosemite 10.10.3.

The iPhoto and Photos library are two separate entities. They can both reference the same photos but the edits you make in Photos will not show up in iPhoto and vice versa. I found this Apple document helpful in understanding what's going on:

Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support