iPhoto could read my iPhoto Library stored on NTFS drive, why can't Photos?

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Level 1

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iPhoto could read my iPhoto Library stored on NTFS drive, why can't Photos?

This makes no sense to me. I'm running Yosemite 10.10.3 on 15in MB Pro. Just got the update which includes the "Photos" app instead of iPhoto.

The "old" iPhoto could read my iPhoto library which is stored on an NTFS formatted drive. Why can't Photos?

Am I missing something?

I just get the ERROR message and directed to this page - If Photos can't upgrade your library because it's on an unsupported disk volume - Apple Support (which is COMPLETELY UNHELPFUL)

So I now have an 80GB iPhoto Library sitting on my NTFS formatted drive (which is exactly where I want it) and Im just supposed to copy it to my MB Pro's internal drive??? That would take about 2 days, literally! Not to mention bogging down my Pro and making it impossible to carry my external drive to other computers where I edit.

What do I do?

Go out and buy another "volume that your Mac can write to?" ??

Thanks for the sweet update Apple...not.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Apr 25, 2015 11:11 AM

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Answer 1

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Apr 25, 2015 11:33 AM in response to boofwyoming

You were lucky - your luck has run out - iPhoto (and Photos and Aperture) have always required that the library be on a volume formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) - if it is not many problems including total lack of access occur - Newer versions of iPhoto and Photos check the format to avoid these random problems - you need to have the library on a properly formatted volume

LN

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

195,053 points

Apr 25, 2015 11:35 AM in response to boofwyoming

The "old" iPhoto could read my iPhoto library which is stored on an NTFS formatted drive. Why can't Photos?

Am I missing something?

You have been lucky previously. An iPhoto Library on an NTFS volume has never been supported. But previous versions did not check the formatting of the drive.

Not to mention bogging down my Pro and making it impossible to carry my external drive to other computers where I edit.

Get yourself another external drive to use with Photos libraries and fomat it MacOS Extended (Journaled), then move your iPhoto Library there.

See: Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture (the sam goes for iPhoto, since both applications are using the same library format)

The Photos Help states explicitly (https://help.apple.com/photos/mac/1.0/?lang=en#/pht211de786):

By default, your System Photo Library is stored in the Pictures folder on your Mac, but you can move it to another location on your Mac or store it on an external storage device. However, to use iCloud services, the external storage device must be formatted using Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format, also known as HFS+.

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