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Q: Many black thumbnails iPhoto '11.  What to do ?

iMac Intel Core Duo  2.4 GHz with 4 GB RAM and OS 10.68.  iPhoto has about 5% black thumbnails, most of which , but not all, disclose a picture upon clicking.  Other than backing up the iPhoto Library and following this Apple tech note:  iPhoto 6 and later: Rebuilding the iPhoto library - Apple Support   is there anything to do ?

 

Would you agree that Options 1, 2, & 6 should be checked ?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 24, 2015 12:02 AM

by Terence Devlin,Solvedanswer
Terence Devlin Terence Devlin
Level 10 (139,547 points)
iLife
A:

• 1.  How to get this repaired Library extracted to the internal drive of the other computer ?  Does one transfer the old AND repaired Library, or just transfer the repaired Library ?

 

Drag and drop? No, the rebuilt library is quite independent.

 

• 2. How to prove success ?

 

Look. It's the only way to be sure. But the log looks good.

 

• 3. The original Library listed 32,273 photos.in iPhoto.  Now there are 41,960 photos.  Is this success or duplications ?  If duplicated, what is the best way to remove duplicates ?

 

It could be either. For instance, it might have recovered items you tried to delete but which the other library failed to erase, or there is a chance there might be dupes.

 

Some apps for dealing with duplicates in iPhoto

 

iPhoto Library Manager

 

Duplicate Annihilator

 

Decliner

 

iPhoto Duplicate Cleaner

Posted on Jun 12, 2015 11:16 PM

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Q: Many black thumbnails iPhoto '11.  What to do ?

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 27, 2015 3:01 PM in response to NeedSupportHelp
    Level 10 (106,988 points)
    iCloud
    May 27, 2015 3:01 PM in response to NeedSupportHelp

    What would happen if I simply IMPORT that diseased iPhoto Library from an external drive into a fresh copy of iPhoto on a new internal hard drive ?  Will all the dates and sections be retained ?  Will this import still be diseased ?

    Don't.  When you import one iPhoto Library into another library you will create a mess of duplicates in different sizes - thumbnails, previews, faces icons. It will be tedious to weed out.

     

    Try rebuilding the iPhoto Library with iPhoto Library Manager, as Old Toad recommended.

    The free trial version of iPhoto Library Manager is our swiss army knife for this kind of emergencies - it usually is able to repair  the connections between the original files and the thumbnails if iPhoto cannot do it.

    Download here:   http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/

  • by NeedSupportHelp,

    NeedSupportHelp NeedSupportHelp May 27, 2015 10:44 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 27, 2015 10:44 PM in response to léonie

    Yikes.  Too late.  Almost finished.  BUT I'm doing it on a spare computer and with a second copy of the massive library.  If what you say is true, I'll throw the library away and go through the five iPhoto steps then if needed, that IPLM you two recommend.   Thank you!!!

  • by NeedSupportHelp,

    NeedSupportHelp NeedSupportHelp May 28, 2015 9:18 AM in response to NeedSupportHelp
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 28, 2015 9:18 AM in response to NeedSupportHelp

    The import was a disaster:  After 16 hours and three crashes, only 3,632 photos were imported.  Will now go through the iPhoto repairs on a fresh library.  Is iPhoto a super fragile database?

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad May 28, 2015 9:23 AM in response to NeedSupportHelp
    Level 10 (141,115 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 28, 2015 9:23 AM in response to NeedSupportHelp

    How did you go about getting the old library into the new one?  Normally one can't import an iPhoto library into a Photos library unless that iPhoto library was an iPhoto 6 or earlier library. 

     

    With a Photos library open and you drag an iPhoto library into the open window you get this message:

    Photos002.jpg

     

    If you drag the iPhoto library onto the Photos icon in the Dock you get this message:

    Photos001.jpg

     

    And if you use the File ➙ Import menu option in Photos all of the iPhoto Libraries are grayed out:

    Photos003.jpg 

    BUT, if Photos is not open and you drag an iPhoto Library onto the Photos icon in the Dock Photos will open that library and convert it.

     

    So what did you do. We might be able to salvage the work that has been started.

  • by NeedSupportHelp,

    NeedSupportHelp NeedSupportHelp May 28, 2015 9:45 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 28, 2015 9:45 AM in response to Old Toad

    A copy/duplicate of the original library was on an external drive, and the Mac was booted from a second external drive cloned from the internal drive.  Then launched iPhoto and File --> Import to library.  Took a long time, many crashes, and only 3,000+ photos.  The resultant iPhoto Library is a mere 80 GB, certainly a reduction from the original Library of over 142 GB with more than 32,000 photos.

     

    My thought now is to relocate the untouched library into the picture folder, open iPhoto, then go through the repair routines of iPhoto, then if needed, the application recommended.  A copy of the original iPhoto library is on another hard drive in another room.

     

    But will wait for your educated experienced opinion.

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad May 28, 2015 9:48 AM in response to NeedSupportHelp
    Level 10 (141,115 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 28, 2015 9:48 AM in response to NeedSupportHelp
    My thought now is to relocate copy the untouched library into the picture folder, open iPhoto, then go through the repair routines of iPhoto, then if needed, the application recommended.  A copy of the original iPhoto library is on another hard drive in another room

    A good plan with just one change. Always keep an untouched copy of the library until you're absolutely sure you no longer need it.

  • by NeedSupportHelp,

    NeedSupportHelp NeedSupportHelp May 28, 2015 10:14 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 28, 2015 10:14 AM in response to Old Toad

    Old Toad, remember a copy of the original is on an external hard drive in another room.   So there are two prior intact iPhoto libraries which are untouched.

  • by NeedSupportHelp,

    NeedSupportHelp NeedSupportHelp May 28, 2015 1:51 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 28, 2015 1:51 PM in response to Old Toad

    Old Toad...  this is my neighbors Mac which I took on as a favor because she didn't understand what an Apple genius told her.  Here's a list of what is in her User PICTURES folder.  Looks a mess.

     

    Because this is typing.  the "#" means it is a FOLDER.  The rest are files.

     

    lady.jpg

    iChat icons

    iPhoto Library #

    iPhoto old #

    lady2.jpg

    Photo Booth #

    Pictures #

    Pictures from iPhone #

    t3.jpg

     

    What should be done now ?    Do the iPhoto repair steps ?   Is anything in this original Picture folder in the Users home the cause of the missing/dark thumbnails ?

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad May 28, 2015 2:01 PM in response to NeedSupportHelp
    Level 10 (141,115 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 28, 2015 2:01 PM in response to NeedSupportHelp

    Take screenshot of that Pictures folder with it in the List view mode and post in your reply.  I need to see what the icons are like.

  • by NeedSupportHelp,

    NeedSupportHelp NeedSupportHelp May 28, 2015 6:12 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 28, 2015 6:12 PM in response to Old Toad

    Screen shot 2015-05-28 at 6.08.49 PM.png

     

    The simple jpg files were not captured.  How does this help, and what now do you recommend ?

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad May 29, 2015 8:23 AM in response to NeedSupportHelp
    Level 10 (141,115 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 29, 2015 8:23 AM in response to NeedSupportHelp

    After rereading this entire thread I don't see where you ran the Repair Thumbnails first aid option and whether it worked or not.  Have you?

  • by NeedSupportHelp,

    NeedSupportHelp NeedSupportHelp May 29, 2015 9:37 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 29, 2015 9:37 AM in response to Old Toad

    Yes, under V942.   The V943 update by Software Update keeps indicating an error before installation.  Will look for the manual download, update to 943, and then go through the iPhoto sequences again,  Okay ?

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad May 29, 2015 10:00 AM in response to NeedSupportHelp
    Level 10 (141,115 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 29, 2015 10:00 AM in response to NeedSupportHelp

    Try this link for the manual updater:  iPhoto 9.4.3

  • by NeedSupportHelp,

    NeedSupportHelp NeedSupportHelp May 29, 2015 10:23 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 29, 2015 10:23 AM in response to Old Toad

    Thank youi, OT.

     

    New issue.  I'm booting from a 2TB external drive cloned from the internal drive, so there's more room than the smaller internal drive.  When launching iPhoto from the external drive, cannot get it to recognize the defective iPhoto Library to do the repairs.  In the User folder in Pictures the unique iPhoto Library icon is indeed there.  Even when double clicking on that 27.4 GB Library it doesn't cause load in to iPhoto.  Picture folder is 304.75 GB.

     

    Help !  What to do ?

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad May 29, 2015 10:26 AM in response to NeedSupportHelp
    Level 10 (141,115 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 29, 2015 10:26 AM in response to NeedSupportHelp

    When you launch iPhoto with the Option key held down is the problem library displayed in the window?

    iPhoto001.jpg

     

    If you can't open it with iPhoto and iPhoto Library Manager can't fix it your last option is this:

     

    Starting over from scratch with new library

     

    Start over with a new library and import the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from your original library as follows:

     

    1. Open the library package like this.

     

    open.PNG

     

     

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

     

    3. Drag the subfolders of the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the open iPhoto Library package into the open iPhoto window a few at a time.

     

    iPhotolibcontents.PNG

     

     

    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.

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