Alexthegreath

Q: Photos can't repair library

Hi. So recently I had to erase and restore my MacBook Air disk. I erased it, reinstalled OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, and restored the disk from a Time Machine backup. Everything was back to normal and working except my Photos Library. Before the erase and restoring, it did work correctly. Now, when I go on it, it says "The library "Photos Library.photoslibrary" has inconsistencies that must be repaired." I allow it to try and repair the library, but it doesn't work. It just says the library could not be opened. It attempted to repair it but wasn't able to. I'm not sure how to fix it.

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on May 31, 2015 1:43 AM

Close

Q: Photos can't repair library

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 31, 2015 3:56 AM in response to Alexthegreath
    Level 10 (107,827 points)
    iCloud
    May 31, 2015 3:56 AM in response to Alexthegreath
    reinstalled OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, and restored the disk from a Time Machine backup.

    How did you do this?  Did you use the Setup Assistant directly after reinstalling to migrate everything, or did you first set up the Mac and then used Migration Assistant to restore everything?

     

    If you used Migration Assistant, there may be problems with the Access Rights to your Home folder and you may need to repair the access rights.

  • by Alexthegreath ,

    Alexthegreath Alexthegreath May 31, 2015 8:29 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 31, 2015 8:29 AM in response to léonie

    I erased the disk, reinstalled the OS, and used time machine to restore without ever leaving Recovery Mode. So I used the Setup Assistant right after reinstalling the OS.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 31, 2015 11:00 AM in response to Alexthegreath
    Level 10 (107,827 points)
    iCloud
    May 31, 2015 11:00 AM in response to Alexthegreath

    Did you ever run Time Machine, when the Photos.app was closed?

    The Photos Library may never have been completely backed up, if Photos has always been running when Time Machine was making the backup.

     

    Did  you sync your Photos Library with iCloud Photo Library?  Then you could restore the Photos Library  by creating a new, empty Photos library, enabling it a sSystem Phoo library, and enable iCloud Photo Library. This library should then start to download from iCloud and restore your library.

     

    You could also try to restore an earlier version of your Photos library by opening Time Machine and going back a bit further in time. Perhaps a slightly older version of the library may not have the issues that are preventing Photos from opening it.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 31, 2015 11:45 AM in response to léonie
    Level 10 (107,827 points)
    iCloud
    May 31, 2015 11:45 AM in response to léonie

    Just a caution:  restoring your Photos Library from iCloud will have a drawback:   iCloud does not store the Faces tags and the products like books, calendars, cards, slideshows. These items will not be restored from iCloud Photo Library.

    See:  Use Photos and iCloud Photo Library on multiple Mac computers - Apple Support

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad May 31, 2015 12:02 PM in response to Alexthegreath
    Level 10 (141,304 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 31, 2015 12:02 PM in response to Alexthegreath

    Did you try to repair the library by launching Photos with the Option+Command keys held down?

    OTsig.png

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 31, 2015 12:18 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 10 (107,827 points)
    iCloud
    May 31, 2015 12:18 PM in response to Old Toad
    Did you try to repair the library by launching Photos with the Option+Command keys held down?

    That is what the original post suggests, OT:

    It attempted to repair it but wasn't able to. I'm not sure how to fix it.

    I wish we knew, what the "Repair" mode in Photos is doing, and how it compares to the rebuild, repair options in iPhoto or Aperture. Does it repair the permissions? Repair the databases? Rebuild the library?

    Have you come across any documentation?

     

    The library first aid tools in iPhoto seem to be superior. In quite a few cases it helped to repair/rebuild the original library in iPhoto and then migrate the resulting library to Photos again.

  • by Alexthegreath ,

    Alexthegreath Alexthegreath May 31, 2015 12:18 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 31, 2015 12:18 PM in response to Old Toad

    Old Toad wrote:

     

    Did you try to repair the library by launching Photos with the Option+Command keys held down?

    OTsig.png

    I did try this and it didn't work. I use iCloud Photo Library but I really don't want to lose the faces that I saved. I've done a lot and through thousands of pictures. Is there any way I can save it without losing the faces?

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 31, 2015 12:23 PM in response to Alexthegreath
    Level 10 (107,827 points)
    iCloud
    May 31, 2015 12:23 PM in response to Alexthegreath
    Is there any way I can save it without losing the faces?

    How about my second suggestion to restore your Photos library from a different Time Machine backup, if you go a little further back in time ? Would you lose many recent imports this way?

  • by Alexthegreath ,

    Alexthegreath Alexthegreath May 31, 2015 12:33 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 31, 2015 12:33 PM in response to léonie

    I tried this and it said the Library could not be opened because it was not recognized.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 31, 2015 1:23 PM in response to Alexthegreath
    Level 10 (107,827 points)
    iCloud
    May 31, 2015 1:23 PM in response to Alexthegreath

    Is the size of your restored library the same as the original size? Can it be complete?

     

    Have a look at this discussion:   https://discussions.apple.com/message/28309577?ac_cid=tw123456#28309577

     

    If your Photos library is a migrated iPhoto Library try to restore the iPhoto Library as well and then restart the Mac.

  • by threefour,

    threefour threefour Sep 30, 2016 9:00 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 30, 2016 9:00 AM in response to Old Toad

    Thank you! This worked for me.