The photo library needs to be upgraded to work with this version of iPhoto

Question

highvaleshed Author

Level 1

0 points

The photo library needs to be upgraded to work with this version of iPhoto

Hi, I transferred my iPhoto library to an external hard drive, checked and double checked it was there on HD.

Now when I open iPhoto library from HD, or by opening iPhoto by icon, the file says zero bytes! on file.

Message says

"The photo library needs to be upgraded to work with this version of iPhoto.

Your photo library will not be readable by previous versions of iPhoto after the upgrade. The upgrade process for very large libraries may take an hour or more to complete."

What has happened? will the upgrade be ok for my photos? don't know what it needs by "previous versions"

all I did was transfer iPhoto, why do they make it so hard?

MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2013), OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Jul 3, 2015 6:05 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,314 points

Jul 3, 2015 6:27 AM in response to highvaleshed

How did you transfer? What format is the external and how are you connected to it?

Reply

Answer 2

highvaleshed Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 3, 2015 7:18 AM in response to Yer_Man

Hi Terence,

I did many google searches and found similar ways to transfer the iPhoto library to an external HD. I found that the HD had read only (don't know why as I have used it many times for photos. I found that Paragon NTFS would help this -it did.

I managed to transfer the iPhoto library to the HD (is a WD My passport), checked and double checked that photos were on the HD, not just still in iPhoto, all seemed ok. When I went back to open iPhoto the HD iPhoto library file says "zero bytes" and the following

"The photo library needs to be upgraded to work with this version of iPhoto.

Your photo library will not be readable by previous versions of iPhoto after the upgrade. The upgrade process for very large libraries may take an hour or more to complete." Don't really know what that means, will I still be able to access my photos? I am now looking into recovering my deleted files. All this was to free up some space, why so hard for such a simple exercise!

Hope that is enough info.

Cheers

Reply

Answer 3

highvaleshed Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 3, 2015 7:22 AM in response to highvaleshed

Hi Terence,

Forgot to add, HD is connected by USB, the transfer was just dragging the iPhoto library file to the HD icon, as recommended. I think i formatted the HD Mac and Windows half/half, was a while ago. I am not an expert, however get by. Kids are still too young to be the family experts!!

Cheers

Reply

Answer 4

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Jul 3, 2015 7:47 AM in response to highvaleshed

The iPhoto library must be on a volume formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) - until we verify this nothing else can be done - what format is the volume the iPhoto library is on? In the finder select it and get info - that info window contains the format

LN

Reply

Answer 5

highvaleshed Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 3, 2015 8:00 AM in response to LarryHN

Hi Larry,

Not sure if i have it correct.

Opened HD, highlighted "iPhoto library"

opened FILE, selected Get Info.

Is that correct?

If yes, will copy info.

Am on family holiday and loosing photos would be awful, any help appreciated.

Cheers

Reply

Answer 6

highvaleshed Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 3, 2015 8:06 AM in response to highvaleshed

Hi Larry,

Ok selected My Passport HD,

then Get info from there.

Format say, Windows NT filesystem.

I have used/saved photos before on this HD, why the problem now!

Reply

Answer 7

léonie

Level 10

194,761 points

Jul 3, 2015 8:17 AM in response to highvaleshed

Format say, Windows NT filesystem.

I have used/saved photos before on this HD, why the problem now!

You can save photos on a drive with this file system or documents, but not photo libraries.

They should be on a drive formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled).

As described here: Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture

The same holds for iPhoto Libraries. "iPhoto libraries should be stored on a locally mounted Mac OS X Extended drive for best performance.", see: "iPhoto: Issues with FAT32-formatted drives - Apple Support"

Move your library to a different drive, and any other documents you need to save, then reformat the drive.

"Why the problem now"?

Older iPhoto versions did not check the external drives for compatibility, causing plenty of problems. The newer iPhoto versions do check the drives to prevent you from storing the libraries on drives, where the library could become corrupted.

Reply

Answer 8

highvaleshed Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 3, 2015 8:35 AM in response to léonie

Hi Leone,

Ok, still find it a bit confusing, I tried to drag iPhoto library back to the Mac hd icon, wouldn't let me do it!

So how do I move the library to a Mac drive?

Have I lost my photos in the library?

Why did I see and access my photos before on the HD, knowing it was not the Mac HD, can they be somewhere else?

Reply

Answer 9

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,314 points

Jul 3, 2015 9:04 AM in response to highvaleshed

tried to drag iPhoto library back to the Mac hd icon, wouldn't let me do it!

Don't drag it to the HD icon, drag it to the Pictures Folder.

Reply

Answer 10

highvaleshed Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 3, 2015 9:23 AM in response to Yer_Man

Hi Terence,

Tried that, get an Error-code 36,

What if I do the UPGRADE, what would happen?

Reply

Answer 11

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Jul 3, 2015 9:33 AM in response to highvaleshed

Ok selected My Passport HD,

then Get info from there.

Format say, Windows NT filesystem.

that is the problem since

The iPhoto library must be on a volume formatted Mac OS extended (journaled)

It will not work on a PC format

as to

Tried that, get an Error-code 36,

You can try cloning it across using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner

Or you can try (I have not way to test since I do not use Windows formatted Drives) right clicking on the library on the external drive and compressing it - dragging the compressed file to you pictures folder and hen decompressing

LN

Reply

Answer 12

léonie

Level 10

194,761 points

Jul 3, 2015 10:17 AM in response to highvaleshed

Tried that, get an Error-code 36,

What if I do the UPGRADE, what would happen?

Upgrading will not help. Error -36 is an i/O error. One or more files in your library cannot be copied. And that is typical for copying between different filesystems, because the different formatting canmake filenames ambigious.

Compressing the library on your external drive and copying the zipped file as Larry suggested will take care of that, but you will need plenty of free storage on your system drive, so you can uncompress the library again.

Reply