This is the second time it is happening to me that the masters stored in the Aperture library disappear (I get the small yellow triangle). I am dead certain I did not touch them in months but still they are gone.
Does anyone know what could have caused it, so I can avoid it happening again? Would it be safer to keep the masters outside of Aperture rather than importing them?
Thanks
Aperture 3, Mac OS X (10.7.4)
I am dead certain I did not touch them in months but still they are gone.
Where is your Aperture library stored? Is it on an external drive or in your Pictures folder?
Is there anything special about the missing originals? Have they been edited in an external editor?
Have you been running any cleaning applications, like CleanMy Mac ?
Where is your Aperture library stored? Is it on an external drive or in your Pictures folder?
I recently move it from the Pictures folder into a Shared folder but I am not sure if the masters went missing before or after. All I did was to drag and drop the Aperture Library from one folder to the other.
Is there anything special about the missing originals? Have they been edited in an external editor?
No, there is nothing unusual. Also, it didn't happen to all masters of that project. Only some.
Have you been running any cleaning applications, like CleanMy Mac ?
I think I did run a cleaning application called CCleaner but why would that go into the Aperture Library and selectively delete files? There is nothing in the options of that application that either points to Aperture or any Libraries.
All very puzzling and very frustrating.
Thanks
I recently move it from the Pictures folder into a Shared folder but I am not sure if the masters went missing before or after. All I did was to drag and drop the Aperture Library from one folder to the other.
Did you move the library to the shared folder to be able to use it from a different user account? Sharing an Aperture library in a Shared folder between different accounts does not work. If you open the library from a different account this will result in permission problems and files may be considered offline or missing. And if the Shared folder is synced between different computers, the references in the library can become broken and files missing.
Yes, it was the idea to allow all users on the computer to access the library. It is not documented anywhere that you cannot do that.
Also, I was talking about referenced files but just realised I used the wrong terminology. All my masters are stored in the library so actually they are managed rather then referenced. Does that make any difference to what you said? There are no links to external files (references) to worry about but still somehow some masters appear to have disappeared from the library. Could that also have been caused by moving the library and another user opening it? Is there any way of recovering the lost masters?
I am now trying to relocate the masters to move them out of the library but encountered another strange issue. Aperture is telling me that I don't have permissions to write into the folder. I checked the permissions and that is not true - I can read & write plus I am the admin anyway. What is the problem here?
I am starting to get rather frustrated with Aperture.
Aperture and iPhoto are sharing the same library format. Aperture is like iphoto a single user application. When I use Aperture from one user account, I cannot launch it from a different account:
For iPhoto is documented, what will happen, if two users are using the same library. The same goes for Aperture. See:
iPhoto: Sharing libraries among multiple users
Important: If two or more users attempt to use the same iPhoto library and the library is not on a volume where permissions are ignored, unexpected results may occur. This includes the inability to see or edit certain photos, or the inability to open the iPhoto library. Follow the steps below to ensure each user has read/write access to the iPhoto Library.
.....
Keep in mind that while one user is viewing this library from iPhoto, another user will not be able to open this library at the same time. Instead, the following alert message appears indicating that the library is already in use. You'll need to quit iPhoto from the other user account before the next user will be able to view or edit this library.
Could that also have been caused by moving the library and another user opening it? Is there any way of recovering the lost masters?
That is exactly what can happen, when another user is opening the library and the library is not on a volume where permissions are ignored.
If you accessed the Aperture library from a different user account, repair the permissions with Aperture's Library First Aid Tools as described here: Repairing and Rebuilding Your Aperture Library: Aperture 3 User Manual
I am now trying to relocate the masters to move them out of the library but encountered another strange issue. Aperture is telling me that I don't have permissions to write into the folder.
Where is this folder?
And have you by any chance enabled "File Vault" in the security System preferences?
Yes, I did notice that it isn't possible to open the library by two users at the same time. There wouldn't have been an issue with concurrent use and thus conflicts. But two different users accessed the library, one after the other. Could that have caused issues?
I did not yet deliberately repair the database but on opening Aperture it happened a couple of times that it started repairing it anyway. Can that delete managed masters? Should I repair the permissions in addition?
Not sure any of that is going to help since I checked in the Aperture Library package itself and went into the Masters folder. The missing originals are not there, so it is not a case of a broken reference but these files appear to be missing physically and I don't understand how they could have disappeared without me actively deleting them. It is a bit shocking that this can happen and does't give me a lot of confidence into Aperture.
Hence I am now trying to relocate out the masters so at least I can easily see them. Currently library is still being repaired but will try again afterwards to perform the relocation. Hopefully no permissioning issues after that. That certainly wasn't connected with target folder as I do have all the write permissions. No file vault is enabled.
Next thing I might try is to move back the Aperture Library to where it was before. Would that make any difference?
But two different users accessed the library, one after the other. Could that have caused issues?
Yes, because accessing the library will change the file ownership of the internal database files to the user account of the user who is opening the library. After that the original owner has no longer the right to access the modified files inside and needs to run a "repair permissions".
I did not yet deliberately repair the database but on opening Aperture it happened a couple of times that it started repairing it anyway. Can that delete managed masters? Should I repair the permissions in addition?
Repairing the database does not repair the permission. Run both repairs.
Next thing I might try is to move back the Aperture Library to where it was before. Would that make any difference?
Move it into your home folder, or if you are using an external disk set the "Ignore Ownership" flag for the drive.
Not sure any of that is going to help since I checked in the Aperture Library package itself and went into the Masters folder. The missing originals are not there, so it is not a case of a broken reference but these files appear to be missing physically and I don't understand how they could have disappeared without me actively deleting them. It is a bit shocking that this can happen and does't give me a lot of confidence into Aperture.
Where did you look for the original files in the Masters folder? The folder is organized by the date you imported the photos and not by the date, when the photos have been taken. Have you looked at the correct import session?
The only reason for missing "managed" originals I know of are duplicate cleaners, copying the library to a different drive, and the copy did not succeed correctly, an incomplete restore from a backup, moving the library to a network drive that is syncing (Dropbox, iCloud Drive for example), or using editor plug-ins, that are modifying the original. If the missing originals are still in the library,but in a different folder than they should be, the Library repair right find them and collect them in a project "Recovered Items".
Look for such a project with orphaned filed.
Ok, repaired the permissions and now I am able to relocate masters.
But the missing masters are still missing. I searched the whole Masters folder but still cannot find the missing files. The repair didn't work either. No Recovered Items project.
Now testing moving the Aperture Library back to the old location but I suspect that if they are gone, they are gone :-(
Now testing moving the Aperture Library back to the old location but I suspect that if they are gone, they are gone :-(
If the masters are really no longer in the library, then moving the library back cannot magically summon them to reappear, right.
You can try to save the previews, if that is all that is left, by dragging them from the Browser to a folder on your Desktop.
Are you sure, that the photos have not been accidentally been imported as referenced and are actually outside the library? You can test this with a smart album with a rule "Add Rule > Filestatus is referenced (or missing)".
Thanks for all the advice. I resigned myself to having to get these files from the backup. Still weird and puzzling how these masters could have disappeared.
From now on I will keep them outside of Aperture because I do not trust it anymore to manage them well.
If any of the Originals were Referenced rather than imported into the Aperture Library, then the movements you have reported would lose the connection to the Library. The Original would not be lost from its referenced storage location, but would look that way in Aperture.
All previous advice to you is still valid -- just adding this thought.
Ernie
The Originals that disappeared were not referenced but were sitting in the Aperture Library package folder and still they disappeared. I think this is a problem the Apple should try and fix because it undermines the reliability of the otherwise great software.
The Originals that disappeared were not referenced but were sitting in the Aperture Library package folder and still they disappeared. I think this is a problem the Apple should try and fix because it undermines the reliability of the otherwise great software.
The only known issue with managed originals disappearing from the library package has been the bug last year - if Aperture or iPhoto crashed during the upgrade of the library, a part the original files remained in the Old Masters folder and it was not possible to restore them and reconnect them. Do you remember if Aperture crashed during the last upgrade to Aperture 3.5.1? Then look in your backups not only for a folder "Masters" but also for "Old Masters".
Why do masters disappear?
