Photos in El Capitan

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Level 1

24 points

Photos in El Capitan

I updated to El Capitan today on both my iMac and MBA. I've been running Photos on both, having spent weeks waiting as Photos on each machine uploaded the system Photos library for each machine to iCloud then slowly sorting out the photos and videos that didn't match on both machines and finding and eliminating duplicates. Finally, after a few months of working on this, I was able to get the numbers and albums close to matching on both machines.

Then out came El Capitan today with an updated Photos app. the installation went smoothly on the iMac which I did first. Opening Photos for the first time, it spent a few minutes Updating the Library", then everything was fine. just like before.

I then turned to the MBA. After El Capitan was installed, I opened Photos. It similarly started the "Updating Library", but after about a minute, a message popped up that said: "The library “Photos Library.photoslibrary” has inconsistencies that must be repaired." It offered a message button, "Repair". I clicked that and it started preparing, but almost immediately, a new message popped up: " The library could not be opened. The library “Photos Library.photoslibrary” could not be recognized." It offered me two buttons: "Open Other..." or "Quit".

i only have that one Photos System library, “Photos Library.photoslibrary”, so I chose quit and immediately the whole program closed. No further error or quit message.

I'm aware of the manual Repair option, Command+Option+Open Photos, so I tried that. got the option to repair, and it started.It lasted for about 10 minutes, never getting beyond 5%, then it all crashed. Same error message and options as before: " The library could not be opened. The library “Photos Library.photoslibrary” could not be recognized." It offered me two buttons: "Open Other..." or "Quit". So I can't open the library nor will it repair.

FWIW, i had the Photos library on the iMac ticked for Full Copies on the iMac, but had the MBA using the space-saving option. I can't really transfer a copy of the library from the iMac to the MBA and then choose that as the new system Library on the MBA because it wouldn't fit on the remaining free space I have left.

Any ideas on what I should do next would be appreciated (looking to leonie or Old Toad)? Thanks!

iMac (27-inch Late 2009)

Posted on Oct 1, 2015 5:28 AM

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Answer 1

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Apr 25, 2017 11:47 AM in response to gillas

then start a new thread and include specifics about your system and your problem - this thread is over two years old and is very confused and convoluted - to get help start your own thread - this article will assist you in writing a coherent question with enough detail to get valid Answers -- Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question

LN

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Answer 2

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Oct 1, 2015 7:44 AM in response to chake2

backup and then trash the Photo library on your MBA, start Photos with a new library and enable iCloud Photo Library using the same Apple ID and it will down optimized version of the photos fitting tot the available space

LN

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Answer 3

Bruno001

Level 1

0 points

Oct 1, 2015 10:08 AM in response to chake2

HI,

I have the same problem on my iMac. Also spent a lot of time sorting all the photos.

Thanks.

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Answer 4

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Oct 1, 2015 10:54 AM in response to Bruno001

Same problem? Same answser!

LN

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Answer 5

chake2 Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 1, 2015 11:28 AM in response to LarryHN

Not helpful at all. I'm 3 months and hundreds of photos beyond switching from iPhoto/Aperture to Photos.

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Answer 6

chake2 Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 1, 2015 11:54 AM in response to LarryHN

Not helpful at all. I'm 3 months and hundreds of photos beyond switching from iPhoto/Aperture to Photos. Plus, have to go through, again, the whole process of re-up/down loading a library of 20,000+ images and videos to iCloud, not to mention the several hundred I've taken in the past few months which I've diligently, (since figuring out the new Photos workflow of Import>Keyword>Move to Album), added to my Photos Library and don't exist in my old Aperture/iPhoto Library.

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Answer 7

Tom Ritch

Level 2

272 points

Oct 1, 2015 4:06 PM in response to chake2

chake2, it seems you are not hearing what Larry is saying. Larry did not say go back to your iPhoto or Aperture libraries. Larry essentially said restore your library from your good backup, which you/Photos has created in iCloud. That is the beauty of the iCloud library. You always have a good backup in the cloud. When you have a problem, as it seems now on your MBA, you can easily replace the bad library with the good one in iCloud. The download may take a while, but it works and the downloaded library will be good.

However, you said

Finally, after a few months of working on this, I was able to get the numbers and albums close to matching on both machines.

This sounds like the two libraries were close but not completely synced before the update. Is this the problem? If you have photos on the MBA which are not on the iMac or in iCloud Library, I think trying to salvage these from the MBA is the real issue.

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Answer 8

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Oct 1, 2015 4:26 PM in response to chake2

Gee maybe instead of making the same incorrect post multiple times you should read my suggestion

It is short, simple and does exactly what you want and has no mention or any involvement of iPhoto or Aperture - I will number the steps so you can follow them

1 - backup and

2 - then trash the Photo library on your MBA,

3 - start Photos with a new library and

4 - enable iCloud Photo Library using the same Apple ID and

5 - it will down optimized version of the photos [from your iCLoud Photos Library enabled in step 4] fitting to the available spac

LN

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Answer 9

jwmacc

Level 1

0 points

Oct 4, 2015 9:35 AM in response to chake2

I have the same problem only on my iMac. the el capitan install went fine but i couldn't open the photo library. i received the "repair" message but it couldn't do it on the library and asked for a different library. help!! i have 26000 photos in the cloud and can't access them.

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Answer 10

Old Toad

Level 10

207,367 points

Oct 4, 2015 9:45 AM in response to jwmacc

jwmacc wrote:

I have the same problem only on my iMac. the el capitan install went fine but i couldn't open the photo library. i received the "repair" message but it couldn't do it on the library and asked for a different library. help!! i have 26000 photos in the cloud and can't access them.

In those immortal words of LarryHN: "Same problem? Same answer!

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Answer 11

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Oct 4, 2015 9:46 AM in response to chake2

chake2 wrote:

Not helpful at all. I'm 3 months and hundreds of photos beyond switching from iPhoto/Aperture to Photos. Plus, have to go through, again, the whole process of re-up/down loading a library of 20,000+ images and videos to iCloud, not to mention the several hundred I've taken in the past few months which I've diligently, (since figuring out the new Photos workflow of Import>Keyword>Move to Album), added to my Photos Library and don't exist in my old Aperture/iPhoto Library.

Then do what you want, advice is offered here in order to help, if you don't want to take it, don't

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Answer 12

jwmacc

Level 1

0 points

Oct 4, 2015 11:26 AM in response to Old Toad

roger and understood. can you break down the instructions? i don't know how to trash the old libs,start with a new library and then enable the iCloud library. new user....thanks.

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