HT204655: Updating from iPhoto to Photos for OS X

Learn about Updating from iPhoto to Photos for OS X
CB Anon

Q: Migration to Photos has stalled!

I have a (very) large iPhotos Library on my mid-2007 iMac.  I just upgraded the OS and started migrating my photo library.  Everything went well for a while.  About 2 hours in it was 50% complete.  12 hours later, it is still only 50 % complete.  Can I force quite and restart or will that corrupt my photo library?  Do I need to do a full restore from my pre-El Capitan Time Machine back-up and start all over?

Macbook Pro and iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Nov 4, 2015 12:18 AM

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Q: Migration to Photos has stalled!

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  • by léonie,Apple recommended

    léonie léonie Nov 4, 2015 12:59 AM in response to CB Anon
    Level 10 (106,848 points)
    iLife
    Nov 4, 2015 12:59 AM in response to CB Anon

    Let it run a while longer. The progress indicator is not very precise and may look to be stuck  for hours. How large is your iPhoto Library?

     

    It is safe to force quit, however, because the original iPhoto Library will not be modified. Only the filename extension of the library will be changed to ".migratedphotolibrary".

    You can try a second time to migrate. But in that case I would first trx to find out what is blocking the migration.

    Is your iPhoto Library on a supported disk?  If your iPhoto Library is on an external drive, the file system needs to be MacOS Extended (Journaled).  If it is a different file system, the migrated library will not be created on the same drive but in your Pictures folder, and you may run out of space on your system drive.

    If the drive is correctly formatted, but the migration does not work, repair the iPhoto Library in iPhoto, before you try to migrate it again.

     

    1. If iPhoto is open, quit it.
    2. Hold down the Option and Command keys while you open iPhoto (click the iPhoto icon in the Dock).The Photo Library First Aid window opens.Image of Rebuild Photo Library window
    3. Click Repair Database to repair your photo library.
    4. Repeat with "Repair permissions".
  • by CB Anon,

    CB Anon CB Anon Nov 4, 2015 1:23 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 4, 2015 1:23 AM in response to léonie

    Here is my problem.  Before I upgraded, the library was working fine.  I went to see if there were any further updates to iPhoto before I made the change, and there was, but it was unavailable to me for some reason.  After I upgraded to El Capitan, the upgrade was available, and I downloaded it, but I cannot get iPhoto to work at all so I can't even see if I need to repair permissions.  My library size is 72 Gb.

     

    I did a forced restart, and it is at 12%.

     

    I am thinking that the next step might be to go back to Yosemite, check permissions, and then upgrade again.

     

    Thoughts?

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Nov 4, 2015 5:17 AM in response to CB Anon
    Level 10 (106,848 points)
    iLife
    Nov 4, 2015 5:17 AM in response to CB Anon
    After I upgraded to El Capitan, the upgrade was available, and I downloaded it,

    You should now have iPhoto 9.6.1. Is that your version?  The version number should be showing below the icon of iPhoto in column view in the Finder.  If the version number is differnet, iPhoto cannot launch at all.

    Screen Shot 2015-11-04 at 14.15.21GMT.png

    What happens, when you try to launch iPhoto? Do you get an error message? If yes, what is it?

  • by melissafromelgin,

    melissafromelgin melissafromelgin Nov 6, 2015 5:23 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 6, 2015 5:23 AM in response to léonie

    Im having the same problem and my iphoto is this version as well. it wont let me open iphoto and merging keeps freezing at 6%

  • by sherri gilmour,

    sherri gilmour sherri gilmour Nov 19, 2015 10:11 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 19, 2015 10:11 AM in response to léonie

    my response when I try to open iphoto is photo library closing. Help