Q: New iMac, photo library can't open
Hi,
I bought a new iMac (21,5 inch late 2015, 2,8 GHz Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, everything updated) and used the migrate assistent to transfer my old iMac (21,5 inch mid 2010, 3,2 GHz Core i3, 1 TB HDD, everything updated) to my new iMac. I used my time machine backup.
Everything seems in order, except for my photo library. It doesn't open and says it needs to repair my library. It stops at 95% and says it can't open my library.
The photo library still opens on my old iMac . I'm not sure I dare to repair that library (command + option + open photos) because if that fails, I'm afraid I will lose that library too. My time machine is now connected to my new iMac. and I actually sold my old iMac, so time is running out.
I also use iCloud as an extra backup, so I tried to open the Photo app on iCloud.com, but that also failed to open. I can still access my photo's on iCloud with my iPhone and iPad.
My old iMac info displays: 485,87 GB for 17.669 items
My new iMac info displays: 467,18 GB for 17.669 items
Does anybody know what I can do?
Thanks
Patrick
Posted on Jan 1, 2016 1:16 AM
The photo library still opens on my old iMac . I'm not sure I dare to repair that library (command + option + open photos) because if that fails, I'm afraid I will lose that library too. My time machine is now connected to my new iMac. and I actually sold my old iMac, so time is running out.
I would try to make a copy of the original Photos Library from your old Mac on an external drive and then connect this drive to your new Mac and try to repair this copy.
The drive must not be a volume used with Time Machine. The file system should be MacOS Extended Journaled and the "Ignore Ownership" flag should be set as described here: iPhoto: Sharing libraries among multiple users
Did your old Mac already sync with iCloud Photo Library? if yes, do you have "Optimize Mac Storage" enabled on your old Mac? Then the restored Time Machine version of your Photos Library will not contain the original image files and you need to download the originals from iCloud anyway as Larry described. If your iCloud Photo Library has been syncing with the old Mac, your albums, smart albums, titles, captions, keywords, searchable faces tags will transfer, only the faces thumbnails and projects will be missing. Use Photos and iCloud Photo Library on multiple Mac computers - Apple Support
Posted on Jan 1, 2016 6:21 AM