honorjo

Q: iCloud Photo Library server issues

Hello all

I am having some issues with iCloud photo library and would like to know if anyone else has had this issue and what the possible result was. Main points are:

 

- 50,000ish library (photos & videos) running on mid 2011 iMac with fully updated software.

- Started the process of uploading to the cloud nearly 18 months ago. Imported 100-200 items at a time from iPhoto master files to photos so that it could upload in a reasonable manner. Uploading process took the best part of 9-10 months as I have no control over my upload speed. This process severely restricted my home internet in the process as well (hubby was not happy!).

- During the upload process I also took the time to go over my photos/videos in detail as they were being added and add faces (even where people weren't facing the camera) so that I could always have the facility to see every photo a particular person was in even if 'faces' itself didn't recognise it). In addition I've added keywords, locations etc. If I'm honest I've been quite obsessive about it but I love it now.

- Starting having some issues when I realised that my devices (iPhone, iPad) had a different amount of photos/videos than my hard copy (on iMac) did. Also having issues with videos importing into Photos with the wrong dates.

- Contacted apple support (who I must say really are fantastic and that's not sarcastic) and we re-installed OSX without result. Repairing my library seemed to fix the video dating issue although it then took days for the library to check itself against what was on iCloud.com and be fully functional once again. Repeated that repair process 2-3 times after I realised there was some funny files/duplicates and anomalies in the library. All seemed ok for a period. The number of items and albums coordinated perfectly between devices, computer and iCloud.com (which I'd often use for off-site access to the library to check photos were properly uploading but also I would think useful in case of computer loss).

- Video dating issue is now recurring (not with files imported from a non-apple camera anymore but from a disc of old films I've had converted). I have found however that if I convert the mp4 files to avi or mov and re-date them it seems to stick ok in Photos. By the way iPhoto never had an issue with the video dating - I would import into that program fine (apple had me test that).

- Starting being unable to go to login to the 'Photos' app on www.iCloud.com. It will try to load them and then I get a yellow banner error at the top of the page 'network unavailable or slow' then a pop-up error 'Can't load Photos. There was a problem loading the application'. I could only select OK. This occurred regardless of which computer/device/network I was on.

- Back in touch with apple support and apparently there is a back-end issue with my library (they mentioned something about the servers at their end).

- Product specialist got advice from an engineer who basically says they can definitely fix the issues but I have to turn off iCloud photo library on all of my devices (including iMac, iPhone, iPad). Now if it was just my portable devices I've no problem with that - I've removed/added the facility many times. However on my main iMac essentially this means I would then have to COMPLETELY RE-UPLOAD my entire library after they have fixed the issue. As i've said before that previously took 9-10 months and I had to do it 100-200 photos at a time - not something I am prepared to do again given all the other work I've done on the photos (faces, locations, keywords).

- The library essentially still operates enough for my use. I can skirt the video dating issue. The access at iCloud.com is annoying but I can still see that my photos are being updated through my devices. Only other issue is that I notice if I search for a particular face via the search facility on one of my portable devices the amount of faces doesn't correlate to the amount within the 'faces' section of the library on my iMac - annoying but not a deal-breaker.

 

I'm obviously still talking to apple about this but basically I've refused to turn off the library on my main computer because I am just not prepared to wait that long again for the facility to become functional (let alone the fact that while uploading it renders our home internet completely useless as it shaves all the bandwidth). In addition I'd still have to pay for the storage without being able to use it the way I intend (and honestly the way they intend). Although I have to say the money is really not the issue - it's the functionality.

 

I've just written to apple again to reiterate that I don't think i've done anything wrong and have followed their advice to the letter and paid for the service. I've offered to send a copy of my library wherever they need it to go so that perhaps they could re-upload the library (that might be a little fanciful but you never know).

 

Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue and has been told by apple to disable iCloud photo library and whether or not they refused to do so. I would love to know there is some other option available to me for fixing of my library.

 

Thanks in advance!

Honor

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), iOS 8.4.1

Posted on Feb 12, 2016 5:54 PM