I was trying to copy my iPhoto library from my MacBook Pro to an external hard drive but as it was copying it just hangs when it's only 10% completed. I've tried this multiple times with the same result. Left it running all night and nothing changed. Any ideas here? My hard drive on my MacBook is full and I'm trying to copy around 200GB library. Thanks in advance.
MacBook Pro with Retina display, Mac OS X (10.3.x)
what format the the external hard drive and how is it connected?
For the iPHoto library it must be Mac OS extended (journaled) and connected with a fast wired connectionn like USB, FireWire ro ThunderBolt
LN
It's HFS+ (journaled) and is connected via USB. The device is USB 3.0. Thanks
This can be caused by a glitchy file or incorrect file permissions. Workaround: use a back up utility to 'back up' the library to the new location. Any one that stores the Library in the same format will do.
Example of such apps: Chronosync- but there are many others. Search on MacUpdateor the App Store
This will take care of the glitches that occur along the way.
Then you will need to clone it using CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper or other such software
LN
Before I spend any money on the software, is it possible that I need to export some videos out of iPhoto first and then transfer them separately to my EHD to make some space available on my laptop? Is it possible that my problem is that my internal hard drive is just too full and that's why the copying isn't working properly? I will say that iPhoto will crash/close on its own lately. Thanks
Is it possible that my problem is that my internal hard drive is just too full and that's why the copying isn't working properly?
How full is that HD?
Yes you can export the movies and I would point out that many software packages have evaluation periods that allow you to heck out the app without paying.
515MB free out of 250GB. Yes, I said 515MB and not GB. Thanks
Yes you need a min of 10 GB for normal operations - you have 1/20 (5%) of the minimum - until you free more space you are stuck and are in great danger of losing data on your system or even having the entire system crash and become un-bootable
LN
Yikes. I better move those videos ASAP. Thanks
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LN
I now have 6.44GB free but iPhoto won't open. It will open for a second or two and then give me a message that says, "iPhoto quit unexpectedly." So how can I move videos that are in my library when I cannot open iPhoto? Thanks
Two things:
1. 6 gigs is not enough. Nowhere near enough.
OS X needs about 10 gigs of hard drive space for normal OS operations - things like virtual memory, temporary files and so on.
Without this space your Mac will slow down as the OS hunts for space on the disk, files will be fragmented, also slowing things down, apps will crash and the risk of data corruption - that is damage to your files, photos, music - increases exponentially.
Your first priority is to make more space on that HD. Nothing else can be done until you do.
Purchase an external HD and move your Photos and Music to it. Both iPhoto and iTunes can run perfectly well with the Library on an external disk.
2. It is very likely that the Library has been damaged by being on an overfull disk.
Do you have a back up? (he asked expecting the answer 'no'...)
I recently purchased an external HFS+ journaled hard drive. When I copy the library to the EHD it hangs after copying about 10% of the library.
How can I tell if my library is already corrupted? Anything I can run on my laptop to fix an issue or make it more efficient? I'll try to delete more files in the meantime. Thanks
Deleting files is just moving deck chairs on the Titanic. You have way too much data on that disk. Get a lot of it off. As I said above:
Use a back up utility to 'back up' the library to the new location. Any one that stores the Library in the same format will do.
Example of such apps: Chronosync- but there are many others. Search on MacUpdateor the App Store
This will take care of the glitches that occur along the way.
Once the Library is off the disk we can try figure out how to fix it. A likely fix will require the same amount of space, at least.
How can I tell if my library is already corrupted?
This would be a clue:
but iPhoto won't open.
Copying iPhoto Library Hangs
