I want to reset iPad photos so it clones my iMac Photos Album via cable. Getting weird iPad 1/2 albums I don't want. How?

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Level 1

8 points

I want to reset iPad photos so it clones my iMac Photos Album via cable. Getting weird iPad 1/2 albums I don't want. How?

Something odd is happening on my iPad Air 2 Photos, with remnants and partial albums. I've always used direct connection USB-Lightning cable to sync. My iMac Photos album is perfectly arranged, sorted, etc. I want to have my iPad's Photos to wipe all photos, then clone what I have on my iMac Photos. No muss, no fuss.

Then going forward, I want them both to sync.

I have already tried enabling iTunes' iPad > Photos > Sync Photos (both ALL and SELECTED (with all selected). I end up getting half albums, they're not grouped right, wrong key photo, etc.

I've already copied all the photos I want from my iPad to my iMac, so I'm fine with losing whatever my iPad Photos has, so long as it takes all my iMac Photos material and copies it over.

Best way of doing this?

Latest versions of El Capitan and iOS.

Bonus question. iPad Photos wants to import many (many) photos to iMac Photos. These pictures already exist. If I Select All them import, is the syncing smart enough to go, "It's a dup so I won't bother"? Or will I end up w/ duplicates messing up my iMac Photos? Having several hundred pictures showing up every time I plug my iPad in then view it on my iMac Photos app annoys.

Thanks so much!

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4), Late 2009 27" iMac 8GB RAM, 1TB HD

Posted on Apr 26, 2016 3:09 PM

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Answer 1

ManSinha

Level 6

12,171 points

Apr 26, 2016 5:29 PM in response to jefe001

As I am sure you know - one has to place pictures in iTunes and then sync them back to the iPad - not sure going from Photos - Mac directly, works

That said my understanding is that photos are stored with a specific tag and if you import the same image twice it will be stored again with a different tag creating a duplicate

If possible try with just one image and see what happens

Also if you do not want Photos to open automatically upon plugging in the iPad - there is a checkbox top left that you can uncheck

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Answer 2

jefe001 Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 26, 2016 6:09 PM in response to ManSinha

Thanks for the response.

The thing is, iTunes doesn't have a way to store pictures. The OS X Photos App does. iTunes has, as part of the syncing w/ iDevices, a Photos pane when my iPad is plugged in, that lets me "tell" the iPad to use OS X Photos, which I've checked (using both the All and Selected Albums (which I then choose all of them).

In theory, I think, this should make it so it then uses OS X Photos as the source/hub for iOS Photos. But instead, I have partial iOS albums, some syncing, but it's a mess. I'd like to force iOS Photos to make a clone of my OS X Photos, including organization, as a first step.

Then, once iOS Photos works, then I can go back to using both devices, especially new pictures taken w/ my iPad. Right now, I'm hesitant to use any of the Cloud features since I don't want to risk my OS X Photos getting iOS Photos’ garbage in.

Does that help?

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Answer 3

elcpu

Level 7

31,481 points

Apr 27, 2016 12:49 PM in response to jefe001

jefe001 wrote:

The thing is, iTunes doesn't have a way to store pictures. The OS X Photos App does. iTunes has, as part of the syncing w/ iDevices, a Photos pane when my iPad is plugged in, that lets me "tell" the iPad to use OS X Photos, which I've checked (using both the All and Selected Albums (which I then choose all of them).

This is correct, no photos are stored in iTunes. iTunes is just a conduit by which you get the photos in your Mac to sync to your iOS devices. I have a Mac and a PC but I use my PC's iTunes as my syncing device. Try this as I believe it works the same in both. In Finder > Music > iTunes > locate the iPod Photo Cache (iPod is correct, not iPad) and delete it (it regenerates with the next sync). Then repeat what you have done and see if they all sync now.

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Answer 4

jefe001 Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 26, 2016 11:01 PM in response to elcpu

Your answer is also appreciated!

What you're saying conceptually makes sense, but under OS X, there isn't a file/folder called iPod Photo Cache. I've looked under the user directories (incl. Admin), as well as inside the iTunes App itself. I've also looked using Spotlight and don't get any hits (or for parts of the phrase).

It makes sense, though. There's clearly something, somewhere, that the iOS Photos is using that is making it so it doesn't correctly compare then update against the OS X Photos dataset.

Are there any El Capitan readers out there that might hazard a guess where the file (or whatever serves that function in OS X) might reside? And, will deleting it force a regeneration w/o any negative effects?

Or alternately, some key combo (cmd-opt while plugging in my iPad, etc) to force-reset the sync for iOS Photos from OS X Photos?

Both of you folks: awesome!

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Answer 5

elcpu

Level 7

31,481 points

Apr 27, 2016 12:49 PM in response to jefe001

Jefe (good name),

Please see this article for suggestions about locating the iPod Photo Cache. If you have done a sync with your Mac it is there somewhere or at least it should be. About the iPod Photo Cache folder - Apple Support

The iPod Photo Cache regenerates with every sync. It contains thumbprints of the pictures, not the actual photos of course, and I have seen no issues with deleting it in iTunes for Windows, in fact it is recommended as a solution in the article above for both Macs and PCs.

If you are still unable to locate it, try posting in the iTunes for Mac forum. iTunes for Mac

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Answer 6

jefe001 Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 27, 2016 12:49 PM in response to elcpu

El CPU (good handle yourself!)

That did the trick. For OS X, it's in the Photos App. Removing it caused a reset. It got a little quirky after I tried syncing all my photos, halting after about 500. But then I removed it again, then re-sync'ed, only this time using Selected Albums and adding some of them manually. Now that I have a kludge that I'm okay with, I'll be able to add them in chunks.

Thanks SO much. Really appreciated! 😀

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Answer 7

elcpu

Level 7

31,481 points

Apr 27, 2016 12:54 PM in response to jefe001

My pleasure, jefe numero uno..... 🙂

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