I recently noticed that Aperture (3.6) will not open my .CRW files. I suspect something changed during the last Digital Camera RAW update (6.20) I did a few weeks back. Anyone else having this problem?
MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), Mid-2012
Have you tried to reinstall the RAW Support? Sometimes the download from the App Store does not install correctly, and then it helps to reinstall from the Downloads Support page. Try this link: Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 6.20This update adds RAW image compatibility for cameras to OS X El Capitan: Jun 23, 2016
Which camera model is giving the problem?
I downloaded and reinstalled the 6.20 Digital Camera RAW update.
No effect.
All of my .CRW files (I have over a thousand of them) claim they are now an "Unsupported Image Format." The files were fine under Digital Camera RAW 6.19 and earlier. I've tried reprocessing some of them. That seemed to make matters worse (went from black thumbnail to a grainy purple thumbnail). If I export the original files from Aperture, no other programs can open them either. Although, Photos did create a thumbnail image, but wouldn't open the file, and exporting resulted in a 640 x 480 111k file, (the original file is 7.8MBs).
The .CRW files were all shot on a Canon PowerShot Pro1.
I'm getting nervous.
If I export the original files from Aperture, no other programs can open them either.
What is the file size of the exported original files?
Try to open the originals in an Adobe program, for example Adobe DNG converter or Photoshop. The Adobe software is using different RAW processing than Aperture and Photos.
I exported an 7.76MB .CRW file from Aperture to the Desktop. On the Desktop, this file was 8.2MB in size. I converted the file using Adobe DNG Converter (9.6). The resulting file was 8.3MB.
Sadly, the rendered file was a completely black.
These .CRW files were all working fine last month. They date mostly from 2006-2009. My most recent backup is less than a week old. (The backup files are also unreadable.)
At home, I have a retired 2006 Macbook Pro (Mac OS X 10.6.8). It's possible there are copies of all my .CRW files on this older laptop. I'm not sure.
(The last time I booted up this older laptop, I had to permanently remove its swollen battery, as it was pressing so hard against the underside of the keyboard as to render it inoperable.)
(The last time I booted up this older laptop, I had to permanently remove its swollen battery, as it was pressing so hard against the underside of the keyboard as to render it inoperable.)
My 2011 MacBook Pro has the same problem. I plug a USB keyboard in to be able to enter my passwork.
Try to open one of your CRW files from the new Mac on the old Mac to test, if the files are problematic or if it is only your new mac that can no longer read them.
On your newer Mac sign into a differnet use raccount and try to open your CRW files there to check, if the problem is system wide.
I like the way you think! 🙂
Sadly, my older Macbook Pro (2006) is stuck at 10.6.8, and that means the version of Aperture I'm using on it is stuck at something like 3.3 (or thereabouts). So if I try and export a folder or project as a library from the 2012 Macbook Pro, and take it over to the older machine, the older version of Aperture will refuse to read the newer library. This leaves me the less savory option of exporting original files into a folder. I'll give that a try in a few minutes.
In the meantime, though, I have more clues.
I booted the 2006 Macbook Pro. My thousand plus .CRW files are all there (thank god) and in working order. I then exported a project as a library, and a folder as a library. I copied the two libraries to the 2012 Macbook Pro and upgraded them to Aperture 3.6. (The older laptop does not support the latest version of Aperture.)
And what happened?
I got: Unsupported Image Format. This leads me to believe that the files in my current Aperture library (on the 2012 Macbook Pro) are healthy, although currently unusable.
I will now try going the other direction. I will also try booting as Admin on the newer laptop.
More clues:
I exported seven .CRW original RAW files from Aperture 3.6 to a folder. (These are the files that show up as black and say "Unsupported Image Formate." I then copied the folder to my 2006 Macbook Pro and imported them into a new project. They opened perfectly.
I then rebooted the newer laptop and logged in as an Admin, launched Aperture 3.6, and tried to view my .CRW files: "Unsupported Image Format" (blackness).
So, it appears clear to me that the 6.20 Digital Camera RAW update did something bad (like, crossing the streams bad).
I fear the only thing I can do now is wait until . . . hold the phone! . . . I have a bootable external drive of macOS Sierra (public beta). I installed it over my secondary backup of my current laptop (the 2012 Macbook Pro). All my .CRW files are on that drive too!
If macOS Sierra can read the .CRW files, then I may only have to wait until the final version of Sierra (October, maybe?), rather than wait for a newer version of Digital Camera RAW.
Wish me luck, friends!
Okay, so I booted up the public beta of macOS Sierra off an external drive. The .CRW files on that drive opened perfectly. But when I loaded the Aperture library on the laptop's internal drive, all the CRW files that I'd opened earlier (the ones that had said "Unsupported Image File") were black and wouldn't open. I then reprocessed them and—Wammo!—I had access to them.
I then shut down and rebooted off the internal drive (10.11.5, El Capitan) and opened my Aperture library where the CRW files I'd previously opened were black. The files I'd reprocessed (in Sierra) now had thumbnails again, but when I tried to open them I got: Unsupported Image File, and the thumbnail turned black.
So . . . I've learned a lot of things, but I still don't have access to any of my .CRW files (on my 2012 Macbook Pro, running the latest version of El Capitan).
I'm not really sure what to do next.
I don't think it would be a bad idea to download and install the Combo update of 10.11.5 (the latest version of El Capitan), but that involves a massive download. So I'm thinking I should put some of my .CRW files on an SD Flash card and take them to the local Apple Store. If their current Macbook Pros, running 10.11.5, can't open my files, then there's really no reason for me to trouble myself with downloading the combo update.
You could try to revert to the previous version of the Raw support. Your Canon Powershot has been supported since a long time. Which is the last version of the RAW support that worked for you?
If the problem has really been caused by the recent RAW upgrade, it should help to revert to the last RAW support version that worked for you, but that requires to remove files from the System library.
Search for the last RAW Support versions at Apple - Support - Downloads
For example, version. 6.19: Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 6.19
To reinstall:
Make a backup of your system and try to downgrade the RAW support to the before-Yosemite version.
To downgrade the RAW Support to the last version from before the Yosemite upgrade try this:
To reinstall the 'RAW Compatibility Update' it is necessary to uninstall the currently installed raw support. Otherwise the installer will rightfully say, that you already have the latest version installed.
The RAW support files are installed in the System Library in the folder "/System/Library/CoreServices" Folder:
Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 6.19
Then run the installer.
I tried this, but El Capitan has locked those files down hard.
“RawCameraSupport.bundle can’t be modified or deleted because it’s required by OS X."
Ditto the other file. I tried unlocking the files through the info window, but it wouldn't let me add my user name to the permission list. It appears Apple doesn't want El Capitan users touching those files.
I downloaded the 6.19 Digital Camera RAW installer (which worked fine). I'm tempted to try booting up off an external drive and seeing if I can get at them that way. Or maybe I should leave that to a genius bar person. I'm not sure. Thanks for your efforts, though. Mighty appreciated.
I tried this, but El Capitan has locked those files down hard.
That is the System Integrity Protection (SIP) kicking in, a new security feature in El Capitan.
You could disable it temporarily to be able to remove the installed camera raw bundle. The Genius Bar could help with that, if you are not confident about tempering with the system.
El Capitan is preventing even administrators from installing in the System directory, so you cannot accidentally download and install malware.
Yo could either disable the system Integrity protection temporarily and enable it again when done, or do the full monty and revert to your previous system version by restoring the system from a Time Machine backup: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21950?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
To disable SIP to be able to remove the installed RAW bundle you could try the following: (from a post by Yax Attax)
1. Restart computer holding down Command-R to boot up in Recovery Mode.
2. Go to menu bar and launch Terminal application.
3. At the command line prompt, type "csrutil disable" (without quotes), followed by the RETURN key.
4. Restart your computer, log in normally, remove the RAW support files and reinstall the older RAW support.
5. After you finish making your changes, restart into Recovery Mode a second time, launch Terminal from the menu bar again, and type "csrutil enable" (without quotes) followed by RETURN key to re-enable System Integrity protection.
6. Reboot a final time and log in normally.
I had forgotten about disabling SIP. (I had to do that when I first installed El Capitan because the El Capitan decided the custom folder images I keep my desktop weren't kosher.)
So I booted up in recover mode, disabled SIP, deleted the two RAW bundles, booted normally, rolled back Digital Camera RAW to 6.19 (it had been 6.20), booted up in recover mode, enabled SIP, booted normally, launched Aperture and . . .
My CRW files were black. However, when I reprocessed them: THEY CAME BACK TO LIFE!!! Victory!
Now I need to tell Apple what they've done to the 6.20 Digital Camera RAW update.
Thank you, léonie. You really saved my bacon. 🙂
Great, that you got your RAW images back! 🙂 You're welcome.
Now I need to tell Apple what they've done to the 6.20 Digital Camera RAW update.
You can use this link to do that:
Thanks for the link! 🙂
I reported it immediately. But since the bug was system wide, affecting Aperture, Photos, Pixelmator, Adobe's DNG RAW converter, everything, I filed it under Mac OS X.
.CRW files unsupported by Digital Camera RAW 6
