mikechehab
Level 1 (12 points)
Mac OS X

Q: OS Sierra Photo App Exclamation Mark Triangle!, Thumbnail not showing up!

Hi! Recently after upgrading from El Capitan to OS Sierra, I encountered an issue inside my Photos app on OS Sierra, this issue is related to the photos' thumbnails not displaying for most the photos inside the library, if I leave the Photos app open and running on a particular day or event it will load the thumbnail, however, very slowly.

*It shows a Triangle with a Grey Exclamation Mark inside the Triangle.

 

This issue is popular as I have seen around the forums regarding this topic.

 

Methods I have already tried and had no successful results:

 

1. Rotating my entire photo library 45,000 photos and then rotating them back to place.

 

2. Repairing the Photos app library (holding cmd+alt) then launching it.

 

Please I really need help, or a workaround solution, think with me of a method!

 

Ps. I have a TimeMachine backup prior to upgrading to OS Sierra, however I do not wish to revert back to OS X El Capitan just for the Photos app...

 

****Could I possibly perhaps...copy the 45,000 photos/videos form El Capitan Photos app to an external hard drive, then delete my entire Photos library on Sierra, and paste the photos from the hard drive to the clean Photos App? This is a possible workaround?


Thank you!

Best,

Mike

MacBook Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12), Photos for Mac

Posted on Oct 7, 2016 3:31 AM

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mikechehab

Q: OS Sierra Photo App Exclamation Mark Triangle!, Thumbnail not showing up!

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  • Helpful answers

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Oct 7, 2016 4:47 AM in response to mikechehab
    Level 10 (109,091 points)
    iCloud
    Oct 7, 2016 4:47 AM in response to mikechehab

    Mike, where is your Photos Library stored?  Is it on an external drive or in your Pictures folder?  If it is an external drive, what is the file system of the drive, and how is the drive connected?

     

    The exclamation point in a triangle means, that Photo cannot find the original image file or not process it.

    Are your photos RAW or JPEGs?

     

    Ps. I have a TimeMachine backup prior to upgrading to OS Sierra, however I do not wish to revert back to OS X El Capitan just for the Photos app...

    You do not need to revert to El Capitan to restore the Photos Library from Time Machine. Photos on macOS Sierra can open a library that has been created by OS X El Capitan.

     

    You could just restore the Photos Library by opening Time Machine and selecting a version of your Photos Library in the Time Tunnel display. Then click the "Restore" button.

     

    Photos will upgrade the restored library to version 2.0, once you open it.

  • by mikechehab,

    mikechehab mikechehab Oct 7, 2016 4:56 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 7, 2016 4:56 AM in response to léonie

    Hey léonie!

    Thank you for your reply,

    The photos library is stored locally on my hard drive, and the time machine backup is stored on an external hard drive.

    My photos are in JPEG format, not RAW.

     

    I just got off the phone with Apple support, they suggested I copy the timemachine photo library backup to my desktop and alt+click photos app on osSierra and point it to open the copied library on my desktop.

    What do you think of this method?

    Would it solve my issue?
    I cannot try it yet as my Photos app is currently "Making Previews 10,231 out of 42,424" (I rotated the pictures again and it is making the previews, this could possibly fix it too, not sure... just got to wait)

     

    Thank you!

    Mike

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Oct 7, 2016 5:10 AM in response to mikechehab
    Level 10 (109,091 points)
    iCloud
    Oct 7, 2016 5:10 AM in response to mikechehab
    I cannot try it yet as my Photos app is currently "Making Previews 10,231 out of 42,424" (I rotated the pictures again and it is making the previews, this could possibly fix it too, not sure... just got to wait)

    That is a very good sign. If photos can create previews without complaining about missing files, there is hope. Wait for the Preview rendering to finish.

    I just got off the phone with Apple support, they suggested I copy the timemachine photo library backup to my desktop and alt+click photos app on osSierra and point it to open the copied library on my desktop.

    If you need to restore the library from your backup, use Time Machine to restore it. Do not simply copy the library out of the backup drive. restoring properly with Time Machine will ensure, that all files will be linked correctly.  Once the library has been restored, I just got off the phone with Apple support, they suggested I copy the timemachine photo library backup to my desktop and alt+click the Photos app on macOS Sierra and select the restored library.

     

    To restore, open your Pictures folder in the Finder, then launch Time Machine, go back in time to before you upgraded to El Capitan and when Photos sell worked, select your Photos Library and click Restore.

    Screen Shot 2016-10-07 at 14.05.13 GMT.jpg

  • by mikechehab,

    mikechehab mikechehab Oct 7, 2016 5:31 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 7, 2016 5:31 AM in response to léonie

    Okay! Thanks Léonie, I will wait till the previews are made, and if that did not solve it, then I will restore a backup from TimeMachine.


    Thanks!

    Best
    Mike

  • by mikechehab,

    mikechehab mikechehab Oct 10, 2016 2:31 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 10, 2016 2:31 AM in response to léonie

    Hey Leonie

     

    I resolved the problem! All i had to do is rotate them and be patient (18 hours). And rotate them back to place (18 hours). The thumbnails show up normally now!
    The generating preview took some time, and thats all!

     

     

    Thanks for your effort and help!!

     

    Best regards

    Mike

  • by kcofoni,

    kcofoni kcofoni Oct 10, 2016 11:02 AM in response to mikechehab
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 10, 2016 11:02 AM in response to mikechehab

    Hi,

    I had exactly the same issue. You can easily retore your photo library even though it is related to El Capitan. Sierra will convert it !