Photos will not import from camera. ElCapitan 1.11.16. I have 16,000 photos in library. Is this too many to allow for more imports?

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Photos will not import from camera. ElCapitan 1.11.16. I have 16,000 photos in library. Is this too many to allow for more imports?

I have been trying to import photos from my camera to Photos. This used to work fine and I can import the photos to my wife's account on the same computer. I have about 16,000 pictures in my library and I have plenty of memory and storage space. I tried importing only one photo but the same results occur. I get the "importing photos" message, but nothing happens. When I try to log out of Photo, I get a message saying "closing library" but it just stays that way until I force quit. Any suggestions?

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11), 16000 photos in library

Posted on Mar 31, 2018 2:34 PM

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Answer 1

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Old Toad

Level 10

207,679 points

Mar 31, 2018 5:46 PM in response to Jona.P

Try repairing the library according to the instructions in this Apple document: Repair Your Library.

WARNING: If you're using iCloud Photo Library with Photos, this action will cause Photos to upload all your pictures again (from Fix missing or incorrect thumbnails in Photos - Apple Support).

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Answer 2

Jona.P Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 31, 2018 5:48 PM in response to Old Toad

Hello Old Toad and LarryHN,

Thank you both for your help. Determining the root of the problem and then running the repair utility seems to have fixed this issue. Thanks for being part of this forum and giving you time so generously.

jon

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Answer 3

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Mar 31, 2018 2:47 PM in response to Jona.P

16,000 is NOT too many photos - my small library has 27,000 and my large library 80,000

We need details please

You state you have El Captain 10.11 - is that correct?

How are you importing - USB connection to your camera? SD card reader? WiFi Camera connection?

What camera do you have? Are the photos JPEGs or RAW?

How much free disk does your computer have? Is the Photos library on the main computer drive or an external drive, if on an EHD how is it connected and what format is it?

LN

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Answer 4

Jona.P Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 31, 2018 3:00 PM in response to LarryHN

Larry,

Thanks for the quick reply.

Here are details:

ElCapitan 10.11.16

Importing via USB.

Camera is Fuji and pictures are JPEGs (I think)

Computer has 184 GB free. I have a solid state storage as the hard drive got squirrely and needed to be replaced. I don’t think this is related to that replacement.

The perplexing thing is that this had always worked before and works fine on my wife’s account.

The message I get when I try to exit Photos is "closing the library: and this message just sits there. Never goes away until I force quit Photos.

Is there a way/place to increase the size allotment for the Photos library? Thinking this may be at fault but can't find such a setting.

Thanks again!

jon

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Answer 5

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Mar 31, 2018 3:25 PM in response to Jona.P

Since it works in your wife's account the problem is NOT the Photos application so it is either your library or your account - test by holding down the option key and launching Photos and creating a new test library and see if it will work

LN

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Answer 6

Jona.P Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 31, 2018 3:24 PM in response to LarryHN

Larry,

I created a new library (TEST) and the load worked as expected. I also created a new user and tried the transfer and that worked fine too (as I expected it would), Sounds like my library has the problem. Is there a utility to fix it?

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Answer 7

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Mar 31, 2018 5:53 PM in response to Jona.P

you are welcome

good luck

LN

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Photos will not import from camera. ElCapitan 1.11.16. I have 16,000 photos in library. Is this too many to allow for more imports?

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