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Level 1

14 points

icloud photos - formatting error

New iMac being setup. Opened photos and went to turn on iCloud Photos and getting this error:

"iCloud Photos is only available on macOS Standard, macOS Extended and APFS formatted volumes."

To check the format of a volume, select the volume in the Finder and choose Get Info from the File menu. The type of volume appears in the Format field.

This is a new 21" iMac with Fusion drive. It is formatted as APFS. Unsure of why I am getting this error and cannot turn on the cloud photo sharing.

iMac, iOS 12

Posted on Sep 27, 2018 5:24 AM

Best reply

williamfromeaston

Level 1

22 points

Posted on Oct 8, 2018 5:49 PM

OK, I just got off the phone with Apple Support and it was much easier than it seems.

First, shut down. Then reboot, and then immediately hold the Command+R, until you see the progress bar, then release.

Then, you should get a screen that has 4 choices - choose the bottom one - Disk Utility.

Select your HD on left and run "First Aid" (first button in center menu). It should take a few minutes to run.

Once complete, restart from apple menu, and sign in as normal. Your iCloud Photos should be working.

View in context

26 replies

Oct 1, 2018 12:47 AM in response to Brad2610a

Found the Solution here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/icloud-photo-library-fail.1977495/

léonie

Level 10

195,191 points

Sep 27, 2018 6:18 AM in response to Brad2610a

Unsure of why I am getting this error and cannot turn on the cloud photo sharing.

Is your Photos Library on an external drive? Then check the file system on the external drive.

Brad2610a Author

Level 1

14 points

Sep 27, 2018 6:20 AM in response to léonie

Internal Fusion drive. The computer is brand new. First time opening photos.

léonie

Level 10

195,191 points

Sep 27, 2018 6:23 AM in response to Brad2610a

And you do not have any external drive still connected that you used to transfer data to the new Mac?

Brad2610a Author

Level 1

14 points

Sep 27, 2018 6:24 AM in response to léonie

There is an external attached. I can unplug and try again.

Oct 21, 2018 2:46 PM in response to williamfromeaston

Absolutely. This needs to go to the top of the list of replies. MacBook Pro w/ Flash Drive.

Oct 27, 2018 1:00 PM in response to williamfromeaston

Brilliant. Worked for me. Thank you.

Oct 27, 2018 1:41 PM in response to léonie

Honestly, I don't know what the pre- vs. post- Mojave update format was. I purchased that computer in April 2018, so it may have come with High Sierra on it.

léonie

Level 10

195,191 points

Oct 27, 2018 3:01 PM in response to williamfromeaston

Thank you for the additional information, William. That fits in with what the other people posted.

zit

Level 1

46 points

Nov 7, 2018 4:09 PM in response to Brad2610a

Thanks for the solution.
Didn't expect it to cure the problem, but it did :-)

Nov 28, 2018 1:29 PM in response to williamfromeaston

Unfortunately it works once and then the problem comes back.

icloud photos - formatting error