Aperture library resides in external HD

My main Aperture library is not present in my Mac when I disconnect it from the external HD. This is troublesome when I travel without the external HD. How can I establish my main library in the Mac?

A quick addendum, make sure Aperture is closed when you copy the library. Probably won;t be catastrophic if it is open but it will slow things down. Also the estimated time to copy will seem outrageous at first especially for a good size library. In most cases that time is way out of wack and will become more reasonable as the copy proceeds but if you are copying from a USB 2 drive expect it to take some time, possibly even over night.
Most likely your originals are managed in the Aperture library, that is the default and if you did;t change any settings that is how it should be. You can run a filter on your library to check to see if any files are reference.
Select the Photos icon in the Library tab of the inspector, then set the following filter (hopefully the images below will be visible)
First select Add Rule and select File Status
Then in the File Status rule select Referenced
If nay thing shows up in the display you have some referenced files and you will need to handle those a bit different;y when you copy. If this is the case post back.
regards

Similar Messages

Having trouble backing up Aperture Library to an external hard drive

I'm using a brand new 27" imac and simply trying to back up my Aperture Library from my finder menu to my external drive. My Aperture Library currently is about 65gb. The file starts transferring (takes about an hour), and about 2/3 of the way through it, I get an error message that states "The operation can’t be completed because an item with the name “Aperture Library” already exists." The operation stops, and the file size of my Aperture Library on my external drive ends up about 45mb approx, only partially transferred, so not a full backup. Happens every time. I have deleted everything and reformatted my external drive and still get the same message. When I try to create a vault and back it up on my external drive, I get an immediate error that states "The new vault could not be created because the file system of the destination volume is unsupported". Any ideas how to address this? All I really want to do is have an off-site backup of my full Aperture library.

You will have this problem using that format, the Library needs to be on a disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). You can reformat the drive. Or you could try creating a disk image formatted correctly and putting the library on that, then storing that on the MS format drive.
Regards
TD

On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture. How can I access the Aperture Library on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup? I can only access the application but not the library..

On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture. How can I access the Aperture Library on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup? I can only access the application but not the library..

Go into Time Machine (the program not the bundle on the extrnal disk) and using Time Machine's browser go to the Folder where the library lives. You could look in the library bundle in Time Machine but that won't really tell you much,
If you want to make sure it truely has backed up your library you will need to restore it and open the restored library with Aperture.
If all this still has you confused you need to read up on Time Machine in order to get a feel for how it works, for what it is doing and for how to restore files from it.

How can I migrate an Aperture library from an external HDD with Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted) format?

How can I migrate an Aperture library from an external HDD with Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted) format?
I used to store my pictures on an external hard drive using the latest version of Aperture. Now I tried migrating my Aperture library to Photos. However, after a short moment an error message popped up telling me that "Photos was unable to make a copy of your library before preparing it. Photos does not have the necessary permissions...".
My external HDD doesn't need any permission repairs nor is the system prohibited to read from or write to it.
Thanks for any advice in advance!
Gohtac

My guess is that the encryption is the problem for the new app.

My MacBook Pro hard drive is almost full and I wish to store my Aperture Library on an external drive, how do I do this and is the use of USB2 suitable or do I need to use a Firewire external hard drive?

My MacBook Pro hard drive is almost full and I wish to store my Aperture Library on an external drive, how do I do this and is the use of USB2 suitable or do I need to use a Firewire external hard drive?

You'll get better performance if you use a Firewire hard drive (especially if you buy a 7200 RPM drive). Firewire's IO speed is significantly faster than USB 2. USB 2 has a theoretical max speed of 480 Mbps except that it has extremely high over-head. The fastest speeds you can typically get are about 300 Mbps. Firewire, on the other hand, has very little overhead. The fastest speeds you can get are very nearly 800 Mbps. You will typically be constrained by the maximum read/write speed of the drive, not the speed of the I/O on the Firewire bus. Now if you had one of those nice shiny new Macs with the Thunderbolt I/O and a Thunderbolt drive (Light Peak) ... I think they alter space and time so that your data arrives before you know you want it.
Also... unless you want to buy a solid state drive (very expensive), try to keep your hard drives from becoming much more than about 60% full if you want great performance. A nearly "full" hard drive is, on average, only about half as fast as the same hard drive when nearly empty.
USB 2 will work perfectly fine... just not as fast.
Also... it's much safer to move the entire Aperture library than to "relocate masters". Your images must be managed. You can Aperture manage them, or you can manage them. But someone has to manage them. If you "relocate" them so that they are no longer stored inside the Aperture library then you'll need to work out a system of how you decide to organize things and it's critically important that you don't start moving files around or deleting things without Aperture's knowledge. If you do, you'll break the links to your masters and start having problems with missing masters. If you have Aperture manage the library then you don't need to worry about any of that stuff.... it's safer.
Do make backups (use the Aperture Vault or use some other backup program, but make sure you back up your work if you care about it.) There are only two kinds of hard drives in the world: (1) those that have failed and (2) those that are going to fail. There are no exceptions to this rule. Hard drives are cheap. Backup software is built into Aperture and into your Mac.

What is the best way to copy aperture library on to external hard drive? I am getting a message that say's "There was an error opening the database. The library could not be opened because the file system of the library's volume is unsupported".

What is the best way to copy aperture library on to external hard drive? I am getting a message that say's "There was an error opening the database. The library could not be opened because the file system of the library's volume is unsupported". What does that mean? I am trying to drag libraries (with metadata) to external HD...wondering what the best way to do that is?

Kirby Krieger wrote:
Hi Shane. Not much in the way of thoughts - - but fwiw:
How is the drive attached?
Can you open large files on the drive with other programs?
Are you running any drive compression or acceleration programs (some drives arrive with these installed)?
Can you reformat the drive and try again?
Hi Kirby,
I attached the UltraMax Plus with a USB cable. The UltraMax powers the cable so power is not an issue. I can open other files. Also, there is 500GB of files on the drive so I cannot re-format it. Although, I noted I could import the entire Aperture Library. However, I do not want to create a duplicate on my machine because that would be defeating the purpose of the external drive.
Thanks,
Shane

Can I store my Aperture library on an external Hard Disk?

I have a MacBook Pro with very few free space on its internal hard drive. My Aperture library is getting very heavy and i would like to move my Aperture library to an external HD. I know that you can keep files where they are and see them in your aperture library, but the thing i'm trying to do is to STORE AND OPEN MY APERTURE LIBRARY (.APLIBRARY FILE) FROM AN EXTERNAL HARD DISK. Is this possible?

It is possible to put the Aperture library on an external HD as long as the HD is formatted correctly see: Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture
However keep in mind that depending on the HD type and the way it is connected to your Mac performance may be an issue. For the best possible outcome the external drive should have a large cache, high RPM and be connected via firewire.
The other option to explore is to put the masters on an external drive and keep the library on the internal. This will give you relatively good performance using a standard USB drive.

Restoring aperture library from an external hard drive?

I have a major issue with my aperture library. It crashed completely and it turns out that the back up I have on my time machine was corrupted because of a hard disk error. I found this out after buying a new mac and while trying to migrate the old library to the new mac. I kept getting error message -36.
The situation is now as follows:
- I have the full Aperture library on an external hard disk that I recovered from my crashed mac
- I can acces and copy the indivial pictures via the master folder, but cannot copy the entire library. If I try this it give me an error (-36)
- I can see the individual photo files via (click, 'view content'), and can copy them in groups, but not as a whole. It turns out that If I try to copy the master folder, there are some corrupt images there and the copy exercise then quits automatically. It does not allow me to delete the corrupt images.
- when i try to restore the the library via aperture (so opening it with aperture) it keeps saying that my 'permissions' are not set correctly.
Does anyone have an idea to copy the library (24gb worth of photos) without having to go in and copy group by group eliminating the corrupt files?
There must be some way to rebuild the library on my new mac, from the hard disk, as I can see and access the individual pictures?
Thanks!
Alco
- My old mac ran on Snow Leopard.

+the problem is this, almost every time i start my imac, launch itunes and then play a track purchased from an old itunes account, it keeps asking me to authorize that account. even though i have had previous macs containing itunes content on this old account, it has always played with no issues at all. now then... to try and remedy this, i first of all uninstalled itunes COMPLETELY and reinstalled. this seemed to do the trick but after a few days, it all started again.+
Did you unauthorize your old Mac and authorize this one? You only get a maximum of 5 machines, so maybe you're past that or haven't authorized the new one - to do that, open iTunes, click on Store in Menu. Now, there should be two options: authorize or de-authorize this computer. Click on authorize and report back with whatever message you get.
+on to my second issue, Aperture. the app works fine except, like itunes it constantly asks me to enter the serial number from the box. please note that this is a legitimate copy purchased from the apple online store and i used it for about a year on my old macbook pro with only having to enter the serial during the initial installation.+
The Aperture SLA states that you can install it on two computers - a desktop and a laptop. I don't know if there is any protection embedded in the DVD (if you've already had it installed twice), but if the issue persists, I'd contact the Apple store (since you said that is where you bought it) and ask - or, if you're covered by warranty, simply call Apple. Or, if not, make an appointment at your nearest Genius Bar and get answers there. It is perfectly legal to install it again as long as it no longer exists on the old machine - and I don't think it has anything to do with hardware, sounds more like a glitch. Oh, and have you tried to install it fresh, enter the serial, open it to see if it works and then copy over the library?

I recently moved my Aperture Library file to an external hard drive. Can I now create a vault to be saved on my Time Capsule for the Aperture library on this external hard drive?

I recently moved my Aperture Library file to an external hard drive. Can I now create a vault to be saved on my Time Capsule for the Aperture library on this external hard drive?

One thing to bear in mind, if you are using Time Machine on your Time Capsule and have it set so the TM backup includes your external drive, you will effectively be backing up your Aperture library twice on the same drive, once with Time Machine and once with the vault. This isn't a problem unless you start to run out of space.
Another thing to note, vaults on network drives used to be flaky (i.e. not really supported) and required workarounds to be able to use them. I'm not sure if this has changed, but I just managed to create a vault on my TC ok.

How do I import a large Aperture library from an external disk?

I have a large Aperture library, about 110GB of photos, it currently resides on an external USB3 drive for space reasons. I'd like to migrate this into Photos, but every time I try I get an error: "There is not enough disk space to migrate your library. It is estimated that you need at least 21GB of additional free space."
From finder, if I get info on my Mac's main drive, it says I have 297.51 GB available, and on disk, my Aperture library is 105.8 GB. There is almost 3x as much space available as I should need!? And after the first time I tried this I freed up an additional 30 GB of space and still received the same message, still claiming to need 21 GB of space.
My drive has FileVault enabled, would that matter?

I experienced the exact same problem. I have a iPhoto Library in another volume (or partition) with very small free space, while main/system partition (Macintosh HD) has big enough free space.
Turned out, the one that should have big free space is the volume/partition that contains original iPhoto Library (to import from), not the system partition. So, I freed up some space, reopen Photos app (while holding Alt key), and select the iPhoto Library to import. It works!

How to use iMovie with Aperture Library from an external drive?

Hey,
Some problems:
1. My first video, I stored the project on my own laptop and used the library from the HD. This seems to give some problems, but I now figured out I have to consolidate the media etc. so now my files don't get missing after unplugging the harddrive. I figured it would be a better idea to make all new projects on the HD, so I have everything in place all the time. BUT. look at the picture: there seems to be something wrong with the way iMovie recognizes the aperture library: i'ts not listed in the events library under the HardDisk (named Passport) but under my own drive... ??? (+ I don't understand the idea of events when I have my aperture library: Do I need to make events for all projects I make? how is this possible when the library is not in the correct position?)
2. I made a movie, but I'm unable to export a large/high quality version of this project. That's why I want to move my project to the HD and then open it on my partners Mac Book Pro to make a good export. Unfortunately, his macbook doesn't recognize the files and the files can't be opened in iMovie... (files stay gray and unclickable)
To sum it all up:
I want the best way to work with this set-up: mac book air, external drive with all my files and iMovie. And I want to be able to open the project on a different computer to make high quality exports.

First thing that comes up with videos in your 'picture' library is the videos are always under the full control of the picture library program. Which means Aperture is the keeper and master, and it decides what will be displayed in iMovie's Event Library. If Aperture is having difficulties sometimes it cannot or will not display the videos you are storing there.
Right now, I think the problem is your Aperture Library is on the internal Mac HD, not the external. You would have to move Aperture's Library to the external HD (along with all the pictures and videos). Then try to add the videos back into a project.
In extreme cases I have recommended moving the videos out of the picture library and re-importing them into iMovie Event folders to let iMovie manage it.

Aperture - library management and external HDD question

Hi all.
I have just graduated from a point and shoot to a Panasonic GH2 (love it), and have now begun using Aperture 3 rather than iPhoto on my early 2008 MB Pro to manage my photos going forwards. Of course, I’ve now discovered that Aperture is quite the resource hog and so it’s upgrade time (darn, “have” to buy a new ‘puter!). I have a 2011 MB Pro (2.3Ghz i7 with 512GB SSD) on order and 8GB of DDR 3 arriving from Crucial. Since I have this brand-new-computer opportunity I want to make sure I’m organising things properly before I start transferring things across, and so have a few Aperture-related questions. (In case it’s relevant, I’m shooting in RAW+JPEG. So far I’ve been using RAW as master, but have since learnt it might be a good idea to import JPG as master and switch to RAW only when I need to make corrections, so I’ll probably do that going forwards.)
I understand that moving to referenced masters on an external drive might be a good idea and save me precious SSD-space. To that end, questions are:
1. Can anyone recommend a companion external HDD for Aperture and the 2011 MBPro? I guess either FW800 or Thunderbolt are the way to go. The Lacie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt might be an option but is this overkill for Aperture masters or would FW800 be sufficient. I’ve also seen the G-Tech G-RAID mini, Lacie Rugged – thoughts welcome.
Key requirements are a) as compact as possible, and b) bus powered.
2. What kind of performance can I expect if I go down this route? Is there going to be significant loading/processing delay whenever I switch to a new image?
3. How will Aperture cope with (eg) syncing photos to iPad / iPhone if the drive containing the masters isn’t connected? Put another way, are JPG renders saved in the Aperture library (i.e. on my MBP SSD) or with the masters?
Thanks in advance to anyone who responds!
Aljrob

Aljrob_UK wrote:
...I have a 2011 MB Pro (2.3Ghz i7 with 512GB SSD) on order and 8GB of DDR 3 arriving
...I understand that moving to referenced masters on an external drive might be a good idea and save me precious SSD-space.
1. Can anyone recommend a companion external HDD for Aperture and the 2011 MBPro? I guess either FW800 or Thunderbolt are the way to go.
...Key requirements are a) as compact as possible, and b) bus powered.
OWC (an excellent vendor) has the Elite Pro Mini hard drive that meets your specs:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/EliteALmini/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB
Thiunderbolt drives are not mainstream yet but eSATA and FW800 both work well. The multiple connection methods of OWC drives allow very desirable flexibility when purposing/repurposing drives.
Note too that the MBP optical drive can be replaced with up to a 1-TB hard drive DIY or OWC will do it for you. That is what I am doing with my 17" 2011 MBP.
2. Is there going to be significant loading/processing delay whenever I switch to a new image?
SSD latency is orders of magnitude less than hard drives. Switching to a new image even fast hard drives with fast connectivity add significant latency delay. To avoid that what I do is leave (Referenced) Masters on the SSD until all editing is complete (which may be a few weeks). Only then do I use Aperture to change the Referenced Masters location from the SSD to a large external drive.
What kind of performance can I expect if I go down this route?
With Masters on the SSD and 8 GB RAM imports/exports are very fast and all Aperture editing is essentially instant. You will be pleased!
Suggested workflow steps for Referenced Masters:
• Use a FW card reader or MBP slot to copy to a file folder on the SSD (never directly into Aperture or any other images management app). With fast camera cards copy times are quick, but cheap slow cards can slow this step down a lot.
• Eject and physically disconnect the card reader.
• Back up that file folder on external drive(s).
• Only after backup is complete, reformat the camera card in-camera.
• Import images into Aperture from the file folder on the SSD.
HTH
-Allen Wicks

Error when upgrading Aperture library on an external drive

I have a MacBook Pro and am in the process of upgrading to Aperture 3. When Aperture wants to upgrade the existing Aperture library, it fails saying that there is insufficient memory. (My hard drive is very full). I have copied the Aperture library across to a WD external drive and have held down "Option" key when launching Aperture 3 so that I could select the library on the external drive as the preferred library. That went ok. Then when Aperture 3 was some way through upgrading the library on the external drive, it suddenly stopped and gave me this message.
"There was an error creating a library at the path “/Volumes/External Drive/Aperture Library.aplibrary”. The library could not be created because the file system of the destination volume is unsupported."
The library also seems to have disappeared off the external drive.
Any ideas on what I did wrong?

Hi Paul DT;
In addition to the suggestions that Allen gave you I would also suggest that once you increase the free space on your internal disk drive that you reboot with install DVD and repair the disk using Disk Utility.
When you run the free space down that can greatly increase the chances of corrupting the directory on that disk. If you have any corruption in the directory that cause all kinds of strange problems for you until you repair it.
Allan

HT201250 Cant open the Aperture Library on my external hard drive

I have backed up my Hard drive using Time Machine including my Aperture Library however I can not open the library on the external drive as a dialog pops up informing me that I don't ave any permissions. Aperture then closes. Read write permissions for the library seem to be fine

dewifromaberystwyth wrote:
What is the best procedure to do this.
Don't use Time Machine to copy a Library.
Just copy your Library (it's a file; copy files using the Finder) to any locally-mounted (i.e.: not networked) drive, then double-click the Library name in a Finder window. This will opened the copied Library (perforce from its location on the external drive) and let the OS and Aperture know that it is the Library you wish to use. Confirm that it is complete and works correctly, then delete the "old" Library on your system drive. Note that you should include the external drive in your back-up practice.
The external drive must be formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Format drives using the OS X bulit-in program Disk Utility.
Post back if you still get permissions denials.
As always, _never_ use any computer file without having a back-up available.

Copying aperture library from one external disk to another fails with error -36

I am trying to duplicate my aperture library (449 GB) from one external hard disk to another. I get an -36 error and the copying fails before 1 GB is copied. I have repaired permissions and repaired my aperture library and have repaired both the source and destination disks. I am using a MB Air with a 256 GB HD (155 GB free) to perform the copy operation. Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks!

Rahul,
I have also used the Aperture First Aid to repair the perminssions and the library (just the first two options out of three provided).
What else can I do?
Sorry, I overlooked that you already had done the repair options.
To prevent permission issues, I'd enable the "Ignore Ownership" flag on both drives, if you have not already done so.
Your copy-problem may be caused by a bad media file in your library.
You could try to copy in small installments.
Open the Aperture library package in the Finder by ctrl-clicking (right clicking) the Aperture library.
You will see a Finder window with folders like Masters, Previews, etc.
Create an empty folder on your new drive, name it something like ApertureLibraryBackup and drag the items from your current Aperture library on by one to this new folder.
When the copy fails, e.g. for the Masters folder, check, how much could be copied. The first file, that not could be transferred, is probably the bad image or video.
Delete this file from your Aperture LIbrary (using Aperture) and then try to copy the rest.
Post back, when you discover what cannot be copied.
Regards
Léonie
P.S.
You enable the "Ignore Ownership" flag from the "File > Get Info" panel of the drive.

Aperture library resides in external HD

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