Archiving iPhoto Library: DVD fails

I am trying to burn part of my iPhoto library to a DVD but each time I go through the process, it gets near the very end and then fails.
I've been using TDK DVD-R disks. Is there another format and/or brand I should be using?

Hey. Thanks for all your help. Got 6.0.4 and was able to import my photos. Had to KEEP the existing library AND create a new library using my backup, then import. Crazy. Yeah!

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IPhoto library upgrade failed, one third of the photos lost, but the library works as normal. No corruption.

Hello! I recently replaced my tragically crashed Macbook Pro 2008 with a newer model and transferred my volumous iphoto library of 20 000+ photos to my new machine. To be able to use my iphoto '08 library with Aperture I had to upgrade the library in the iphoto '11 version. I left the computer on during the day, and when I got back it seemed to work fine. I browsed my library in Aperture and could see all the thumbnails, but looking closer I noticed a small yellow warning triangle with an arrow in the corner of some pictures. Turns out all pictures from before ~2010 are lost! When I wiev the photos I see nothing but the infinite black of the data void.
Here's how I've tried to fix the problem:
1. Opening the iPhoto Library package in Finder. All the folders for the earlier dates are there, but they are empty. I notice no incorrect or impossible dating, which seemed to be a common problem among users who's libraries where corrupted during the upgrade process.
2. Rebuilding the iphoto library in iphoto. No effect.
3. Recovering the iphoto library from my Time Machine Backup. SInce my old hard drive was just 200 GB, I stored all pictures older than one year on my external hard drive (note that about half of those pictures were successfully imported/upgraded). Both the internal and the external hard drive where backed up using Time Machine on a NAS from Seagate (Black Armor 110, 3TB). I was able to access backed up files on my external drive through Time Machine on my old computer, but since it is now rendered unbootable I tried using Migration Assistant to let my new computer inherit the old backup. However, I could not find the backup of the external drive in Migration Assistant, just my old internal drive. When I tried to access the backup volume on my NAS through Finder it didn't show up (I could find it that way on my old computer).
4. Googling "iPhoto library upgrade failed", or "Inheriting Time Machine backup of external drive", and similarily desperately specific phrases - Nothing useful. Other people seems to have had problems with corrupt Libraries, but I'm not sure that's the case here.
My pictures must exist somewhere on my computer and in a backup on my NAS. I just can't find them! Do anyone have a clue to what may have gone wrong? I'm afraid the computer might have gone to sleep during the upgrade, because I didn't thinkabout adjusting the power saving settings before starting it. But since pictures 1-8000-something are missing, it doesn't seem to have worked properly during the whole beginning of the upgrade, not just during the middle. As I knew I had a backup of the library I didn't worry about upgrading the single functional copy. From now on I will think thrice before doing anything as serious as this.
I am eternally grateful for any answers that might help me recovering my photos!
//Teodor Nilson

b) I split up my photo collection into two iphoto libraries. One for the new photos stored on my internal HD            and one for photos older than one year stored on my external HD
And exactly How did you Split up your iPhoto library?
c) I used Migration Assistant in an attempt to access the Time Machine backup of my old MBP from my new      MBP (by inheriting the backup). When I made my backups, I made sure Time Machine included the external      HD. But Migration Assistant could only find the backup of my Internal HD with the library of new photos!
And again
You should not use Migration assistant on an iPhoto library - it generally does not work
and
     d)   When signing in and mounting the NAS in Finder, I used to be able to see a Time Machine backup      folder/icon. Now I was unable to locate it.
I believe you are using your NAS for your Time Machine backup. If your Time Machine backup and/or your iPhoto library is on a NAS you will have problems - both need to be on Mac formatted volumes - the least troublsome is a volume formatted Mac OS extended (journaled)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
Manually preparing a new disk for Time Machine
If you want to erase a disk before using it with Time Machine, follow these steps:
Open Disk Utility (located in the Utilities folder).
Connect the disk if it isn't already attached.
In the left side of the Disk Utility window, select the disk you want to use with Time Machine.
Optional: If you want to partition the disk, click the Partition tab and select a layout. Make sure "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" is selected in the Format menu for the partition that will be used for backups. Click Apply.
Click the Erase tab.
Optional: If you want to securely erase the disk, click Security Options to configure, then click OK.
Click Erase.
After erasing, open Time Machine preferences in System Preferences and configure as described in the section above.
Are the iPhoto libraries kept on an external drive formated Mac OS extended (journaled)? Or are they on the NAS? - If you are using the NAS for iPhoto and/or Time Machine that is the source of your problems
LN

Archiving iPhotos library

I'm about to go on a long trip and I was considering trying to get a bigger hard drive for my Powerbook, when I realized I probably wouldn't have to if I got rid of my 28 GB iPhoto library. I really don't need to travel the world with it taking up all that space. And I WILL need the space for all the new pictures I will be taking. The photos are all on Flickr anyway arranged in Sets, and I never use iPhoto's organizational tools. However, what I may need sometime is the original RAW versions of photos I've processed or cropped. What would be the best way of getting them off my Powerbook? Burning a series of DVDs? Copying the library intact onto another hard drive and then trashing it on the Powerbook? Exporting all photos in Original Format to another drive and then tossing them in the iPhotos Trash and emptying that Trash?
Anybody got any advice?

So, I assume iPhotos will autocreate a new library.<<<</div>
No, you will have saved the entire library. iPhoto will merely access it.
What happens when I return home and I want to merge the two?<<<</div>
There is a way to merge but it's not a simple matter and I don't know how to do it. If no one else jumps in here, I'd suggest that you start a new thread.
Or is the old one always going to be an archival library from now on?<<<</div>
If you choose to maintain two (or more) libraries, you can go back and forth by holding down the Option (Alt) key while starting iPhoto.

IPhoto library DVD won't open after installing iLife '06

Apple Care recently prompted me to erase and reinstall. After doing so, I installed iLife '06. My iPhoto library was backed up to a DVD. How do I now import those photos into my new iPhoto? When I insert the DVD, I get the message "You can't open your current photo library using this version of iPhoto - You have made changes to your photo library using a newer version of iPhoto. Please quit and use the latest version of iPhoto." Now what?
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) iLife '06

Hey. Thanks for all your help. Got 6.0.4 and was able to import my photos. Had to KEEP the existing library AND create a new library using my backup, then import. Crazy. Yeah!

Archiving iPhoto library

What is the best method for archiving your iPhoto library? I have been loading photos for 6 months or so, occasionally backing up to CD, and printing a fair number of photos, but I'm wondering in the long run, what is the best way to save those important family photos, for example? How long can we expect a photo CD to last, as compared to film negatives? How about inkjet printing vs. commercial photo prints? Any opinions?
Thanks!
-BB

Welcome to the Apple Discussions. Yes there's an easy way to do that. Copy your iPhoto Library folder intact to the external HD. That's it. To keep it current you can use a backup application, I like Synk, to backup only the working iPhoto Library folder to the backup (A->B). It only takes minute do do so. The latest issue of MacWorld had a review of several backup applications. Their favorite was Prosoft Digital Engineering's Data Backup.
Whatever you do you don't want to sync the two, only copy from A to B. Syncing will corrupt both copies. Also check out the tip at the end of my signature.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've written an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
G5 Dual Core 2GHz, 2G RAM, 250G HD; G4 Dual 1Ghz, 1.5G RAM, 80G HD, QT 7.1.3, Mac OS X (10.4.8) 22 LCD, 250G/200G/160G FW HDs, Canon: SD700IS/i850/LIDE 50, Epson R200, 30G iPod

Cant read archived iPhoto library

Hi
I copied off my iPhoto library to another partition while reinstalling OSX tiger. I have now replaced the iphoto library on the freshly installed OSX but iphoto does not see it.
The library was created by iPhoto 1.1.1 and it is 1.1.1 that I am using still
Import does not recognise the folder at all
Nick

I reimported all the photos on the external harddrive into IPhoto<<<</div>
That was your mistake. You created a second library on your main drive. I expect that it's located inside HD/Users/YourName/Pictures. You probably should trash it but don't do that just yet.
Hold down the Option (Alt) key while opening iPhoto. When you get the query, direct iPhoto to the library on the external drive. After iPhoto opens with that library, do everything that you're able to do to confirm that all photos are present and accounted for. When finished, you can safely trash the library on the main drive.
The problem is that I can not find any Photos or Library folders anywhere on my computer<<<</div>
Depending on how "Spotlight" is configured, it might not be looking in the correct location.

HT1198 iPhoto Library Sharing Fail

I'm trying to share the iPhoto library across two accounts, but following the step-by-step directions in this article yields complete failure at Step 6, when it announces "The disk image should automatically mount" which means nothing to me. Double-click what if it hasn't mounted? Where? And, you can't drag the iPhoto Library anywhere from the Finder list, so how do you drag it at all to a new location?
Yet another example of an Apple walkthrough that doesn't work.

Amusing. You don't understand concepts like mounting disks and don't know how to drag the iPhoto Library, yet it's Apple who have created a walkthrough that doesn't work? No chance that it might be a lack of basic knowledge on your part? No?
A disk is said to mount when it becomes available in the Finder so you can drag things to or from it.
And the iPhoto Library is as draggable as any other object in the Finder, so I have no idea what you're referring to there.
Perhaps this is beyond your computer comfort zone and you might need to take a class.
Regards
TD

IPhoto library update fails after Yosemite install

I have installed Yosemite 10.10.2 and iPhoto Library upgrade is required when I try to open iPhoto. Upgrade process runs but does not complete. Progress meter gets within a gnats nadger of completing, but then stops. I have done all the usual things to try and restart etc. but to no avail. I have tried accessing Time Machine to go back and unravel the Picture files but it also seems that I can't go any further back than yesterday in time machine. As things stand I cannot see any of my some 20,000 images stored in the Library. I hope someone can help. Mel A.

Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.

IPhoto library upgrade fail

Hello,
First , i have a
iMac (24-inch Mid 2007)
Processor 2.4 GHz intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Storage Capacity 32.23 GB free of 319.21 GB
I haven't try any temporary fixes other than restart and download again.
Problem: I update from Mavericks to SO Yosemite without back-up. Everything is great but now iPhoto will not open even after I downloaded the iPhoto Library Upgraded available from Apple.
Question: Anyone else having the same problem and if so how do i fix this?
Problem: I have an external hard drive of 500 GB for my Time Machine but afraid to use it because it might delete my previous work and photo.
Question: How can i recover my photos?
Thanks,
Eric

Do you mean iPhoto App or iPhoto Library? These are two different items. Your iPhoto Library is kept in your pictures folder. If you having issues installing iPhoto App then I would reinstall from the App store.

Help to restore iPhoto Library from TM backup

I use an external hard drive to store my iPhoto Library which was manually added to my Time Machine backup as my iMac internal hard drive is insufficient to store all my media.
I set up Time Machine to back up both the iMac and the 1TB external drive to a second 3TB external drive. Now that the 1TB drive with my iPhoto Library has failed, I seem to be having problems restoring all the media from 2TB drive. This is because the Time Capsule interface is designed to display finder windows at various points in time so you can go back to when your missing files existed and restore them.
The problem is that I need the entire contents of the dead 1TB drive restored to a new drive. When I open the 3TB drive in a Finder window I can clearly see that it has backups of the 1TB drive, but they are spread out among different folder snapshots of various dates.
How can I use Time Machine to restore the entire contents of the dead 1TB external drive from the 3TB TM backup to a new external drive?

To restore the dead drive from your Time Machine backup use Pondini's FAQ, that Larry pointed to - a combination of the entries 17 and 16.
You need first to open the backup in Time Machine, as described in item 17. " How can I see my backups, or the Backups for a different Mac? http://pondini.org/TM/17.html ", and then restore to the new drive, using the procedure "16. How can I restore a file/folder to an alternate location? http://pondini.org/TM/16.html"

Burning iPhoto Library to DVD

I had a lot of new photos and wanted to back up my iPhoto Library. I burned the library it to a DVD in iPhoto. Over 2600 photos. All seems to have gone fine, but it took over 1/2 hour. Is that about right? I didn't expect it would take nearly so long (although I really don't know why I think that).
In the future, am I okay not burning the whole library---just the newly added photos not on the DVD I burned today? I did lose the whole library a few months ago and gratefully had backed it up.
Thanks.

It mostly depends on the speed of your DVD burner and the media it is using, but does not sound unreasonable to me!
I agree with the first response that an external HD is a good idea. I have and older "mobile disk" external hd case which has firewire 400. It works great with a 120 gb WD HD, and runs cool.
Periodically, I use "Super Duper" to clone the HD every month, and every week copy the iPhoto library over to it as an additional file. If my iMac hd fails, the HD could be used as a external boot drive and I would only be a week out in updates. If the iMac needs a new HD I could either install the one from the external case or duplicate it to a new HD in the iMac.
I have just started using RAW images and keep them in a separate folder from iPhoto. Once, I have gone through these RAW images and exported the "keepers" to iphoto as JPEG's the original RAW files are periodically transferred to a DVD for archiving. I always have the original image to work with, like keeping the "negatives" from a film camera.
Well...that's my strategy anwyay...and I am sticking with it!!!
Ed

Macbook pro iphoto 6.0.2 won't recognize iphoto library (backup from DVD)

Just purchased a Macbook Pro with iphoto 6.0.2. Had a G4 powerbook with iphoto 4.0.2 and backed up that iphoto library to 2 DVD's. I loaded the photos and albums from the 2 DVDs to the iphoto library on the macbook. when I launch the iphoto 6.0.2 it does not load any photos and states there are no photos.
Is this an issue of the DVD back up being made under iphoto 4.0.2? Is there another way to back them up if it is....any help would be appreciated....thanks in advance...-D

Hi kaiman,
I have all the advise in one post here (including Old toad's)so as not to confuse you.
Backing up your iPhoto Library
1. Burn the iPhoto Library folder in the Finder to a CD or DVD
This method will give you a burned iPhoto Library folder that can be copied back to your computer to replace a damaged library. You can also use this method to backup an old library when you want to create a new Library to use as your current library.
insert a blank CD into your internal or external CD-RW drive and copy the iPhoto library to the CD icon on your desktop. When you drag the CD icon to the Trash/Eject button in the Dock, you are given the option to burn the CD. Click Burn and the CD is created. To burn a DVD backup of your digital images, use a DVD and a SuperDrive-equipped Mac
The easiest way to burn an iPhoto Library folder in the Finder that is larger than 4.7 gig to fit on one DVD is to burn sections of the folder.
For an iPhoto 5 Library:
Drag the iPhoto Library folder to the desktop
Double click the folder to open it.
Drag each Year folder to the desktop.
You should be left with the iPhoto Library folder containing all the data files, and the Year folders.
Combine whatever year folders that amount closest to a DVD burn size on one DVD. Make sure that you have burned all the Year folders, then the iPhoto Library folder with all the data files.
If you ever need to use this backup, insert the DVDs into your computer and copy the folders to the desktop. Put all the Year folders back into the iPhoto Library folder. Then put the iPhoto Library folder back into the Pictures folder.
For an iPhoto 6 Library:
Do almost the same thing except there are three main folders to backup now. the Data, Originals, and Modified. Then the iPhoto Library folder and all the data files within it. It might get too confusing so it might be better to get disc spanning software.
You can also check out applications for disc spanning:
Disc-spanning software
DropDMG
Toast
Dragon Burn 4
Retrospect Express-comes with some external drives
Retrospect for Macintosh Desktop Edition
2. Copy the ENTIRE iPhoto Library to an external drive formated for a Mac. Do not use this as your only back up as the external can also go bad.
3. Copy the ENTIRE iPhoto Library to your iPod in disk mode
4.Creating your own CDs and DVDs for viewing in iPhoto
This method is a great way to back up Albums of older photos or even your entire library if it is small enough to fit on a DVD. This method will give you a library that will mount within iPhoto in the source column to be viewed. To import any images from this library they need to be dragged into your library in the source column.
If you just want to backup the images in your library:
1) Within iPhoto select the images, albums or rolls you want to backup. Go to Share>Export and export them to a newly created folder on the desktop. Follow the directions in the next link.
Creating a CD or DVD to be viewed in Windows or by a photo processing company
1.. If you backed up the entire iPhoto Library by burning within iPhoto or burning the folder in the Finder, make sure the burned copy is a good working copy before you delete the iPhoto Library folder in the Finder. You delete the iPhoto Library in the finder by dragging it to the trash when iPhoto is closed. When you next launch iPhoto it will create a new empty library for you to start anew.
2. If you burned just the images, be aware that that is all you are archiving. No metadata will travel with the images such as comments, keywords, etc.
You can then delete those images within iPhoto by highlighting them and hitting the delete key, then empty iPhoto's trash. Do this often and in groups so iPhoto will not choke on too many images.
And here is the info for transferring a library from one Mac to another:
Copy iPhoto Library folder from one Mac to another
-If the library is small enough, burn the ENTIRE iPhoto Library folder to CD/DVD.
Drag the iPhoto Library folder from the CD/DVD to your Pictures folder of the iMac.
-If the computers are networked, copy the ENTIRE iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder of the other Mac.
-If you have an iPod, copy the ENTIRE iPhoto Library folder to the iPod. Connect the iPod to the other computer and copy the iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder of the other Mac.
-If you have a firewire cable, copy the ENTIRE iPhoto LIbrary folder to the Pictures folder of the other Mac
Things to keep in mind:
-If the usersnames are different you might have to set the permissions on the iPhoto Library folder to Read/Write for the new user. Check the "apply to enclosed items" at the bottom of the "get info" window.
-If there is another iPhoto Library folder on the other Mac, change it's name so it doesn't get replaced by the iPhoto Library folder you are copying into the Pictures folder...or....drag it to another place on your hard drive.
Now that the library is in the Pictures folder, launch iPhoto and it will open the library. If the library you moved to the new Mac was created on an older version of iPhoto, iPhoto will tell you the library needs to be upgraded. Let iPhoto do the upgrade.

Backing up iPhoto Library (or its contents) to DVD

I currently use Time Machine to backup my iPhoto Library to an external hard drive. However, I would also like to back up the library itself, or at least its contents, to DVD. Does iPhoto have a built-in backup to disc utility like iTunes does? If not, can you suggest a good method/app for backing up the library to disc? My iPhoto Library is around 8 GB, so it won't fit on a single DVD. I do have Toast, although it's an old version (Version 8, I believe). Could I use that?

Does iPhoto have a built-in backup to disc utility like iTunes does?
No.
My iPhoto Library is around 8 GB, so it won't fit on a single DVD.
If you have a drive capable of writing to dual layer double sided DVDs, the library will fit. Other options include control-clicking the iPhoto Library item in the Finder and compressing or archiving it, or showing its contents in the Finder, splitting that over multiple DVDs, and fully reassembling it before attempting to access it from iPhoto.
(3153)

IPhoto library locked on failing external drive

I have my iPhoto library on an external hard drive which I also used as a time machine/backup. I did this to save space on my much older macbook, and when I purchased a new macbook it would have taken months for the full iPhoto library to be moved to the new computer, so I left it on my external drive. Unfortunately, that external hard drive has started to fail. I ran the disk utility repair to try and fix the external drive, and I was able to retrieve everything off of the external drive except for my pictures, which are locked in that darned iPhoto library. I have not yet found a way to retrieve or move the pictures or the entire iPhoto library from the failing drive. My MacBook Pro is AOK, my iPhoto is fine- and I think the library would have been fine as well if not for the external drive failing. It hasn't completely crashed, and I'm afraid to do much more to it. I can still hack into the in the disk utility to see the files it's holding hostage. I desperately need to get the pictures back though. Is there any way to rescue my precious pictures? Please help!

Bear in mind that Time Machine will apply ACL's (extended permissions) to the backup disk so it may be completely normal to be unable to access files on that disk. If you are trying to use an iPhoto library inside the backups folder it may not work at all - it must be copied off to another disk to use with iPhoto.
With that said, if the disk is failing or damaged it may not mount in Finder - is that what is happening here?
It is also possible that the failure is the 'external case' and not the actual disk, if the controller is not working the disk may not mount - sometimes you can get a disk to work by using a different external case or a USB toaster
You will need to consider data recovery if the disk is on it's last legs or is corrupted. Frankly this is complex & you should send it to data recovery professionals if you are inexperienced - it is the best way to stand any chance of recovering data on a failing drive, but it is costly. You are also correct to se the disk as little as possible - if the damage is a mechanical issue reading the disk can cause the disk to fail quicker.
If you are intent on doing data recovery yourself you must get another disk that is larger than the disk you need to repair. Then you can use tools like Disk Warrior or or Disk Drill to repair the disk or recover the files.
Provide more info about where the library is & the state of the disk, you may not need to do recovery.

Iphoto library won't burn to DVD

I'm having problems burning my library to DVD. I'm using a iomega external DVD+/- burner. When I select the pictures i want to burn from the iphoto window, i get this error..."NO DEVICES ARE AVAILABLE FOR BURNING". I tried burning a DVD with another application and it worked fine so I'm assuming it's between iphoto and the burner. I have the latest patch burn installed as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is the only way I can get my library on DVD with all the photo information and film rolls intact.
Thanks.

Share ==> burn creates a mini iPhoto library only usable by iPhoto and includes multiple versions of each Photo so the disk requirements several times the sie of just the selected photos
the answer is to select all the photos in the album, export them (fil menu ==> export - see the user tip on exporting for details of the export options) to a desktop folder and use the finder to burn that folder to disk
LN

Archiving iPhoto Library: DVD fails

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