Can't read iPhoto library from external drive

I suddenly can't can't read iPhoto library from external drive. I have talked to WD and nohing is wrong with the network drive. I can open images and files from it. But, I can't read in iPhoto Library.

Network Drive? a NAS?
iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, exporting, saving edits and sharing the photos.
Basically, you need to move the library to a correctly formatted disk.

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Can't read iPhoto library from external drive via airport extreme base stat

I can't seem to open my iPhoto library from my external USB drive that is hooked and being shared through my airport extreme base station. If I plug the external drive directly to my mac via USB it works but not when going through the base station.
This only started happening when I upgraded from iLife'06 to iLife'08.
Anyone have any ideas on how to fix?

That's a problem that many are posting about. Haven't read of a solution yet. Be sure to report the problem to Apple at: http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphoto.html.
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. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Can't copy Iphoto library from external drive to hard drive

I have a 210 gig iphoto library that I am trying to copy from an external hard drive with 440 gig of avaliable space. I am getting a message say it can't copy because there is not enough space. The math doesn't add up

Try the following:
1 - run Disk Utility and repair disk permissions.
2 - launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
3 - Run Option #4, Rebuild Database, followed by Option #1.
4 - try dragging the library to your internal drive again.
OT

How to move iPhoto Library from external drive to new mac?

I have exported a copy of my iPhoto Library from my old mac to an external hard drive. How can I import entire library into iPhoto of new mac? When I click Import to Library, I'm unable to highlight iPhoto Library file listed on my external hard drive in Finder. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Is the iPhoto library on the new computer empty? If it is, quit iPhoto and just drag the iPhoto library on the New Computer to the trash and drag the iPhoto library from the EHD to the pictures folder on the new computer - there is no importing involved - you NEVER want to import an iPhoto library into another iPhoto Library
If you want to run the new computer with the iPhoto library on the external drive simply launch i{Photo while depressing the option (alt) key and use the select library to point to the EHD
LN

Can't transfer iPhoto Library FROM external hard drive to iMac

I just bought a new iMac. Before I said goodbye to my old computer (a MacBook), I dutifully backed up my iPhoto library onto an external hard drive. Upon setting up my iMac, I easily accessed the iPhoto library on my HD, but I didn't import it. I was able to see all photos, albums, etc.
But when I went to import the entire iPhoto library into my iMac's hard drive (into the Pictures folder), it wouldn't import. A mesage comes up that says "Preparing to copy" and the blue-and-white bar just spins and spins, without actually copying anything. So, it's weird -- there's clearly communication between iMac and external HD, but I can't take the iPhoto library off the hard drive to make it my new computer's iPhoto library.
Any hints? Thanks.

Have you tried restarting your machine?

Can't open iphoto library from external hard drive

I'm backing up my enormous iPhoto library to two external hard drives in order to free up space on my computer. Before deleting the photos permanently from the laptop, I wanted to double-check that the copies of the library I made on the two externals would actually work on another computer, should something happen to my laptop. When I plug my external hard drive into my laptop and use option+click on iPhoto to choose which library I want to use, it opens up the library from the external just fine, no problems. However, when I plug the same external into a different Mac computer and do the same process, I get the immensely frustrating message of "You can't open photo library blah blah blah changes have been made using newer version of iPhoto". However, both my laptop and the second computer are running the exact same version of iPhoto (the most recent), so that can't (or at least shouldn't) be the problem. I found suggestions to rebuild the library, which I did, but the same result occurs. I double-checked to be sure that neither computer needed updates (they didn't).
When I plug one of the externals into the second computer, though, I can open up the package contents of iPhoto library and all the photos are visible, so I know the information is all there. But I don't want to lose my albums, etc.
So do I just delete the copies of my library from the externals and try it all over again? I'd prefer not to, since I have 40,000+ photos, and that takes a while.

To reinforce what Larry pointed out both Macs must be running the same version of iPhoto. And the external HD must be formatted as shown in this screenshot:
and don't forget the ignore ownership.
OT

Can't move iPhoto library to external drive

My poor little iMac only has 200 MB of hard drive space on it, so I need to make some room! I'd already moved my iTunes library from it last year, but I figured now I need to move my iPhoto library to my external hard drive too.
I went to Apple help for instructions, which said drag the iPhoto library folder to the hard drive. I couldn't find an icon that looked like a folder in Pictures, but I found an icon that said "iPhoto Library" so I moved that icon to my external hard drive. On the hard drive, the icon turned into a blank document icon. I put my iMac's iPhoto library in the trash, reopened iPhoto, selected "choose library" and tried to choose the iPhoto library that was on the external hard drive, but it was grayed out, so I couldn't! I went through all these steps several times.
Also, just for curiosity's sake, I double clicked on the iPhoto library blank icon on the external hard drive. It said it needed an application to work with it, so I tried to choose iPhoto, but that wasn't working either.
I have iLife '08, by the way. The hard drive is a 250GB WD. Can anyone tell me how to do this?

What is the size of the resulting file on the external HD? Also how is the external HD formatted? If it's one of the FAT formats for PCs that may be the problem. Try copying that file back to your desktop and see if it will reconvert back to a library. If that's the case, reformat the HD to OS X Extended (journaled).
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 created 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. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Can't import a library from external drive

Hi,
I have always exported projects as new libraries to external drives and then import them when I need to work on or update. I am trying to import a library from my external drive and it says merging libraries but the library is not showing up as a project or importing. Nothing is happening. I don't want to work on it as a stand alone library because I have several projects I need to swap images between. Does anyone know why I can no longer import a library?
Thank you.

To check the format of your drive - just to be sure about it - select your drive in the Finder and use "File > Get Info" or press "⌘I". You'll see the formatting in the Info panel that opens, in the "General" tab of the panel.

Unable to copy iphoto library from external drive to internal drive

iPhoto '09 8.1.2 (424)
I have a very large iPhoto library (282GB, 34k photos) spread between multiple computers, which as been consolidated on a single external drive now (1 TB Western Digital Mac OS Extended (Case-senstive, Journaled). I'm trying to get the big library on the external drive back on my Mac Pro so I can break the merged libraries into smaller libraries in a safe fashion.
There is nothing on the internal drive, but I keep getting an error about 62GB into the copying that reads: "You cannot copy "[Library Name]" to the destination because its name is the same as the name of an item on the destination, except for the case of some characters." ... But there's nothing on the internal drive!!!
I've renamed the library on the external drive, then tried copying it -- no dice. I've created a new folder on the internal drive and tried copying it to the new folder -- same error at exactly the same spot in the transfer. I've even reformatted then zeroed out the internal drive -- same error, same spot. Anyone know a solution or have ideas about what I'm doing wrong?
Many thanks!

I think the error report is bogus and the issue is not on the receiving volume but a locked or damaged file within the library.
Try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Include the option to check and repair Library permissions.
FWIW, I don't see what you gain by a: splitting the library at all and b: copying it back to the MacPro to do it.
Regards
TD

Restore iphoto library from external drive

Help - I'm in a panic!
Our iPhoto library is housed on an external drive, and opens automatically from that external drive when we plug a device in or open iPhoto. I plugged in my iPhone today to upload photos, I was prompted to update to a newer version of iPhoto, and upon completing the update my iPhoto library now says that it is corrupted and needs to be backed up. I can't find the library in Time Machine to back it up - it is not detecting my external drive when I go to past backups. Help! How do I restore my library?

Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Repair Database. If that doesn't help, then try again, this time using Rebuild Database.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In Library Manager it's the FIle -> Rebuild command)
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.
Regards
TD

Can't transfer iPhoto library to external drive

Hi guys,
Need some help here.
My hard disk ran out of space and I am trying to transfer all of my photos in iphoto library into my external hard drive, which I have been using for my PC. I tried dragging the library icon to my external drive icon, but I kept getting the "block" sign and it simply would not allow me to transfer the library.
I've attached the screen shot of this to help you better understand what's going on.
Can you PLEASE help?
Thanks!

what format is the external drive? If you used it with a PC it is incorrect for iPhoto - iPhoto must be on a drive formatted Mac OS extended (journaled)
Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
LN

Help Restore iPhoto Library from external drive

Shortly after upgrading to Maverick my hard drive died, a complaint for another board. Anyway, I was foolish and did not back up my hard drive. However, after apple replaced the hard drive I had them give me the old drive. I bought a case for it and was able to manually pull over all the data I needed except for the iPhoto library. I noticed when pulling the information over if I pulled an entire folder over that more than15gb or so it would fail. But if I went an pulled over some groups of them (about 1GB) at a time it would work. The problem is the iPhoto Library only shows as on file/folder, and I cant figure out how to access it as indidivuals files. Is there a way to break up the iPhoto library into all the files so I can pull them over. The file is currently about 150gb and fails everytime I try to drag it over.

The library is a package and can be entered as shown in this screenshot:
So if you can't move the entire library over at one time you can do the:
Launch iPhoto Library Manager and use it to rebuild the library on the EHD. However, have the rebuild library be created on the new internal HD.
OT

Can't backup iPhoto library to external drive

I've tried three times today to backup my iPhoto libray to an external hard drive. The file is 22.2 GB in size. Using Firewire the transfer is supposed to take about 45 mninutes. Each time at around :25-:30 it suddenly stops and I get an error message that it can't complete the transfer due to corrupted data. But it doesn't say where in the file the corrupted data is located. Any ideas on how to get around this problem? Do I need to export every photo I have and then re-import and even then how will I know that the new file won't be corrupted? I tried to open the backup iPhoto file to see if I could see which photos didn;t tarbsfer and work back from there. Unfortunately I think it opens the original library on the computer instead since all the photos can be seen. Any ideas/help?

What version of iPhoto?

Can't recreate iphoto library from time machine. Sais there is not enough space where there is more double.

can't recreate iphoto library from time machine. Sais there is not enough space where there is more double.

Recover the iphoto library to a different location eg, a USB drive.. since there could be issues with the new photo app.

Can't show User/Library in external drive

I can set my Mac to show Library in Users on the main drive (terminal or keystroke) but NOT on an external drive...
How can I access User/Library on external drives?

Check that you’re in the correct folder and entering the exact text posted.
If you’re using the Go to Folder command and providing Library, it’ll open the one in the current folder. If you provide ~/Library/, it’ll always open the one in your home folder.
If you’re using the chflags command, the path will look like /Volumes/volumename/Users/username/Library/ and not /Users/username/Library/.
(115061)

Can't read iPhoto library from external drive

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