Can't view photos

Question

Hi,
since a week I try to get back my lost thumbnail view in iPhoto 6. I went through some posting here and tried to rebuild the iPhoto library already. No luck. Also I tried to work on the Disk Permissions. That didn't worked, perhaps braucse my photo fiels are on an external HD. The original files are all there and I can also find the thumbnails in their folder.
I lost my Thumbnail view when I accidently deattached my external USB-HardDrive. And I thought it should be an easy thing to rebuild. I would appriciate any help!
Cheers, ralf
MacBook Pro 2,16 and a good old Pismo   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

Answer 1

reiling:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. When you unmounted that HD iPhoto was probably writting to the database file, Library6.iPhoto, and it got damaged. Can you see the thumbnails or are there just blank squares there? What happens when you double click on one of them? Can you Control-click on one of the thumbnail boxes and do a Show File in the contextual menu? What happens.
If you have a recent copy of that database file you could replace the damaged one with it and you'd probably be back in business.
You may have to start over with a new library and import the Originals folder from the old library. If it comes to that here's how to go about it.
Creating a new library while preserving the rolls from the original.
rename the existing library folder.
Launch iPhoto and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.
Drag the Originals folder from old library folder into the open iPhoto window.
This will create a new library with the same rolls as the original library. However dates on the rolls may be different but can be edited as you would the roll title.
Once this is completed you can delete the old iPhoto Llibrary folder. If desired, you can keep the older library folder to try other fixes on it.
In the future I recommend you make a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto file after each import and after doing a lot of editing and organizing in the library. Then if you experience a similar crash all you need to do is replace the damaged database file with the backup copy and you'll be back to the same place in the library as when you make the backup. See 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.