IPhoto 8.1.2: After Crash, Can't Open Library

Question

I had just transferred several photos from the iPhone to my MacBook Pro (on OS 10.7.5).  The transfer was successful, and when I look at my iPhoto libary folders, the pictures are where they ought to be, so I'm not worried about losing them.  But with the phone still plugged in, I took a few extra minutes to run through Faces, some simple editing, etc.  And in the middle of that process, I got a hard crash of the MacBook Pro, the fortunately-rare "Your Mac must be restarted" message.
After the restart, iPhoto won't open anymore.  I get a completely blank window, then a message telling me to restart the Mac yet again or to open iPhoto using Command-Option and then rebuild permissions.  I've restarted; no difference.  I rebuilt iPhoto permissions; no difference.  I rebuilt the Mac's permissions; no difference.  I've tried every other kind of rebuild that iPhoto offers; no difference.
Any other suggestions?  What if I were to just upgrade to the newest version of iPhoto?  Any chance that might bypass whatever the program is hung up on right now?
Thanks very much.

Answer 1

The problem is a corrupted Library and upgrading will not fix that.
Try these in order - from best option on down...
1. Do you have an up-to-date back up? If so, try copy the library6.iphoto file from the back up to the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) allowing it to overwrite the damaged file.
2. 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.
3. If neither of these work then you'll need to create and populate a new library.
To create and populate a new iPhoto 08 library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.