IPhoto keeps losing my library

I have all my photos on an external hard drive attached to my home network.
I have recently upgraded to iLife 09 from 08 - although I was having this problem before.
It seems that whenever I open iPhoto it asks me to locate the iPhoto Library (on my networked HD). It does not come up on a list to allow me to choose, so I have to browse though all my folders to locate it, and then wait a considerable time whilst it loads up all the pics.
The irony is that iPhoto says that it will remember the library location for next time - but it never does!
Can anyone assist?
Thanks
Steve

1 - is your networked hard drive formatted as Macintosh Extended (journaled)? If not you will continue to have problems
2 - if you launch iPhoto while depressing the option (alt) key does it come up in the list?
LN

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ITunes keeps losing my library every 2-3 days!

iTunes keeps losing my library every 2-3 days. Completely erasing all songs and playlists. This is incredibly annoying and forces me to redo it all AGAIN.
Any way for me to solve this problem?

Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash
Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. Note that in iTunes 11 an "empty" library may show your past purchases with links to stream or download them.
In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.
Alternatively, depending on exactly when and why the library went missing, there may be a more recent .tmp file in the main iTunes folder that can be renamed as iTunes Library.itl to restore the library to a recent state. Look for a recent .tmp file that is similar in size to the .itl files in the Previous iTunes Libraries folder. If it has happened repeatedly you may want the earliest such file generated since the last iTunes upgrade.
If applicable, see iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.
When you get it all working make a backup!
Should you be in the unfortunate position where you are no longer able to access your original library, or a backup of it, then see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
I've noticed more of these missing library posts of late and a common factor to most since I started asking is AVG Anti-Virus. It seems in some cases it might be at least part of the reason why the library file disappears. Try excluding the iTunes folder from any AV scanning process.
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ITunes keeps losing my library

Hi folks! I just added a time capsule to my home and moved my itunes library to it from my 2011 iMac. Every time I close and openTunes it asks were the library is located, what gives? Thanks in advance for the help!!

That's the problem with using networked drives, they have to be turned on, fully mounted and awake when iTunes starts or you have to restart iTunes with the option key held down and guide it to the library.itl file in the iTunes folder on the external. Make sure the Time Capsule is on and fully awake before starting iTunes.
By the way, if using the Time Capsule for backup, it is a bad idea to keep your iTunes library on it too. What happens when the Time Capsule drive fails (it will some day, unexpectedly)? Where's your backup for your library?

IPhoto keeps losing my images

Okay, I've seen this happen half a dozen times in the past month, even with the current 7.1.5 version of iPhoto, so I know it's not me dreaming. The problem: I have two 2-gigabyte CompactFlash cards containing pictures I took on holiday in August and September. I can import the pictures just fine, and iPhoto seems happy if I subsequently merge the two sets of pictures into one event (which I want to do since, as far as I'm concerned, the whole vacation was one event).
The problem is that having done the merge, at some point iPhoto will complain that it can't find the images for some or all of the pictures that were originally on one of the memory cards. The thumbnails are there, but the original files the aliases point to aren't - even if I look in the iPhoto library package. The workaround seems to be for me not to attempt to merge the two events together, but I can't see why I should have to avoid doing so; I'm not aware of a documented limit on the size of files in an iPhoto event or a Mac OS X folder. So what gives exactly?
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You have a damaged database is my best guess.
Before we deal with that, a general comment.
If you deselect ‘Copy File...’ then you are telling iPhoto that you are responsible for file management. You need, in this scenario, to move the files from the camera card to whereever you are going to store them and then - and only then - import them into iPhoto.
If you don’t do this then you are not saving your Photos anywhere.
There are a number of potential pitfalls using a referenced Library.
1. Import and deleting pics are more complex procedures
2. You cannot move or rename the files on your system or iPhoto will lose track of them on systems prior to 10.5 and iPhoto 08. Even with the later versions issues can still arise if you move the referenced files to new volumes or between volumes.
3. Most importantly, migrating to a new disk or computer can be much more complex.
Always allowing for personal preference, I've yet to see a good reason to run iPhoto in referenced mode unless you're using two photo organisers.
Your Library is - apparently - damaged in two way. One, it’s no respecting your choice about not copying to the Library (“ iPhoto has no problems resolving them to a hi-res file within the iPhoto library“ - this would not be possible if the files were not copied and the disk unmounted) and two, it cannot manage your Events. (These may be related to the same problem. It seems that iPhoto is copying +some files+ and not all).
First step:
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords 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

IPhoto keeps "dropping" my library that's located on an external drive

iPhoto can't seem to hold on to my external Western Digital drive.
My iPhoto library is located on the drive (connected via USB). When I launch iPhoto, it loads up all my photos from the library, and they look fine. But if I try to print a photo and/or start moving around within the library in iPhoto to view other images, every thumbnail goes black and I get messages that iPhoto must quit, and that a device (the external drive) was removed improperly. This happened like five times in a row.
I've checked the power and USB cables, and I'm pretty sure they're not the problem.
When I unplug and replug the USB cable, the external drive remounts. When I launch iPhoto again, it prompts me to select my library. Then all the photos are back, at least until the next time I start printing photos or moving around in the library.
This problem only came up when I moved to the new Mac Mini and new iPhoto (I had other iPhoto problems on my old MacBook, which I also ran from a library on the external drive, but I didn't have this problem).
I need iPhoto to quit dropping the external drive -- any ideas? Thanks.

Most likely cause: A damaged USB port on either the Mac or the Disk, or a faulty cable. To check for this try a variety of each.
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Regards
TD

Itunes keeps losing my library on an external hard drive

Several issues of which I can find no answers.
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Keep losing itunes library (TC & ATV setup)

I tried posting this in the Time Capsule section but never got any replies...
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copy all the music from external hard drive to internal hard drive...
erase or delete previous library and then add a new library
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Gah! I'm HATING iTunes right now, and I'm a die hard-mac user!
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Surely there's a solution to this, right?
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17' iMac 800 MHz, 768 MB RAM, 200 GB HD, DL burner Mac OS X (10.4.8) iTunes 7.0.2

I keep losing entire events in iPhoto on my iMac. Where an event was, there is a light gray event box displaying a dark gray palm tree and when I hover my cursor over the box, it shows 0 photos are there, where there were once photos.

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WHat version if iPhoto? Where is your iPhoto library located?
TRy
BAckup your iPhoto library, depress and hold the option and command keys while launching iPhoto until the first aid window comes up and repair permissions and if necessary rebuild your database
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Edit

I keep losing the cloud icon from the library menu.

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Try reseting your PhotoStream
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4890
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IPhoto keeps crashing! - then needs to repair the library. This is happening each time I import photos or even try to go in to an even and delete photos etc. Does anyone have any suggestions? Please it is so frustrating - I used to love iPhoto - now I reg

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As a Test:
Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library'
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I am so tired of iphoto crashing, losing work I've done. I want to switch to photoshop elements 10 but need to know if it uses the iphoto library or if I can import that library into elements

I am so tired of iphoto crashing, losing work I've done. I want to switch to photoshop elements 10 but need to know if it uses the iphoto library or if I can import that library into elements

Using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements as Your Editor of Choice in iPhoto.
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3 - however, if you get the navigation window
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This method will let iPhoto know that the photo has been editied and will update the thumbnail file to reflect the edit..
NOTE: With Photoshop Elements the Saving File preferences should be configured as shown:
I also suggest the Maximize PSD File Compatabilty be set to Always. In PSE’s General preference pane set the Color Picker to Apple as shown:
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Library keeps losing track of files

Somehow, randomly, iTunes keeps losing track of certain tracks in my library. I don't see any reason why this should be happening. Nothing's been moved. No tags have been changed. It's totally random: every once in a while, an exclamation point appears. Everything is latest update and everything, so that's definitely not the issue.
My library is growing to a reasonably serious size at this point (about 8500 items including music, movies and TV), so that might be the problem, but it shouldn't be... should it? If it is, that certainly qualifies as a bug.
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This is happening to me as well. Yesterday everything worked fine (with the exception of an occassional exclamation point over the past few months) and today ALL my songs, imported and purchased, state the original file cannot be found. I have about $1000 worth of purchased music and videos, not to mention almost 5000 imported files. I need to get this fixed as well. I am not a happy camper at this point. Anyone have any other information?

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Unbelievable.
I have the same problem. Well, the songs are not really lost, but iTunes just gets confused about the correct path to the file. This may be related to handling of names. E.g., I have two folders for the B52's in my iTunes libraries, one is "The B52's", the other just "B52's". Maybe I even have a 3rd one, "B52's, The". Or an album appears twice, once in the folder "Compilations" and once in the folder "Various artists". The missing files are ever in one of these multiple locations. But iTune seems to use a wrong one. And there is no easy way to fix it. It needs to be done manually, song by song and takes easly 30..60 seconds per song. Blurp!
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Just unbelievable.

Help! iTunes keeps losing library on Vista

Just changed my laptop from XP to Vista
I installed the iTunes, but No matter how I import songs or list, the library and the list keeps losing when I restart the iTunes. Believe me I have reinstalled the itunes and everythng.
I didnt just import the list from my old computer but I did drag and drop and make lists again manually!
Anyone knows how I can fix this?
Thanks in advance.

Not sure from your post, but if the file or folder was read-only, then you need to change this attribute FIRST.
Once corrected, any future changes you make within iTunes should be kept and reflected the next time you open iTunes.
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Test this by making some changes to your Library (i.e. - re-import it). Make one simple playlist. Close iTunes. Then re-open iTunes. If your Library reflects the changes you just made, you may have solved your issue.
Best of Luck

IPhoto keeps losing my library

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