IPhoto Library restore from Time Machine = zero k

I mistakenly deleted my iPhoto library a week or so ago. When I go through Time Machine to restore, I can find the file no problem (48.83 GB). When I click to restore, the resulting file is zero K.
Steps taken:
1) Click on Time Machine icon in dock
2) Navigate to drive/folder/..
3) Go back to a date where I can see drive/folder/folder/Pictures/iPhoto Library
4) Click restore
5) Resulting file is zero k
Time Machine has to re-create some of the folders above it in the restoration process too. I don't know if the difference in folder structure is part of the problem or not.
I have years and years of family pics in this Library and really need some help here. I'm about out of backup retrieval dates and I'm starting to get a little freaked out.

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Cannot restore iphoto library correctly from time machine backup

Hi all,
Yesterday I had to reinstall my mac with no particular reason. Suddenly the startup screen with the "circle" went on indefinitely for 10+ minutes before shutting down the system. Yes, the power cord was plugged in. No, I didn't manage to start it in safe mode...
I thought it wouldn't be a big deal since I regularly back up my mac on an external drive by Time Machine. So I reinstalled and restored the system.
I could log in fine, but here's the catch:
1) only 3 iPhoto events out of 30 are restored
2) for all other events I seem to have the thumbnails but not the original or modified files
3) trying to browse into the Pictures folder shows that:
- the iPhoto library file does not appear with the usual icon
- if I examine the package, for all events that don't show up in iPhoto, the event hierarchy (e.g. 2008/eventxyz) exists but the folders are empty in both the "Original" and "Modified" hierarchies
- same if I click on the same file in ANY of the 4 backups I have on the time machine disk
By the way TM restored the system to MacOSX 10.5.2 even if I'm sure I had a later version. In fact, I can't open iTunes either because it says the library has been created with a later version of iTunes. But what really worries me is that I can't even find the .JPG original files.
Can somebody please help? I relied on Time Machine and there's 6 years of memories there...
Thank you

I have the same symptom, but as the result of an external hard drive failure. My Time Machine backups from June 2009 - August 2009 contain the iPhoto library. When I restore the iPhoto library (pick any random backup date) I can see the thumbnails or a blank dashed outline of the old photos. When I click on the thumbnail I can get the metadata (photo location, photo date, etc...) but the photos are gone. When I am in iPhoto the lower left corner of the interface shows the library size is 42Gb, but the restored library package is only about 3Gb. My guess is the difference in file size is equal to the size of the original (and modified) files that didnt get backed up. None of my iPhoto library packages in Time Machine are larger than 3Gb.
I brought my backup drive to the folks at the Genius Bar. They were perplexed. They suggested I bring in my Mac Mini so they could look at the console. I took a look at the console at home and searched for "Time Machine" and found nothing out of the ordinary.
Not sure why Time Machine would appear to run so smoothly yet selectively not back up my original photos. I can restore everything else from my Time Machine backup to my new external drive just fine.

IPhoto '09 Restore from Time Machine... pictures missing, can you help?

I decided to restore an older iPhoto Library (from 2 days ago), and my most recent imports (span of time of a month) have disappeared. The events show up in the Library, but when I click on it, only gray boxes appear... no photos.
Does anyone have a solution to get the photos back? I thought that this was the purpose of having the Time Machine... to be able to restore old files and (in this case) libraries.
Thanks in advance for your help.

Welcome to the Apple Discussions. Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys depressed to rebuild the library. Select ALL options.
Click to view full size
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Iphoto library missing from Time Machine backup

I recently backed up my Mac Mini (Mac OS X v10.7.5) to a Seacoast 1TB external hard drive with the Time Machine feature. I wanted to double check a few key files to ensure they were backed up. Upon searching I was able to discover all my files transfered over EXCEPT my iphoto library or rather I might be looking for it in the wrong place. I made sure iphoto was closed during the back up. I currently have about 17,000 photos and I would like them preserved above all else. Can anyone provide some suggestions?

Have a look at
 > System Preferences... > Time Machine
Click the padlock (bottom left) if its not open, and enter an Admin password.
Next, click the 'Options...' button (bottom right)
Is iPhoto listed in the window? If so, it means it's been excluded from the backup.
To include it, highlight it in the window, click the -minus button and hit 'Save'.
In the menu bar, click the TM icon and choose 'Back up now' from the menu to start the backup.

How to copy iphoto library folder from Time machine to new hard drive

How do I copy my iphoto library and music library from my time capsule to my new hard drive?
I have a Macbook pro - 2.53 GHz - 4 GB memory. I just replaced my hard drive to 500 GB and upgraded to OX 10.9.4. I created a new user account and login password for the new hard drive. I copied my documents folder to external drive before the old hard drive failed, but I was not able to copy over my iphoto library or imusic library. My old hard drive was regularly backed up on my time capsule (1TB).
I used migration assistant to transfer my user account to the new hard drive (1 of 3 on the time capsule). The data transferred successfully, but at login the login name does not match the user folder. Nor do any of my passwords allow me to login to the transferred username/account. When I login to the account that I set up on new hard drive I can see the userfolder migrated in but the folders do not allow entry.
What can I do now at least to get my photos on the time capsule onto my current hard drive? Can I go into my time capsule like an external hard drive and simply copy over my iphoto library from the last back up of the old hard drive?

You probably tried to move a user account from your TC to your computer that was already active on the computer.. this is one of the no no's that pondini lists.
See how to migrate. http://pondini.org/OSX/MigrateLion.html
There is a huge amount of info there about transferring files.. that you must not have a user account of the same name as the one you migrate.. and how to transfer files between migrated accounts.
He also has specific info on moving itunes and iphoto stuff here.
Q15 http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
You might need to fix up permissions or reset the password for the account.
There is details here..
How to reset admin password iMac
I have had to do that myself.. once you reset the password you will be able to login to the account.

Restoring "iPhoto Library" file with Time Machine

My iPhono Library file (which is about 32GB in size) was corrupted by a system crash as I was uploaded new photos. As a result, I was unable to open iPhoto. I tried to restore the iPhoto Library file from the back-up I had from yesterday in Time Machine. For some reason, the restore gets about 3.5GB through and then give me a message that it can't perform the function because I don't have permission ot access the iPhoto Library file.
I need to get this file back up and running. The original file is gone now, as it was over written by the failed restore attempt. I have about 10 years worth of photos of my kids I need back! ANyone have any idea why I can't restore the iPhoto Library file from Time Machine?
Thanks!

You need to remove the new library file you created. Then locate the one you want restored from your TM backup using the Time Machine application. If you're not sure how a restore is done the select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine." One of the articles will outline the procedure for restoring individual files.
Also, see User Tips for Time Machine for help with TM problems. Also you can select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine" to locate articles on how to use TM. See also Mac 101- Time Machine.

IPhoto 09 - some recent events lost after restoring from Time Machine

recently my early-2009 iMac hanged during boot up on the white screen. so i a restore from Time Machine and it works. this freezing occurred twice of the last one week, which i did 2 restore to last backup. then i notice there's an issue with iPhoto 09. i notice some latest events which supposedly been backup during the restore point, appears 'blank'. when i enter Time Machine, i see all previous events but the recent day or two, it just turn out to be black squares, and when i enter the events there weren't any photos but just files with names.
i tested again but loading in a couple of new photos into iPhoto yesterday night, back it up and double check in Time Machine, it is (the new photos) there. about 6-hours later i make a check again (on Time Machine), the photos event became the black square again. this is really a pain for me as i have lost enough photos
i desperately need help on this. anyone?
here a couple of the screenshot from my Time Machine:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t272/mujiland/Screenshot2010-05-29at104554PM. png
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t272/mujiland/Screenshot2010-05-29at104602PM. png

Hello mook,
So if I understand:
1.) The goal is to restore the iPhoto Library from a point before the issues started happening
2.) When you try to go backwards in Time Machine while inside the iPhoto window you get a blank Library when you get to the date range you want.
What to do:
- As you cannot seem to access the iPhoto contents using the iPhoto window I would suggest the following:
1.) Navigate using the Finder to ~/Pictures (or whatever folder you are currently housing your iPhoto Library in)
2.) Rename the current iPhoto Library to something else (Like iPhoto Library Old etc)
3.) While looking at this Pictures window, activate Time Machine and go back in time to a date when YOU ARE SURE iPhoto was working fine and had the images you want
4.) Click on the iPhoto Library in the Time Machine window and click on Restore
-- This will restore the Library from the date in question
-- You will have 2 libraries once the restore is complete. The freshly restored library and the old library. Keep the old library just for safe keeping until such time as you determine you have all the pictures you want. Then you can do whatever you want with it (trash it, etc)
Hope that helps.

IPhoto: Photos appear as "exclamation" after restore from Time Machine

My hard drive was recently having issues so Apple replaced it for free. I have a 2TB Time Capsule and restored the new hard drive using Time Machine. It seemed to go without issue. However, when going into iPhoto, with some of the Events (seems to be the more recent ones), I get a big exclamation icon instead of the image. The thumbnails seem fine for I can browse the Events just fine. It is when I click a thumbnail that I get the big exclamation. Does this mean that my master image is somehow gone. Mind you, I could see the images just fine before getting the new hard drive. I was have some sort of seek issues on the old one so Apple decided to replace it however the seek issues didn't affect iPhoto as I could use it and see all the images just fine. But now on the new hard drive with the restore from Time Machine, I can't see the images.
Any ideas?

Ah, yes, that is a PITA. Unfortunately, you're not the first.
All I can think is, iPhoto may have been open at the wrong time during a backup.
The iPhoto library is a rather unusual critter. It's actually a "package" (a special folder that's treated like a single file for most purposes), with all sorts of cross-linking and indexing and there's no telling what all (at least by us mere mortals). When iPhoto is open, apparently there can be some things updated on disk, but others still in memory, so a backup of what's on disk would be out of sync and not usable if you restored it. Time Machine usually seems to handle this ok, but I'm not convinced it always does.
Time Machine really ought to send a message if it can't back it up. I don't have a problem with it continuing, and backing-up everything else, since you might not be around, but it sure ought to tell you so you can be sure to close iPhoto and run another backup to be sure. But it doesn't.
Please feel free to provide your opinion here: http://www.apple.com/feedback/timemachine.html

The iPhoto library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Reopen iPhoto with the Option key held down to choose another library.

I recently tried to look up my pictures on my time machine back up on an external hard drive. As soon as I try to open it I get the following message.
"The iPhoto library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Reopen iPhoto with the Option key held down to choose another library."
I have tried holding down the option key but still couldn't few the photos.
I want to know if there is anyway I can actually view these photos. I have over 85gbs of photos on the hard drive. I have tried googling and looking at pervious forums with the same problem but nothing is working.
Please help!

Select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu. Search for "Restore items backed up with Time Machine."

Full restore from Time Machine has not restored my photos

I was getting a triangle with an exclamation mark in it when I tried to click on my photos in iPhoto (photos uploaded from my camera only - iPhone pics are still there). A backup from Time Machine didn't work, so I did a full restore from Time Machine to a date when I knew all was well with my photos but I still get the triangle/!. Where are my photos?

The ! means that iPhoto has lost the link to the original file.
Are you running a Managed or a Referenced Library?
A Managed Library, is the default setting, and iPhoto copies files into the iPhoto Library when Importing. The files are then stored in the Library package
A Referenced Library is when iPhoto is NOT copying the files into the iPhoto Library when importing because you made a change at iPhoto -> Preferences -> Advanced. (You unchecked the option to copy files into the Library on import) The files are then stored where ever you put them and not in the Library package. In this scenario you are responsible for the File Management.

Restoring From Time Machine Migration Assistant (and other ??)

Hello
Please bear with me on this long question....
For several reasons I reinstalled ML which involves erasing the HDD first. I do have everything bakced-up to Carbonite and TM. Carbonite is slow as molassess so I opted to try Migration Assistant/TM to restore my files. MA does not allow you to choose an older (good) backup and the backup that was used was an incomplete one as evidenced by the photo library being incomplete. Another poster had a similar question and the solution involved using the install disk. There is no install disc since it was a download from the Apps store.
Carbonite has a tendency to freeze-up during a long download. Restarting it brings your download back to the very beginning. I'm not happy about Carbonite. I've heard of SuperDuper and seems to have gotten good reviews.
Questions:
1. Is there a method to access an older TM backup from MA?
2. Is there a better option that Carbonite?
3. Is SuperDuper a good option for backups?
thank you, Bruce.

If your Mac shipped with a System Install DVD then boot from it and choose "Restore from Time Machine backup".
If your Mac shipped with Lion already installed you should be able to use OS X Recovery. Boot while holding ⌘ R and choose "Restore from Time Machine backup".
Either one should present a dated list of complete system backups from which to choose. Ideally it should be the most recent one, but if you have reason to believe it is incomplete (it should not be) then try an earlier one.
You can also boot from a locally connected Time Machine backup volume. Make sure it is connected with USB or FireWire and boot while holding an Option key. This will invoke Startup Manager, from which you can select your Time Machine backup volume. It will present the same restore options as OS X Recovery.
These options will be faster and should be less prone to difficulty than using Migration Assistant.
Time Machine and "clone" software use very different philosophies. SuperDuper! is good, so is Carbon Copy Cloner. They are more customizable than Time Machine, whose customizable features essentially consist of an "on / off" switch
Of course that is also its sole advantage over the others - it's boneheadedly simple to use.
Forget Carbonite, as you learned it does not work well on Macs. I know of no similar offsite backup services to recommend.

Unable to restore from Time Machine

Hi
I'm having some problem restoring from Time Machine. Here are the steps i've taken to do that but it won't boot after restoration.
Macbook Pro, 2011 Model with 10.7.3.
1. My Mac have 3 partitions (MacHD, Drive A, Drive B) - MacHD has Lion and all other apps, A & B are for my stuff like music, movies etc...
2. I backed it up using Time Machine but in the option I only back up MacHD (A & B) are not backed up.
3. Restarted and Command-R into Disk Utility
4. Erase MacHD using DU. Note: I enabled FileVault so once that's done, its locked but it can be unlock from Disk Utility
5. Restore from TimeMachine, now here's the problem
Once time machine is finished, it reboots my Macbook but keeps going back to the set up screen.
I tried to change the start up disk but this is the error i have is this “you can’t change the startup disk to the selected disk. Building boot caches on boot helper partition failed”
Now i've tried these steps
6. Tried to use http://d43.me/blog/126/building-boot-caches-error-when-changing-startup-disk/ --> by going into Terminal but still doesn't work
the command in that help doesn't work, sudo nano /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist
7. Tried Reinstall Mac OS X but the screen come up and said 103days 40hrs to dl the god darn Lion (note I have Lion installESD.dmg stored on Drive B, is it possible to access that and install from drive B?)
8. Can't seem to find the Lion Recovery partition, how can i boot into that? When hold Command-R, it boots into Internet Recovery for 15 misn then go back to the choose languague and the 4 options (restore from TM, Reinstall OSX, Disk Util and somethign else I can't remember)
Basically I want to either restore from my TM back up to current state or re-install new OS X to the MacHD without wiping out the whole drive.
Thanks for your help.

Yes, but you would need to erase/reformat the hard drive to re-install Snow Leopard.
Star with Section E in the first linked article.
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems

During upgrade to Lion on Macbook Pro the upgrade stops at OS utilites after rebooting asking to restore from time machine backup or install new copy

My Daughter is currently upgrading her MacBook Pro to OS X Lion. During the upgrade the system rebooted and then stops at the OS X Utilites menu. I have installed this same upgrade on My MacBook Pro and the family iMAC without issue. Did the upgrade encounter a problem? The only options are to Restore from Time Machine Backup, Reinstall Mac OS X, Get help, or Disk Utility.
I'm not sure how recient the backup is on the TimeMachine for her system and she is concered that she may loose a lot of updates she has made to iTunes and iPhoto.
Please help.

I have 8 GB of RAM, but would that even matter during install? Performance once installed and running sure, but I questiong whether the installer would demand that much more, or why it would affect mountain lion when restoring from a time machine backup.

Restored from Time Machine now some songs in itunes not authorised to sync

I started using Time Machine recently (2 to 3 weeks ago). Everything was working before, including my iTunes library. No authorisation issues, no syncing issues to my iphone or ipad. Last night I did a full restore from Time Machine backup and now I get authorisation warnings on some old songs in my itunes library, telling they will not sync to my iphone. The Apple ID it's using is an old one and I no longer have access to the email address. If there weren't any problems before the backup how can there be after the restore. Shouldn't the backup be an exact copy of the HD?

I did the restore from the most recent backup in Time Machine after booting from the Snow Leopard install cd. (The reason I needed to restore is because I was planning on selling the computer but then changed my mind. Stupid, I know).
The thing is, everything worked without any problems before I started using Time Machine.

Full Restore from Time Machine, will iTunes recognize my iPhone or...

Hi All:
About ago my MB Pro was stolen. Fortunately, I had strong security settings and was diligent about backing up to Time Machine.
I am about to purchase a new iMac to replace the MB Pro, and will be doing a complete restore from time machine to recover my data. However, since my computer was stolen, life has gone on. I have purchased music from iTunes via my iPhone and also added many new contacts. Does anyone know what will happen the first time I try to sync my iPhone to my fully restored image on the new computer? Will iTunes recognize the iPhone as it was before and do a 2 way sync (new music and contacts sent back to iMac) or will it want to override all data on the iPhone and replace it with the existing contacts and music from the restore?
Thanks!
John

All of your iPhone data (the iPhone backup done by iTunes) is stored in your user folder's library as: USER/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup. I believe some iPhone data is also stored here: USER/Library/Application Support/SyncServices. For some reason, the folks at Apple thought that this was NOT information that needed to be backed up in Time Machine.
So unless you copied and pasted the backup folder into your external drive, your migration of info from the drive to the iMac will not carry any iPhone info to the new computer.
That being said, I'm not exactly sure what the iPhone will do when being plugged in. It will probably ask if you want the phone to be associated with the user account on that iMac, and upon selecting yes it MIGHT try to send your contacts, calendars, etc. to the new iMac. I am not sure about this--if I were you I'd ask a Mac Genius at an Apple Store or call AppleCare. But the Apple Store would be your best bet. The iPhone would not be able to send music, but that's not a big deal since you have it all in the backup anyways.

IPhoto Library restore from Time Machine = zero k

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