IPhoto Library won't update

I have an old iPhoto library from iPhoto 9 that won't update to iPhoto 11 and won't open. How do I fix this or can I retrieve the photos from the old library without opening it in iPhoto?

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

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Old iPhoto Library won't update

I have an old iPhoto library from iPhoto 9 that won't update to iPhoto 11 and won't open. How do I fix this or can I retrieve the photos from the old library without opening it in iPhoto?

Honestly I'm not sure what it is then. There is a forum for iPhoto, I would repost there and let them know what you have already tried, hopefully someone there knows what to do. You can find that forum at:
https://discussions.apple.com/community/ilife/iphoto

My Iphoto Library won't upgrade / update after Lion install.

Ok so i updated my OS X to Lion and everything seemed fine but the Iphoto Library had an update and I installed it after this. Now i'm getting a message that my Iphoto library needs to upgrade to be able to run on this version of Iphoto. It starts to upgrade fine but never stops i just have a wheel as pointer like its thinking or trying to upgrade. It will go like this for days. I have GB's worth of photos i can't seem to get to. Help

To repair the 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. 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

Where is my IPhoto library? I updated and the last two years of photos disappeared. Help., Where is my IPhoto library? I updated and the last two years of photos disappeared. Help.

Where is my IPhoto library? I updated and the last two years of photos disappeared. Help., Where is my IPhoto library? I updated and the last two years of photos disappeared. Help.Thank you.

Simple and fast solution: restore from your back up.
Other than that:
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 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.
Regards
TD

.mobi ebook into iTunes; library won't update

I accidentally dragged a .mobi ebook file into iTunes instead of Kindle and now my library won't update. Searched library, can't find file. How do I fix this?!

See this.
iPod appears in Windows Explorer but does not appear in iTunes.

IPhoto Library Won't Load After 10.4.10 Combo Update (PPC)

After updating to 10.4.10 on a G4 desktop the iPhoto library will no longer load. Tried several times to rebuilt it and program quits unexpectedly just as it finishes rebuild. Ran repair disk permissions from HD and Repair Disk from DVD and re-installed 10.4.9, but problem remains. Had some trouble importing the last few photos (downloaded from an e-mail) before this problem occured (possible it is not related to 10.4.10 upgrade?). Been everywhere looking for a way to solve this, but to no avail. Any suggestions?

Hi, redwood. You had trouble with the emailed photos because they had been compressed by the sender using Stuffit (that's what the .sit suffix indicates), and you didn't unStuff them before importing them. I'm surprised that iPhoto was even willing to try to import them. It certainly couldn't have displayed them in that form.
If you then trashed them and emptied the trash *within iPhoto*, I'm not sure why they should have continued to cause you trouble — but since I don't understand how they could have been imported in the first place, I wouldn't really expect to understand all the consequences.
If, instead, you trashed them from within the iPhoto Library folder using the Finder, doing so corrupted your iPhoto Library database and necessitated a rebuild — which ordinarily produces better results than it apparently did in your case. Perhaps there were files left in the iPhoto Library folder that still referenced the files you deleted, and iPhoto didn't know how to handle references to files that weren't in an image format.
Setting aside what we don't understand and may never understand, I suggest that you leave your present defective iPhoto Library just as it is for the moment, and try to determine whether the backup copy is usable. (Good for you for having one, by the way!):
Connect or insert the drive or disc that contains the backup iPhoto Library folder. Start iPhoto while holding down the Option key, and continue to hold it down until you're asked whether you want to Create or Find a library. Choose Find, then navigate to the backup Library folder and click Open. If it opens normally and everything seems to be in order in it, simply replace the bad library folder inside your account's Pictures folder with a copy of the backup library folder, and you're back in business. It if doesn't open correctly, post back with details of what happened.
Note that the only way to make a successful backup copy of your iPhoto Library is to copy the entire iPhoto Library folder *as a unit* to another storage volume (a volume is a hard drive, a partition on a hard drive that contains more than one partition, a CD, DVD, flash drive, or other storage medium). If your backup wasn't made this way, it won't be usable.
EDIT: Well, I was busily churning out my long reply while you were solving the problem. I'm glad it turned out well.

IPhoto/iTunes won't update or open on Macbook

Here's the background. I have a MacBook which has been taken in for repairs twice. The first time they replaced the motherboard and then the second time they replaced the battery and the part where the charger attaches to the laptop. It's about 3-4 years old. For about 6 or more months now updates haven't been working. I click to install them and it does the whole loading process, restarts, etc. and when it finally starts up again, nothing has been installed or updated. So now iTunes and iPhoto won't work because i "don't have the latest version". I can't access any of my photos or sync my iPhone. Recently I bought a MacBook Air because I'm afraid of losing all my work since my MacBook isn't responding to anything. The store I bought my MacBook Air from put my iTunes songs and movies onto my Air at my request. Unfortunately they only put on the songs I bought from iTunes and not the ones I downloaded from elsewhere so instead of having 2000 songs I only have 150. The space on the Air is minimal and I'm planning on buying an external hardrive to hold everything from my MacBook. Which brings me to the problem. iTunes and iPhoto now won't open at all on my MacBook. iPhoto just says "You can't open your current photo library using this version of iPhoto. You have made changes to your photo library using a newer version of iPhoto. Do you want to quit and use the latest version of iPhoto, or do you want to create a new photo library?" but then only lets me quit. I don't understand what it means by a newer version since I haven't managed to update it for a long time. Then when I open iTunes, it just tells me to update it, which I click and load and shut down and wait for, and then when I open it up again it tells me to update the same program... I can tell updating is not working since usually it would take a while, whereas on my Macbook it just shuts down and restarts right away. Very frustrating!!!! If anyone has any tips or ideas as to what I'm doing wrong please let me know. I really don't want to take it in and pay for repairs or advice if it's something I can fix myself. Thank you!

OS X: How to quit an unresponsive application using Force Quit

Suddenly iPhoto-Library won't open

Hi
I'm running OSX Yosemity for about 2 months and was also using iPhoto 9.6 with a large Library (about 75GB). The Library is stored on an internal Harddrive (not on my System-Drive, which is a faster SSD). Today i got the message to update my Library with the "IPhoto-Library-Updater". This didn't make sense to me, because the Library worked with this Version of iPhoto the day before, but i tried the Updater, which tells me, that i can not open this Library, because it's newer than iPhoto 7 and also tells me to open the Library with the new iPhoto 9.6 (which won't work).
I already repaired the Filepermission with Disk Utility. I also tried to open the iPhoto-Repair-Database-Dialog by holding down Option+Command-Key while starting iPhoto. But the Dialog won't show up. I only get the message from the first step to "Update my Library with the Updater".
An suggestion how to solve this problem?
Thanks
Heiko

Heiko,
Apple is right now developing the successor application "Photos" to iPhoto to be released early next year. It will be free with Yosemite, bring a better integration with "Photos" on the mobile devices and iCloud, and will allow to migrate iPhoto libraries to the new application. Whatever you decide to do, you may want to keep all options open and keep a backup of your working iPhoto library. (Apple to replace Aperture and iPhoto with Photos for OS X early next year | 9to5Mac)
I'm also not that satisfied with iPhoto-Performance on my large Library and i'm thinking for some time to drop iPhoto and look for alternatives.
It is not normal that you are having performance problems. Less than 100GB for a library is not large that large. iPhoto can cope easily with hundreds of GB. Sometimes a slow Mac is caused by the drive filling up (if you have less than 20BG of free storage on the system drive or the drive you are writing to), if you installed incompatible software that corrupted system libraries, or broken preferences files.
Sometimes you can see an indication of the problem, if you keep a Console window open. If your Mac is showing the beachball or is getting slow, look, if there are new warning messages appearing in your Console.
Léonie

IPhoto Library disappeared after update

Just updated to 10.4.9. It appeared to go fine, but when I opened iPhoto, the message came that "Photo Library not Found". Used Spotlight, but can't locate anything. In fact, it seems that the whole Pictures Folder has vanished.
Interestingly, my wife also uses this computer and her iPhoto Library is still in her Pictures Folder, which is just where it should be.
I do have my photos backed up on a DVD, so I'm not totally crazy here, but i would like to know what's going on. Jeez, I'm glad I did back up the photos. I hadn't gotten around to backing up some more recent ones, but i do have the bulk of them on DVD. Anybody have any thoughts?
If no one has any idea where I might locate the photo library, I'll then be asking for help in how to create a new library from my DVD.
Thanks.
imac G5 (iSight) 20" Mac OS X (10.4.9) iPhoto 5.04

I would start by:
• Booting from your Mac's OSX Install Disc and running Disc Utility off of that. This will give you the options to Verify Disk and Repair Disk, possibly repairing a damaged directory structure.
• Alternatively, you can boot into Single User Mode (hold down Command+S after the chime) and type "fsck -f" (sans quotes). This will check your disk for possible data or directory corruption, but won't repair it; you'll still need to boot off of the OSX Disc for that.
• If you've got it, you could use a third-party utility such as Disk Warrior to repair your directory structure, as this can sometimes do a better job than Disk Utility.
Great job on saving your photos with a backup, but I surely wouldn't put them back until you're sure that there's no data corruption on your drive. Also, make sure you back up anything important for ALL USERS before you Verify or Repair the disk. Corrupt data is never fun...
Best of luck,
Chris

How do I use an Older iPhoto Library with an Updated iPhoto application?

Hey Everyone! I seem to be stuck.
My MacBook Pro was running OS X Lion and I needed to reset the computer. When I was exporting the photos, it would stop and say it was not able to export the photos. So I just copied the actual file from the Pictures folder in my user and after wiping the hard drive and starting with a clean install, I downloaded again iPhoto, updated it to the newest update available, and dragged the file to the Photo folder. When opening iPhoto, a message appeared saying "You have made changes to your photo library using a newer version of iPhoto. Do you want to quit and use the latest version of iPhoto, or do you want to create a new photo library?"
What am I supposed to do?!?
PLEASE HELP!
Thanks
Matt

So I just copied the actual file from the Pictures folder in my user
By this do you mean you copied the iPhoto library (a package - not a file)?
updated it to the newest update available,
What version of iPhoto do you have now (the latest is version 9.4.2)? What version did you have?
One thing to try is Back up your iPhoto library, Depress and hold the option (alt) and command keys and launch iPhoto - rebuild your iPhoto library
LN

IPhoto Library won't show up in Source List.

My most recently updated iPhoto library is located on my main hard drive. Other older libraries are on a couple of external hard drives. When I close iPhoto, reopen and hold down the Option key, I am able to choose which library I want to use. I do so, but the most recent library will only leave the source list on the left of the iPhoto window with no photo. What do I need to do to 'connect' iPhoto with this library of photos? iPhoto 9.2.3

Sorry for not explaining fully. On the source list, everything under "Library" and "Recent" is populated with the photos as they should be. It is in the "Albums" list where all albums are blank (without the photos). That is what is puzzling. Anyone with a solution?

My iPhoto library won't open because "it first needs to be prepared," but running the iPhoto Library Upgrader does not change anything. What gives?

I'll try to be as detailed as I can:
I have a mid-2010 iMac. I backed-up and then wiped my Mountain Lion hard drive so that I could have a clean install of Mavericks. I am now in the process of importing my backed-up files, like iTunes and documents, from my external back-up to my new Mavericks machine. Everything in this process has worked so far. I moved the iPhoto library over from the external back-up to the proper location (Users->Pictures->iPhoto Library). Two hours later when the transfer was complete, rather than having a normol iPhoto Library icon (stack of pictures with a photo of a flower), the library appeared as a folder with a half done progress bar and an "x" close button in the corner.
This library would not open so I deleted it and started the whole thing over. Two hours later, same thing. I then restarted my machine and got a regularl looking iPhoto Library icon, but now when I try to open it I get a prompt that says "To open your library with this version of iPhoto, it first nees to be prepared: to prepare the library, use the iPhoto Library Upgrader avaliable from Apple." I downloaded the iPhoto Library Upgrader from Apple, ran it, and it says that the library has been updated and can now be used. But when I try to open iPhoto, I hit the same problem, iPhoto doesn't open and I instead get a prompt saying that the library needs to be prepared.
One more thing, when I run the iPhoto Library Upgrader, there is a un-progressing progress bar (a sideways barber shop poll) that says the program is building thumbnails, but then Upgrader gives me a prompt that the library has been upgraded (even though the progress bar is still cranking along). PLEASE HELP.

What version of iPhoto were you running prior to Mavericks? First boot into Revovery volume (boot with the Command + R keys held down) and repair the disk and disk permissions. Then reboot back into Mavericks.
Two hours later when the transfer was complete, rather than having a normol iPhoto Library icon (stack of pictures with a photo of a flower), the library appeared as a folder with a half done progress bar and an "x" close button in the corner.
There was a problem with copying the older iPhoto library from the backup. Delete the library and drag it once again from the backup drive to the Pictures folder. Run the upgrader again. Is this what you see when your first launch the upgrader?
OT

Using Photoshop Elements 6 with iPhoto 09 won´t update miniatures

Hi there - I´m a newbie and a recent switcher from Windows and Linux so please be gentle with me if I´m asking silly questions...
I want to use iPhoto to organize my photos and Photoshop Elements 6 (by now the trial version if that matters) to edit my photos.
I found the settings to define Photoshop as the default editor (by the way - can I still use iPhoto for simple edits by some hidden command?) and I know that I just have to use save (not save as) in Photoshop. My Problem is, that iPhoto does not reflect the changes I make in the miniatures (except for aspect ratio changes). When i double-click the edited image to enlarge it I can see, that my changes are applied to the image (I can also see the new version of the image in finder in my iPhoto-Library).
Does anybody have an idea? Thanks in advance.

By the way: do you think timemachine backups are enough?
No.
I may be a tad extreme but my photos are important to me and my family.
My Library lives on my iMac.
It’s Backed up to two external hard disks every day. These disks are permanently attached to the iMac. These back ups run automatically. One is done by Time Machine, one is a bootable back up done by SuperDuper
It’s also backed up to a portable hard disk when ever new photos are added. This hard disk lives in my car. For security, this disk is password protected. For this job I use DejaVu because it makes a simple back up that is clear and can be tested easily without doing an full restore.
I have a second off-site back up at a relative’s house across town. That’s updated every 3 or 4 months.
My Photos are backed up online. Personally I use SmugMug but there are many options including flickr. However, check the terms of your account carefully. While most sites have free uploading, you will often find that these uploads are limited in terms of the file size, or the bandwidth you can use per month. For access that allows you to upload full size pics with no restrictions you will need to pay.
Every couple of months I test the back ups to make sure they are working correctly. It’s very easy to mis-configure a back up application, and the only way to protect against that is to do a restore.
Regards
TD

HT1338 iPhoto library won't open.

My iPhoto library was working fine until recently when I tried to import photos from my camera to my library. Now when I try to open iPhoto, I get a spinning wheel and none of the pictures in my library show up. I have the latest software update, and have tried restarting my computer and compressing the contents of the library (which I cannot see) into a zip. Please help! Thank you!

You can right click and "Show package contents" on the iPhoto Library and open your Originals folder and remove problematic files, or copy and remove the good ones.
Perhaps both or some of each in your case.
You don't want to zip up the iPhoto Library, perhaps it made a copy when it zipped, it needs to stay unzipped.
Zipping is compression for transfer use mostly.

IPhoto Library won't load after reinstalling Mac OSX

I have reinstalled mac i was having some problems and i am a newbie in mac so i tought a clean install would be good at that point
After reinstalling i had my user folder backed up i moved the files back to their original place, and organized everything because it was messy, and then started a timemachine backup on an external drive
so in short:
i reinstalled mac
restored my iPhoto Library to the Pictures folder
Updated everything to the latest version ( since the photo library was created with the latest version )
when i tried to open iphoto it stayed reloading for an hour then i gave up and searched online
my pictures are all there i can copy them and start a new library but that is not what i want
i want my events as i sorted them i want my faces as i sorted them i spent a lot of time making these pictures as they were
please help
Things i already tried:
vacuuming the *.db sqlite files
removing the faces.db so that if the faces are the problem i would know
tried removing all *.db files
tried to import my photos to a new library but that is not what i want
right now i have 2 libraries, a new one wih ****** event names
and the old one that is corrupt

Using your original library try the following: make a temporary, duplicate copy of the library and try the three fixes below in order as needed:
Fix #1
Delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your Home/Library/Preferences folder, launch iPhoto and try again.
NOTE: If you're moved your library from its default location in your Home/Pictures folder you will have to point iPhoto to its new location when you next open iPhoto by holding the the Option key. You'll also have to reset the iPhoto's various preferences.
Fix #2
Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys depressed and follow the instructions to rebuild the library.
Select the options identified in the screenshot.
Fix #3
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
OT

IPhoto Library won't update

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