Rebuilding My Library

I suppose I did this improperly and should have come here first, but so much about Mac is intuitive, I just took a shot.
I got a new computer, loaded some music into iTunes and then realized most of my stuff was still on the old computer. So I copied all the music folders from my old computer to Users>Name>Music>iTunes>iTunes Music on my new computer. I then Opt-started iTunes and chose the Users>Name>Music>iTunes folder.
iTunes launched and all the albums showed up, their individual tracks showed up, but when I select any of the just-moved tracks I get: "The song <song title> could not be used because the origingal file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" If I browse my way to the file it plays, but I would have to do it for each and every track.
What can I do?
Martin
G5 Dual 2 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Read this article and see if it helps - http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301748
As you still have all the tunes on your old Mac this should work for you.
MJ

Similar Messages

I am trying to rebuild my iPhoto library and noticed my backup contains aliases (pointers?) and not the actual file. What's the best way to rebuild my library?

I am trying to rebuild my iPhoto library and noticed my backup contains aliases (pointers?) and not the actual file. What's the best way to rebuild my library?
Facts:
In moving to a new iMac, I copied the iPhoto library to an external HDD assuming that I would point the new iMac to the backed up iPhoto Library
All worked fine when I pointed the new library but noticed that some folders contained aliases and not the original file. So when I attempt to open that photo it can't find it because the alias is pointing to another drive.
I do have all original photos from a couple of external HDDs. In the folders titled, "Originals" (from older versions of iPhoto) and "Masters" (from current iPhoto)
I'm thinking I can create a new folder and drop the original files and make that my new iPhoto library. Is there a better way to rebuild my library? I do not want to create any future aliases.
Thanks in advance for any help!

do you have a strongly recommended default "managed" library (the iPhoto preference to "copy imported items to the iPhoto library is in its checked state) or a referenced library - you have unchecked that option?
It sounds like you have a referenced library and are now experiancing one of the very siginificant drawbacks of a referenced library and one of the many reasons they are strongly not recommended
Also note that iPhoto '11 may use alises in the originals folder as part of the upgrade
It is important that we understand exactly what you have and what is not sorking - what error messages you are getting
You must NEVER make any changes of any sort to the structure of content of the iPhoto library - there are no user servicable parts in it -- and you can not rebuild yoru librtary - only iPhoto ir iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - can rebuild a library unless you are a SQL programmer and understand the structure that iPhoto uses
LN

IPhoto 11 won't launch and crashes every time I try to rebuild the library. Urgh.

iPhoto 11 won't launch- it's another case of an infinite skinny wheel. I've tried rebuilding the library numerous times, each time it takes about a day and each time it crashes near the end. This is just ridiculous. Any tips folks?
APPLE if you can hear me... shouldn't you be testing this stuff prior to release? I know you do but I mean, like REALLY testing it? This is my second iPhoto upgrade disaster. The last time I lost my entire library, had to spend £80 on recovery software that recovered not only most of my photos, but every image cached on my machine. So then I had the fun of sorting through literally thousands of images...
And I only got the upgrade becasue my iPhone is refusing to sync, freezing on the iPhoto bit. Gah.

Make a temporary, backup copy (if you don't already have a backup copy) of the library and apply the two fixes below in order as needed:
Fix #1
Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
Select the options identified in the screenshot.
Fix #2
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 8.1.2 - Rebuilding Photo Library - Photo Library is unreadable

Hi,
I am using iPhoto 8.1.2 and have had no issues with iPhoto for many years. However, when I tried to access iPhoto yesterday I obtained the following message:
"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. Please quit and use the latest version of iPhoto. QUIT"
I then tried to restart and re-install the iPhoto 8.1.2 update. Afterwards I got the following message:
"Your photo library is either in use by another application or has become unreadable
Shut down and restart your computer, and then open iPhoto again. If the problem persists, try rebuilding your photo library. To do this, quit iPhoto, and then reopen it while keeping the Option and Command keys pressed. You can also try restoring your photo library from a backup. QUIT"
I backed up my photo library and went ahead and restarted the computer again and then proceeded to try and rebuild my photo library. After looking at several discussion threads in this forum, I hoped for the best and checked the following boxes:
- Rebuild the photos' small thumbnails
- Rebuild all of the photos' thumbnails
- Recover orphaned photos in the iPhoto library folder
- Examine and repair iPhoto library file permissions
- Rebuild the iPhoto library database from automatic backup
It took a long time, however in the end it seems like iPhoto was once again able to access my photos. However, there are 3 things that make me feel concerned:
(1) I don't think all my photos were present. Originally, if I am not mistaken, there were around 22,000 photos and now only 20,000 are present.
(2) During the process of rebuilding the library, iPhoto gobbled up another 5GB of hard disk space. I don't know why, but I think iPhoto might have doubled at least some of my photos.
(3) Afterwards it seemed like iPhoto froze during "building thumbnails" (the blue bar was about 80-90% complete) - possibly because of lack of hard disk space - and after letting it work over night, I decided to force quit iPhoto this morning.
I then decided to throw away the new "rebuilt library" because of the missing photos and the extra 5GB. After throwing the library away, I placed once again my previous backed up photo library in the pictures folder. So, essentially (I think), I am back to square one.
I would appreciate any help and advice on what I should do. I am afraid of doing the wrong thing and irremediably doing damage to my photos and photo library.
Thank you in advance.

Hi TD,
Thank you for your quick reply and support.
My HD has a capacity of about 320GB. When I received the error message I had about 24 GB free space. The actual Photo Library is about 19GB in size.
I did the back up on my hard disk, after duplicating the Photo Library I had about 5 GB left over space during the Photo Library Rebuild.
However, after I did the rebuild, the Photo Library size jumped up to over 24GB! Leaving me with only 100MB of HD space left, at this point the thumbnail rebuild seemed to stall. This is when I decided to eventually force quit iPhoto.
Now that I have thrown away the bloated Photo Library and returned to the original one, I am back at about 25GB free space.
I think I know the source of my issue, I don't know if this will help you in advising me on how to get myself out of this mess. I foolishly did a clean up of my hard disk with a clean up / space freeing program. I think one of the little files that was accidentally cleaned up was linked to / related to my iPhoto library.
Thanks for the link to iPhoto Library Manager. I realize that this is definitely an option, but if possible for me only as a last resort (I would like to keep all the books, and calendars data, etc. if possible).
Are there any other solutions? Why did iPhoto double some photos during the rebuild? Why did my Photo Library bloat up in size during the rebuild?
Did I check too many check boxes? Can I attempt another rebuild and if so, what can I do to do it properly?
Thank you again for your help.

Possible to rebuild iPhoto Library in a new location?

I have managed (between multiple updates of iPhoto over the years) to wind up with a lot of duplicate photos in my iPhoto Library folder. What I'd like to do is have iPhoto rebuild it's library in a new location, so as to eliminate anything in that folder than iPhoto's not using. I'm guessing I have at least 1GB of duplicates (not counting the Modified folder).
For example, I have 2000 - 2005 folders at both the top level of the iPhoto Library, as well as in the Originals and Modified folders.
Any way to do this?
PowerBook 17" Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Are the photos is those year/month/day folder duplicates of some already in the library? If so then just remove them to the desktop and launch iPhoto. (Make a backup copy of your iPhoto Library folder beforehand just in case).
If those files are not in the library then try rebuilding the library, launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys depressed and follow the instructions to rebuild the library, and select the option to recover orphaned files. See if that won't clean up those rogue folders. But, if the photos in those folders are truly duplicates of those in the library, you can trash those folders. They are like our appendix, no longer needed.
The answer to your previous answer was no. Sorry I wasn't more specific. Rebuilds are done within the current iPhoto Library folder.

Problem with rebuilding iPhoto library

Hi,
I'm having problem to rebuild my iPhoto library. I have more than 11 000 photos / video clips and 70Gbs in my iPhoto library and everything has been ok until I started to import photos from my new iPhone 4. First issue was that when I imported photos from iPhone those new photos disappeared after restart of iPhoto. I read from somewhere that iPhoto library rebuild -functions might help and I rebuild the library and thumbnails. It actually worked for that problem. After that those photos which I imported from iPhone remained in iPhoto and I even got some disappeared photos back. But after that rebuilt I noticed that most of the video clips could not be opened inside iPhoto. When clicking thumbnail of a video clip just a big exclamation mark jumped up. I checked from iPhoto library originals -folder that those video clips still remain. From there I can open the clips in Quicktime Player. So, I tried to rebuild my library again. Rebuilding started ok, it went smoothly up to 65% but ceased there. Now it has been in that 65% -condition for 24 hours and I don't know what to do. I don't know if it's still actually doing something or not. "Force to quit" -function does not say that iPhoto is not answering and "System Monitoring" shows that there are still some messages going on in iPhoto -process. I don't know should I force iPhoto to quit or just wait another 24 hours...
Any advices what I should do and how I can get my video clip viewing back to iPhoto?
Computer is iMac 2006 with OS 10.6.8 and iPhoto is version 9.1.5. I have both Quicktime players (7 and 10) installed.
BR,
Osku from Finland

If the rebuild doesn't help try Fix 101: make a temporary, backup copy of the library if you don't already have a backup copy and try the following:
1 - delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your
User/Home()/Library/ Preferences folder.
2 - delete iPhoto's cache file, Cache.db, that is located in your
User/Home()/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto folder.
3 - 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 down the Option key when launching iPhoto. You'll also have to reset the iPhoto's various preferences.
OT

Rebuilding iTunes Library...What is the next step ?

Hi:
I tried follwoing your advice.
I can do the Ctrl-A to select all songs in the iTunes libary.
I can right-click and select Delete,
but when I do, I do not get the 3 options that you mentioned
(Cancel, Keep Files, and Move To Recycle Bin)
I get a dialog box stating:
Are you sure you want to remove the selcted songs from your iTunes library?
These songs will also be remove from any iPod or iPhone which synchronizes with your iTunes library.
Why am I not getting the options you stated above ?
I have seen you oprions on a Mac at best Buy, but I am running an HP laptop under Vista Home Premium.
Then has a Remove or Cancel button to be clicked.
If I follow through with the above, will it wipe out my music library ?
How do I go about rebuilding the databse ?
Thank you
DaleB
HP dv6500z laptop Windows Vista
==========================================================================
Toocan
Posts: 54
From: Gauteng, South Africa
Registered: Jul 23, 2008
Re: iTunes forgets my CD files...how do I rebuild tune database?
Posted: Aug 17, 2008 10:27 PM in response to: DaleB Reply Email
Sorry DaleB, I have redone my library so many times, I forgot about this prompt. Just click 'yes'/'remove' to that question.
Reloading the library will only make your iPod resync again, thats all.
Intel Windows XP Pro P4, 3.4GHz, 3GB RAM, XP SP3 - iPod 80GB Classic
===========================================================================
DaleB
Posts: 145
Registered: Jan 18, 2006
Re: iTunes forgets my CD files...how do I rebuild tune database?
Posted: Aug 18, 2008 4:02 AM in response to: Toocan Reply Email
Hi:
You tell me to click "Yes" / "Remove" when prompted by iTunes with
"Are you sure you want to remove the selcted songs from your iTunes library?"
but when I do, I do not get the 3 options that you mentioned
(Cancel, Keep Files, and Move To Recycle Bin) ?
What is the next step ???
I don't want to accidentally erase my Library.
Thank you
DaleB
==============================================================================
DaleB
Posts: 145
Registered: Jan 18, 2006
Re: iTunes forgets my CD files...how do I rebuild tune database?
Posted: Aug 18, 2008 4:13 AM in response to: Toocan Reply Email
Hi:
A related issue.
I made a copy (backup ?) of the Music folder in Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit OS, to my Desktop. If something corrupts the Music in iTunes, will this be a "good enough" backup to be able to restore the music by moving it back into the Music folder, or will soemthing be missing ?
Thanx !
DaleB
==============================================================================

What is it you want to do? If you want to clear your library and start it over with the same media files already on your computer, the way you are doing it is both more work and dangerous (you could lose files accidentally if you hit the wrong button).
Assuming you backed up your library elsewhere, you will have an "iTunes Music.itl" file, or at least you do with XP. I am not sure if Vista works any differently. This is the file that is the database file that contains all the info about what is in your library, playcounts, ratings, etc. If you don't have that backed up somewhere else with your library, you should do that. If you periodically back up just that file, you can rebuild your library assuming the media files are not lost.
So to clear our your current library, simply grab the iTunes Music.itl file in your iTunes folder and drag it to the desktop or the trash. Open iTunes and you should now see a blank library. Close iTunes, you will find a new iTunes Music.itl file has been created (representing the new blank library. To restore your old .tl file, simply drag your back up copy and overwrite the newly created blank library iTunes Music.itl file. That's it.
Alternatively, you can File -> Import the .xml file that is also created and maintained by iTunes in the same folder as the iTunes Music.itl file. But Apple does state the XML file doesn't quite have everything contained in the iTunes Music.itl file, although it isn't clear what exactly is missing, at least not to me.
Cheers,
Patrick

Rebuilding Iphoto Library is it safe?

Hi I'm currently rebuilding my Iphoto Library which has 70,000 photos. I checked all the boxes, does rebuilding the library effect my ratings, keywords, or my manual arrangement of my Photos? How long does it normally take to complete? Will my library and events remain just as they were after it rebuilds? Thanks

If you're currently rebuilding then it's a mite late to be asking, no?
DId you back up first?
Assuming that your Library was in good shape to begin with, then it should make no difference to how you've arranged things in iPhoto.
It could take a while as you're also rebuilding the thumbnails. With 70k photos I would expect a couple of hours.
Regards
TD

Getting iPhoto to reread EXIF info - force rebuild of Library.iPhoto6 file?

Hi all,
I'm a new Mac & iPhoto 6 user. I imported some photos from my camera into iPhoto. Then I realized that the timestamps on the photos were wrong - I had forgotten to change the time zone when I travelled.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way for iPhoto to add 16 hours to the timestamp for each photo.
So I used jhead to fix each photo's EXIF timestamp. (In both the Originals & Modified folders)
However, now I can't get iPhoto to reread the EXIF data from the photo. I assume that this data is stored in the Library.iPhoto6 file. I've tried just deleting the file & restarting iPhoto, but that doesn't work.
How can I force iPhoto to rebuild the Library.iPhoto6 file?
G4 Powerbook 15" Mac OS X (10.4.6) iLife 6

Thanks for your help, but I'm afraid that neither response solves the problem!
1. jhead can indeed batch change the date. I used it to change the timestamps on all of the photos in my Modified & Originals folders. I can also verify that the EXIF info in the files themselves has been updated.
2. Holding down command & option when you start iPhoto does indeed let you rebuild some of the internal information. Unfortunately, it does not solve this problem either. iPhoto does not rebuild its EXIF info in Library.iPhoto6 when you start it up in this fashion.
3. Deleting the Library.iPhoto6 file doesn't work. When iPhoto is started, it thinks that it doesn't have any photos. So you then have to reimport everything.
Is there no way to get iPhoto to rebuild that file? Reimporting everything would be extraordinarily tedious.
Cheers,
Andy

Trying to rebuild aperture library using Masters

I have been having a problem with my photos for months now. Some have disapered and some have just gone crorupt. Made an appointment at the genuis bar and they told me i need to rebuild the library using the masters file on my back up drive. I attempted to do this and all it does is keeps on crashing. Does anyone have any tips as it is now doing my head in

then go in to my external hard drive and find the masters folder.
Is that a Time Machine backup or a copy of your Aperture library? Or a folder with the original master files?
If it is a Time Machine backup, did you restore the "Masters" folder from your backup or drag it over? A TimeMachine backup needs to be restored.
I have managed to import some photos into a newly created library but would like to get all my photos back.
I have then left it to move the Photos but nothing seems to happen and when you right click on the aperture icon on the desk top it says appliction not responing and has an option to force to quit.
This looks like something in the Masters folder cannot be processed.
If you have enough space on you internal drive, create two new Aperture libraries - one for testing and one as the final version.
Open the test version in iPhoto, if you have iPhoto, and the final version in Aperture, so you can have bth libraries open at the same time.
Import only small sets of images at once, 100 images or so.
First import the 100 images into the test library in iphoto, and if that succeeds without hanging, import them into your Aperture library.
Continue to test this way. If iPhoto starts to hang, try to identify the image or video that cannot be processed, and remove it.

IPhoto 5.0.4 has suddenly stopped working. It loads the photo library and then freezes. Rebuilding the library has no effect which has about 3.5MB of data. PowerBook G4 OS 10.5.8

iPhoto 5.0.4 has suddenly stopped working. It loads the photo library and then freezes. Rebuilding the library has no effect which has about 3.5MB of data. PowerBook G4 OS 10.5.8

Create a new account (systempreferences -> accounts or Users & Groups on 10.7) and see if the problem is repeated there. If it is, then a re-install of the app might be indicated. If it's not, then it's likely the app is okay and the problem is something in the main account.
Regards
TD

Problem with rebuilding iPhoto library database

Some of my videos in iPhoto play fine, however, I get the ! sign with some of them when I attempt to play. I've tried rebuilding the library database, but the process gets stuck at 92% and never completes. What now?

Try the following:
1 - delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your
User/Home/Library/ Preferences folder.
2 - delete the contents the following folder: User/Library/Containers/com.apple.iPhoto
3 - reboot, launch iPhoto and try again.
NOTE: For Mavericks and Yosemite, go to your Home folder and use the View ➙ Show View Options menu to bring the this window:
where you can check the Show Library Folder checkbox.

Cannot rebuild iPhoto library

My iPhoto database is damage (inconsistent). When I try to open iPhoto I just get told to select a library. When I click on the open button nothing happens.
The common advice is to: "hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto." I keep pressing the keys for a long time when I launch iPhoto. I should see the dialog box for i.e. repair the database. Nothing happens.
The database itself is about 200 Gb big. The pictures are definitely there.
How can I repair/rebuild the library/database?

iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, saving edits and sharing the photos. What format is that Raid?
If the Library is showing as 60+ gigs then there is every possibility that the photos are still intact.
If the other rebulds haven't worked then what I would do is as follows:
Restore the back up from end 2011. At least all that will be intact.
Spend some time thinking about the fact that you always need an up-to-date back up.
Then recover the 2012 files from the damaged Library, and import them to the recovered Library. You will lose any editing that you have done, or keywording etc., but at least you'll have the shots.
In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
Go into the damaged iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders from 2012 to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.

Rebuilding iPhoto Library

I have a late 2007 iMac and over the years the file structure for my iPhoto has become corrupt where iPhoto is missing several thumbnail images. I just bought a macbook, and was curious about the best way to transfer my pictures since the iMac iPhoto library doesn't appear to be complete.
Can I simply connect to my iMac through my network, do a search for all .jpg files, and simply drag them into iPhoto on the new Macbook?

iPhoto is missing several thumbnail images.
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. Include the option to rebuild the thumbnails. It can take 3 or 4 goes for this to work
Can I simply connect to my iMac through my network, do a search for all .jpg files, and simply drag them into iPhoto on the new Macbook?
No.
To move an iPhoto Library to a new machine:
Link the two Macs together: there are several ways to do this: Wireless Network,Firewire Target Disk Mode, Ethernet, or even just copy the Library to an external HD and then on to the new machine...
But however you do choose to link the two machines...
Simply copy the iPhoto Library from the Pictures Folder on the old Machine to the Pictures Folder on the new Machine.
Then launch iPhoto. That's it.
This moves photos, events, albums, books, keywords, slideshows and everything else.

Rebuilding iTunes Library File

I have been using iTunes since the beginning and would like some feedback about the itunes Library file.
I have been using the same iTunes Library file since the beginning of the program and as my library grows and the version upgrades continue to modify the library file, is it time to create a new library file. Everything seems to be working ok except that it does take several seconds for iTunes to modify it's database when I make a change to a playlist or Tag info. I understand smart playlists occupy a lot of time and I do have quite a few of them, but would rebuilding the Library file help that at all.
Losing all of the playcounts and playlists is not acceptable.
TIA

Yes I do back up.
My iTunes Folder, which includes the Library File, the Music Folder, and the XML file are all stored on an external firewire drive. I have a symbolic link to the external drive located in the Music folder of my boot disk. This works as expected. The reason I do this is so I can take the external drive home from work, copy the symlink to my home Mac, replace the real folder with the symlink, open iTunes and all playlists and playcounts are intact. Basically pick up where I left off. The only downside to this is that I must have the volume available or iTunes will quit because it can't find or create a Library file. I can live with that. Simply rename the symlink temporarily and reopen.
My main question was referring to the Library file itself. Is it possible that as time went on and new versions of iTunes come out and the database needed updating, can the Library file become fragmented. If I remember correctly, initially Apple had the SoundCheck value stored in the Library file. Now it is stored directly in the mp3 or aac file. Does this now uneeded data still live in the library file?
I am thinking about making a third backup, create a new library and add all of my music to the empty library to see how if flies. I know playlists and counts will be gone, but may shed some light on how the Library file is managed.
Comments?
TIA

Will I lose my photos if I "rebuild my library database" in iPhoto?

Please help! I opened iPhoto and it says I need to rebuild my library database. It is running now but doesn't seem to be moving. I am afraid I am going to lose all of my pictures... I have thousands. Has anyone been through this before? Are all of my pictures going to be gone after "rebuilding"?
Thanks!

Thanks. I have been unable to access my photos for the last day or so. I tried restarting a couple of times and still had the same difficulty. The rebuild completed and I have my photos again (whew!!! I was afaid I'd lose thousands).
Thanks for the recommendation to back it up. I've been meaning to. Is the best way to use an external drive or Time Machine?

Rebuilding My Library

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