Some grey pics after moving G4/iPhoto5 on 320G HD to MBP/iPhoto6 120G HD

Question

I've searched this forum a little bit but haven't seen anything like my case, so I'm posting a new thread.
I recently moved everything from my dying PM G4 to a new MBP 15". Because the G4 can't boot to target disk mode and is so unsable, I took its internal HDs out (a pair of 320G SATA) and enclosed them to become external USB2 HDs, mounted on MBP and copied the iPhoto Library folder, among other things, to MBP's internal 120G HD (more about this later).
At first it appeared OK but I didn't do a thorough check as I had many other environment/configurations to finish (AirPort, backup config, iTunes, etc.). A week later, after I imported some 60 pics from my camera, I scrolled up and noticed 1883 pics (out of total 12342) from some early rolls show up as grey rectangles, with the exclamation mark in Edit mode. Not all the earliest pics are masked, but most prior to 2004, and a few from a roll in 2004. Right-click Show Info shows that their meta data are intact. However, Show File switches apps to Finder but couldn't bring any Finder window up, not to mention the picture itself.
The tricky thing is the pics are right there in the Originals folder in their Rolls and can be opened via Preview. Permissions are good (yes I even tried BatChmod). I tried to rebuild the library (apple-option and checked top 3) with no avail (no error msg). And, of course, iPhoto wouldn't let me re-import in-place because they're already in Originals.
So, my conclusion is, it must be that the internal HD doesn't have enough space for iPhoto6 to successfully rebuild the library (I remember it did some kind of conversion the 1st time it started. Remember the old library was iPhoto5 on the G4.). iPhoto says the library takes 28.9 G. Finder says iPhoto Library folder is 44.94 G, with 33.87 G in the Originals. The system HD has 38.9 G free space. I know you folks have repeatly said OS X wants a 10G swap space, but I'm not sure how iPhoto uses HD (maybe in /tmp?) when rebuilding library? 10G is exactly the difference between iPhoto's 28.9G and system HD's 38.9G. Could it be that iPhoto needs at least 43.87G (33.87 + 10) free space so it can rebuild the library? Could there be other possible diagnosis? I'd like to get some expert opinion before I wipe things off the system HD and rely on the backup.
You might ask why didn't I point iPhoto to the external HD to begin with? Well, I didn't know how to (or bother to figure it out) because I had 320G internal and never thought I'd need it. Duh. But now this gives me a new concern: If it's truely the system HD running out of space, then it wouldn't matter where the Library is located and how large that disk is, as long as it out-grows my system HD's free space (which shrinks everyday with all the updates and additions), it's doomed. In that case, is booting from an external HD the only solution?
PowerMac G4 --> MacBookPro 15"   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  
PowerMac G4 Quick Silver 2002 --> MacBookPro 15"   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

Answer 1

Naichia Yang
Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
You have plenty of disk space. Stop worrying about it. Rebuilding the library involves rebuilding the db file (the library6.iphoto file) not the entire folder. So the process does not require gigs and gigs of disk space.
The discrepancy between the iPhoto size and the Finder size is because the iPhoto reports the size of the current version of the pics, the Finder reports the total installation - Originals, Modified, Data and ancillary files.
The ! or ? turns up when iPhoto loses the connection between the thumbnail in the iPhoto Window and the file it represents. The most common cause of this is User Activity in the iPhoto Library Folder. When you moved the iPhoto Library Folder did you move it as a single unit or in parts?
Do you still have the old v5 library? If so, it might be worth trying again, as otherwise it looks like a case of db corruption. If that's the case, then your option may only be to populate a new library.
To create and populate a new library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same film rolls and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, books, calendars etc.
Move the iPhoto Library Folder to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library Folder on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual rolls 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 Folder 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.
Finally, you can move your iPhoto Library Folder at any point, there is simply no need to panic about your available disk space.
Regards
TD