"Updating" thumbnails/recovering library?
I bought my mac about 3 weeks ago, and I have 5 years worth of digital photos on CDs. Before I knew any better, I put each CD into a folder on my mac's hard drive (nowhere near the Iphoto folder). I then imported all of these photos into Iphoto using the "import" option. Doing some reading, after I realized I had just duplicated all the files into the Iphoto Library Folder, I trashed everything in the Iphoto library folder, and sent all the (now empty) thumbnails to the Iphoto trash, and tried to start from scratch.
Since I had backed up almost all of my photos to an External Hard Drive, and these photos were tagged with Keywords from my PC's copy of Photoshop Organizer, I just imported this folder into Iphoto (using the Iphoto import option). I updated a few of these keywords (corrected spelling, got rid of some keywords, added a few more) in Iphoto. Everything was okay, I was editing pictures at my leisure, and things were alright.
So, today, I realized that my Iphoto trash had over 12,000 files in it. Since I had been working with the photos as normal, I figured it was OK to "Empty the trash". So I did. And now my Library shows the dotted-white-line square (no exclamation points), and the Iphoto Library Originals folder is empty.
I have everything backed up, but I spent some time updating the keywords that are still currently in the iphoto Library. No file names have been changed, so I'm wondering if there is some workaround where I can just "point" iphoto to the same pictures, just in a different folder, or SOMETHING to get iphoto to recognize my photos? PLEASE help. I'm starting to have buyer's remorse!
jany:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. Do you still have those photos on the external HD, the ones with keywords from the PC? If so I believe your only chance is to start with a fresh library and reimport those photos from the external HD and those from the various CDs. When you delete the files from inside the iPhoto library folder you, in essence , trashed the library and it's keywords, etc.
Unless you're experienced at Applescripting, the AlbumData.xml file won't be a lot of use to you.
Delete the current iPhoto Library folder, create a new library and start importing.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've written an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
Similar Messages
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IPhoto 9.3 Rebuild/Updating Thumbnails
Hi there,
So I'm on a MacBook Pro, Late 2008 with OSX Lion, and recently did a software update that included the 9.3 version for iPhoto. I plugged in my Nikon D5100 yesterday to get import photos into my iPhoto library when a message popped up that said: "The photo library needs to be upgraded to work with this version of iPhoto. Your photo library will not be readable by previous version of iPhoto after the upgrade. The upgrade process for very large libraries may take an hour or more to complete."
After contemplating for about a day, I talked to a friend who had a similar problem, he did a rebuild on his library and got his photos back with no problem.
I have a library with about 20,000 photos and numerous videos. I've never backed up my MB so I don't have a backup for my photos or anything of that sort.
I took the plunge because my friend was confident in it and I did the upgrade. I did the whole rebuilding database process and I thought it was fine since I saw all my albums afterwards. I didn't see thumbnails, so I asked him what I should do. He suggested I restart my computer. Restarted my computer, opened iPhoto back up and it started the "Updating Thumbnail" process. It was going okay until it got just a little over the halfway mark on the progress bar. It has been stuck in that same spot for about 2 hours now. Am I just being impatient about it or does it really take that long to update the thumbnails? WOuld having a lot of videos in iPhoto hinder the process at all?
Before asking this question I researched the community questions quite thoroughly so I didn't ask a question that could already have a solution that I need, however, I still couldn't find quite the right question or answer for my problem, hence my asking. I'm a little worried that since I don't have a backup hard drive that I'll lose my photos if I Force Quit iPhoto, especially when it says that it's still running and responsive. I tried clicking on "Finish Later" but it now seems like iPhoto is completely frozen up and I'm really not sure what to do about it. I'm just hoping I don't lose five years worth of photos because of one of Apple's mistakes. Also, I do have an external hard drive coming my way so I will have a way to back up my photos for the future. Any suggestions are helpful! Thanks!
Catherinefirst - not having a backup is a terrible user mistake - people, computers and software fails and a backup is the only way to protect your files and photos - if you do not have a good, crrent backup you are 100% guarenteed to lose your file sincluding your photos sooner or later - not haveing a backup is playing Russian Roulette with yoru information
As to rebuilding thumbnails - yes it can take a while
At this stage since you choose to not make backups your choices are to wait and hope - if things do not work out you can backup what you have and try rebuilding the library (depress the option and command keys and launch iPhoto) - if nothing works you will have to start over with th eoriginals and possibly with photos recovered with expensive file recovery software
LN -
Several months ago, I kept getting prompted to 'update' my iphoto library. When I finally clicked on the 'update' button, it 'greyed out' ALL of my photos. Now ALL of my photos are grayed out and I can't see ANY of my pictures unless I click on each grayed out photo individually and open them, ALL of the thumbnails are greyed out. It is THE WORST!! I have no idea how to fix this problem and its been MONTHS AND MONTHS of *** pain. Anyone?? Please help!!!
Thanks so much!!!Back up your iPhoto library, Depress and hold the option (alt) and command keys and launch iPhoto - rebuild your iPhoto library database
and please tell us what version of iPhoto and of the OS you have
LN -
Can't use iPhoto/updating thumbnails/original can't be found
I haven't used iPhoto in a long time, and have rarely ever used it, have always found it counterintuitive and unnecessarily difficult. The last time i used it was probably in the past 6 months and it worked OK. Today i'm having a new problem that i can't fix, hoping someone more knowledgeable can help me.
I opened iPhoto because i was going to try using iCloud for storing photos. The "beta" iCloud Photos opened and said that i would have to turn on Photo Library on my iPhone. I looked at that and it said "automatically upload and store your entire photo library in iCloud to access photos and videos from all your devices."
I'm not sure i want to do that, i don't want all my storage used up. I googled "Can i store selected photos on iCloud photos," to see if i can choose which photos in my photo library i want to put on the cloud. I got a link to an Apple Support page which was titled My Photo Stream FAQ. I was reading the beginning of it and it said i needed to have iPhoto v.9.2 or greater. So, i clicked on the iPhoto icon in the doc to open it and see the version number that way.
That was the beginning of the trouble.
I can't remember the whole sequence of what happened, but at the beginning, i got a message window telling me that there were problems with my data directory, it didn't use those terms but something about inconsistencies between different things which it said could cause problems, and one of the options was a button that said Repair. So i clicked on Repair.
Then i got a small window with a progress bar that said Updating Thumbnails. Pretty soon after that, i got another window, a message window that said something like "Alert - The photo “IMG_9673.JPG” could not be opened, because the original item cannot be found." The two options were Cancel or Find Photo. I clicked on Find Photo, a window opened with a field to type the name of the photo but iPhoto had taken the window away that had the file name, so i had to close out and wait for the window to come back. Then i memorized the obscure file name and put it in the search field after clicking Find Photo. Nothing happened. Nothing was found or not found, there was no response and no button to click on. there was no way to use that window to search with. There was a grayed out "open" button. What a waste of time. This is why i don't use iPhoto.
So, then i used the Finder Find file window and typed in IMG_ because there were a lot of them, not just a few, so i wanted to find out where they all were and maybe i could just delete them. Find file showed that a lot of them were in Mail, apparently mail attachments, and there was a total of over 4700 of them. So, there was no way i was going to be able to click Cancel 4700+ times, this was a very slow process, each time, there was an extended pause until the next window with 'cancel' came up, and of course, it would be too easy to have an option to apply the choice to all. That didn't exist. I couldn't do anything functional with iPhoto, everything was grayed out, including Quit. I used force quit.
i tried restarting iPhoto, the same thing happens, i got the same 'updating thumbnails' and 'Alert - original cannot be found'. One time, i got the original "you have inconsistencies" message and the options to repair or or cancel, and i chose cancel this time, but it still brought up the Updating Thumbnails/Alert - can't be found' windows.
Each time, i force quit.
Is there anything i can do? i don't want to reinstall the whole system. Is there something somewhere i can throw in the trash? I do not want to have to reinstall the system software for a program i rarely if ever use because i find it so difficult.Terence--thank you for the reply. To my knowledge i haven't ever done anything with iPhoto preferences to change it from the default. i have very rarely used iPhoto because i have found the interface difficult and awkward. Because i use it so little, i would've had no reason to change the preferences that i can remember. i certainly would not have known anything about the options you describe and would not have selected a Referenced Library because i don't know where else i would put the photos. I have been managing my photos on the iPhone for the past 5 or 6 years, and before that, i used a Canon photo management program. i mostly store my photos on the phone but i email photos to my computer in order to post them on facebook etc, before that became easier to do from the phone . i would edit photos in Preview or on the phone. I have barely used iPhoto. i think occasionally, i sync the phone photos with the computer as a back up. That would account for there being a lot of photos in the iPhoto Library, maybe. As far as i know, i have the default settings on iPhoto.
I used iPhoto a couple of times in the past year, to find some old photos, and the program opened normally. Today, it did not open normally but gave me the message about having some inconsistencies and asking if i wanted to repair them, which then led to the Updating Thumbnails window, which then led to the Alert - The photo could not be opened because the original could not be found message window. Nothing else opens. There is no functional iPhoto at this point. I can either open it and look at a screen with those messages on it, or i can force quit it. I can't check the preferences settings, not from within the program.
I searched for the IMG_ files and found about 3000 of them and put them in a photo on my desk top. Does that mean they are in a Referenced Library?
Do you know of any way of getting this 'updating thumbnails' process to stop?
There was a time when dragging a plist file to the desk top or the trash could help to fix problems, and i was hoping there would be something like that i could do. i don't know what changed since the last time i opened iPhoto that has caused this problem that i have not had before. Maybe it was after the change from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion. I can't remember. -
After repairing and rebuilding the iPhoto libary/database, I attempted to rebuild the thumbnails on an older Mac Book (10.7.5) and iPhoto 9.0. I believe there was not enough disk space for this function. Now when I open iPhoto, I get the message "Updating thumbnails." I then need to hit "cancel" to open iPhoto, How can I get rid of the "Updating thmbnails" message?
Basically none.
That is the problem
you need a minimum of 10GB of free space just for normal os - with little or none y0u risk damaging yoru iPhoto database and other important system components - you must make space immediately
Exporting photos is not the solution - unless you can delete some large files that are not needed The fastest way is to purchase an external hard drive formatted Mac OS extended and move your iPhtoo library to it -
Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
I would not put my iphoto library on a flash drive - and usually they are not formated correctly wso will nto even work
LN -
Updating thumbnails can't find original
Every time i launch iPhoto 11 (after i connect iPhone), and the updating thumbnail process initiates, iPhoto stalls saying it can't find about ~20 original photos. It the same ~20 photos everytime. Tried repairing database. No change.
I did try iPhoto Library Manager before posting here, but it told me it couldn't rebuild the database because it was corrupt! Yikes.
Okay, so I did what someone suggested on another thread, and tried to identify all the 80 or so photos that were supposedly 'missing'. I wrote down the name of every photo on a text edit doc.
Then I did something strange that seems to have worked: I went to Spotlight, and searched for one of the image names. I found it inside the iPhoto library. (I'm not sure why you can't navigate to photos from inside iPhoto, but you can from Spotlight - note, you can't find them in any other finder window, just Spotlight).
I dragged the culprit file to my desktop. Then, when the alert came up again, I used File > Reveal in Finder to navigate to the photo...interestingly, iPhoto then pointed to the original location of the missing file...I then dragged the photo from my desktop back into iPhoto's library via the Finder. Voila, the photo was re-linked.
But here's where it gets interesting. Somehow other photos got re-linked, too!
I quit the program, and the same problem reoccurred. So I took the steps again above, but this time I did something slightly different afterward.
I went to the TextEdit doc, and I found each and every photo, and dragged it into an album I'd created (I called it something like "Photos to Fix" or something). I then went to the Trash, and found some broken aliases in there, too. I emptied the Trash, after clicking 'cancel' on each error message. Then, I quit and restarted iPhoto several times. The problem is gone! I then moved the photos out of the "Photos to Fix" album, and the problem has not returned.
In short:
- Find a broken photo in iPhoto, note the name
- Navigate to the photo in Spotlight (not finder)
- Drag it out of the iPhoto Library and onto the desktop
- Go back to iPhoto
- Select "Reveal in Finder" on the broken thumbnail
- iPhoto will go to the location the photo USED to be
- Go back to Finder
- Drag the photo back into its old location
- Go back to iPhoto
- Move that photo, and any other problem photos, to a new album
- Empty Trash if there are any problem files there, too
- Restart iPhoto
- Problem solved
That's what worked for me, though I admit it is wonky and illogical. Maybe someone can shed light on why this worked. -
Iphoto keeps asking to update thumbnails - EACH TIME
iPhoto iphoto keeps asking to update thumbnails - EACH TIME. I've told it ignore 5 times, and each sessions involves about 100 photos and 2 horus of clicking no - help!
Where is the file that I can update?
Thanks
GeorgeOption 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 Library Manager it's the FIle -> Rebuild command)
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 -
What is updating thumbnails in iphoto
my iphoto says "updating thumbnails" and continuously asks me if I want to find a photo because the original is missing..??
Updating thumbnails means that iPhoto is updateing the thumbnails
what version of iPhoto do you have?
What is the exact error message you are getting
in the iPhoto preferences is sthe preference to "copy imported items to the iPhoto library" checked or have yoou unchecked it?
LN -
Diskspace decreases when updating thumbnails in iPhoto?
I recently had a problem with iPhoto showing the same thumbnails on multiple images. I cleared the issue by updating the thumbnails. But by doing that my internal drives free space dramatically decreased, down to below 1 GB of free space! And I had to stop updating thumbnails.
I have my iphoto library on an external drive, and assumed that all databses and thumbnails was stored inside that package, isn't that right? and if so, why is space decreasing on the internal drive instead of the external? Should it decrease at all?
My son has a very tiny iPhoto library on the internal drive (approx. 300MB) could that somehow have tricked iPhoto in to believing that my library is also internally stored?
I hope someone can help me answer my questions, so I can get my space back:)
Thanks in advance!
Kind regards,
Thomas Detlefsendown to below 1 GB of free space!
You have a big problem and you need to fix it fast. Very fast.
OS X needs about 10 gigs of hard drive space for normal OS operations - things like virtual memory, temporary files and so on.
Without this space your Mac will slow down as the OS hunts for space on the disk, files will be fragmented, also slowing things down, apps will crash and the risk of data corruption - that is damage to your files, photos, music - increases exponentially.
Your first priority is to make more space on that HD. Nothing else can be done until you do.
It's most likely that the space on your internal is eaten by temporary files. But it doesn't matter a whit. Your are in grave danger of serious dataloss. -
Hi, I have an iphone 4 with my itunes library on a Windows XP computer. My spouse (who has now passed away) had an itouch with an itunes library on an IMac. here is the problem, I bought an new iphone 6 and wanted to sync with my windows xp library and of course my itunes version is out of date and I need to update it...well I try and update the version and it will not update the Itunes library and when I researched it I would have to upgrade from XP to Windows 7...r they kidding me...first of all my computer is old and a pain in the *** but I have my itunes library on it. Sp to get my phone working I sync'd it on the IMac and my spouses Itunes library has been sync'd to my iphone and I don't know how to get my library on it...After thinking about it I want to combine the libraries after all there are some purchases on each one.
I have done some research and you have to buy a 3rd party piece of software...this is not the way I want to go...I do not think i should have to buy one and also when I do a goole search there are a ton of them out there and I am sorry i do not trust the comments as some of them do identify that they will get a kick back.
Can someone help, i should be able to export my itunes library from my iphone 4 to the itunes library by appending/importing it...it is not rocked science on what I want to do and I cannot find out any process...
Can someone help ?Create a new user account on the computer that he can log in to.
-
Ipod doesn't update all the library HELP
I've had my iPod Mini for two years now. A month ago I downloaded iTunes 7 and since then it has been a nightmare. I removed it and installed back the original software that came initially with my iPod.
I had to format my iPod and have to update it again. I have about 800 songs.
Sometimes iTunes recognizes my iPod and sometimes doesn't.
When I try to update my entire library, it only updates me 130 songs and then it says update is complete... I have tried this in another computer but it happens the same thing. I'm already thinking in buying a nano but I want to give it another try, any tips from someone?
Thanks really to anyone out there that helps me!I'm not 100% sure, I can only think of two things that might work. Make sure that all of the songs have a check mark next to them, and you could also try unsyncing and resyncing your ipod to your computer.
Also, if your ipod is still under warranty, you can always call the APPLE SUPPORT LINE and see what they say.
Hope this helps, and I hope your problem gets fixed! -
How can I update my music library on Windows and a library on Mac on netwo
I have music on my PC and music on my Mac, both systems running iTunes.The 2 systems are networked. Can iTunes update my music library on both computers so they have the same music library without deleting any songs?
iTunes cannot, no.
See this -> syncotunes. -
Recover Library after hard drive crash
Crashed hard drive. How do I recover library on a new computer? I don't want to wipe out the library on my ipod. I have downloaded itunes to my new computer but it want to wipe out ip[od library to synch. I don't want to lose everything.
See Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2 -
hello,
when i open itunes i get the message: The iTunes Library file cannot be saved. A folder was specified instead of a file.
It seems I can't update my itunes library. how do i fix this? thanks in advanceHi there Br0x,
You may want to try rebuilding the iTunes library as an initial troubleshooting step. Take a look at the article below for more information.
iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451
-Griff W. -
I get the following error message after installing the latest version of itunes via auto update: "the itunes Library file cannot be saved. An unknown error occurred (-54). Has anyone ever seen this message and anyone have a suggestion what to do?
Hi pholewinski!
I have a couple of articles for you here that I believe will help you with this issue. The first is an article on advanced troubleshooting, and it can be found here:
iTunes: Advanced iTunes Store troubleshooting
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3297
If following that article's steps doesn't take care of the issue, you can try the things listed in this article, which is about permissions issues in iTunes:
iTunes: Missing folder or incorrect permissions may prevent authorization
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1277
Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. Have a good one!
-Braden
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