Upgraded to iPhoto 6 and lost link to images/photos in iPhoto Library

Question

I just installed a 160 GB hard drive (70GB free) and iLife06 upgrade on iMc G5 with 768 MB. When I ran iPhoto it shows all original folders and rolls but thumbnails are blank and exclamation mark in edit mode and no images found. My iPhoto Library folder is in finder>picture and contains 6000 photos with original, data, modified, recovered and Library6.iPhoto folders among others. I have tried Apples recommended iPhoto Library rebuilding recommendations without success. I am trying to restore to original configuration to keep all past iDVD slides shows and videos active and working. I installed the larger hard drive and iLife because iLife04 iPhoto kept crashing when opening. I thought I needed more hard drive capacity and iLife06 advertised ability to handle greater number of photos. Please help, I have tried everything I found on discussions.

Answer 1

CK:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. To see if the database file is readable use iPhoto Library Manager. If it can see the slideshows, rolls, etc. than there's a chance rebuilding the library with iPLM can save them. If iPLM cannot access the library then I'm afraid the dB file is damaged beyond recovery. If you have to start afresh here's a possible way you might be able to recover the keywords. Check in the library and see if clicking on a keyword will bring up, even though they are blank, a specific set of photos. If so then you can try to follow Tutorial #1 to write the keywords back to the actual original files. Then do the following:
1 - move the old iPhoto Library folder to the desktop.
2 - launch iPhoto and create a new library.
3 - drag the "Originals" folder from the old library folder into iPhoto's open window.
This will generate a new library with the same rolls as were in the old library. Some of the roll dates may be changed however. The keywords will be retained if Tutorial #1 worked.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against future iPhoto database corruption that you and 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.