Using iCloud Photos with library on an external drive?

Hi all,
I activated iCloud photos on a Macbook pro (Yosemite 10.10.3), iPhone 6+, and iPad gen 2 and came across an issue.  I use an external drive to store my iPhoto (v. 9.6.1)  library because there isn't enough space on my Macbook for both photos and music.  I can't get all my photos because I get a message that iCloud photos only works with the library in your system drive (assume the Macbook HD).  Now, I can't access my photos from any of my IOS devices, and can only access from my macbook and external drive.
Anyone run across this and find a workaround?
Thanks.

Thanks for the link, Niel.  I followed the instructions to designate the photo library on my external drive as the system library.  The issue I am having now is that the upload has not been progressing for two days now.  When I click on iCould in the Photos preferences, I have the "iCloud Photo Library" checked along with "Optimize Mac Storage".  The status showing "Uploading 8,842 Items" for a couple of days.  I let it run overnight and it did not move. I have fast internet and it is working fine.  It sometimes switches and says a different number, i.e. 1100 or 9200 items, but the status bar isn't blue and nothing seems to be happening. My IOS devices do not show the correct photos and albums from the newly designated system library, so I can't access my photos from these devices.  Do you know if there is there a size limit on the upload or is there something else going on?  
Thanks!
Miles

Similar Messages

  • Using Aperture 3 with library on a shared drive

    My Aperture library has become too big for my MacBook Pro 13 and I want to move it onto a 2 Tb G-RAID connected by Firewire 800 to my iMac.  I hope to keep my older projects (perhaps 90% of my work) in a library on this external drive and use them with Aperture 3 on my MacBook Pro.  The iMac does not have a copy of Aperture installed (not sure if that's relevant, but there it is).  At the same time I hope to keep a few active projects in a library on my MBP's local drive.  As work demands, I hope to import and export projects from the two libraries, merging them in and out as needed.  I use Time Machine on both Macs to back up their data to a single Time Capsule.
    The two Macs seem to have no problem back up their Time Machine data to the single Time Capsule.  I don't think Time Machine have any problem backing up the data on that external drive, but is my scenario a practical approach to managing Aperture libraries if I want most of my projects in one place and a few active projects going with me on my MBP?  Thanks.

    The Aperture Library needs to be on a locally connected volume - locally connected to the mac that is running Aperture, see this knowledge base article:
         Use locally mounted Mac OS X Extended volumes for your Aperture library
    To free disk  space on your MBP you might consider to turn your Aperture library into a referenced library and to relocate most of the master image files (originals) to your raid, but keep the Aperture library on the MBP.
    If you build high quality previews you will be able to work with your library, even if the volume with the masters is offline-
    Regards
    Léonie

  • Download photos with MacBook Air to external drives

    Can I import from photos from a flashcard and copy simultaneously to 2 external drives hooked to Macair at same time? I will be traveling soon and wish to store my photos on 2 external drives, not on internal hard drive.  Any work around suggestions would be appreciated.
    Robert

    Yes, you can drag from a flash card to 2 diff. USB HD at the same time for file transfers on your AIr
    If you need a great HD to go with your AIr, grab a superslim to go in the bag with your Air
    Nice 500gig  ultraslim perfect for use with a notebook
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B009F1CXI2/ref=s r_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1377642728&sr=1-1&keywords=toshiba+slim+500gb
    Best for the money 2TB "tiny giant" very slim 15.2mm thick  2.5" hard drive
    2.5" USB portable High quality BEST FOR THE COST, Toshiba "tiny giant" 2TB drive (have several of them, LOT of storage in a SMALL package)    $99
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Connect-Portable-HDTC720XK3C1/dp/B00CGUMS48 /ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1379182740&sr=1-4&keywords=2tb+toshiba

  • Moving iPhoto, Photo Booth, & iMovie library to an external drive

    I've search through most of the support community and still havent found a concrete answer. Like most my current internal harddrive is about full. Mostly filled with photos and movies. I have a external harddrive that Time Machine is enabled. I also backed u my iphoto & photo booth library to the external drive. I have yet to move over any imovie data until I am sure that process will work.
    How do I move all data over so that iphoto, photo booth, & imovie can be ran fom my external harddrive. Also how can I ensure that imovie will direct itself to the iphoto library on my external because all movies from the past use the iphoto library as its directory. Once this is done I would like to delete all previous data off of my nternal drive
    Thank you

    . I have a external harddrive that Time Machine is enabled. I also backed u my iphoto & photo booth library to the external drive. I have yet to move over any imovie data until I am sure that process will work.
    Do you want to store your movies and photos on your Time Machine drive? That is not recommended, since you will not have a backup, if the media are only on your backup volume. You will need a second drive in addition to your backup drive, and this drive needs to be formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled), otherwise you cannot store photo libraries (iPhoto, Aperture) or iMovie events on that drive, see:  Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture (remember, thta formatting erases a drive, you have to save any contents to another drive before formatting).
    For iPhoto:  Once your external drive has the correct file system, simply select your iPhoto library in the Finder and drag it to that drive. Then double click the copied library to open it in iPhoto.
    For iMovie: To move your iMovie events to an external drive, use the event browser in iMovie - don't use the Finder! 
    See this Help page:  Copy or move video from your Event Library to an external ... http://support.apple.com/kb/ph2302
    I don't use Photo Booth, so I do not know how to move your Photo Booth photos.
    Regards
    Léonie

  • Is there a way to use iCloud Photo Library WITHOUT syncing?

    The idea I had of iCloud Photo Library was that I could upload my pictures to it and access them from all my devices WITHOUT having to sync them.
    At the end of every month, I move all the photos from my phone to my computer. It helps me save space and keep things tidy. With iCloud Library, I want to access all my photos, but it looks like I must sync them through iCloud, and then to save space in my phone, I have to select "optimise space for iPhone". Is there any way to use iCloud Photo Library as a mere cloud storage? I don't want to keep photos on my phone, neither full resolution or "optimised" ones. I want to put them on iCloud, and when I need them, then I want my phone to download them.
    I realise I could use other cloud storage providers for this, but I have always liked Apple's integration with their own services, so if possible, I would like to use iCloud Photo Library without syncing to my devices. Just keep my stuff in iCloud, and when I tap it, download it.

    www.icloud.com.
    Doesn't work well in IE8 (9 I would think is ok), but is fine in the current version of Chrome.

  • My repaired macbook now has Yosemite. I have my photo library on an external drive loaded with Aperture 2. Now unable to do anything.

    My "photo management macbook" crashed and when it was repaired it was upgraded to Yosemite. This macbook is used exclusively for photos using Aperture 2 (I also have a new Pro retina and an older macbook as well, with Yosemite and Lion loaded respectively). I have my photo library on an external drive and it was loaded using Aperture 2. Now I cannot use Aperture, cannot see photos, cannot upgrade to Aperture 3.6 and so cannot migrate photos to another software package, which I am going to have to do this year sometime.
    What can I do to get Aperture working and migrate my photos?

    On Yosemite you can only run Aperture 3.6, but that will not run on Lion.
    If you want to get Aperture running on your photo management macbook, restore it to the previous system from the last backup you made before the crash occurred, if you have a full Time Machine backup.  If you want to keep the Mac on Yosemite, try to restore the older system to an external drive and boot the Mac from that drive, when you want to work with Aperture 2.
    Otherwise your only option would be to buy the upgrade to Aperture 3.6.

  • Photos will not open, stuck on "Use iCloud Photo Library Page"

    I have had my photos app running for three days now and it still hasn't created a library. It is stuck on the Second screen after initializing the app for the first time which gives you the choice between use iCloud photo Library and not now. When I try to quit the app a dialog box pops up saying "Photos is creating or opening a library - cannot quit while it creating or opening a library"
    Can Photos be re-installed?
    Bit of background, I have a 3th fusion drive iMac from late 2013 and I am a photographer with about 1tb of photos on the local drive, is it overwhelming Photos?
    Thanks

    Hi VtBoomer,
    Lets see if we can clear this up. When you turn on iCloud Photo Library beta, you are essentially switching from a collection of photos that is stored on your iPhone and moving the photos to iCloud. It does actually use iCloud storage when you do this. What this accomplishes is if you have multiple devices, then they will be in sync across all other iOS and your computer. Take a look at the FAQs page below to answer any other questions you may have.
    iCloud Photo Library beta FAQ
    http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT6378
    Take care,
    -Norm G.  

  • Can I use iCloud Photo Library on just one of my Devices

    I have an iPhone and an iPod touch. Can I use iCloud photo library on my iPhone and not on my iPod touch? Could I see them on my iPod if I do so?
    The reason I am asking is because I have like 600 photos on my iPod and only like 50 on my Phone so I would like to put the photos from  my phone onto iCloud Photo Library.

    Anyone?

  • HT201317 How do I use ICloud Photo stream on one computer with two differenet Apple Id's. My husband and I each have seperate ID's but one computer.

    How do I use ICloud Photo stream on one computer with two differenet Apple Id's. My husband and I each have seperate ID's but one computer.

    You have to have an iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) or Mac to create an iCloud account.  However, if you tell your friend to create a shared photo stream and turn on Public Website, he/she will then be able to send you a link that will allow you to view the photos on the internet using your web browser.  You would not be able to comment on the photos as this requires an iCloud account, but you would be able to view them.
    You can refer your friend to this link for assistance with this: http://help.apple.com/icloud/#mmc0cd7e99.

  • USING I PHOTO With photos on external drives only

    HOW CAN I ACCESS I PHOTO LIBRARIES OR CREATE NEW ONES USING ONLY EXTERNAL DRIVES so I don't have to Import to computer and fill up my HD

    Sure. Drag the iphoto library (users-->[home]-->pictures) to the external drive and wait for it to copy. Then, delete the original iphoto library by dragging it to the trash and emptying the trash. The next time you launch iphoto, it will prompt you for a library. Select "Other Library" and choose the library on the external drive. It will now remember to reference the library on the external drive.

  • Sharing an iPhoto Library over an external drive with multiple Macs

    I have a library of photos that is around 30 GB. All of the photos are already on an external drive, which is accessed through Xserve, and I have begun creating an iPhoto library on that same external drive. I have seen mixed opinions on whether or not an iPhoto library is able to be shared with multiple users (we have about 6 other Macs that we want to have full access to this). Unfortunately, none of us are on the same iPhoto version, so we have not been able to test this out yet, as they have been incompatible with each other so far. Is this something that is possible?

    1 - sharing in a very limited sense is possiible -  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1198  -  IF and only if all versions of iPhoto that will access it are the same version
    2 - since you have different versions of iPhoto on different systems you can not share amoung them - only amoung ssytems using the same version of software
    3 - I have no idea what XDrive is - but note tha tthe iPhoto library must always be on a volume formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) and should be on a drive that is directly connected with a wired connection
    LN

  • How do you import photos from a library on an external drive to the current library running in iPhoto?

    How do you import photos from a library on an external drive to the current library running in iPhoto? I have a few different pictures in each library and would like to have all my pictures in both libraries. The library on the external drive is my backup. I would appreciate any help.

    Depends on exactly what you want to do.
    Just move some of the Photos? FIle -> Export from one and export the shots to the Finder. Then import them to the other.
    This User Tip
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921
    has details of the options in the Export dialogue.
    Move the photos and all versions and metadata: use iPhoto Library Manager it's the only way to do this while preserving everything. Merge two Libraries into one?
    If you have Aperture 3.3 or later and iPhoto 9.3 or later you can merge libraries with Aperture.
    Otherwise the only way to merge Libraries is with the paid ($20) version of iPhoto Library Manager

  • I just backed up my photos by copying my iPhoto Library onto an external drive. Now the Library on my MacBook won't open. I can only open the photos if the external is plugged in. How can I resolve this issue?

    I just backed up my photos by copying my iPhoto Library onto an external drive. Now the Library on my MacBook won't open. I can only open the photos if the external is plugged in. How can I resolve this issue?

    Exactly what did you do?
    The correct steps are
    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
    My guess is that that you have not switched iphoto to use the external drive yet - opttion launch and select libary
    LN

  • Can i use iCloud keychain with my own passwords and not with what is assigned and stored?

    Can i use iCloud keychain with my own passwords and not with what is assigned and stored?

    tammersalem wrote:) <-HDMI-> (HDTV)
    My main concerns are:
    -If I use iTunes on my main computer, will it then be available to Apple TV?
    -If I use Apple TV to download will it be available to my Main computer?
    -Can the Apple TV use a media server for storage over LAN (using NTFS Samab or otherwise)?
    Basically iTunes feeds AppleTv with media either syncing (copying to it) or streaming live.
    Media must be compatible with AppleTV.
    AppleTV requires a proper iTunes instance running - it cannot access a NAS directly.
    If you store media in a folder on a NAS and it's part of the computer iTunes library (just stored on the NAS vs internal/external drive), then when running iTunes makes this content available to AppleTV.
    Data will travel:
    NAS > network > iTunes > network to AppleTV
    As the path is potentially slower than internal/external attached drive > iTunes > network > AppleTV, it may or may not work robustly for streaming.
    If AppleTv is set to sync (it can also stream in this mode), when you purchase direct on AppleTV, the media should sync back to where the itunes library is stored (via iTunes) to keep things in sync and to allow you to backup the media.
    You cannot drag/drop media to/from AppleTv across the network, nor can it directly access storage itself - iTunes is an essential cog in the wheel.
    The majority of commercial 'in-built iTunes media servers' will not work directly with AppleTV as it has to be 'paired' with iTunes by entering a numerical code in iTunes and does not simply see 'shared libraries'.

  • How do you get Photos to recognize the "old" iPhoto Library on an external drive without it copying it to the internal drive on the computer which is low in HD space?

    How do you get Photos to recognize the “old” iPhoto Library on an external drive without it copying it to the internal drive on the computer which is low in HD space?

    Launch Photos while holding down the alt/options key.
    This will show the Library Chooser panel. Select the library on the external drive. Photos will create a Photos Library on the same drive.
    Photos may not be able to open the library, however, if your external drive has an incompatible file system. It needs to be formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled) and locally mounted, not a remotely mounted volume, as described here:  Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture

Maybe you are looking for

  • Stereo - no surround sound

    Hi gang, Setup of my 2nd Gen ATV has gone very smoothly. Only one problem. All movies play as stereo, even when there is a 5.1 surround track. When I go into the Audio settings, if I turn Dolby Digital from Auto to On and then play a movie, my receiv

  • How to indetify key pair in Java?

    Hello I need only to know if some private and public key generating one key pair. I don't want to try it through encrypt/decrypt process and checking data. Thanks

  • Image stabilization setting by itself

    I've got a strange problem in iMovie 9.0.2. I've done a picture in picture for a number of stills. I quit out of the project and then re-opened it the next day and all the PIP's have image stabilization applied to them with max zoom set to 105% with

  • Install 32 bit or 64 bit version of Windows?

    I plan to install Windows using Parallels. I have a MacBook Pro i5 Intel processor. I haven't purchased Windows yet and noticed it comes in 32 bit and 64 bit versions. I tried reading up on the difference and I sort of understand what they are saying

  • Controller Assignments fun.....automation controlling the WRONG ch strips!

    Hello all, Further to L8 deleting an entire zone of Controller Assignments and my backups not in fact, having backed up my CA setting, I am rebuilding the Zone. As a perfect example of just how BAD the CA aspect of L8(.01) remains: I have a brand new