[More Tips] Fixes to Common iPhoto Not Working Problems
- Open Iphoto Library
- Can't Open Photos Library On Mac
- Mac Unable To Write To Iphoto Library Files
- How To Open Iphoto Library
When I tried to open the iPhoto library with the newer Photos App, it wanted to upgrade the entire iPhoto library. Here’s how to access an individual photo from an old iPhoto library. If you go to your home directory, there is a folder called ‘Pictures’ where Apple stores all your photos. The good thing is that Mac allows you to easily back up your iPhoto media files. You don’t even need another app to do that. As long as your Mac is in a good running state, then you can proceed with creating a backup in a jiffy. Here’s what you should do: Open Finder. Navigate to Users and select Pictures. Right-click on the iPhoto Library.
We understand that there are still a lot of users prefer iPhoto and don't want to switch to the above iPhoto alternative or Photos app. When those run into problems with iPhoto, the troubleshooting tips below will help.
Important Note: Before you try any fix below, you're suggested to make a copy of your photos (and the iPhoto application if necessary).
To backup your photos quickly, you may need an iPhoto alternative (free download:Mac version and Windows version) for a while.
#1 iPhoto Not Recognizing iPhone
When users plug iPhone to computer and open iPhoto to transfer some iPhone photos or the like, the iPhoto won't recognize iPhone (7/Plus/6S/SE or earlier) on the sidebar. This iPhoto problem is mostly caused by bad cable or software fault. If iPhone doesn't show up on iPhoto, there are some quick troubleshooting tips to fix it:
1. Restart your computer and try again;
2. Go to Settings and find Passcode Lock, then turn the passcode lock off;
3. Delete all the photos on your phone that are sent by email or downloaded from web;
4. Make sure that there are no other users logged into the Mac at the same time and retry;
5. Try to connect iPhone to Mac using a different USB port;
6. Quite Final Cut or iMovie that may interfere with Photos' ability to recognize the iPhone.
#2 iPhone Photos Not Showing up in iPhoto
Another common iPhoto not working problem is that, the iPhone device is detected on the app's list, but iPhoto won't show up the photos in iPhone. Don't worry if you run into this problem as there are many proved fixes to the problem of photos not showing up in iPhoto:
1. Check if you're using any other photo storage services on your computer like DropBox, if you do, disable or delete them as they may be conflict with iPhoto;
2. Check if you have check trust for the computer to access your phone and photos;
3. If you have trusted the computer but photos still not showing up, then go to Settings on iPhone and switch Auto-Lock function to never;
4. Rebuild your iPhoto Library database if individual photos are not showing up in iPhoto, it you don't know how, check Apple's explanation on how to rebuild iPhoto Library.
#3 Slow iPhoto Problem
It is said that iPhoto will chock on just 10,000 images, and any larger photo library will slow down iPhoto's performance. However, today's camera make it extremely easy to go beyond the 10,000 limit. Note that even if Photos app is released to replace iPhoto and bring better performance, it's still quite slow for large photo library. If you find iPhoto taking forever to import from iPhone, try below:
1. Break your libraries into several libraries every 10,000 photos;
2. Launch iPhoto and hold down the shift, options and command keys, then the Photo Library First Aid window will appear with repair options;
3. Open Terminal and cd by default, cd '~/Pictures/iPhoto Library' and execute the command: for dbase in *.db; do sqlite3 $dbase 'vacuum;';
4. If still the iPhoto is not working or slow, try iPhoto alternative:
Reader Celia Drummond had a Mac crash so severe, she had to upgrade her system from Mavericks to El Capitan—I didn’t ask about Sierra—although she was able to recover her data from Time Machine.
However, after using the iPhoto Library Upgrader, Apple’s recommended path for converting iPhoto 7 and earlier libraries to a newer format that iPhoto 8 and 9 can use, “The result is photos a fraction of their original size—most were between 1MB and 7MB each—and all are pixelated.”
Open Iphoto Library
I never used the utility, so I don’t know what went wrong, but something did if that’s the outcome, or something is missing in the Time Machine backup. Because she can’t run the older version of iPhoto, she can’t simply rebuild the library, which is the usual suggestion. (I’d make sure you had version 1.1 via the link above, as older versions are out there, too.)
I’d normally suggest for forward version compatibility to try to find an intermediate version of software, which has been useful for folks with various older releases of the iWork suite (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote). However, the only course of action with an iPhoto 7 library is apparently to run it through the upgrader; you can’t just try to open it in iPhoto 8 (or 9). (I don’t have older libraries to check this out, so I’m relying on Apple and forum posters.)
If the upgrader just won’t work with the old library, the only real solution is to crack open the library and extract ones photos.
- Control-click the iPhoto Library.
- Choose Show Package Contents from the contextual menu.
- Drag (to move) or Option-drag (to copy) the Masters folder to the Desktop or to another drive.
- Launch the latest version of iPhoto 9 and import that Masters folder. Or launch Photos and do the same.
Unfortunately, you’ll lose a lot of information associated with photos and video that’s stored within the library, such as metadata, potentially some edits, albums, and other organizational elements. But this is better than losing the high-resolution versions of your media.
After importing the images and videos and making sure they’re the high-resolution ones you want, you can then use a de-duplication program, like PowerPhotos or Photosweeper 3 (review coming), which can clean up the low-resolution images and possibly help fix the missing metadata.
Ask Mac 911
We’ve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently along with answers and links to columns: read our super FAQ to see if your question is covered. If not, we’re always looking for new problems to solve! Email yours to mac911@macworld.com including screen captures as appropriate. Mac 911 can’t reply to—nor publish an answer to—every question, and we don’t provide direct troubleshooting advice.
Can't Open Photos Library On Mac
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Mac Unable To Write To Iphoto Library Files
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