Upgraded to iPhoto '11 from '09 and it killed my iPhoto app! How do I fix it?

LABachlr · 10-01-2011, 09:30 PM

My hard drive just crashed (see post http://hintsforums.macworld.com/showthread.php?t=131862). So I spent a day buying a new external HD, retrieving my data and copying it onto the new external, buying and installing a new internal HD, and doing a fresh-install of Snow Leopard. Now I am in the middle of putting my data back on my computer.

In my Pictures folder on my new external drive where my retrieved data is, I have a bunch of pics that I put there manually without putting them into iPhoto...about 3.7GB worth. They transferred to my new HD fine.

I also have an iPhoto Library file that is 42.76GB on the new external as well. I double-clicked on it, thinking that it would open up the file to reveal the respective photos in their respective folders, organized by date like they have been in the past. However, that's not what happened.

[By the way, my crashed HD was running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 with iPhoto '11 and it was working fine before it crashed.]

When I double-clicked on the iPhoto Library file, it launched iPhoto '09 (I had not upgraded to '11 on my new HD yet) and it appeared just as it did in iPhoto '11 on my crashed HD. However, it didn't copy the pics to my new HD, it just imported the library so I could view them.

But what happened next was when I installed iLife '11, which includes iPhoto '11, it killed the app. The icon for iPhoto '11 is now a white circle with a diagonal through it (see attached pic).

What happened and how do I fix this?

DeltaMac · 10-01-2011, 10:14 PM

That's just an icon... and may not affect the actual app.
Did you restart your Mac after installing iLife '11?

What happens when you try to launch iPhoto? Do you get any kind of error message?

Check in your Applications folder, and make sure that your iPhoto in that folder is showing that it is version 9? Current version is 9.1.5 - so, run your Software Update if iPhoto is not up-to-date.

LABachlr · 10-01-2011, 10:30 PM

No, I have not restarted. Should I? I would think it would tell me to restart if it needed restarting, but I can give it a shot.

I attached a pic of the error message I get when I try to start iPhoto. The iPhoto icon in the Applications folder has the same circle with a line through it (see other attached pic).

Tried Software Update, but there were no updates for anything. I updated everything after I finished reinstalling everything.

NaOH · 10-01-2011, 11:07 PM

Based on the dialog message in the one picture, you should re-install iPhoto. For whatever reason, the application is incomplete/corrupted, and the fix for that is to re-install it. Different circumstances that yours, but I had a similar problem with iTunes after upgrading to Lion, and that was the fix.

LABachlr · 10-01-2011, 11:15 PM

You're right. Thanks. I had just started to do that when I got your post. The icon is back to normal, but it won't let me open it until I download all of the updates, which I'm doing now. It's using the iPhoto Library on my external. How do I create a new iPhoto library on my new HD, and then import the old one along with its pics?

NaOH · 10-01-2011, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LABachlr


	How do I create a new iPhoto library on my new HD, and then import the old one along with its pics?

I never use iPhoto so these instructions could be kind of rough around the edges. Step 1 (which is a sure bet) is to hold the Option key as you launch iPhoto. You'll be given a chance to selecting an existing iPhoto Library or create a new one. You want a new one, obviously. Once that's done (just takes a second), you'll want to poke around the iPhoto menus to see what options allow you to import from your old library.

That last part is where I'm hazy. Heck, I don't even know if there's a built-in way to do what you want (importing from an old library to a new one). Alternatively, you could copy your old library to your main hard drive and use the first step above to simply use the copy that's on your boot drive.

LABachlr · 10-01-2011, 11:31 PM

OK. Thanks. It launched with a new library after the reinstall anyway, which makes sense. Did some quick research and all I have to do is drag and drop the old iPhoto Library into the Pictures folder where the new iPhoto library is and replace the new one.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0

Funny that it didn't mention that you should be dealing with the same versions of the OS and iPhoto, or at least the same version of iPhoto on both machines for this to work. That's my assumption anyway. Also, if anyone else reads this for the fix, make sure you close iPhoto on the target drive (the drive you're copying it to) before you replace the iPhoto library file in the Pictures folder.

NaOH · 10-01-2011, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LABachlr


	Funny that it didn't mention that you should be dealing with the same versions of the OS and iPhoto, or at least the same version of iPhoto on both machines for this to work.

Just so you and anyone else understand... iPhoto is an application that stores its information about your photos in a database (the iPhoto Library). Updates to the application can mean that the database also gets a certain update which is incompatible with previous versions of the application. That's why your slightly older version of iPhoto couldn't read the newer iPhoto Library.

The most obvious clue for when this occurs is usually after installing an update and launching the application for the first time. For example, launching iTunes after an update invariably shows a progress bar of the iTunes Library being updated. But, yeah, if a user doesn't understand this underlying behavior—and most folks have no interest in understanding it and I don't blame them—a situation like yours is perplexing.

LABachlr · 10-02-2011, 12:03 AM

Thanks for breaking it down further. When I did a fresh install of Snow Leopard and opened iPhoto before upgrading it to the latest version (actually I double-clicked on the "old" iPhoto library on my external, not knowing it would launch iPhoto), it read the "old" iPhoto library fine. It's when I installed iLife '11 when iPhoto became damaged.

I don't think the new installation was "incomplete" like the error message suggested as one of the possible causes, because it said that it had installed successfully. But right after it was installed "successfully," the icon changed to the circle with a line through it. So either it spoke too soon when it said that it installed successfully, or it became corrupted somehow.

I don't think the library file had anything to do with the corruption seeing it read it fine, and it should have upgraded the library to be compatible with the latest version, although it already was compatible with the latest version, as I was running the latest version of iPhoto when the HD crashed.

In any case, it just finished copying and it launched successfully with all of my pics! SO GLAD the HD semi-crashed when it did so I was able to retrieve all of my data before it COMPLETELY crashed. After I finish copying everything over, I will create a Time Machine backup and will have my new external always hooked up so that it is ALWAYS backing up! Lesson learned!

NaOH · 10-02-2011, 12:15 AM

Right, backups are the key for any files that are valued. The ancillary key is to test that the backup works. If you (that's the royal you) can't recover from the backup, it's of no use. And since hard drives can die or become corrupted, it's like an inexpensive insurance policy to have multiple backups.

10-01-2011, 09:30 PM	#1
LABachlr Triple-A Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 121	Upgraded to iPhoto '11 from '09 and it killed my iPhoto app! How do I fix it? My hard drive just crashed (see post http://hintsforums.macworld.com/showthread.php?t=131862). So I spent a day buying a new external HD, retrieving my data and copying it onto the new external, buying and installing a new internal HD, and doing a fresh-install of Snow Leopard. Now I am in the middle of putting my data back on my computer. In my Pictures folder on my new external drive where my retrieved data is, I have a bunch of pics that I put there manually without putting them into iPhoto...about 3.7GB worth. They transferred to my new HD fine. I also have an iPhoto Library file that is 42.76GB on the new external as well. I double-clicked on it, thinking that it would open up the file to reveal the respective photos in their respective folders, organized by date like they have been in the past. However, that's not what happened. [By the way, my crashed HD was running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 with iPhoto '11 and it was working fine before it crashed.] When I double-clicked on the iPhoto Library file, it launched iPhoto '09 (I had not upgraded to '11 on my new HD yet) and it appeared just as it did in iPhoto '11 on my crashed HD. However, it didn't copy the pics to my new HD, it just imported the library so I could view them. But what happened next was when I installed iLife '11, which includes iPhoto '11, it killed the app. The icon for iPhoto '11 is now a white circle with a diagonal through it (see attached pic). What happened and how do I fix this? Attached Thumbnails

10-01-2011, 10:30 PM	#3
LABachlr Triple-A Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 121	No, I have not restarted. Should I? I would think it would tell me to restart if it needed restarting, but I can give it a shot. I attached a pic of the error message I get when I try to start iPhoto. The iPhoto icon in the Applications folder has the same circle with a line through it (see other attached pic). Tried Software Update, but there were no updates for anything. I updated everything after I finished reinstalling everything. Attached Thumbnails

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10-01-2011, 10:14 PM	#2
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,996	That's just an icon... and may not affect the actual app. Did you restart your Mac after installing iLife '11? What happens when you try to launch iPhoto? Do you get any kind of error message? Check in your Applications folder, and make sure that your iPhoto in that folder is showing that it is version 9? Current version is 9.1.5 - so, run your Software Update if iPhoto is not up-to-date.

10-01-2011, 11:07 PM	#4
NaOH Hall of Famer Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3,649	Based on the dialog message in the one picture, you should re-install iPhoto. For whatever reason, the application is incomplete/corrupted, and the fix for that is to re-install it. Different circumstances that yours, but I had a similar problem with iTunes after upgrading to Lion, and that was the fix.

10-01-2011, 11:15 PM	#5
LABachlr Triple-A Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 121	You're right. Thanks. I had just started to do that when I got your post. The icon is back to normal, but it won't let me open it until I download all of the updates, which I'm doing now. It's using the iPhoto Library on my external. How do I create a new iPhoto library on my new HD, and then import the old one along with its pics?

10-01-2011, 11:31 PM	#7
LABachlr Triple-A Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 121	OK. Thanks. It launched with a new library after the reinstall anyway, which makes sense. Did some quick research and all I have to do is drag and drop the old iPhoto Library into the Pictures folder where the new iPhoto library is and replace the new one. https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0 Funny that it didn't mention that you should be dealing with the same versions of the OS and iPhoto, or at least the same version of iPhoto on both machines for this to work. That's my assumption anyway. Also, if anyone else reads this for the fix, make sure you close iPhoto on the target drive (the drive you're copying it to) before you replace the iPhoto library file in the Pictures folder.

10-02-2011, 12:03 AM	#9
LABachlr Triple-A Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 121	Thanks for breaking it down further. When I did a fresh install of Snow Leopard and opened iPhoto before upgrading it to the latest version (actually I double-clicked on the "old" iPhoto library on my external, not knowing it would launch iPhoto), it read the "old" iPhoto library fine. It's when I installed iLife '11 when iPhoto became damaged. I don't think the new installation was "incomplete" like the error message suggested as one of the possible causes, because it said that it had installed successfully. But right after it was installed "successfully," the icon changed to the circle with a line through it. So either it spoke too soon when it said that it installed successfully, or it became corrupted somehow. I don't think the library file had anything to do with the corruption seeing it read it fine, and it should have upgraded the library to be compatible with the latest version, although it already was compatible with the latest version, as I was running the latest version of iPhoto when the HD crashed. In any case, it just finished copying and it launched successfully with all of my pics! SO GLAD the HD semi-crashed when it did so I was able to retrieve all of my data before it COMPLETELY crashed. After I finish copying everything over, I will create a Time Machine backup and will have my new external always hooked up so that it is ALWAYS backing up! Lesson learned!

10-02-2011, 12:15 AM	#10
NaOH Hall of Famer Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3,649	Right, backups are the key for any files that are valued. The ancillary key is to test that the backup works. If you (that's the royal you) can't recover from the backup, it's of no use. And since hard drives can die or become corrupted, it's like an inexpensive insurance policy to have multiple backups.