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Q: Apple iPhoto 5 upgrade ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Apple iPhoto 5 upgrade
Category: Computers > Software
Asked by: jbh5-ga
List Price: $40.00
Posted: 25 Mar 2005 05:58 PST
Expires: 24 Apr 2005 06:58 PDT
Question ID: 500231
I just upgraded via iLife to iPhoto 5 from iPhoto 4. I have lost every
picture, about 1,200. I run latest OS X. Powerbook 855mhz. I am
freaked. The program opens. I upgraded to 5.01. the dates/ rolls
appear, without picture . "Placeholders" indicate the correct number
of pictures which were in a roll, just no image. I am freaked.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Apple iPhoto 5 upgrade
Answered By: jackburton-ga on 25 Mar 2005 11:01 PST
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
This is a problem many others are also experiencing, unfortunately,
...and it sounds like a nightmare! The problem is supposedly due to
the fact that iPhoto 5 is unable to upgrade a corrupted iPhoto 4
library, and this is only realized, it seems, after an upgrade has
been attempted.
  
  
A solution is offered on the 'X vs XP' website...
  
"If you're one of those poor souls like me who upgraded to iPhoto 5
only to find photos missing, here's what you can do to recover:
  
Hopefully you backed up your iPhoto library first. If you didn't,
you'll have to manually re-import to all your photos. Sorry.
  
If you did back up your library first, you are in a much better
position. You'll need to reinstall iPhoto 4. The installer will not
let you install it to on the same drive that has iPhoto 5 so you'll
need to install it on a second drive (if you don't have a second drive
I'm not sure what to do). If your copy of iPhoto 4 came with your Mac,
you'll need to reinstall it from the Macintosh installation disk,
however reinstallation from the Mac install disk is not
straightforward. Here are instructions for that. [
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42995 ]
  
Once you reinstall iPhoto 4, hold down command-option-shift and launch
it. It will ask if you want to rebuild your library. Say yes. I
recommend doing this on a backup of your backup library (you can never
be too cautious). When iPhoto 4 is done rebuilding your library, make
a backup of your rebuilt library (see how cautious I am?). Now launch
iPhoto 5 then let it upgrade your new rebuilt database. You should now
be back in action."
  
X vs. XP | 'My very unpleasant experience upgrading to iPhoto 5'
http://www.xvsxp.com/articles/050123-iphoto5.php
  
  
  
Other suggestions:
  
=======================================================
"If you had gray thumbnails after upgrading to iPhoto 5, you will need
to rebuild your iPhoto Library by holding down the command and option
keys while opening iPhoto, after updating to 5.0.1.
  
Please remember as the Read Before You Install iPhoto states, before
installing, it's recommended that you make a backup copy of your
iPhoto library folder, which is located in your Pictures folder."
  
  
Apple Discussions | Topic: If you had gray thumbnails in iPhoto 5.0 
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@115.GSPUawASTg4.3@.68a5a5bb
  
=======================================================
  
  
"...to repair the greyed out photos, try this: 
  
1- run Disk Utility and repair disk permissions. 
2 - the do the following: 
Setting Permissions for iPhoto Library Folder 
  
1 - Select the iPhoto Library folder and type Command-I. 
2 - When the Info window comes up go to the Ownership and Permissions
section and make sure you have Read & Write permission and that the
Owner and Group have Read & Write also. Others - Read Only.
3 - Then click on the "Apply to enclosed items..." button. 
  
If you wish to revert to iPhoto 4, please check this link: 
  
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?128@989.1ImKaCvNT07.1@.68a9d533 
  
...
  
You will also need to do this before installing iPhoto4. Please see
the following link:
  
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300587 "
  
  
Apple Discussions | HELP!! Library grey photos
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@989.1ImKaCvNT07.0@.68a9fe85
=======================================================
  
  
"My last suggestion would be to re-build the whole library manually
and re-install iPhoto 5. Delete all iPhoto folders and files, EXCEPT
the "iPhoto Library" or anything that has to do with it. You DO NOT
want to delete it, because that is where all your pictures are.
  
Once you make the full backup of the originals (extracting one by one
from each subfolder), then you want to re-install iPhoto 5. Do NOT
install 501 package until you have imported all pictures and ran an
iPhoto diet to delete all the thump files and extra duplicates (your
choice).
  
Restart computer, launch iPhoto5, sit back and watch the magic work...
If there is no need to install the update, please ignore it. I believe
I have discovered the main cause of my problems was the 501 patch."
  
  
How to get iPhoto 5 pictures in iPhoto 4
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@115.GSPUawASTg4.2@.68a9d533
=======================================================
  
  
See also: 
  
'Tips for Installing iPhoto 5' - http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/6283  
  
   
Sources:
  
X vs. XP | 'My very unpleasant experience upgrading to iPhoto 5'
http://www.xvsxp.com/articles/050123-iphoto5.php
  
AppleTalk Australia - Forums | 'WARNING: iPhoto5, Backup your library!'
http://forums.appletalk.com.au/index.php?showtopic=4219
  
Apple Discussions | Conversion from iPhoto 4 to iPhoto 5 is Tough
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@115.GSPUawASTg4.0@.68a9fad0
  
Apple Discussions | 'Grey thumbnails'
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@115.GSPUawASTg4.0@.68aa5eba
  
How to get iPhoto 5 pictures in iPhoto 4
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@115.GSPUawASTg4.2@.68a9d533
  
ehMac.ca | 'iPhoto 5 troubles?'
http://www.ehmac.ca/showthread.php?t=23083
  
JayAllen .org | 'Recovering a corrupted iPhoto library' 
http://www.jayallen.org/journey/2004/03/recovering_a_corrupted_iphoto_library
    
Re: [MMUG] MAJOR ISSUE: iPhoto 4 to 5. 
http://mailapp.modwest.com/pipermail/mmug-list/2005-January/000174.html
  
  
Search terms: [ "iphoto 5" upgraded lost ], [ repair library "iphoto
4" apple corrupt ]
   
 
   
I hope this information enables you to recover your photos. If
anything is unclear, please request clarification.
  
Best of luck!
  
Jackburton
Google Answers Researcher

Request for Answer Clarification by jbh5-ga on 25 Mar 2005 15:23 PST
well....Then I lost them all.....is this over?

Request for Answer Clarification by jbh5-ga on 25 Mar 2005 15:29 PST
Alas, I have no back-up....a two week trip to China, just returned...poof!


I really find this hard to believe....I have been an apple user
forever: surviving in a PC world....Like finding you've been robbed by
a roomate....How could Apple allow this to happen without an alert?
This is a huge screw-up, and unprecidented in my memory for an Apple 
non-beta product

Clarification of Answer by jackburton-ga on 28 Mar 2005 09:48 PST
I sympathize with your predicament. Technically the "Read Me" does
advise people to back up their data first, however I agree that a loud
warning should have been given. Craig Flint from Computer ER, Inc. and
Bill Clarke, from missoulamac .com debate on this issue:
  
Craig Flint says:
  
"I had no issues upgrading to iPhoto 05.  I did not rebuild the database
before hand.  If you read the "read me" before installing iPhoto, it
says to backup you data first.  Simple, to the point and would have
save this person a ton of time.  You can't blame Apple for you not
reading advice prior to installing.  This goes for all applications by
the way.  And backing up doesn't have to be hard; just make a copy of
the soon to be upgraded folder to the documents folder.  If it goes
down hill from there, just trash replace the copy over the corrupt and
try again.
  
Just my 2 cents"
  
  
Bill Clarke responds:
  
"
...
      Let's face it -- the advice to make a backup is tossed out
routinely by most software manufacturers just to cover their butts
should something go wrong.  And then, because most software installs
go off w/o a hitch, the advice to first make a backup becomes
regularly ignored by (I suspect) most people. 
      Instead it seems that there was an additional problem here that
was unique and that Apple would have been better off to address with a
prominent warning.  A corrupted database that might not even show
itself until an upgrade was attempted is unusual and just not
suspected by most people.  Add to that that a simple fix was so
readily available (rebuilding the database with a key command first,
and which I, at least, was totally unaware of) -- and because it was
so simple, many people might actually have done it -- and I think
Apple did let its customers down by not having a better warning. 
      (I think this failure is similar to that of Apple's not warning
folks specifically that trying to install Panther on a CRT iMac w/o
first updating its firmware could so damage the iMac that it couldn't
be used without a repair of some sort -- an event that's happened to
two people I know, one who's quite computer savvy.)
  
      As I say -- just my 2 cents."
  
( http://mailapp.modwest.com/pipermail/mmug-list/2005-January/000174.html )

Clarification of Answer by jackburton-ga on 28 Mar 2005 10:01 PST
>> well....Then I lost them all.....is this over?
  
  
I honestly can't say. I wouldn't say it's over just yet. 
  
If you can, I would try backing up your existing photo library and
re-installing iPhoto 4 onto another drive, as the installer will not
let you install it to on the same drive that has iPhoto 5. If you are
able to load iPhoto 4 onto another drive, you may still be able to
access your pictures as you did before. If iPhoto 5 is unable to read
the corrupted library, maybe iPhoto 4 can (?). Of course there is the
possibility that iPhoto 5 may have further corrupted the library when
the upgrade was attempted (my guess). If you were able to work with
the (corrupted) photo library before, then possibly there's a chance
you can access the photos again this way.
  
You may want to post a topic on 'Apple Discussions' for advice.
  
You can log in here:
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?login@838.Gy7KadfsU9H.1@.68a4774e
  
If you are wary of trying anything, or do not know how to proceed,
then I would strongly consider taking your powerbook to a data
recovery specialist, in the hope they know how to extract these files.
  
I hope this helps.

Request for Answer Clarification by jbh5-ga on 29 Mar 2005 09:24 PST
I finally found the data, and retrieved, laboriousandly, my photo files: whew!

Thansk for the help. Interesting debate

Clarification of Answer by jackburton-ga on 29 Mar 2005 10:07 PST
Phew! :)
jbh5-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars
Stuck to it. Answered ( with extra effort) my follow-ups.
Recommended!of the to theto the

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