Lost 500 photos on iPhoto OX10.3.9. Help!

[OppOnn]

Lost 500 photos on iPhoto of MacOSX10.3.9.
Can't import/export.
Album names still there.
I do have best in PhotoFolder, Laptop, CD, but not all.
Questions:
#1, are they there somewhere? ... if so, where? Can't search on Panther.
# 2, if not, can I import iPhoto from laptop (Tiger 10.4.10) or CD?
(they all came originally from OSX10.3.9 iPhoto)...
#3, if I do import, do I have to delete original iPhoto on desktop? From where, exactly? I'm not very good technically, only semi!
#4, or can I keep the iPhoto with lost photos which may be found one day, and the iPhoto I would import, or would that confuse the
computer?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.
OppOnn

[John A]

If your photos are still there, they should be in your home folder/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals

[OppOnn]

Thank you so much. I found the photos, in the Albums folder. I thought
I'd look at that before and there was nothing there, but your magic must have talked to the Albums folder and worked a miracle! Somehow.

Now, how do I get them back into iPhoto? Last time I tried, I couldn't import.

Also, I think I should put the Album folder onto a CD, as back up
b/c there are some photos there I don't have on my laptop or the
backup CD I have of iPhoto.

To back up, and be safe, I would just copy the Album folder on to a CD, right?

As I always said, I am semi-technical ditz. Know some things, but not enough. I am very grateful.... best to explain whatever has to be
explained, like for a baby, step by step or I might not get it or do it wrong.

Thank you again. Have to go out now, but will do so feeling a whole lot better for your fast and helpful response.
OppOnn

[OppOnn]

Ah, it's not so easy. You probably knew.
I think they're there. But in a mess.

None seem identified as I had. They are all IMG.No....I had re-identified
each photo.

I can open some, but not many. I get messages like:
There is no default applicaiton specified to open the documenty
"name-Data"...Choose Application. I don't know which to Application to choose.

I have other messages which say:
te alias could not be opened because the original item could not be found.
I assume the alias ones are in the Albums. But where are the originals?

To make matters more complicated - I did export my favorites to my
Pictures iLibrary folder, so I do have them. It's not all disaster.

Maybe I should be happy with making the iPhoto program work again
and start anew when I want to import new photos from my
Canon SD400? Which is all I have on iPhoto.

How can I make sure the iPhoto program works, what can I do?

It's annoying. But I do have my favorite photos, and those I
retouched, because I always exported my favorite photos to my
desktop, manipulated or opened thru PhotoShop and saved to
my iLibrary.

Most imporant, I do seem to have something there, just a matter of
finding the originals.

I hope I am making sense?
OppOnn

[John A]

>Thank you so much. I found the photos, in the Albums folder
What "Albums folder"? By default iPhoto stores all the original photos within iPhoto Library/Originals/year/roll #/photo.JPG >None seem identified as I had. They are all IMG.No....I had re-identified each photo.
Naming them inside iPhoto doesn't change the actual filename, which you shouldn't be touching anyway. To view them, add ".jpeg" to the end of the filename.

As for re-importing the photos, dragging them back onto the iPhoto application should be sufficient.

[OppOnn]

Not sure where that is. I'm a semi=technical ditz!

I did try re-importing photos from Library to iPhoto but I could only import one at a time. In other words, when I imported one, that was fine, then when I imported a second photo, the first photo was deleted.

I really think there is something wrong with my iPhoto on my desktop.

Where do I find this, exactly, like for a baby.
Library/Originals/year/roll #/photo.JPG

I am a semi-technical ditz! Sound intelligent, maybe, but not
technically at all.
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[John A]

Open a new Finder window. Or click on the Finder icon on the dock. I've attached a screenshot of where your photos are in relation to your home folder.

>I really think there is something wrong with my iPhoto on my desktop.
You have iPhoto on your desktop? Please don't tell me you dragged the iPhoto application onto your desktop...

[OppOnn]

I have to rush now, no time to download your photos (but am most
impressed, and thank you for doing this for me)...

Just want to tell you, no, I'm not a complete ditz, a only semi-technical one, the iPhoto isn't on my desktop...but the iPhoto which doesn't seem
to be working is on my Desktop computer (as opposed to my laptop,
where it is working.) But I work with photos on my desktop, bigger
screen.

Will get back later.
OppOnn
PS I'm having problems getting around this site! Can't access copy to
left on my AOL browser, have to go to Firefox...a real drag, then I
keep having to log-in although I say Remember Me, and then I can't
find it, and then and then....this site used to be easier for me to
navigate. And, yes, I do bookmark the page.

[OppOnn]

OK, back again. I didn't find one folder that said Originals.
But did find lots of photos in folders marked
03, 04, 05, 06, 07.
It is the ones in late 06 and 07 that I don't have on the CD or laptop.
(But I do have the best downloaded to my Pictures/iLibrary folder
and on CDs, thank goodness.)

Problems are these:
1.When I try to import photos to iPhoto, I can only import one photo (not folder but one photo) at a time. Then that photo is deleted when I import Photo # 2, etc. So, something is wrong with the iPhoto program. What to do?

Also, how to import when I can? I can't do one at a time of 500. Or maybe I will have to?!

2. Here is the other problem.
I keep getting a message:
There is no default application specified to open this document
"Name of folder" - then I am supposed to Choose Application.
Which Application do I choose?

Other useful info, perhaps.
There are basically two square folders, one says:
name of photo - Data. Nothing is there. The other says: Name of file and there's the photo.

Some say : 126.....next to it is 126.attr.

I have folders that say ...Data...Thumbs...

I have Thumbs 325Segment.data...also 64 and .jpgs.

I have all the Album's. But need to select an Application.
Maybe that is key? Selecting the right Application?
Which is............?????????????????????????????????

So, to recap...
I need to find a way to import in to iPhoto.
I need to know which Application to Choose.
And.....??????????????????????????????????????????

Thank you so much.
OppOnn

[John A]

I suspect that there's some problem with your iPhoto library. To start with, now that you have your photos safely backed up (I hope), you should proceed with wiping out the iPhoto configuration files.

Go back to the Pictures folder, and delete iPhoto Library. Then, go back to your home folder and navigate to Library/Preferences. Delete com.apple.iPhoto.plist.

That should clean everything up. To import your photos back into iPhoto, select all of them at once and drag them onto the iPhoto application.

[OppOnn]

I want to thank you again for your patience and kindness...but
this is shaping into a bigger job than I have time for at the moment, so forgive delays, and I think there will be some more. I have some
photo filing to tackle before I can wipe out anything. But I will
post when we finally work this out....

Got a lot of photos in the iPhotoLibrary folder that should be in the Pictures Folder, I think???? Photos like the selected iPhoto ones I exported, retouched, cropped and manipulated thru PhotoShop.
And a lot of photos taken with another, better, SLR camera, which never made an appearance in iPhoto. I have to move these to the Pictures Folder (??) before I can wipe out anything. That will take some time.

Meanwhile, I went and looked for the com.apple.iPhoto.plist in the LIbrary/Preference folders, not there, although other .plists are.
I looked on my laptop, not there either. So I can't delete it!

I obviously need time to do this slowly and carefully. Since I couldn't find the Originals folder, it seems to me that my photos are all over the place. Not in one Originals folder. So, I think I'll have to import them back to iPhoto, when ready, carefully. And I'm thinking I may just import from January 1, 2007, since I have them all on my laptop and a CD up to December 30, 2006. (I don't have my 2007 photos in iPhoto on the laptop or on a CD, since I have been remiss and not updated in 2007.)

I am so concerned about doing something wrong. So, one step at a time. And I'm trying to think certain aspects of this thru as only I can. On the other hand, I'm not very technical!

To recap:
Move all photos, except the iPhotos ones lost and data concerning them from the iPhotoLibrary folder to the Pictures Folder? On both the Desktop and laptop computers.

Find the com.apple.iPhoto.plist.
How to make my iPhoto function fully again.

OpOnn

[John A]

>Move all photos, except the iPhotos ones lost and data concerning
>them from the iPhotoLibrary folder to the Pictures Folder?

It doesn't matter where you move the photos. Just as long as you get them out of the iPhoto Library folder, because you're going to delete it. Once you've cleared out all the configuration files, simply drag the photos back onto the iPhoto application. It'll take care of moving them back into the iPhoto Library.

>Find the com.apple.iPhoto.plist.

Are you sure you're looking in the right spot? There are 2 different Library/Preferences folders, and they both contain .plist files. One is in the root of your hard disk, while the other is in your home folder. You should be looking in the latter. As a last resort, try using Spotlight to search for the file. It's on your hard disk somewhere.

[OppOnn]

I found the misisng com.appe.iPhoto.plist on Spotlight on the laptop but that doesn't help me on the Desktop computer, where the iPhoto isn't working. It was where you said it was on the laptop, I missed it last time.

Can you tell me how I can open files I think I may need to open which give me the message:

There is no default application specified to open the document "name of - Data".....it says Choose Application? I don't know which to choose!!!!
I may be wrong, but either 80% of my photos can be opened by choosing the right application, or I simply do not have them!!!!!!!!

In other words, not all my photos from iPhoto have survived. And what have survived have done so in a very random way...some folders have all the photos, some folders have just 2 out of say 10. Some even have an Originals folder. Not many.

I am coming to the conclusion that iPhoto is not a safe program to keep photos of value. At this moment, I simply do not trust it to use it again.

I think I have lost some photos for good. I hope not. But I can't find them. It is my fault for not backing up more, but it is frustrating.
I trusted iPhoto. And Mac. Maybe it's better in the Intel computers,
but even my iPhoto in Tiger keeps crashing and is not stable.

I am thankful I downloaded most of my best photos for retouching, etc. so I have them. And that my really good photos never went to iPhoto in the first place.

I don't want to delete anything or start another new iPhoto until I see if I can find all the photos. The small amount I have found is pretty pathetic.

They are all there, in the Albums. But I can't open them because they are not the Originals. Which, hopefully, are there - somewhere. Other than the very few I did find.

There is no Spotlight on my Desktop computer (OSX 10.3.9) and Sherlock doesn't seem to work on it, so I don't know how or where or if I can search further.

How can all those Originals just vanish?!!!!!!

O

[John A]

You can view the photos with Preview. I'm fairly sure this exists on 10.3.9, and it's located in the Applications folder. And it shouldn't matter too much if they're in an 'album' folder, as long as they open and are at normal resolution, I wouldn't be worried.

[OppOnn]

I'm losing it! I just want to save one or two folders and probably won't trust iPhoto ever again.

Here's the latest.
I would like to save one folder, and in that folder - through Preview - I see
20 photos but can open only one of the 20.

When I see my photos with Preview, I click and there's an empty folder with a little arrow bottom left. Then nothing happens although this folder was highlighted.

When I go to "Name of Folder - Data" I get a page with the ends turned down top right....when I click, I get CHOOSE APPLICATION. When I click on that, I get RECOMMENDED APPLICATION and they have Adobe PhotoShop highlighted. Which is not the right application. So what is??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
(I have a feeling this the key to finding my lost photos)

I can, in fact, open about 50 the most, probably less, of the over 500 photos I had. Which is a miserable proportion. And, as I said, random
ones open in random folders. And many are as loaded on to the computer from the SD400 Canon - upside down, none are cropped
as I did, none are retouched, enhanced, or even identified, and I
i.d. all my photos.

I did find the com.apple.iPhoto.plist but am reticent to delete until I find a way to make sure I have more of my photos....as in the Albums, which are, of course, an Alias, not an original. If only I could find
the Originals!!! Or open the "Name of Photo - Data" with the right
Application.

Please read all this post carefully, I tried to put in as much info as
possible....
If you're fed up with me, I understand, I'm fed up with me!!
Whatever, thank you....
OppOnn

I went to Get Info for the Albums. They indexed some 670 photos, I think it was. I also clicked OK on "Apply to enclosed items Permissions, etc." Nothing.

[OppOnn]

PS - I ask myself over and over how this can have happened. I have this Desktop computer since Dec. 2000, upgraded it, had few problems. I've never lost anything before.

In the back of my mind, I seem to remember getting an iPhoto update message, which I did. Maybe that was the problem. I upgraded more than my iPhoto could take?!!

Anyway, it happened, so no use wasting time on it now, but maybe this thought may help someone else.
O

[OppOnn]

Some good news thought you'd like to know asap!
I tend not to give up, even if I think I will. Hate being defeated.

I have fiddled around, so not sure, but I checked the folders in the iPhotoLibrary on the laptop and the desktop computers. The one thing missing from the Desktop was iPhotoLock.data, so I transferred it to my Flash, then added it to the Desktop Computer's iPhotoLibrary.

Not sure if it was that, or something else I played with, but I have managed to access more photos from the Albums thru Preview, thank you very much for that, some of which I have downloaded to my desktop and saved. Out of iPhoto. And saved on my laptop too.

Not all, and not the most important ones I want, because I hadn't had time to edit those and put into an Album. But I have a feeling it must be there. So, I have accessed all photos in the Albums, and that is good news. But not those not put into Albums.

I did find a folder with folders I couldn't highlight or open, which said:
Photo Library, Pending Rotation, Last Import.

Perhaps all my photos are in the Photo Library I can't highlight or access, yet?! What do you think? Any ideas on that?

I still don't feel safe deleting and starting again, but I do have a question in case I do one day. You say "import your Photos back into
iPhoto, select them all at once and drag hem onto the iPhoto application."

But my photos are in dribs and drabs, in lots of different folders
within folders within folders. So would I have to do this, to be safe,
folder by folder? If I do it. I don't know if I can cope with all the
editing and rotating again. So, I'd probably do just 2007.

I have no taken all photos except the iPhotos data from my
iPhotoLibrary folders (both on the desktop and laptop computers)
and put them in the Pictures folders on their respective computers.
Must say, the editing was worth while. All look so much better,
color co-ordinated, too!
O

[OppOnn]

Sorry about 3 posts, but I'm not absolutely clear on one thing, if I do start again.

You say to start with I should proceed wiping out the iPhoto configuration files. I should go back to the Pictures Folder, delete iPhotoLibrary.
I know this is a ditzy question and I can hear your huge sigh (esp. since you say you are a snob) but
what exactly would I keep in the iPhoto Library file....everything but
the actual photos and Albums...please explain, like for a baby...
step by step, what I should take out of the iPhoto folder, exactly.

I know it's easy for you, but for me, it's not. I've never done anything much before. And so easy to make a mistake. Or maybe I should get someone experienced in to do it???
Thank you so much.
O

[John A]

>When I click on that, I get RECOMMENDED APPLICATION and they
>have Adobe PhotoShop highlighted. Which is not the right
>application. So what is?
You can safely ignore 'recommended applications' in this case. Change it to 'all applications', and then choose Preview.

>as in the Albums, which are, of course, an Alias, not an original. If
>only I could find the Originals!!!
Have you tried a File->Get Info on the aliases? It should state where the original file is located.

>Perhaps all my photos are in the Photo Library I can't highlight or
>access, yet?! What do you think? Any ideas on that?
The 'iPhoto Library' is nothing more than a few folders containing photos and data files. Normally, all the photos should be easily accessible from this folder. I can't think of a reason why it would be 'locked' as you say. It sounds like your application has been screwed up pretty badly before you even did the update.

>But my photos are in dribs and drabs, in lots of different folders
>within folders within folders. So would I have to do this, to be
>safe, folder by folder?
I would just copy all of the photos into one big folder. iPhoto has its own method of organizing photos within the iPhoto Library, so it would be rather pointless trying to keep them in separate folders during the import. The jpegs have dates embedded in them.

>If I do it. I don't know if I can cope with all the editing and
>rotating again.
Try to find the modified versions of the photos. As far as I'm concerned, the photos are there. A simple iPhoto update can't just magically wreck 500 photos. They're there on your hard drive, somewhere.

>what exactly would I keep in the iPhoto Library file....everything
>but the actual photos and Albums...please explain, like for a
>baby... step by step, what I should take out of the iPhoto folder,
>exactly.
Basically, every photo that you can open within the iPhoto Library you should extract out of there into some other folder. Once you've rescued all your photos (or as many as you can), you can just delete the iPhoto Library and everything inside it.

One thing I'm curious about, though... could you open Applications/Utilities/Terminal? Type in both commands, hitting 'return' to execute it. Can you post the output of the last command?

cd "Pictures/iPhoto Library"
ls -l

Another thing I just thought of: open Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility and hit "Repair disk permissions". See if that changes anything.

[OppOnn]

Hello, been busy, here's the latest.

I tried everything and got nowhere finding the 20 photos I really want.
I can live without the rest. The data is there for the 20, I can only access one of them, but they're there somewhere, so I don't want to delete.

But - I was playing around, and this message appeared out of nowhere, or so it seemed - I clicked on OK (forgot what it said, sorry) and suddenly
my iPhoto program is working. I think.

Well, enough for me to import a few photos from my Pictures folder. I haven't imported from my camera yet.

-Want to check with you.

I haven't deleted anything. All the Albums are on my iPhotoLibrary folder, but ...not on the new iPhoto program.

I may (may?) use the iPhoto program for any new photos I may want to import from the SD400. If I can work up the enthusiasm for
the iPhoto again ever!

But
if I do import photos from the camera direct, what will happen to the
data I already have from the old iPhoto albums, etc. I have there?
And my 20 photos I really want to find? One day.

By the way, I went to Utilities Terminal and Console, as you suggested.
I got messages like: "Attempt to do a release printing without first doing a retain!" (can't read my own writing on that now, sorry)...."Can't Import Source"...."Unable to Import"..."couldn't import
User/My Name/can't map"....

When I went to the other - Utilities Console log, I think it was -
I got last login-date on console...bash - 80 x 24...
Welcome to Darwin...My name

Don't know if that makes sense. If you think it important, I'll go there again.

To recap:
-I still want to find my 20 photos...only one of which I can open
I have let go of the rest in my mind, because I have the best in Pictures downloaded before I lost iPhoto.
-I now have a new iPhoto. What should I do?
-I still have the Albums and data from the old iPhoto, which I'd like
to keep.
- Am I going to confuse the computer if I import to the new iPhoto?
- Or shall I just forget iPhoto?!! I can just import photos to the
desktop and be done with it. Although I do like some features of
iPhoto.
- Is the info I have given from my Terminal/Console Utilities search
of any use?

You have been very helpful and I have been very lucky you have cared enough to stop being a snob with me. Thank you so much.
OppOnn

[John A]

But - I was playing around, and this message appeared out of nowhere, or so it seemed - I clicked on OK (forgot what it said, sorry) and suddenly my iPhoto program is working. I think.

Well, enough for me to import a few photos from my Pictures folder. I haven't imported from my camera yet.

So if iPhoto is working again, can't you access those 20 photos you said were missing? If you can view them within iPhoto, all you have to do is drag the thumbnail onto your Desktop, and you'll have a copy of the file.

But if I do import photos from the camera direct, what will happen to the data I already have from the old iPhoto albums, etc. I have there? And my 20 photos I really want to find? One day.

iPhoto shouldn't ever overwrite photos or files without your consent. They should be safe.

By the way, I went to Utilities Terminal and Console, as you suggested. I got messages like: "Attempt to do a release printing without first doing a retain!" (can't read my own writing on that now, sorry)...."Can't Import Source"...."Unable to Import"..."couldn't import
User/My Name/can't map"....

Console and Terminal are two entirely different application. You want Terminal. The message you received when you started up Terminal is exactly what is expected, and what you need to execute the commands I mentioned earlier.

Regarding the new iPhoto: keep trying to rescue your data. It exists on the hard drive, *somewhere*. Have you tried using -- what's it called -- Sherlock to search for the photos?

[OppOnn]

I tried moving the folder from the Albums and the Albums.data file to the desktop and opening thru Preview. I get messages they cannot open...
one set of files has the page with the arrow bottom left, the other set of files has the page with the top right hand corner turned down, asks to Choose Application, I chose Preview, nothing.

The Thumbs I have do not include more than one photo of the 20 photos.I have that one in 3 different versions, but that's it. Just the one. I can see the rest sitting there, all .jpg, but can't open.

I even tried putting the two folders witht he 20 photos on the Flash,
and the Thumbs, and trying to open them on the laptop and thru iPhoto
and thru Preview. Nothing.

I hae gone over and over the files I have in iPhoto, have opened what I can but the rest will not open, including the 20 I want to open.

I tried a Sherlock search, but my Sherlock seems not to search my actual computer, only the internet and shopping.

It's a fluke I clicked OK on some message that appeared from nowhere, then I went into shock at what I'd done but, when I thought about it, but at least I have an iPhoto working, if I ever need it.

I can't do this anymore, the Thumbs for the 20 photos I want and a few others I can't open, must be somewhere, but I can't find them.
I can't open the two folders with the photos without the Thumbs, it would seem, and I have opened everything I can open that is there.
And I can't open the rest. I will leave them there for now.

I'm not going to drive you or myself crazy any more, I want to thank
you so much, you have really helped me, and I have found more photos on the iPhoto than I would have on my own, thanks to you,
but I am giving up on iPhoto for now. It let me down. I won't trust it fully again.

You really tried, I really tried.

OppOnn

[John A]

I'm really sorry to hear that. While you may not be using iPhoto much in the future, I think the real lesson to be learned here is that you should always backup valuable data. I've lost data in just about every program I've used, which is not surprising at all, because I don't think there is a single piece of software that is completely bug-free. And as I don't think that's about to change anytime soon, you should continue the trend of backing up data.

[OppOnn]

You're right. Of course. Ultimately, it is my fault for not constantly backing up. Lesson learned.

I have an Iomega External Hard Drive but some idiot who came to set my laptop up (a supposed expert techie) messed it up and it never worked properly again. God knows what he did. Even the light ended up on the other side. I was told he was a Mac person, but he wasn't. I got done. And it cost me!

However, that's still no excuse.. I'll back up. And look for another external hide drive which will constantly back up, or whatever else is new.

Thank you again.
O