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I have a Macbook purchased in 2007 running OS 10.6.8. I have almost 10,000 family photos stored on this Mac. I backed up the iPhoto library to an external drive. When I try to open the backup on my 2015 MacBook Air running 10.15.4, it tells me the library cannot be recognized. (I pressed the option key when opening iPhotos where I selected the desired library). Can anyone help? Thank you!
jam8383 wrote:
The version that created the library was iPhoto '08, version 7.1.5 (378).
If the library has been created by iPhoto 7.1.5, you need to run the iPhoto Library Upgrader tool to prepare it.
This page describes how to download and run this tool: Using the iPhoto Library Upgrader tool - Apple Support
The big hitch is, that you cannot run the iPhoto Library Upgrader on a mac with Catalina, because the upgrader contain 32bit code and is incompatible with Catalina. Prepare a copy of the library on a Mac with an older system version. Only then will Photos be able to open it.
jam8383 wrote:
The version that created the library was iPhoto '08, version 7.1.5 (378).
If the library has been created by iPhoto 7.1.5, you need to run the iPhoto Library Upgrader tool to prepare it.
This page describes how to download and run this tool: Using the iPhoto Library Upgrader tool - Apple Support
The big hitch is, that you cannot run the iPhoto Library Upgrader on a mac with Catalina, because the upgrader contain 32bit code and is incompatible with Catalina. Prepare a copy of the library on a Mac with an older system version. Only then will Photos be able to open it.
Photos cannot open an iPhoto library, if it is on an incompatible volume, for example, if the volume has been used for Time Machine backups, or the file system format is not MacOS Extended (Journaled) or APFS, or the volume is mounted remotely. When in doubt about the file system format, move the iphoto Library to a volume, that has been prepared like this: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support
The version that created the library was iPhoto '08, version 7.1.5 (378).
I created the backup by opening Finder, scrolling down to "Pictures" which appears under "Places". I saw the iPhoto Library there and dragged the iPhoto library file to my external drive.
Thank you!
Thank you so much! I was able to run the upgrader utility on my old Mac. I had it upgrade the backup file stored on my external drive. When I connected the drive to my MacBook Air and tried to open the library, I got a message that says "This photo library is locked or you do not have permissions to make changes to it Photos can try to repair the permissions." This made me wonder if opening this old backup file will automatically add all those photos to the Photos app on my MacBook Air? Is that what happens or can the old library stay separate from my Photos on my Air? I would prefer that the two not be blended. Thank you very much for your help!
What version of iPhoto created that Library? How did you make the back up?
I followed the instructions in the link you provided, but it did not solve the problem. I would welcome any other ideas you have. Thank you!
Trouble accessing old iPhoto library
