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New iMac not synching Photos properly with iCloud

Our late-2021 iMac recently bit the dust so we bought a new M1 powered iMac. Now I'm having Photos problems.


The old machine had a small SSD internal, so the Photos library resided on an external drive. This was so I had room to keep originals local (as well as iCloud). It also meant the System Photos Library was not in the default place. This appears to complicate matters for Mac OS.


I migrated to the new machine via Time Machine, copying over my user information and directories. However, this did NOT copy over the fact that the system photos library was on an external drive. (Why would it not restore this information?). So I had to point Photos to the new library, enable it as the system photo library, and have it keep originals locally as well. And then it begins the very long process of making sure this photo library matched the one on iCloud.


That process has failed for me.


It is stuck with 58,628 photos and 1,845 videos locally. Several hundred were not able to upload. Worse, a few hundred photos taken after the old iMac died, but were taken on our phones, are showing up only as blank icons, as. placeholders. The Photo Information for them confirms these are the recent photos taken on our phones. But it will not download a preview. And if I double-click it refuses to download the original, giving an error that it cannot.


I've used Macs since 1998. I just want my Mac to "just work" again.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Dec 12, 2021 4:44 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 12, 2021 11:14 AM

Hi


Regarding the external drive - is it correctly formatted for a photos library?

It must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled) (preferred for spinning drives). If you have not formatted it after purchase it will most likely be ExFat - which is not compatible.

It Must not be (or have been) used for time machine. (A time machine drive can be used if re-formatted)

It must have the 'ignore ownership" checkbox ticked.

It must be directly connected (No ethernet or wifi)


See

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201517



And do you have a backup of your library?

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3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 12, 2021 11:14 AM in response to bjurasz

Hi


Regarding the external drive - is it correctly formatted for a photos library?

It must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled) (preferred for spinning drives). If you have not formatted it after purchase it will most likely be ExFat - which is not compatible.

It Must not be (or have been) used for time machine. (A time machine drive can be used if re-formatted)

It must have the 'ignore ownership" checkbox ticked.

It must be directly connected (No ethernet or wifi)


See

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201517



And do you have a backup of your library?

Dec 12, 2021 3:13 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Thanks for the reply. Yes to all that. In fact, its the very same drive and very same library that was used on the prior iMac. This all worked before!


I'm close to starting up a brand new library and having everything downloaded from iCloud fresh. Which would be a big waste of time. But after a week of trying to get this old library working I'm at wits end.

Dec 13, 2021 3:38 AM in response to bjurasz

Hi


Just becasue a library has worked on an incompatible location doesn't mean it will continue to, expecially after a MacOS upgrade. However - you state your drive is compatible, so...


Actually download to new empty library will be quicker than getting your library working. MacOS upgrade or new machine will normally require a full sync in any case - and that is quicker when it is "one way" only from iCloud to the library - rather than having to compare the two to see what needs to be uploaded/downloaded.

New iMac not synching Photos properly with iCloud

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