Weird Mac Photos Issue

[bobbyd629]

I have a strange problem. Thought I would give it a shot here.

I had a 2015 MacBook Pro. I was using iCloud Photo Library. Suddenly, about a year ago, the library was just constantly corrupted. It would not sync to iCloud, repairing and restoring it never worked. So I just basically didn't use Photos on my Mac for a year.

I recently bought a 2022 MacBook Air. Set it up from scratch, no restoring from Time Machine. Photos was working fine but, all of a sudden, it's doing the same thing on my new computer. Library keeps corrupting. When it corrupts, it will not sync to iCloud. I cannot import photos (Dragging a JPEG into Photos says there is an error and the file cannot be imported). Trying to repair and restore is taking forever and the same problem keeps recurring.

There has to be some actual file in my library that is causing the corruption, since it has happened to two completely different machines running two different versions of Mac OS.

What could possibly be happening that is causing this? I would recreate the library with a new system library but if there is a file that is causing it, that would seem like a solution unlikely to work.

Thoughts?!?!

 

[FFR]

I would reach out to apple support, they should clear up any issues you might have or would be able to escalate it to an engineer that might have the answer.

 

[Up_And_Away]

I have a strange problem. Thought I would give it a shot here.

I had a 2015 MacBook Pro. I was using iCloud Photo Library. Suddenly, about a year ago, the library was just constantly corrupted. It would not sync to iCloud, repairing and restoring it never worked. So I just basically didn't use Photos on my Mac for a year.

I recently bought a 2022 MacBook Air. Set it up from scratch, no restoring from Time Machine. Photos was working fine but, all of a sudden, it's doing the same thing on my new computer. Library keeps corrupting. When it corrupts, it will not sync to iCloud. I cannot import photos (Dragging a JPEG into Photos says there is an error and the file cannot be imported). Trying to repair and restore is taking forever and the same problem keeps recurring.

There has to be some actual file in my library that is causing the corruption, since it has happened to two completely different machines running two different versions of Mac OS.

What could possibly be happening that is causing this? I would recreate the library with a new system library but if there is a file that is causing it, that would seem like a solution unlikely to work.

Thoughts?!?!

That it happened on two different macs which used two separate initial setups, that pretty much eliminates the Mac as the problem. What’s left is the pic files, your network/firewall, or iCloud.
Suggestion to eliminate the net/firewall, if you disable Wi-Fi then reboot, then initially connect to your iPhone carrier connected hotspot (don’t let your MAC connect to your home Wi-Fi after reboot), do you get the same problem?
If the same problem exists (likely it will) then I’d consider the net/firewall possibility eliminated. It’s either something corrupted in the photos files or iCloud itself(iCloud is pretty unlikely but anything is possible).
This is a hardcore Suggestion, do you have a NAS? If so, do a local transfer of the entire contents of your photo library to the NAS. Once you are certain (1000%! certain) a full copy of every photo and video is on your NAS, clear all photos and videos from Photos. I searched for this and assume it is valid, use this path on your Mac to clear out everything User/Library/Containers/com.apple.Photos
Now rebuild the library a day at a time over a week or two. Start with oldest photos at first. Any issues? Work your way up. If the problem comes up on one day of this process, the last batch of photos/files probably contains the issue. Any of this batch odd? odd named file or odd characters in the name? Any f them peculiarly large or small in size? Etc

Or follow FFR’s excellent advice and open a support case. Imho when your Apple device is under a year old or you have AC+, have them resolve it! You paid for this support and us(me) in support stay gainfully employed.

 

[bobbyd629]

Thank you so much for your thoughts. I did open a support ticket but it's only at the earliest level so far and probably needs to be escalated.

Do you think there could be some way to locate the source of the corruption (probably a file, I agree) short of rebuilding the library photo by photo? It's like 28,000 photos.

Thanks again.

 

[Up_And_Away]

Thank you so much for your thoughts. I did open a support ticket but it's only at the earliest level so far and probably needs to be escalated.

Do you think there could be some way to locate the source of the corruption (probably a file, I agree) short of rebuilding the library photo by photo? It's like 28,000 photos.

Thanks again.

28,000, damn!
-Does accessing this library work perfect with your iPhone?
-If you browse to iCloud.com using a browser then use the icloud based Photos app to view photos, everything work ok?
(This will make certain it is a Mac issue, or not).
This is where my lesser Mac experience shows through. I was originally Mac, but went to the dark side with windows for years. I’m back to Mac since Apple silicon.

It may be worth going to the photos directory path I provided and sorting by file type. Any one with an oddball type?
Also sort by name. At the top or bottom any surprisingly oddly titled file or one that starts with a special character? Any one file with outlandishly small or big file size?

I know this takes a while to scroll through but are all photo thumbnails looking ok (use your iPhone or iCloud.com if needed). Maybe you see one that has a fully or half broken thumbnail?

(From Apple support board): As a test hold down the option key while launching Photos and create a new test library - import a few photos - does this test library work correctly? Import half the photos to this library. If it keeps working do it in smaller groups each time. If the test library now has an issue, the bad file (if it is a bad file) will be in that last batch.

Just to be sure, you’ve run the photo library repair tool?
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204967
Was it this that takes too long. See below to chop it up.

Here’s one that is out there: (Side note, given this weirdness and extraneous testing, I’d back all pics up temporarily until issue is resolved). There’s a way to reveal hidden files. Look to that photo directory for hidden files. If you see any check each title on a web search. Is this hidden file causing trouble?

BOL