This seems like a very common problem and I've fallen foul of it. I migrated to a larger system drive using Carbon Copy Cloner very recently and since then I get the “file could not be found because the volume on which it resides is currently offline” or “The selected master image is either offline or not found. Please reconnect it and try again.” error messages. I store my images in my Pictures folder, and not within the Aperture Library
I've gathered from various Google searches that this is clearly because of the unique drive identifiers not being the same.
So obviously I can go through each of my 11,000+ images and manually reconnect them which is far from ideal. Actually, for some reason not all of my images have broken links.
When reconnecting manually the 'Reconnect' button does the job on a single image but rarely does the 'Reconnect all' do anything.
I wonder if theres a way to kind of start from scratch by possibly re-importing all the images and clicking don't import duplicates?
I still have the drive I migrated from intact - Is there a better way to do the migration?
Any other tips or advice?
Thanks in advance.
TM
I use a managed library so I am not sure that this will help but it can’t hurt to try. When aperture opens if you hold the option key down you will get a dialog that lets you choose your working aperture library. What if you simply do that and then choose the library on your new drive. I can’t imagine that it would be that easy but like I mentioned I don’t use a referenced lib so I am a bit out of my territory.
Thanks Nathan.
Sadly that didn’t work.
TM
Daniel,
There’s a couple of things you can try.
The easiest is to do a rebuild (I know, I realize it’s the “fix all” for everything, but it really can fix a LOT of issues) by holding command-option on launch (there are three levels of repair; work through ‘em all).
However since your old drive is still intact, I’d suggest booting up from that and firing up Aperture, and assuming all connections are valid, go to menu File > Consolidate Masters… which will absorb all referenced files into the actual Library. Since the masters are living on the same drive as the Library, if you choose to Move instead of Copy the Masters, it should go pretty quick and not take up any additional HD space. Then copy that complete, self-contained Library to the new drive.
I’m curious; why work referenced if you’re keeping all the masters on the same drive? Usually people work referenced because their library capacity exceeds a single internal drive. Working managed is certainly easier if you don’t have tens of thousands of images.
cheers
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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Hi Joseph,
Thanks for the tips. I did try a rebuild, all of the options and that seems to have done the trick on some of the files but not all.
I probably don’t truly appreciate the difference between referenced and non-referenced despite reading about ti. I’m just very wary of keeping everything in one massive file/library - I’ve been stung by iPhoto in the past.
I will revert back to my old drive and start again.
Thanks again.
TM
Daniel,
I can understand the reluctance to keep them all in the same library, however in reality the Library is something called a Package, which is really just a fancy name for a “folder that you have to right-click on to open”. Since they’re all on the same drive anyway, I’d suggest switching to a managed workflow until your needs outgrow your hard drive.
If you haven’t read it, the first chapter in my eBook “15 Tips on File Management” covers Managed vs Referenced. It’s also discussed in the “In-Depth Getting Started with Aperture 3” eBook. It’s helpful to have a really good understanding of the differences and inherent advantages/disadvantages of each when making a decision on how to manage your files.
@PhotoJoseph
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