I need help–deadline tomorrow for racetrack photos. I cover racing for a local track and can't access my images from the library. I uploaded Friday's inventory no problem and processed the ones I wanted to send to the publication. I tried to upload Saturday's inventory this morning but it sticks on “processing” then eventually quits. I reopen the library and the same thing happens–it quits. I uploaded everything to pathetic IPhoto and tried to import from there, but that seemed to cause more problems. What's up?? I can't add any more memory to my 2007 IMAC, so don't have the insight to devise a work around.
Stephen,
It could be a corrupt file that the app is choking on. Can you import in smaller batches? If you’re saying that it’s already imported and now you can’t even get Aperture to stay open, if it’ll stay open long enough, try to launch it, open the activity monitor, select all activities and cancel them. You could also try to rebuild the library, see if that fixes it.
If these things are all taking too long, to make your deadline, create a new library (hold down Option on launch) and just get the shots into a new library, do your job and export them, then deal with the problematic library later.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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I rebuilt the library, but still slow as a turtle; how to I find the activity monitor in aperture; thanks,
stephen r justice
Why have you not responded to my question? I support your site and bought your e-book-the subject of the activity monitor was not addressed in your guide. I’m a photographer not an aperture expert and need access to aperture without jumping through hoops!
stephen r justice
For activities monitor- Finder>Applications>Utilities>Activities Monitor.
I really have no clue why your problem occurred but a corrupt file sounds feasable. If there is nothing else running in the background when you use Activities Monitor, you may want to try to restore or rebuild your library. Finder>Home icon under “Places”>Pictures>Aperture Library. Hold Option & Command keys down and double click on Apertures Library and this will open the Aperture Library First Aid. Try Repair first to see if it helps. I would not do a rebuild unless I have backed up my Aperture Library. Hope this helps. Good luck.
Florian
Florian Cortese
www.fotosbyflorian.com
Oops Florian, I think Joseph was talking about the Aperture Activity Monitor. To see that, select Window->Show Activity from the Aperture menu bar. It will show if Aperture is doing anything.
You can select an item in the Activity window and click the “Cancel Task” button to stop it.
Thomas
Stephen,
Sorry I haven’t responded as quickly as you like, and I certainly appreciate your support (however I don’t track who’s bought or donated and respond to their questions first; I go in order received, full stop)… but you have to appreciate that while this is a dedicated Aperture site, it’s a free site and I am not on it 24/7. The open forum here allows others to chime in when they can, and I do as much as I can myself, but I do have other businesses to run and am an extremely busy individual. I get to the site as often and as quickly as I can, and while it may not be as quick as you like, the support is usually quite good :) Besides, I did respond to your urgent original request extremely quickly, and now that you’re past your deadline, hopefully you were able to follow my advice to get the job out the door, and now can be a bit more relaxed about solving the problem.
Anyway…
To find the activity monitor, either click on the spinning progress wheel at the bottom of the viewer (it’ll say “Loading” or “Processing”) [screenshot] and that will open the Activity Monitor. You can also open it from the menu Window > Show Activity.
You said you rebuilt, but it’s still slow… when you originally posted, the problem was crashing, not speed. Has the crash gone away since rebuilding?
Did you try any of the other steps I already suggested?
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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Thank you for your response. Apologize for being testy but editors don’t like excuses nor delays. Anyhow, yes, I did get something out by deadline but was not able to extract some of the images I preferred to use due to the tech hangups. I really like Aperture when it works, so I need to solve my problems. I know something is going on in the background because I can hear little noises. Here is what’s happening: I can process images for about 45-60 minutes, then Aperture starts to slow, then crash when I attempt to export an image to a file. I usually get about 8-10 images corrected before this happens. Also, Safari crashed on me yesterday when I attempted to load some images to my Facebook page which leads me to believe it may be something other than the Aperture application itself. I’m thinking about retiring this mid-2007 IMAC and purchase a new one that does not give me so much grief. I have another deadline approaching this weekend on a bigger project so I still need some help. I’m going to attempt the activity monitor advice when I get home, but if you have any other ideas, I’m game. Thanks again,
stephen r justice
Stephen,
As I suggested before, I think you should start with a clean Library since you’re having issues with the current one, at least to get through your weekend deadline. This will also tell you if your problem is specific to your current library, or something larger.
Also, if you’re having system wide problems, try running applejack. It’s a very deep level utility that is super easy to run (just print out the instructions since when you’re running it, you’re in safe boot mode) and this may clean up a litany of issues. Get it from applejack.sourceforge.net.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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I followed everyone’s advice and here are the results:
1) Aperture Activity Monitor showed=nothing going on
2) OK, lets repair the library=option/command and double click on the Library=nothing happened; nada
3) took Florian’s advice and queried Activity Monitor via Finder=Reads In from 36000-37700 and Writes Out from 4652-6102>have no idea what that means (I have maxd out the memory on my IMAC)
4) Tried to upload images to my Facebook page and safari crashed–I think Aperture is OK and my IMAC has Alzheimers; what do the pros think?
stephen r justice
I don’t know, but it may be a good excuse to get one of the new iMacs! Sorry, they do cost money don’t they? <Sigh> This problem is way above my pay grade.
Florian Cortese
www.fotosbyflorian.com
would more RAM help here? When I bought my iMac in May I bumped the RAM up to 12GB and A3 runs like a champ.
Stephen,
As already recommended, have you a) started with a fresh library to see if the problems still exist and b) have you run applejack? For me to effectively help you, you need to follow my suggestions and let me know what happens.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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1. I believe I rebuilt a complete new library Sunday, but I will do do again. I need to know the path (directions) to do this. Yesterday, I followed the directions to depress option/command and double click on the library to launch Aperture First Aid, but noth ing happened (I did not get the prompt box),
2. Tell me more about Applejack–I have never heard of this. How do I obtain this software
3. Also, could you tell me how I transfer the Aperture library from this IMAC to another one (in case I decide to buy a new guy)
Thanks for your time and patience
stephen r justice
Joseph,
I got the Applejack lead from your prior post, but please look at questions #1 and #3
stephen r justice
Stephen,
1a. (Creating a new Library) As soon as you click Aperture in the dock, press and hold the Option key, until you get a dialog that lets you choose any Library on your system (or create a new one). It looks like this: [screenshot]. Notice the Create New… button on the lower right; this will create a brand new Library for you. Start with a clean library and see if your problems go away. Obviously you’ll need to import some images to test. If the problems are still there, then the issue is outside of your Library. If they are gone, then the problem is in your main Library. Or as I suspect, it’s more of a combination of the two.
You can also switch Libraries, or create new ones, while Aperture is running, from the menu File > Switch to Library > [name] or Other/New.
1b. (Repairing an existing Library) As in the instructions above, as soon as you click the Aperture icon in the Dock, press and hold both the Command and Option keys. Hold them until this dialog comes up: [screenshot]. As you can see there are three choices. Run the first one, Repair Permissions, and then quit Aperture, repeat the Command and Option sequence, and this time choose Repair Database. The last one, Rebuild Database, is only for extreme situations.
It should go without saying, but just to be sure… you’re meant to be running the repair routines on the existing, problematic Library, not the new one you’re creating to test with. To switch between Libraries, see 1a.
2. You found the link to Applejack, good. This software is somewhat intimidating because it requires running terminal commands on startup, however once you go through it once you’ll realize how simple it is, and it’s extremely effective. And it’s free.
3. To transfer Libraries to another Mac, just copy the Aperture Library (probably in your Pictures folder) to the other computer. However if you buy a new one and still have the old one on hand (recommended), the new computer will prompt you to run Migration Assistant which makes moving to a new computer dead easy. It will copy all of your files for you.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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Ran Applejack and experienced no problems, but the same pattern emerged–OK for while, slow, quit (including Safari). So, off to MAC store for a new unit.
One question about transferring images to the new IMAC: How do the old and new computers communicate with each other on this transfer? I have about 28,000 masters and versions
stephen r justice
Stephen,
Most likely over firewire (that’d be fastest) but I think you can do it over a network as well. The Apple store folks will be happy to walk you through it, or if you bring your old Mac with you (and set up an appointment), they can help you with it in the store.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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