Pictures disappearing from files

N

ncsadan

Registered
Photographs from my oldest picture files (pictures taken as early as 2004, uploaded as early as 2005) are literally going blank in both their file locations and in iPhoto library. They simply have stopped taking up disk space. They still have their appropriate IMGP labels, they are just unviewable. All files are .jpg. Is it possible to retrieve these files, or if not, at least to prevent this from happening to the rest of my pictures?

Machine Name: iBook G4
Machine Model: PowerBook6,7
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.5)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.42 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 512 MB
Bus Speed: 142 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.9.3f0
Serial Number: 4H534H08SE9
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled
Version: 1.0
OSX 10.4.11

Thank you!
 
I've never heard of this issue before. It sounds very odd. I would back up all your photos now, before you lose anymore.

I will need to search around for some info on this issue and I'll post back later.
 
Weird! I was just going to the post the exact same problem!

I haven't had the time to post here in a while, but last time I was in my iPhoto, I double-clicked on a folder, and say it had 100 pics in it - like lightening, the # of photos counted down from 100-0 and the folder was empty. I thought I must be missing something, so I tried opening another folder - same thing - there was a count down and then the folder was empty. All I did was double-click on the folder in iPhoto - nothing more. I checked the folders on my hard drive - and those are also empty. Now I'm freaking, cuz there were pictures of my sister who just died recently in those folders and I had no back up, Surely they must be somewhere??

Just tonight I checked ALL my folders in iPhoto, and the only folder that has ANY pics left are the ones in the folder that I downloaded last. The Photo Library contains only the last downloaded pics.

Any idea what could have happened and more important - any idea where to look for the missing pics?

TIA,
dlbk
 
If you are using iPhoto '08, then navigate to:

YourUserAccount ~> Pictures ~> iPhoto Library then Right/Control-Click on the iPhoto Library icon

20071226-n2f7hymg9f3fxkum1diajrgnpq.jpg


and select "Show Package Contents"

See if you can spot your photos in the finder window that launches.
 
I'm using iPhoto ver. 2.0.1
I followed your directions, but when I get to iPhoto Library, there is no Photo Library icon in the next column. There are a number of albums listed, and documents such a Dir. data, Library. data, cache, etc.
I opened a number of the album folders and many are empty. Some I don't mind so much, but there are others with pics of my sister just before she died that I would hate to lose.
I do hope they are hiding somewhere.

Thanks,
Deb

iMac
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 700 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 100 MHz
 
10.3 is Panther.

As mentioned, please copy your iPhoto library to an external disc before touching anything else.
 
Sorry for not responding, I've been out of the country for a bit. I'm using iPhoto version 5.0.4. The problem I'm having may be similar to Deb's, but I'm not certain if it's entirely the same.
Another strange thing about my glitch is that the files that are disappearing are still present in my iPhoto library (i.e. the thumb nails), but not visible. That is to say, they are literally little white squares (the thumb nails) labelled with the file names of the pictures they once were. The files themselves, as I've said, are also still there in the finder, but they take up zero space on the hard drive.
Any idea what that could be?
 
Not sure when (before my last backup to an external drive), my iPhoto library has had recent photos erased. The directories since July last year are just missing (and, presumably, the Album Data.xml file has been altered accordingly). Since I ran the backup (Retrospect Express), I hold little hope of getting them back, but I'd like to prevent this happening.

I've also lost mail messages the same way. One day they were there, next day after starting up Mail, they weren't. Was able to recover most from backups.

Extra info: G4/400 Sawtooth OSX 10.4.9
After one too many HD crashes, I set up a RAID:
Name: Seri-Tek1S2
Type: ata
Bus: PCI
Slot: SLOT-C
Vendor ID: 0x1095
Device ID: 0x3112
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x1095
Subsystem ID: 0x3112
ROM Revision: 5.0.9.1S2
Revision ID: 0x0002
2 WD SATA 120GB drives hanging off this. Set up in Disk Utility as RAID 1, partitioned into 5 volumes.

Can't help feeling the RAID might account for this. Has anyone else experienced data loss with a RAID config? (Feels odd asking such a question!)

Thanks in advance.
 
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