Iphoto issue NOT even APPLE themselves can solve??!!

I have an 07 imac, fully upgraded to 10.6.5 with 5gb of ram and just recently upgraded (although I can't call it that yet...) to i-life 11. I have rebuilt my library, I have done everything that Senior level tech advisors have tried to get me to do, including sending them a huge log of all my errors for wich engineering said "we have no solution yet" and that I am not the only one with this issue.. LUCKILY, I have all my pics backed up on an external HD, but am Wondering if any of you have or have had or are currently having a similar issue.. I go to open iphoto, it spins for like 3 seconds, all my stuff shows up on the right side (number of pics, events, pictures,etc) even all the events show up then BOOM! With in like 10 seconds it all disappears and force closes along with an error message.. Can anyone help me? Thank you in advance, I did search these forums before posting this and found nadda.. Please help!

What's the error message?
What things have you tried to solve it?

It says this:


Process: iPhoto [2616]
Path: /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/MacOS/iPhoto
Identifier: com.apple.iPhoto
Version: 9.1.1 (9.1.1)
Build Info: iPhotoProject-5270000~1
Code Type: X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [112]

Date/Time: 2010-12-28 07:33:55.302 -0500
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.6.5 (10H574)
Report Version: 6

Interval Since Last Report: 183100 sec
Crashes Since Last Report: 5
Per-App Interval Since Last Report: 7906 sec
Per-App Crashes Since Last Report: 3
Anonymous UUID: CBA9267A-981C-40DA-AA5B-FEFC0EE6D129

Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x0000000000000000
Crashed Thread: 29


And This is my first time resorting to the forums.. I have talked to several "senior Level" Tech's from the apple help line and have tried all the standard, rebuilding library, fixing the library, and such no avail.. Still force closes with in a minute... my library is 42gb (12k something pics)

Ok, have you run disk utility from your install disc, and verified the disc and permissions?
If not start there, by doing that, especially the permissions repair.
This is not a library issue, but more something awry with iPhoto itself by the look of it.
Doing the permissions repair will not affect the photo's on your HD in iPhoto either.

I'm no expert here but you say you have 5gb RAM, an unusual configuration - EveryMac says of your iMac (if it's that model) Apple officially supports 4 GB of RAM, but third-parties have been able to upgrade the system to 6 GB of RAM using one 2 GB and one 4 GB memory module iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 20-Inch (Al) Specs (Mid-2007, MA877LL, iMac7,1, A1224, 2133) @ EveryMac.com - how come only 5gb is recognised?
Perhaps you have a poor RAM module, as a google of EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS) has indicated it can be caused by failing RAM.

Cheers

Hugh

I have to agree with Hugh on this one... 5Gb is is bit odd to say the least. Also, have you tired creating another account and logging in to see if you can open iPhoto without all the files in it? Does it open?

Hadn't spotted the 5 gig RAM thing. That is weird, but nevertheless, I stick by my advice still.

I actually HAD the (as this imac came - 1gb of Ram) and it did the same exact thing.. ONLY difference is it took a bit longer (say 3-5 minutes to close vice under a minute). I upgraded the Ram based on a local apple reseller/certified repair store in my area's recomendation.. I have also (based on the advice of the senior tech rep from apple) created another "Temp library" to use until this issue is corrected in a software update (as per his instructions) and my "Temp iphoto" library works great.. I just dumped my cameras onto it to use SOME photos over the holidays.. no problems at all! As soon as i try and switch back to my master iphoto library, 30 seconds - spinning pin wheel, then force close, then message.. Sorry, I should of mentioned that.. The apple store I bought the ram for is pretty reliable,they are who apple sent me to last time I had an issue a couple years back.. I just want my iphoto to work I have litterally spent 4-6 hours on the phone with no avail... They did say engineering was aware of the problem and a small percentage of users including my self were having problems to this extent and that a solution was coming via an upgrade (with no idea of when or how long) Your help is VERY much appreciated!!

What model is your iMac?

My mac is a 20" right after they turned silver (from the white) I have (2) slots for memory on the bottom and I was told by my local apple store I could do up to (8gb) of ram.. (maximum of 4gb per slot).. The rest of the sytem is running amazingly! I-movie works flawlessly, I-dvd, same, flawlessly, I can even pull pics off of i-photo from i-movie and idvd?!!? I'm tellin ya! I have an issue that seems to have stumped EVERYONE!

Sounds like it may just be a corrupt database file in chich case I hope you had a backup as you may have lost everything in it.

If I have a corrupt database, how can I solve that?

msuperbauer said:

If I have a corrupt database, how can I solve that?

Click to expand...

You don't.... Basically it is a loss... I hope you have been backing up your data.

I'm not an expert either, but if your temporary iPhoto library works fine and it only hangs when you try the old library it doesn't sound like a program problem to me.
If you have access to another Mac you might try importing your library into iPhoto on that machine (or better yet into Aperture) and see if it works. If it does you can re-export them to a new file and try it on your original Mac.

Just a suggestion.

I Own that same model iMac but own iLife 09 so I can't help you I am afraid. I will search around and see what I can find.

I agree with DaFlake ... there is some corruption (either a particular photo or photos, or the database as a whole; my guess would be the former) in your original iPhoto library.

I assume you have already launched iPhoto with the command and option keys held down and done all the "repair/rebuilding" options one gets?

Ultimately, the "temp library" proves this isn't, in fact, a problem with iPhoto at all -- just with your original library.

Alrighty, so I tried this! I downloaded the free demo of Aperture imported all my photos to it (all 12k) and then opened iphoto and imported them from aperture.. Seemed like it worked fine, but alot of the pics I didnt take with my dslr aren't big on the screen.. all my dslr pics look the same and are the same size.. Also my library WAS 42gb, now it's only 7/07gb?? Same number of pics? MOST are same size?? Whats happening now?? (FYI all my library is backed up on an external drive safely out of reach of my experimenting!

how can the same number of pictures be 42gb then 7gb???

Well, that is good news for at least part of your library.

Are all of your pictures appropriately sized in Aperture? The small images are probably thumbnails which may mean the original was too damaged to read.

Big thing you need to do though is back up your recovered photos on a separate drive. A good back up is your best insurance against software and hardware problems.