A few weeks ago, when my partner who uses an iBook G4 opened iPhoto, he noticed that the sub-folders he created was gone. And some of the photos were gone too. Just this morning, he opened his iTunes, and the same thing happened -- the folders he made were gone and the songs he downloaded were gone too. I checked his directory, and I noticed the songs are still there and the photos are still there. It appears though that the directory was damaged somehow. And there was in fact an indication in iTunes that the iTunes library was damaged. I want to know what causes this. Why does it happen? What makes it happen? Both software were updated together with my PowerBook update, but, how come it doesn't happen to my iPhoto and iTunes library in my PowerBook? Most important of all, can you please recommend what is the best, the least time-consuming, and the most painless way to fix this and bring it back to the way it should be?
A lot of things may have happened such as moving or renaming the source folder, or an attempt to change some details of the User account (ex: short name), or in iTunes case, maybe an aborted sync (ex: removing an iPod mid-sync). Before anything, attempt a permissions repair and see if anything gets fixed. If not, it's a good thing that the source folders are still there. If your partner has a backup of the username/Music/iTunes and username/Pictures/iPhoto Library folders, an overwrite (copy-paste) may be all that's needed. If these backups are not around, just rebuild the iPhoto library by dragging photo folders to iPhoto. In the case of iTunes and that your friend doesn't store all his iPod music on his Mac, you may have to install an app that copies music off an iPod such as Senuti, making sure that iTunes has been instructed not to automatically sync music upon mounting. Depending on the size of the libraries, it may be a long and tedious process, but ganun talaga.
iLife apps are one of the frequently used apps in the Mac OS X. There will be instances that an application library such as in iTunes and iPhoto gets "damaged" since their library are updated everytime they are used. For example, in iTunes everytime it plays a song, iTunes will update the song playcount and date of last played to its library, same thing in iPhoto. A damaged iTunes or iPhoto library file can have many causes. If iTunes/iPhoto crashes, it might be possible that it didnt finished writing to its library, and can lead to a corrupt or damaged library. Same thing happens in a power failure, or shutting down the system prematurely while the app is running. A possible cause also is a security software preventing the app from properly writing to its library such as an Antivirus software. Another could be also due to a damaged HD. If you have an antivirus installed, I would recommend excluding those applications in the scanning list. Also try to repair the HD by using Apple Disk Utility (Boot from CD) or a 3rd party disk utility such as Disk Warrior or Tech Tool Pro. (to check also if the HD is damaged and needs to be replaced). Still, the best prevention step especially if you have a big database already is to backup. Please refer to these KnowledgeBase articles on restoring your library back: What are the iTunes library files? How to recreate your iTunes Library About the iPhoto Library folder iPhoto 4 or later: Rebuilding the iPhoto Library
babynino and booblanco, thanks for the ideas. and here's what i discovered when i did disk repair: Verifying volume Checking HFS Plus volume. Checking Extents Overflow file. Checking Catalog file. Checking multi-linked files. Checking Catalog hierarchy. %) Checking Extended Attributes file. Checking volume bitmap. Volume Bit Map needs minor repair Checking volume information. Invalid volume free block count Invalid volume free block count (It should be 1917335 instead of 1915462)",2) Volume Header needs minor repair The volume needs to be repaired. Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit 1 HFS volume checked Volume needs repair --- Could the above be the reason for the problem being encountered? The repair button was greyed out. What's my next step?
Boot up your computer using the install disk. After choosing your language you'll be prompted to install OS X again. STOP THERE. Look at the menubar and go to Utilities -> Disk Utilities. From there it's the same procedure that you did before except that the Repair button will now be active. Good luck
