I have recently had a hard drive crash and am seeking to restore my library from a vault. When restoring the library it gets to about two thirds done and then seems to hang. I gave up the first time round and found that most of the library had in fact been restored - but not all. It seemed that about 12 months of photos had not come over.
My library has about 350,000 photos in it.
I have now started again and 2 days later the restore is again stuck at about two thirds done and I'm seeing that the hard drive to which the library is being restored to is not filling up with content any longer. I'm wondering whether there is a substantial problem and, if so, whether there is anything I can do. Alternatively, is the library just processing the images and should I just sit tight for a longer period to see what happens?
You are here
Restore from Vault hangs
#1
Paul,
Here’s a trick I’ve heard of working… I have just tested it on a TINY one-image library and it worked, but I can not say what will happen on a bigger library or if this is even a Good Idea™. But, at times like this, you will try anything.
1. Duplicate/copy your Vault. Do NOT proceed on your original Vault.
2. Change the file extension of the Vault to .aplibrary (it’s normally .apvault)
3. Open Aperture while holding down the option key, and select that vault-now-a-library in the chooser
4. See if your Library is intact.
Seems too simple and negates the entire need for a Vault restore, which is why I don’t buy that it really is this easy. I’m going to keep digging on my end and try to prove why this is a BAD idea.
@PhotoJoseph
— Have you signed up for the mailing list?
Joseph
Did you pursue this further?
Is it a bad idea or does it work?
Ed
Many thanks for your post, Joseph. The good news is that I stuck with the restore from the vault and, eventually, after a number of days, everything came over and the library was recreated.
I was very interested in reading your workaround and the recent posts that you have been putting on the subject on your site.
Your site is a fantastic resource and I thank you again for all your assistance.
joseph:
THANKS AGAIN for your post.
After asking if you had tried any larger libraries, I had tried restoring from the vaults with no success and file recovery software was not showing signs of working.
So, I decided to make a copy of my vault (at nearly 49,000 images–a day-long process) and give it a try.
YES! It looks like the extension name change from apvault to aplibrary worked and the files all seem to be whole.
All the best,
Ed