iPhoto problems galore
Yesterday I finally got around to actually using iPhoto (I downloaded it the day after it was announced.) I popped in a Kodak Photo CD and imported the pictures in just the way Apple specifies.
The importing went fine, but everything was downhill from there. I went in to crop a photo. I highlighted the portion I wanted to keep and hit the crop button. The computer "thought" about it for a second or two, and then the photo simply appeared as it had before. However, the "undo crop" option was available on the menu, even though there was no evidence anything had been cropped out.
However, it has worked twice, when I've selected small portions of a photo and hit crop. But it's also failed when I select small parts. It almost seems random.
Anyway, I guess I messed up one particular photo so much in my repeated attempts to crop it that, eventually, selecting it would cause iPhoto to crash and give me the "unexpectedly quit" message.
Also, red-eye reduction is having no effect, as far as I can tell.
All this strangeness made me decide to reboot my iMac for the first time in months, excluding OS upgrades. Somehow, it rebooted into OS 9. Then, in the middle of startup, I got a couple bomb messages and was forced to restart without extensions.
This is the only problem my iMac has given me in the year I've owned it. It seems to be a software problem, but that's about all I can figure out. I like what iPhoto is capable of, but I do wish it would actually, you know, DO those things. Help!
Edited for spelling errors.
[ 02-07-2002: Message edited by: tetzel1517 ]</p>
The importing went fine, but everything was downhill from there. I went in to crop a photo. I highlighted the portion I wanted to keep and hit the crop button. The computer "thought" about it for a second or two, and then the photo simply appeared as it had before. However, the "undo crop" option was available on the menu, even though there was no evidence anything had been cropped out.
However, it has worked twice, when I've selected small portions of a photo and hit crop. But it's also failed when I select small parts. It almost seems random.
Anyway, I guess I messed up one particular photo so much in my repeated attempts to crop it that, eventually, selecting it would cause iPhoto to crash and give me the "unexpectedly quit" message.
Also, red-eye reduction is having no effect, as far as I can tell.
All this strangeness made me decide to reboot my iMac for the first time in months, excluding OS upgrades. Somehow, it rebooted into OS 9. Then, in the middle of startup, I got a couple bomb messages and was forced to restart without extensions.
This is the only problem my iMac has given me in the year I've owned it. It seems to be a software problem, but that's about all I can figure out. I like what iPhoto is capable of, but I do wish it would actually, you know, DO those things. Help!
Edited for spelling errors.
[ 02-07-2002: Message edited by: tetzel1517 ]</p>
Comments
I have noticed some problems with the cropping tool as well. It can take quite a while for the computer to decide to do what you want. I have not really had it display the same If cropping does not give you the results you want, but you seem to run out space (ie... the photo gets smaller) you can revert to original in the file menu.
I have had a few similar problems with the crop, but not in the way you are mentioning. Mine are selecting a photo in the book mode to edit, cropping it and then having it appear perfect on screen, but print out the way the photo is in reality (before cropping) Annoying...
>Also, red-eye reduction is having no effect,
>as far as I can tell.
Red eye reduction works best when you just select the eyes on the photo. Performing this one the entire picture can result in a reduction of red values throughout. Just select the eyes the way you would for cropping, and hit it. You may have to do it once or twice. And remember, it will onlyu reduce the red, not remove any hotspot glares.
>All this strangeness made me decide to
>reboot my iMac for the first time in months,
>excluding OS upgrades. Somehow, it
>rebooted into OS 9. Then, in the middle of
>startup, I got a couple bomb messages and
>was forced to restart without extensions.
I had this happen several times, mostly due to hangups with internet connect. It did, however happen once or twice with iPhoto or some other processor intensive program. Sometimes the reboot takes almost four minutes, and sometimes it goes directly into OS 9. It hasn't done this for quite some time, though.
Nowadays I perform a defragment of the hard drive once a week to make things run zippier...
Since doing this I have only had to reboot once, instead of every day. I
I suspect that while you did not use iPhoto at once, some of its files may have become corrupted. Try installing it again from the downloaded file, or better yet download the newest version. It seems to be larger, and was created on Jan 26 instead of the 2, so it may have some improvements...
>Early 2001 iMac (Graphite)
>OS X 10.1
>256 MB Ram
Hmmm...
First edition Blue & white Tower
OS X.1.2
640 M ram
A big, threatening stick sits beside the unit to keep it working properly...
Problem solved, right? Nope. This change in files made iPhoto go all buggy and quit right after I started it. I had no clue how to fix this, so I trashed the whole app and tried to download it again.
Now, I have a ultra-crappy 33.6 dial-up connection. It went out of me when I had about 6 MB left on the download. I tried to restart the download, and it appeared to be downloadaing something, but after more than an hour, I still didn't have any indication the file was complete. However, I tried opening the .dmg file anyway, and there was a package file in there for iPhoto that was supposedly approx. 18 MB, but when I double-clicked it, Installer started and then did nothing. Not freezing up my machine or quitting. Just nothing but running.
So... I trashed the .dmg file and tried to download again from scratch. I was told I was downloading an .hqx file. The "receive" meter on Internet Connect was going nuts... but no sign of partial or complete file. What gives?
Of course, I have an ultra-speedy 56k modem... not one of those archaic 33k models (just kidding... joke, right... hah hah)
I try to burn a cd once a month of all the new software I have downloaded (icons, cool bits, system updates) just so I can re-install in case anything goes wrong. A few updates ago I had to do this pretty much every second day. Not pretty when you consider you have to install system 10... then 10.1... then security update... then somthing else... then rub your belly with your eyes crossed, patting your head and installing the lates version of security update... then praying, and finally using the program, again, only to have the system crash...
But those are my problems, not yours. In the future, I would suggest not relying on resuming a download with whatever program you are using. I have never had this work properly, and I just consider reloading it to be better than wasting time on something which might not work.
Now, if you were using telus, it would ba crapshoot as to whether or not you were even able to stay connected for more than ten minutes... And that is only if you get past the fearsome, seemingly unfixable MacOSX bug that hangs up the modem for five minutes while it tries desperately to figure out what to do with a perfectly good dialtone...
In case you were wondering, I used to always restart my system when that happened, and that is why I ended up reinstalling a bunch of software every two days. Now I understand the tao of the OS and just grab a coffee instead...
Hope the rambling helps... it is late here in the mid-alberta wastes...
nosarious
1. Restart in OS 9 and while doing that hold down the Apple key, Option key, P key and R key to reset the PRAM. Continue holding these down till you hear the restart tone about three times.
2. While it is restarting hold down the Apple and Option keys to rebuild the desktop.
3. Boot from the OS X install CD and run Disk Firstaid or your favorite disk first aid program and check the file structure.
4. As a simple precaution you could reinstall OS 9. At this point just do a reinstall, not a clean install. It is the least disruptive.
5. When you boot back to OS X go to version tracker and download MacJanitor. OS X runs some housekeeping at night (daily, weekly and monthly). If you turn off or put your computer to sleep much of the time it might not be running these chores. MacJanitor lets you tell the operating system to do those housecleaning chores on command. I can't tell you for certain if it helps or not. It doesn't seem to hurt. You could also just leave the computer on for all the time for the same effect.
I've done steps 1, 2 and 5 on my 867 G4 and it seemed to clear up some sluggishness I was getting (spinning cursors when I opened folders).
Hope it helps.
However, after importing all the photos in with full r/w permission, iPhoto works wonderfully, including cropping and red-eye reduction. I think this app is trying to encourage me into buying a digital camera, a purchase I am already very close to making. And, of course, I'm buying it from my local Apple Retail Store.