iPhoto Library no longer shows up in “choose file” dialog after migration

Question

I just migrated to a new Mac.

When I try to upload a file in Safari and the "choose file" dialog comes up (the one that looks like the Finder), my iPhoto Library is missing.

"Photos" is still in the sidebar, but it is empty.

Any ideas on how to get this back.

Note: iPhoto works fine.

Answer 1

You should see a Media section on the left side of the dialog box.(see below) do you not see it? (You said photos came up empty but wanted to make sure your not talking about the Pictures alias above under places):

Answer 2

This is because your iPhoto library is a bundle rather than a single file, and the displayed Finder window isn't smart enough to treat it as such. If you go into /Users/~/Photos, there should still be an "iPhoto Library" bundle, and if you right-click on it, you can choose "Show Contents" or some similarly-worded entry, and it will give you a new Finder window with the contents displayed.

Another, quicker, method is to open the file from within iPhoto. Here, the context menu includes a "Reveal in Finder" or "Show in Finder" option (again, not sure of the wording). Choosing this will let you copy the photo to an easily accessible spot like the Desktop, where you can upload it to the website.

If you're uploading large batches of photos, check the host to see if they have a plug-in for iPhoto. I know for certain that Facebook and Google's Picasa have plug-ins that are fairly robust.

Answer 3

iPhoto writes out its library's location to a file at ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iApps.plist, which other programs such as iMovie/iDVD/etc., plus that "Photos" section in the open/save panel use to figure out where the iPhoto library is. If that file is corrupt, that might be one reason the library isn't showing up. You can try removing that file, then opening and quitting iPhoto, which should cause it to write a brand new file to that same location.

Another possibility is that the file that iPhoto is writing out that other programs read to access the iPhoto library's content isn't being written out properly. Try downloading iPhoto Library Manager and see if it displays your library's album list properly. If it displays an error message instead, then take a look at the info on this page for common causes and potential solutions to such problms.

Answer 4

I recently installed my dev copy of 10.6 and it automatically fixed the problem. Although I can't say for sure, some preference file must have not been properly updated after the migration. Reinstallation most likely updates those preference files correctly.

My best guess to fix this issue without reinstalling the OS would be to follow Bryan Schuetz suggestion of removing the iLifeMediaBrowser.plist file.