Aperture hangs up my whole system, help!

[maz-o]

Hi guys. I'm in a bit of a pickle here and need your help. I've got a Macbook Pro 2.53ghz (late 2008 unibody), 8gb RAM, Lion 10.7.

Yesterday I did some heavy Photoshop+Aperture work which maxed out my 8gb RAM and scratch disks as well, and the system suggested I force quit some applications. I did that, and rebooted my system. Afterwards everything was back to normal and Photoshop and other apps were back in full effect.

BUT! Now, whenever I start up Aperture (3.1.3), it starts processing an image (the process apparently got cut off when I used force quit earlier), and it maxes out my RAM and the system becomes unresponsive and fans scream at 7k rpm. This happens every time I startup Aperture. I can't do anything, I can't even cancel the processing task in Aperture, it says "canceling" but nothing happens.

I need Aperture to work and I don't know what to do, everytime I start Aperture the system becomes unresponsive. Thanks in advance!


EDIT: Solved, thanks to psxguru!

 

[psxguru]

Tried option clicking to start Aperture and choosing a different library then changing back to your original library?

 

[maz-o]

Tried option clicking to start Aperture and choosing a different library then changing back to your original library?

Thanks but nope. That didn't do anything. It continues the processing task as before when I switch back to my original library, and yet again clogs up the system.

The new library worked fine though and I can use that one for now as an emergency backup, but I really don't see rebuilding my whole library to be a great option... Any other protips are welcome.

 

[spidey3]

The new library worked fine though and I can use that one for now as an emergency backup, but I really don't see rebuilding my whole library to be a great option... Any other protips are welcome.

1. Do you have a backup of your library from before the problem began?
2. Have you tried doing Aperture Library First Aid? http://documentation.apple.com/en/aperture/usermanual/index.html#chapter=26&section=10&tasks=true
   • First just try Repair Database
   • If that doesn't help you will need to do Rebuild Database

Spidey!!!

 

[psxguru]

Well if it's the same image causing problems I'd be tempted to rename it/move it out of the library if it's causing a problem with preview generation/adjustment generation.

Find your library in finder, right click and 'show package contents'
browse to masters and locate the offending file then rename it/move it elsewhere for now. Then restart aperture.

Back up your library file beforehand if you're paranoid!

Alternatively, if you hold down shift AFTER you start aperture then this will stop previews being generated upon start. If it works then it's obviously a dodgy image so you can try the above.

Failing that press command and option then click on aperture to start - this will give you an option to repair/rebuild the library database.

 

[maz-o]

1. Do you have a backup of your library from before the problem began?
2. Have you tried doing Aperture Library First Aid? http://documentation.apple.com/en/aperture/usermanual/index.html#chapter=26&section=10&tasks=true
   • First just try Repair Database
   • If that doesn't help you will need to do Rebuild Database

Spidey!!!

Thanks Spidey. Not even the Rebuild Database helped... I have all the master files backed up as they are stored outside of the Aperture library, but the backup of my actual library file (where edits and versions are stored) is a bit too old to help out now.. (yeah, I know). Sigh.

 

[maz-o]

Well if it's the same image causing problems I'd be tempted to rename it/move it out of the library if it's causing a problem with preview generation/adjustment generation.

You, good sir, have saved me! Thanks! My masters aren't inside the aperture library, so I just moved the file that caused problems to another folder. Thanks again!

 

[psxguru]

Glad you got it sorted!

 

[spidey3]

You, good sir, have saved me! Thanks! My masters aren't inside the aperture library, so I just moved the file that caused problems to another folder. Thanks again!

Come to think of it, that happened to me once as well (back on Aperture 2.x) - a corrupted .CR2 file caused Aperture to go berserk. Seems like there should be some failsafe so that a subtly corrupted file cannot send the decoder into a tight loop...

Spidey!!!