I moved my full photo library from a hard disk "MonsterHD" to an SSD "SieraBoot: to get more performance. I copied the whole directory with all the bits and pieces over (preserving the original one as a fallback.) Then I launched Photos (latest versions of everything) with OPT key down and set up the new location as the photo library. I also clicked "use as system library".
I now want to unmount the old hard disk and it is not allowed because "some apps are using" the drive. When I ask the OS who is doing that, it is revealed that some Photos related processes are still hanging on to the old copy.
~ lsof | grep MonsterHD
CleanMyMa 333 pitosalas 11r DIR 1,6 68 77730300 /Volumes/MonsterHD/.Trashes/501
photoanal 425 pitosalas txt REG 1,6 32768 77294131 /Volumes/MonsterHD/Users/pitosalas/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/private/com.apple.photoanalysisd/GraphService/PhotosGraph/photosgraph.graphdb-shm
photoanal 425 pitosalas 3u REG 1,6 12193792 77294128 /Volumes/MonsterHD/Users/pitosalas/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/private/com.apple.photoanalysisd/GraphService/PhotosGraph/photosgraph.graphdb
photoanal 425 pitosalas 4u REG 1,6 0 77294130 /Volumes/MonsterHD/Users/pitosalas/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/private/com.apple.photoanalysisd/GraphService/PhotosGraph/photosgraph.graphdb-wal
photoanal 425 pitosalas 5u REG 1,6 32768 77294131 /Volumes/MonsterHD/Users/pitosalas/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/private/com.apple.photoanalysisd/GraphService/PhotosGraph/photosgraph.graphdb-shm
photolibr 458 pitosalas 17w REG 1,6 453 77730301 /Volumes/MonsterHD/Users/pitosalas/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/database/photos.db.lock
photolibr 458 pitosalas 18u REG 1,6 492240896 77257923 /Volumes/MonsterHD/Users/pitosalas/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/database/photos.db
photolibr 458 pitosalas 19u REG 1,6 147704 77257925 /Volumes/MonsterHD/Users/pitosalas/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/database/photos.db-wal
photolibr 458 pitosalas 20u REG 1,6 20480 77257926 /Volumes/MonsterHD/Users/pitosalas/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/database/RKAlbum_name.skindex
photolibr 458 pitosalas 21u REG 1,6 31117312 77257927 /Volumes/MonsterHD/Users/pitosalas/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/database/RKVersion_searchIndexText.skindex
photolibr 458 pitosalas 22u REG 1,6 20480 77257928 /Volumes/MonsterHD/Users/pitosalas/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/database/RKMemory_title.skindex
photolibr 458 pitosalas 23r DIR 1,6 612 72274925 /Volumes/MonsterHD/Users/pitosalas/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary
Any tips on what may be going on? I want to decommission that hard disk totally and I don't want to break my photo library!
Best Answer
It looks like you did everything you should.
I have many times made a new photos library, set it as the system library and then rebooted so you're on the proper path there. My hunch is you have iCloud turned on for that library as well and need to resolve that.
I would turn off photo stream and shared photos and restart one time to see if that resolves. If not - you'll need to disable iCloud photo library and walk away from the broken local library or try rebuilding the affected library.
Worst case, contacting Apple support sometimes helps. They often know of edge cases like this where things get stuck and can advise you some hidden tricks to get the libraries unstuck.