I can't access iPhoto pics via Target Disk Mode

[DocRikowski]

Hi everyone. My 2004 desktop iMac stopped working. It stuck on loading gray screen. I read a lot about all the available fixes, tried them but nothing worked. I managed to connect to my HD via target mode using another Mac. I successfully backed up everything in the old Mac except the pictures uploaded on iPhoto.
For some reason when I mount the old Mac on the new Mac I have access to everything except to the iPhoto pictures.
The Disk Utility says my old Mac has 80GB (11 available - 69 used) and yet when I sum up the weight of all the folders I can access I don't go even near 69 (it's around 52GB).
The GB missing are the pictures. I'm sure cause I had a couple of thousands of those.
I can access all music files but no pictures.

Is there any way I can solve this?
Cause to be honest I'd prefer not spending any money on this. I already have a new Mac and all I need from the old one is those pictures.

Also, I can copy the files of the old Mac but I can't delete them...

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

The Disk Utility says my old Mac has 80GB (11 available - 69 used).

This could be the reason for the grey screen ... you have just over 10% free space & it's recommended to have 10 to 20 percent of the HDD's capacity unused, for temporary files. There could be invisible files chewing up your HD space ...

Difficult to understand exactly what you are trying to say with:

when I mount the old Mac on the new Mac I have access to everything except to the iPhoto pictures

That is very unusual .... exactly what are you doing when you try to access your photos and exactly what is it that is stopping you?

What Mac OS X version do you have and which iPhoto version is installed?

 

[DocRikowski]

Sorry, I'll try to be more specific.
When I access via Target Disk Mode the Mac that is not working (Mac OS X version 10.3.9 - not sure which iPhoto version) the old Mac HD mounts on my new Mac desktop. I then have access to basically all files in the old Mac except the pictures that were uploaded on iPhoto. It seems I can't find them anywhere. I can see a folder that says iPhoto Library but it's empty. I tried to search for specific picture file names but they appear nowhere. On the other hand if I look for my music files they are all there and available.
I'm sure I have at least 10GB of pictures uploaded on iPhoto and that's why the GB count seems weird to me even though there could be invisible files like you said.

About over a year ago the old Mac had stuck on gray screen just like now. I took it to repair and they told me some corrupted font file was the issue. The HD was also too full.
Yesterday when it stuck I thought it could have been for the same reason. My initial idea was to access it via Target Disk Mode and get rid of most of the files after a back up.
Problem is that when I access it in Target Disk Mode I don't get the option to delete the files. It just says I can't delete any file via Target Disk Mode. That's something else that was bugging me cause I was sure I could.
If I could at least delete all the files via Target Disk Mode there could be a chance that it comes back to life.
I know I could simply reinstall the system or erase the disk but I don't want to lose those pictures.

Right now I'm trying to do a Disk Image (DMG) of the whole HD using my new Mac connected to the old Mac in Target Disk Mode. My hope is that somehow the files I can't see will be copied in the DMG.
It's taking for ever though...

Thanks for any help. Much appreciated.

EDIT: once the DMG is done I should be able to say which iPhoto version I have.

EDIT2: the DMG is done and its weight is 80GB. No trace of the pictures...

EDIT3: PROBLEM SOLVED!
The pics were all in an invisible folder called "lost+found" that apparently was made by Disk Utility while creating the DMG file (at least that's what the "date created" says).
The weird thing is that the folder doesn't appear when I mount the DMG file.
I discovered it with a search. I was looking for files starting with "DSC" (the letters that appear in each of my image file) and the missing pics started to pop out in the search.
I'm very happy I solved it. It took 24h just to create the DMG file but it was worth.

Thanks a lot for the help and the possibility to post my request. Much appreciated.