I have a new MacBook Air. When I first got it, I migrated some of my files from my PC to the MacBook Air with no issues. Now, I',m trying to migrate more documents, music, etc. and migration assistant won't get past "Looking for Other Computers." Why?
I have new MacBook Air. When I first got it, I migrated some of my files from my PC to the MacBook Air without any problems. Now I'm trying to migrate more files, music, etc. and I keep getting the continuous spining circle with "Looking for Other Computers." I've tried everything and for some reason it is not finding my PC. What am I doing wrong?
Use the trackpad to scroll, thats what it was designed for. The scroll bars automatically disappear when not being used and will appear if you scroll up or down using the trackpad.
This is a user-to-user forum and most people will post on here if they have problems. You very rarely get people posting to say there update went smooth. The fact is the vast majority of Mountain Lion users will not be experiencing any major problems with the OS, or maybe with apps which are not compatible, but thats hardly Apple's fault if developers don't update their apps.
Similar Messages
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I'm trying to use Migration Assistant to update my new Mountain Lion iMac from an external USB hard disk drive. I told it to look for a drive, yet it is constantly saying that it is "looking for other computers". It doesn't find the external drive ... it just endlessly looks for other computers. Why is it looking for other computers at all, when I told it not to?
Wow, the wording in Migration Assistant is misleading. I've never used it before, so I thought I would try to copy my files from the external drive ... my old iMac died, but I managed to get everything I need off it, using the 'cp' command in single-user mode. So I guess I'll just have to manually copy the files from the external drive to the new machine. I was hoping that Migration Assistant might help somehow, but obviously not.
Thanks for the quick reply! -
Why is Migration assistant still looking for other computers?
Trying to transfer my macbook pro information to my husband's newer MacBook Pro (he's getting a new one). I have followed all the directions for migration assistant. Unchecked the firewall to let other computers connect, etc. , but it both computers keep "looking for other computers. On the newer mac, the one I want my information transferred to, it actually has the pass code number. What am I doing wrong? Someone help me!
And, I do not have a fire net cable, I am trying to migrate wirelessly.
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Mac OS X Lion Migration Assistant "looking for other computers"
I just installed Mac OS X Lion from Snow Leopard. I actually did a clean install and during the setup, I attempted to use the Migration Assistant to transfer my Time Machine Backup, saved on a Time Capsule, but after selecting to transfer from my Time Machine, it shows my Time Capsule but continuously is 'looking for other computers". The drive shows at the top and I'm able to click continue, even while it still searches, but once I click continue, i put in my Time Capsules passowrd, it continues to search and i can no longer click continue. It never stops searching.
I found article how to fix this in Snow Leopard http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3253?viewlocale=en_US but the setting are different in the Security tab in the Preferences. There is no 'Allow all incoming computers'. I have tried both with firewall on and off and neither way works.
Let me know if you have a fix for this, as I have 250 gbs waiting on my Time Capsule to be imported.
Thanks,SImilar problem here, migrating from an old MacBook Air to a new one (directly, not via backup).
During the new Mac's initial setup, I followed all the steps properly as instructed (and made sure the original machine's Firewall was off). I tried both my main WiFi network and an ad hoc network, with Internet Sharing. (Ad hoc proved VERY finnicky to even get a connection. Miserable--it would work or it wouldn't, and I had no power over it: it would fail on the same config where it would succeed. A shame, because ad hoc would be the ideal, low-interference way to get the fastest WiFi transfer. And it's a method Apple's support site even suggests.)
No matter what I did, both machines just stuck at "Looking for other computers" forever. I spent hours trying to get it to work. I wasn't going to buy an ethernet adapter, nor a new external HD (with some third-party backup software as a workaround) just so I could power on my new Mac and have my stuff on it.
Eventually I gave up, installed without migrating, and then ran Migration Assistant after the fact. That DID connect OK (took about 1 hour per 10 GB and was done by morning).
But doing it that way was a mess: there was NO warning when I did the initial setup that I should not use my own name as the main account if I planned to migrate later. Who knew? I couldn't migrate after the fact because I had the same name on both machines. Well.... of course! Don't most people keep the same name? It's as though you're not expected to ever buy another Mac unless you're a newlywed woman. (None of which would be an issue if migration would happen during initial setup as it should.)
So I had to create a superfluous extra account with admin privileges, run Migration Assistant from there, replace the redundantly-named new account, and then find and delete the redundant account where it was stashed during migration. Lastly, I deleted the superfluous admin account as well. THREE accounts needed to be involved, for a process ANY Mac-to-Mac buyer will face. There was nothing special about my migration.
I don't think most users could even figure out all these steps.
A loyal Air user buying a new Air should not be such an incredible hassle. It "just doesn't work." -
Hi!
I just bought a new MacBook Pro 15" and I wanted to transfer my old files from a previous Time Machine backup done with my old MacBook Pro 15".
Both computers have Mac OS X 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion) installed.
I always used Migration Assistant without any problem to accomplish this task, but now I don't know why it's stuck on a screen displaying "Looking for other computers...". What? What computer? I'm trying to restore from a Time Machine backup on an external hard drive, so I don't understand what computer it is looking for.
Do you have any idea to solve the problem?
Thanks!At the screen in Migration Assistant titled "Select a Migration Method," select From a Time Machine backup or other disk.
How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from another Mac -
HT4889 Migration assistant doesn't see my 3TB Time machine it just keeps looking for other computers
I just did a clean install of Mountain Lion on my iMac and Migration Assistant doesn't seem to see my 3TB Time Machine. It continuously looks for other computers, and nothing else. I know the files work because I loaded it on my other MBP and it sees them just fine? am I just inpatient or is something wrong?
This happened to me after hard drive replacement under the Seagate Drive Recall at the local Apple Store. Here's what I learned from the process:
I Wagged the Mac home, fired it up (with naked OS installed at the Apple Store), and it wouldn't see my Time Machine drive with Setup Assistant - not on firewire 800 nor USB. Just a grey spinner that lasts forever. When I try just continuing anyway, it offers me something that looks plausible, but then puts up a dialog about duplicate user name, and no matter what I enter, it always says "that user already exists". So I think - maybe Migration Assistant. Complete the setup, create an account, watch the nice welcome movie. BAM - there's my Time Machine drive on the desktop. OK - it has to work . . . but no. Same behavior in Migration Assistant, plus the new OS offers to start making backups on my Time Machine disk - it's not recognizing it at all.
So - back to the Apple Store - let the genius figure it out. It turns out there are multiple problems. First, the "genius" who imaged my new machine picked 10.7.2 but my machine had 10.7.5 - turns out, it's not enough just to have right cat. Even a point release older OS may not recognize a newer Time Machine drive. The guy at the desk said "We have images of everything but the 10.7.2 has free iLife in it, so they like to use that one". What the heck? They don't image what you had originally as a matter of sane process?
Having figured that out, we re-image 10.7.5 at the store thinking we've fixed it. But no - Setup Assistant still won't see the Time Machine drive. Not on USB, not on Firewire. Not in a box, not with a fox.
So here's the second trick - newer machines have a recovery partion. see: http://www.apple.com/osx/recovery/ Boot with the option key held down, pick that partition, then you'll get a "system restore" option, to restore your whole system from a Time Machine backup. My drive was recognized by the recovery partition restore process when neither Setup nor Migration Assistant would. Obviously, there's something broken in Setup/Migration Assistant.
Takeaway:
- if you're getting a drive replaced by Apple, make sure they image *exactly* the same OS
- if Setup Assistant fails, use the recovery partition for system restore
- Use Recovery Disk Assistant http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433 NOW to make yourself a recovery thumb drive just in case. With Apple's new "no media" approach to the OS, you're hosed without it. -
My computer is Stuck at "looking for other computers" while trying to Upload from an external hard drive using migration assistant.
Wow, the wording in Migration Assistant is misleading. I've never used it before, so I thought I would try to copy my files from the external drive ... my old iMac died, but I managed to get everything I need off it, using the 'cp' command in single-user mode. So I guess I'll just have to manually copy the files from the external drive to the new machine. I was hoping that Migration Assistant might help somehow, but obviously not.
Thanks for the quick reply! -
I've recently been given a macbook pro from uni, with lots of adobe software on. I want to pair it with my iMac which has music etc and is it possible to get the software to the imac and the files to the macbook?Giving me the best of both :-)
You would need the original installation disks or files for the Adobe software to get it onto your iMac, and having it on two computers may not be allowed by your university's licensing. Talk to whoever issued the MacBook.
As to the music, just copy it over to the MacBook, either via Home Sharing, file sharing, or an external storage medium (hard drive, USB flash drive, etc.).
Regards. -
HT2518 migration is stuck on looking for other computers....
I am a brand new MAC user. I'm trying to transfer files, etc. from my PC to my new MAC. I am in "Migration" on Mac, have downloaded the software to do so on my PC, networks are both on, file sharing is on my PC...but on MAC I am stuck on "looking for Other Computers". What do I do. I am clueless with MAC as I am a totally brand new user, some things I find our self explanatory, but others I have no idea! I downloaded manual but it does not give troubleshooting as far as I can see.
Hello
try this
put your tow imac side by side then plug an ethernet cable between us , ethernet logo look like that
then on each imac desable wifi ( air-port )
go to system preferences -> network , you should see somthing like that
select from Configure IPv4 to MANUALY on both imac , then fill info for ehternet exactly as folow
for 1st Imac
for 2d Imac
then try launch again migration assistant , or use file sharing options on old imac
HTH
Pierre -
Possible solution to Migration Assistant "Looking for other computers"
Like many I ran into the Migration Assistant problem of not recognizing an attached drive. I found one solution which worked for me. Obviously, it doesn't necessarily mean that it is going to work for others but I thought I would post it in case it is useful to someone.
The problem: My MBP 2012's internal HD was getting old and slow. Time to switch to an SSD internal. I purchased a Crucial 512 GB, placed it in an external enclosure and formatted it with Disk Utility. Then I removed the internal HD, replaced it with the SSD and put the old HD in an external enclosure. I attached it with a USB 3 cable.
I restarted the MBP and got to the Restore screen and chose to transfer all data from another disk. It then opened Migration Assistant. When I selected the option to transfer from another drive it went into the dreaded spinning ball hopelessly "Looking for other drives". When going back to Disk Utility, it showed me that the external was properly mounted and visible so that was not the problem. It appears from what I read on other posts that when Migration Assistant starts, it somehow unmounts external drives, possibly by logging out of whichever account was used last.
The solution I stumbled upon is this.
- Restart holding command R (I think) so you get the screen w 4 options: Backup from TM, disk utility, re install OS X and a fourth one
- Select OSX install. It will install a new system through Wifi. It only took about 5-10 minutes.
- Then after it finishes the system installation, it will automatically go into Migration Assistant. Select Backup from other drive and this time it will recognize the external and allow you to copy all files and settings from it.
Hope this helps someone.
BoPondini wrote:
DrSam wrote:
One other caveat, which I learned in my search... Apparently if you are restoring via Migration Assistant, you can't restore to a user account that you are currently on, and you can't restore to a user account with the same name as the one you are restoring, without replacing the former.
Yes, other than using Setup Assistant when your Mac first starts up, that's the only workaround.
See option #4 in Problems after using Migration Assistant
And unbelievable that this would be the way Apple intended the process to go. I still am not sure how I could have gotten this to work from the start within Setup Assistant, which obviously you're supposed to be able to do,
That's not how it's supposed to work. Setup Assistant should have found the sparsebundle and shown it in the Select the Source window. Usually it does.
It's possible the backups were slightly damaged. It's also possible clicking Continue on that window might have, uh, kick-started it, as it did for a couple of other folks.
I agree that Setup Assistant "should" have found it, but it didn't... That was what my last sentence was referring to as well.
For what it's worth, I had tried clicking on the grayed-out continue button like people here suggested. For me at least, it acted like every other grayed-out button has, and did not respond.
You may be right that my backup .sparsebundle was damaged or something, but I'm not really sure why that would be or how one might know, or even what to do about it if you did suspect that to be the case. (It checks out on Disk Utility, and Finder has no problem with it. Heck, even Time Machine recognizes it as an "Other Disk" backup and lets me browse it. I just couldn't get the Setup & Migration Assistants to recognize it.)
I figured now that I got it to work I'd document my experience here for the benefit of the next poor guy who has to spend his Christmas eve Googling for this thread... -
Can I restore photo files from Time Machine without the use of an external drive? While I was transferring photos back and forth from a thumb drive something went haywire and my IPhoto was wiped clean! When I click on Time Machine I see all the dated pages (without an external storage drive connected), go back to a date where all my photo files are there, click "restore", and I get the message: "The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in file cant be read or written (error code - 36)"
Thanks so much Terence. I tried some of the fixes from that page, but then discovered the suggestion to compress the Time Machine Back up of the original library and transfer it as a zip back to my computer as detailed here:
http://pondini.org/TM/E9.html
That worked like a charm. I really appreciate it. -
Migration Assistant "Looking for other computers ..."
After a new installation of Lion, I can´t restore my users from a Time Machine Backup with the Migration Assistant. In the Time Machine disk I have only the users backup, not the complete MacBook Pro. The back is from the same machine with Lion.
See the image attach.Pondini wrote:
DrSam wrote:
One other caveat, which I learned in my search... Apparently if you are restoring via Migration Assistant, you can't restore to a user account that you are currently on, and you can't restore to a user account with the same name as the one you are restoring, without replacing the former.
Yes, other than using Setup Assistant when your Mac first starts up, that's the only workaround.
See option #4 in Problems after using Migration Assistant
And unbelievable that this would be the way Apple intended the process to go. I still am not sure how I could have gotten this to work from the start within Setup Assistant, which obviously you're supposed to be able to do,
That's not how it's supposed to work. Setup Assistant should have found the sparsebundle and shown it in the Select the Source window. Usually it does.
It's possible the backups were slightly damaged. It's also possible clicking Continue on that window might have, uh, kick-started it, as it did for a couple of other folks.
I agree that Setup Assistant "should" have found it, but it didn't... That was what my last sentence was referring to as well.
For what it's worth, I had tried clicking on the grayed-out continue button like people here suggested. For me at least, it acted like every other grayed-out button has, and did not respond.
You may be right that my backup .sparsebundle was damaged or something, but I'm not really sure why that would be or how one might know, or even what to do about it if you did suspect that to be the case. (It checks out on Disk Utility, and Finder has no problem with it. Heck, even Time Machine recognizes it as an "Other Disk" backup and lets me browse it. I just couldn't get the Setup & Migration Assistants to recognize it.)
I figured now that I got it to work I'd document my experience here for the benefit of the next poor guy who has to spend his Christmas eve Googling for this thread... -
Migration Assistant: Searching for other computers...
I got a new iMac 24" running Mac OS 10.5.6 (No new software updates available)
I want to transfer all my data from my old iMac, i.e.
iMac 17" running Mac OS 10.4.11 (No new software updates available).
The firewalls on both computers are disabled and they are on the same network.
I followed the instructions:
1. Opened Migration Assistant on the new machine
2. Chose 'From another Mac' - Use Network - it gave me a passcode and "Looking for other computers..."
3. I opened MA on the old machine
4. Chose 'To another Mac'
5. It found the new machine and asked for the passcode which I entered.
6. It said that all application will quit if I press continue, which I did.
7. It gave a 'Preparing information' message, BUT then again said that it found my new machine and asked for the passcode again - I entered it again.
8. It then gives me a 'Searching for other computers...' message...
And that is where stays... and stays...
please...So you are migrating from Intel to Intel.
On the 17" iMac... how much free space is there on the drive? Not enough disk space and that could be what's holding that up. Not certain, just could be.
Right or control click the MacintoshHD icon on your Desktop, then click: Get Info. In the Get Info window, click the discovery triangle so it's facing down. You will see; Capacity and Available Make sure you have 10% available disk space, 15% is better. Not enough available drive space can cause issues like you are experiencing.
In my opinion, the Migration Assistant can be more trouble than it's worth. I use Firewire Target Disk Mode between Macs to transfer files. It's so much easier.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
Carolyn -
I am trying to transfer files from my MacBook (source) running OSX 10.7.5 to my IMAC (target) running OSX 10.9.1. Machines connected by ethernet cable. On Target machine I get "Looking for other sources" and on source machine I get "Looking for other computers". Both have clockwise spinning wheel.
Looking for advise.
Thanks
Luap NIf you are connecting the two computers directly to each other with an ethernet cable, you need a special "crossover" cable to swap the send/receive pins so the data sent from one computer arrives on the "receive" pins on the other end of the cable, not on the "send" pins that you get with a straight cable.
Incorrect, you do not need a special crossover cable. Any cable will do. -
I recently purchased a new Macbook Air and used migration to transfer old files from my old PC to the Mac, and now there are songs that I purchased through Itunes on my phone that are not on my Mac, how do I transfer these songs from the phone to the Mac?
dnunn wrote:
... how do I transfer these songs from the phone to the Mac?
Transfer Purchases > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848
Download Past Purchases > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519
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