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."

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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.
Bo

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 "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

HT4889 Migration Assistant to update my new Mountain Lion iMac from an external USB hard disk drive, it is constantly saying that it is "looking for other computers". It doesn't find the external drive. Why is it looking for other computers?

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!

Trying to use Migration Assistant to restore from Time Machine backup but it keeps "Looking for other computers..."

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.

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.

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.

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

TS1963 Migration is stuck on "looking for other computers" . I am uploading from an external hard drive. Why is it searching for other computers and why is it stuck there for hours?

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!

HT4889 Source computer getting stuck on "looking for other computers", but target computer finds source computer.

I'm hoping someone can help me get my source computer to find my target computer when running Migration Assistant. The source computer (late '08 macbook pro running OS X 10.7.5) gets stuck on "looking for other computers". But target computer (late '09 imac running OS X 10.7.5) finds source computer. Both show they are connected to same wifi network in System Preferences-network. Note: I have tried with both internet sharing on and off. Note: Source computer also can't find its external hard drive when plugged in. Related? Any ideas for either issue?

Ok, more updates.
In my old Mac (Pro) I have several hard drives installed. I was able to create a Time Machine back-up to a non-system HD. I plan on removing this volume and putting it in an external enclosure as soon as I can find the right cables for that enclosure. Meanwhile....
I saw on one support doc an instruction to open Sharing on the source Mac (my old one, in this case) and make sure the machine had a name specified. I already had done that, but noticed that a specific name based on that was mentioned for other computers to contact it. For example, if my source machine is named "myOldMac", other computers could address is at "myOldMac.local".
I connected the two computers directly via an Ethernet cable and I ran Migration Assistant again. When I got to the "Looking for source" screen, I clicked the button for "Other Server" and entered "afp://myOldMac.local". This actually found my old Mac. I was prompted to enter the password for the account "root". I changed the name to my account's short name -- "raboyle" not "Robert Boyle" -- and entered the correct password and I actually got a list of volumes to access. In the list were: the hard drives (by volume name), the home folders of the user accounts, and the Public Folders for each user account.
I tried accessing both my boot volume and the home folder for my primary account, and proceeded to a screen with the following text: "Choose which backup to transfer information from:". The list provided, however, was empty. On the chance that it was looking specifically for a Time Machine backup, I then specifically chose the HD volume with the backup I had just created. Again, the list to choose where to grab my data from was empty.
So, at least I'm advancing a little bit beyond the "Looking for source" screen ... but then again, since I hit yet another roadblock I can't say whether I've taken one step forward or two steps back.

Don't like Migration assistant - looking for alternatives

on my new imac in the first go i used the setup assistant to migrate my macbook data from a time machine drive. this brought me a lot of things into the library that i didn't want to be there in a clean new system. even though i did not choose to migrate my former applications. the library mess led to a problem with installing adobe creative suit on the new system and i had to reinstall from the bundled software.
this time i did not use the setup assistant to migrate any data and made a clean installation. no problems with adobe creative suite then. yet i have to fix itunes, iphoto, address book and mail manually. i want to copy as least library stuff as possible but of course want to have my music, my photos, etc. can someone advise how to do this step by step? thank you!

I would be brilliant if we were allowed a checklist of all things wanted (or not) …
That would take a lot more brilliance (& time) than most users seem to think … at least if it is to make reasonably certain everything needed is migrated! That's because not every application installs everything it needs into the Applications folder or uses Apple's installer to create a BOM (bill of materials) receipt record of what was installed where, nor do they all store all of their per user settings in the same place in a user's home folder.
For instance, take a close look at your ~/Library folder. If you have installed many apps chances are good you have app support files not just in the Application Support folder but in other folders as well. Complicating things further, neither items in the Application Support folder nor elsewhere are necessarily named for the app they are associated with. In fact, some items are shared among several apps so if any of them are migrated, those items need to be included.
Something similar applies in the system domain, mostly but not entirely in the root /Library folder.
There is no way Migration Assistant can sort all this out so it offers the only reasonable choice, the all or nothing one.

HT204350 I am trying to transfer files from MacBook running OSX 10.7.5 toIMac running OSX 10.9.1. I verified all software updates installed. Both connected directly by ethernet cable. On the IMac I get "Looking for other sources". On MacBook get "look

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 N

If 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.

Migration assistant update for Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Hello -- I downloaded SNOW LEOPARD successfully that past week. I did a software update as well afterwards.
Now in preparation for upgrading to LION OS X, I read an article that mentions one must make sure to have the MIGRATION ASSISTANT UPDATE for Mac OS X Snow Leopard installed. I am unsure if this was included in the software updates I performed. One would assume it would be there. BUT there is not a detailed listing of what these combination updates include. HOW can I tell if I have the desired version required to continue on to LION?
Another suggestion was for one to perform FIRST AID on the start up disk. It only says to select your Mac HD and then to "verify" ..... do they mean to VERIFY DISK or VERIFY DISK PERMISSIONS. I have on occasion performed a REPAIR DISK PERMISSIONS but not the others mentioned. I do not know what the difference is?
THANK YOU

I have the same console mesages repeating ad-nasium as you do. What is interesting is I do have the StartuoItems directory but it is empty. The problem I have is that the log-in window comes up as normal, but I can not type in it for about 5-8 seconds. This has started after the latest updates which you mention. Don't know if this issue is related or not. Have deleted the loginwindows and loginitems preferences to no effect.

Mac OS X Lion Migration Assistant "looking for other computers"

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