Migration assistant can't find new mac
It just sits there saying looking for computers
Hooked up with Ethernet
Any ideas?
Thanks
Andrew Chesworth wrote:
No, I'm quite clearly not,
Having never run the setup migration or standalone migration routines I wasn't aware that it had skipped a step and I was setting up a new account. I was filling fields in expecting it to be part of the process, not a different thing entirely.
That said, I did by mistake, realised mistake, rectified it. None of that relates to my original query, which i typed in a hurry on an ipad as both macs were in meltdown.
This was a lot more annoying a process than I expected, and compounded by having to deal with a keyboardwarrior into the bargain.
The solution to original probem was turn off and on again . At that point my old mac could see the new one and the transfer started, or rather, didn't.
You sir are a buffoon.
People come here for help, not abuse from the likes of you, if you've nothing helpful to say then stick a sock in it.
You made the error of using Migration rather than Setup Assistant, Apple didn't do that for you. I don't care how high your horse is, nobody else's hands are on your keyboard.
Goodbye
Similar Messages
-
Migration Assistant can't find External HD on MacBook Pro Mid-2012
Hi, I have a MacBook Pro Mid-2012 running OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2 and I am trying to use Migration Assistant to transfer Time Machine backups that are on my external hard drive, that I backed up from my old MacBook Mid-2010. The problem I am having is that Migration Assistant can't find my external hard drive. My MacBook Pro can find it when I plug it in (I see it in Finder), but Migration Assistant can't. Can anyone help or should I go to the Apple Store? I need help with this problem as soon as possible.
Thanks in advance,
- Daniel Since no one replied I figured out how to do it myself.
1.) First I plugged in my external hard drive with my Time Machine backups on them, then I opened Finder and click on my external hard drive under devices.
2.) Next I clicked on and opened the folder named "Backups.backupdb"
3.) Once inside that folder I could see folders with the backups from Time Machine and all of the folders names were the date I backed up that backup. I clicked and opended the lastest backup folder.
4.) Inside that folder, I clicked and opened the folder named "Macintosh HD"
5.) Inside that folder, I clicked and opended the folder named "Users"
6.) Inside that folder, I clicked and opended the folder named "Daniel" which was my Username on my previous Mac.
7.) Finally I could see and access all my folders from my Time Machine backups from my previous Mac.
Keep in mind this is only helpful if you are trying to access old backups (backed up from another Mac) on a new or different Mac. (Sorry for the blurry images)
Hope this somehow helps someone else,
- Daniel -
Migration assistant can't find external hard drive
I bought a Macbook Air and I can't move my files from the Time Machine created by my previous MacBook. Specifically, migration assistant can't find the external disk. I can see the external disc on the desktop, it's just the migration assistant that can't find it. I've done software update, I've attached and detached the external disk and restarted the Air in all imaginable combinations, migration assistant still can't see the external disk. Anyone know how to fix this problem?
franz1 wrote:
The top one has icons showing the two partitions from the external drive and the Air's HD.
That sounds like the Today (Now) display, the one that's show in full when you first Enter Time Machine. It's not a backup; it's the current contents of your Mac.
When I clicked on the 2nd window, it seems to be a back up from July 20, which I remember making on the old MacBook. It has one folder on it with my username.
Yes, that's a backup.
When I click on this folder, I find 4 folders inside it titled: Applications, Users, Library and System. I clicked on Applications and it was empty
That sounds like you'd excluded Applications from backups. Or else you didn't wait long enough for all the apps to be displayed.
sometimes the names of programs covered with a see-through "no parking" sign - a circle with a slash through it
That's an incompatible app.
Is this the Time Machine's records?
Yup.
Can I click on the July 20 date and click on restore? Will everything just come back on it's own?
No. You can restore individual items that way (if you have permission to them), but not a whole system. You can restore "simple" apps that way, too, but not "complex" ones -- ones that came with their own installers, because they install other files in other places. If you don't restore those other things too, the app won't work well, if at all.
Can you post a screenshot of the Migration Assistant window that should show your backups (something like this): -
Migration assistent, can't find my external HD, help!
I have reinstalled OSX 10.8.6 on my moms Mac mini2,1, 1,83 GHz, 80 Gb harddisc, 2Gb ram, bus 667MHz, to keep the speed fresh. The time machine copy from her mac is on a Iomega external hardisc 160 Gb, the "disctool/help" detects it as Toshiba MK1652GSX Media, physically it has two USB connections. But when I use Migration Assistant it doesn't appear as a option to choose.
On this external harddisc I have a Timemachine copy that goes back to 2008. I can see the harddick on the screen, I can connect the harddisc to Timemachine and it can start to copy and save, I can even copy back my moms documents, but still Migration Assistant can't find it.
I need to migrate all her applications, iPhoto for instance as the most important as well as her I need to migrate her letters and adresses.
What do I do?Dear MrHoffmann
Maybe it is because I am foreign, that I don't understand correctly, and for that I am very sorry. I can't imagine what a restore of a Time Machine disk is then. And I tried to find out what a scratch disk is, and the online computer dictionary told me it was an external HD, with a space for not permanent files. Maybe I misunderstood that too. Where do I then perform a restore of the backup? And where am I told if the disk is vail and bootable... sorry for my lack of understanding. As I understand I am not able to boot from a Time Machine backup, at least before Lion, and I am talking about Snowleopard. And I am not able to understand Install logs. This just sounds too difficult and far beyond what I am cabable of with my skills. Sorry.
But on the other hand, I like to learn. And I am returning to my moms house for a few days in the end of september. And with me I can bring all kinds of tools to examin her Time Machine disk, extra hardisks, my macbook with the same system and age as my moms old Mac Mini2,1 (2006) and other things, mayby if I can find out excactly what to do, I can find out what was wrong with her Time Machine disk or Migration Assistent, to prevent that from happening again.
Thank you for taking your time to help me :-)
Bodil -
Migration assistant can't find computer/is it bc of 2 OS?
I have a macbook pro and macbook air. I am trying to transfer ichat from pro to air but the migration assistant can't seem to connect.
I have the same network, fileshare is on, etc. One has snow leopard (pro) and the other leopard (air). Can't I still transfer them? I'm trying to get ichat on my air -- forwhatever reason it keeps crashing and won't open and I thought I'd reinstall it...but now I've been working for an hour on this simple task and losing my mind (sorry that slipped out)
KateYes, I feel sheepish. I figured it out.
But I had too much stuff on the iMac to transfer my files, so all I transferred was my applications. Now I have to figure out how to get my documents and my iTunes over there. I don't want to transfer all my pics, etc. because that's what's eating up all my memory. It doesn't look like Migration Assistant can be used for just a few things like this.
Thanks for the QUICK response! -
Hi,
Wonder if someone has a suggestion for getting Migration assistant to recognize my external drive so that I can transfer some PC files from it to my MacBook Pro? I have been opening files in the drive with the Mac without a problem and I ran the diagnostics utility and the drive verified. Still, migration assistant spins and spins without finding anything. There's a lot of files and doing it manually with take days.
Thanks!Personally I have always used the manual method for moving my files over to a new iMac and never use Migration Assistant.
Go to the Apple drop down menu and select Force Quit.. and if Migration Assistant has failed, force quit it and try re-launching it again from your Applications Utility folder. -
HT4889 Using USB time machine drive to move to new rMBP and Migration assistant can't find my drive
I have a time machine backup on my USB drive. I can see it clearly in finder, then when I run migration assistant, it can't be found.
I've tried repairing the disk, it's fine, it just can't find it. Any ideas?
Both machines are on the same rev of Mt. Lion, 2010 MBP and 2013 rMBP. . . .
Please advise.
--AndrewNo, both the backup and the new system are OSX10.6.
I'm afraid your solution doesn't work. If I go through finder and open up the folders on the backup, and try, for example, to open my "Movies" folder (which is one I dearly hope to recover), I get a message that:
"The folder "Movies" can't be opened because you don't have permission to see its contents."
I have tried Repair Permissions, but this doesn't help. All of the important folders have a little red stop sign on them.
Thanks though. -
I purchased a new mac and am trying to migrate my hard drive from the old to the new. I follow the instructions, but my source computer can not find my target computer. The target has no problem finding the source. Any suggestions as to how I can get this done?
See Pondini's Setup New Mac guide.
27" i7 iMac (Mid 2011) refurb, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4), ML & SL, G4 450 MP w/Leopard, 9.2.2 -
HT4413 Migration Assistant for a brand new mac that has been used already?
My dad bought a Mini but has been using it for a few months but didn't transfer anything from his old Mac. All his address book entries and files are still on his original Mac. Can Migration Assistant still be of help to transfer over the data without erasing what he's accumlated on his new Mac? Is it going to write over his email for instance?
Thanks!Migration Assistant is not the tool you need to use at this point. Instead you should manually copy the data you want from the old computer to the new computer. If both computers have Firewire ports then use Target Disk Mode - Transferring files between two computers using FireWire. Boot the old computer into TDM and the new computer normally. You should then find a disk icon for the old computer's drive on the Desktop of the new computer.
Before you do any of the described file copying below be sure you have quit Mail and Address Book if they are now open except where directed.
For Mail you open Mail and select Import from the File menu. Check the top option to import from Apple Mail. Navigate on the old computer to its /Users/username/Library/Mail/ folder and then locate a folder named "Mailboxes." Select the folder and click on the Open button. Select the mailboxes you want to import and click on the Import/OK button. This will import the old mail to a new set of mailboxes in Mail under a mailbox named Imported. You can then move the old mail to wherever you want in Mail.
For contacts locate the /Users/username/Library/Applications Support/AddressBook/ folder. Copy the entire folder to the new computer to the same location on the new computer.
Last, navigate to the /Users/username/Library/Preferences/ folder and copy these preference files: com.apple.mail.plist and all beginning with com.apple.AddressBook. Copy them to the same location on the new computer. -
Migration Assistant can't find mounted external disc
Running Snow Leopard on newer iMac Dual Core. Trying to migrate users of dead G5. The G5 User data is intact, and on an external disc, and was transferred to this external disc from the G5's HD, by techs at The Apple Store. The specs of this external drive are:
30.74 GB
Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
Partition Map Scheme : Apple Partition Map
Mount Point : /Volumes/Macintosh HD 1
The external disc mounts to the desktop, but Migration Assistant just spins and spins looking for it, without success.
I have tried to boot from the external drive; Restart/Option does not result in the external disc as a startup option.
I'm thinking when the Mac boys wiped the external disc to make room for the G5 User data, they reformatted the disc to non-bootable. In an experiment, Migration Assistant easily found and transferred User data from my laptop (when restarted in target disc mode).
Is there a way to help Migration Assistant find this external disk - or an option that transfers the User files intact from the external drive to the new SL machine?
Thanks,
lexlexsongs wrote:
+then MA will not work on it, period. you need to migrate manually. Migration assistant does not give a hoot what the partition scheme is on the drive you are migrating from so don't bother with that. the partition scheme on your main drive should be GUID but it's probably that already.+
+P.S. if you still have access to the old drive of the G5 then you can migrate from that drive directly.+
Thanks V.K. I did open Disk Utility and was ready to change the partition scheme (on the external disc) to GUID, but based on your last post I will hold off.
Yes, I have the old G5 HD, and will get some help with connections for migrating - or will build an enclosure (or have one built) and then use MA to move the User folders. In the meantime, I can still access the data in all User folders on the external disk.
if all the data you need is in the user folders you can simply do the following. drag a user folder from Users on your backup drive to the /Users folder at the top level of the main hard drive. make sure you don't have another user by that name already present there. you'll need to authenticate with your admin password. once you copied the user folder to Users on the main drive go to system preferences->accounts. unlock the lock at the bottom, click on + and create an account with the same short user name as the name of the folder you just copied to Users. it will tell you that a home directory by that name already exists and ask if you want to use it. say "yes".
Question: What allows MA to work with the original G5 HD but not with the copied User data on the external disc?
I don't know the exact innerworkings of MA but it clearly checks the drive to see if it recognizes it as something it can possibly migrate from as it needs a lot of stuff present to work. It doesn't just migrate user folders. it migrates applications, some library files etc. so unless it sees a full clone of another system drive or a TM backup of another drive (which both have all that stuff present) it won't even try migrating. -
Mavericks Migration Assistant Can't Find Destination
I have a 2010 Mac Pro from which I wish to import data to my brand new cylinder Mac Pro. I've done this before, easy enough.
Unfortunately, after resetting the SMC, reboots, checking cabling, etc., /and/ speaking upwards through senior Apple Support, I still cannot get this to work.
Each system can see the other in the Finder. Firewalls are not enabled.
What happens is the destination Mac Pro can see the source just fine; however, the source cannot see the destination. I can otherwise see the IPs 169.x and I can ping from/to each host. I double checked "pfctl -d" and it is indeed disabled. I run Sophos on the older host, but I've never had an issue with it. I have VMware Fusion, but that shouldn't apply.
[ it's worth noting here, I have two new Mac Pros which would not display on the new thunderbolt displays, which was probably due to firmware -- OS updates seem to have resolved it ]
Wifi is also off on both.
I have the exact same results regardless of whether I'm on the local ethernet LAN or just a plain old point-to-point LAN (with different IPs) and I'm puzzled as to what could be wrong. Apple senior advisors were stumped as well -- they suggested I try this over firewire, but I'll need to get a firewire-to-thunderbolt adapter first.
So I am wondering if anyone out there has run into and solved this pernicious problem. I've been working on this all day :-) I'll be damned if I have to install all these apps manually again, but I will if I have to.
Thanks.franz1 wrote:
The top one has icons showing the two partitions from the external drive and the Air's HD.
That sounds like the Today (Now) display, the one that's show in full when you first Enter Time Machine. It's not a backup; it's the current contents of your Mac.
When I clicked on the 2nd window, it seems to be a back up from July 20, which I remember making on the old MacBook. It has one folder on it with my username.
Yes, that's a backup.
When I click on this folder, I find 4 folders inside it titled: Applications, Users, Library and System. I clicked on Applications and it was empty
That sounds like you'd excluded Applications from backups. Or else you didn't wait long enough for all the apps to be displayed.
sometimes the names of programs covered with a see-through "no parking" sign - a circle with a slash through it
That's an incompatible app.
Is this the Time Machine's records?
Yup.
Can I click on the July 20 date and click on restore? Will everything just come back on it's own?
No. You can restore individual items that way (if you have permission to them), but not a whole system. You can restore "simple" apps that way, too, but not "complex" ones -- ones that came with their own installers, because they install other files in other places. If you don't restore those other things too, the app won't work well, if at all.
Can you post a screenshot of the Migration Assistant window that should show your backups (something like this): -
Migration Assistant can't find my external hard drive
I'm trying to set up my Mac Mini and it isn't working. Three steps into the process and already I'm locked up. I'm trying to migrate data from an external FireWire 400 drive. I have to use an adapter because the Mini only has a Firewire 800 port. That's not a problem because I've used the adapter several times and it works fine. The external drive is connected directly to the Mini and turned on. It's been turned on before I went into this mode. Now the Migration Assistant is hung up on Select The Source with a spinning circle and the Continue button is greyed out. I don't want to bypass this step and do everything manually because that's a nightmare and with my schedule it will likely drag out for months.
Can anyone help?Personally I have always used the manual method for moving my files over to a new iMac and never use Migration Assistant.
Go to the Apple drop down menu and select Force Quit.. and if Migration Assistant has failed, force quit it and try re-launching it again from your Applications Utility folder. -
Migration Assistant can't find my hard drive - can you help?
Hi, I've just bought a new MacBook Pro (Lion) as my 6 year old iMac (Snow Leopard) has died. I wanted to restore my data from my iMac, via my Time Machine back-ups which are stored on a WD MyPassport. When using the migration assistant, I've followed the instructions, but the assistant refuses to see the hard drive and all I get is "Looking for Other Computers" and a spinning wheel. I've done this before when a hard drive went south and it worked really well, but this is not good at all.
Any advice gratefully received. Thanks.John Brandt wrote:
Setup Assistant never sees the source drive:
Does it show anything at all? The disk should have a yellow icon.
Is the main issue that I am trying to migrate from too old of an OS X version (e.g. 10.4.11)?
I don't think so. I don't have a Mac running Tiger, so couldn't test it, but many folks have done it without a problem.
Have you run Verify Disk or Repair Disk on the old Mac and/or the backups? If there's a directory problem, it may boot the old Mac, but the new one may not recognize it.
If all else fails, you may have to do it manually. Try starting the new Mac normally, logging on as a normal (Admin) user, connect the clone to it, and see if it appears. If so, you should be able to manually copy from the backups via drag & drop.
If so, you'll have to be careful of two things:
User accounts: If the old Mac only has a single account, the first account you set up on the new one should have permission to copy from the backups. If not, either set up a second account on the new Mac and try it, or use Get Info on the backups to grant the user account on the new Mac permission to read the data on the backups.
Special files/folders like Mail and Address Book / Contacts. You can't just copy the files since the structure has changed, but you may be able to import the old mailboxes via File > Import Mailboxes from the Mail menu on the new Mac. Similarly, you may be able to use File > Import in Contacts on the new Mac to import contacts.
(Note: it's late here, and I'll be going to bed soon, but will be back tomorrow.) -
My Retina Macbook Pro died due to a hardware error. During the diagnosis I was asked by Apple support personnel to format and reinstall OSX, which I did but did not fix the issue. The mainboard has since been replaced and I am trying to restore the TimeMachine backup I have.
The USB disk containing the TimeMachine backup contains TimeMachine backups for two different computers, my last Mac and the one I owned before that, which died earlier this year.
When I plug the drive in, I am able to browse the backups from both machines, as shown in the screenshot below.
The problem comes in when I attempt to run the migration assistant. I select the first option (restore from USB drive, etc). The migration assistant finds the USB volume and in the list underneath shows backups from a single computer - which it calls Unknown. The date of the last back is shown as 10 December 2012, the same date as the last backup from my old Mac (doolittle). There is no trace of the backups from my new mac.
Any ideas of how to get around this?
Thanks
Andrewhttp://pondini.org/OSX/MigrationProblems.html
-
The Migration Assistant can not find my Time Machine Backup
Hello,
I had to reinstall Mountain Lion on my iMac. So I made a fresh backup with TM on friday, everything was fine with it.
Then I formated my HD and installed 10.8.2 from the AppStore. After setting up the Admin-Account I opended the Migration Assistant
to migrate my User Account from the TM-Backup, but it is not showing up. There are 4 backups on the Time Capsule, but only 3 are
showing up. And for sure it is mine, which is missing. :-(
When I start in Revorery-Mode and choose to set up the iMac from a Time Machine Backup, the latest Backup is from the 1. of November,
which I really don't want to use right now.
Would be very nice to get some help in here.
Thank youNo, both the backup and the new system are OSX10.6.
I'm afraid your solution doesn't work. If I go through finder and open up the folders on the backup, and try, for example, to open my "Movies" folder (which is one I dearly hope to recover), I get a message that:
"The folder "Movies" can't be opened because you don't have permission to see its contents."
I have tried Repair Permissions, but this doesn't help. All of the important folders have a little red stop sign on them.
Thanks though.
Maybe you are looking for
-
Given file name or path contains Unicode or double-byte characters. Retry using ASCII characters for filename and path What does this mean? It is happening when I try to publish an OAM for Dreamweaver. Also: How can I specify the browser in Edge Anim
-
Duplicates appear in my All Images Folder
I just imported all my photos from my vdr d230 into my pictures folder. As I was browsing around through the finder I noticed that in the All Images folder there was all the images I imported plus all those images in a different size. The original si
-
How to use CR_workcenter_update function
Hi, I have a z-transaction,whenever the workcenter field is changing...i have to update in CO02 transaction also.So i am using the fm CR_workcenter_update .but in this function module no item no. or material number field is there..i have to update f
-
Hello, anyone know if there is a fix/workaround for the <canvas> problem with Firefox 3 (picture frames and shadows not shown) like the one for the photo album? Thanks.
-
1) I have imported my iPhoto Library 2) I realize that iPhoto keywords are distinct from apeture keywords and I need to select photos by keywords. a) I have selected the old iphoto keyword via the smart setting library. The old photos appear. I then