Migration Assistant won't recognize old computer

Hi everyone!
I recently purchased a new MBP 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7, running 10.8.3 now. I'm trying to use migration assistant do transfer my files from a MBP 2.8 GHz Interl Core 2 Duo (running 10.8.3 as well) via firewire. I've puchased a thunderbolt to firewire adapter since the new MBP is not support firewire port anymore. However, the two computer was recognized when I was using wireless transfer but not the firewire connection. The wireless transfer was estimated over 80 hrs to transfer the files. After talking with Apple Support, I was informed that the firewire will be must faster. But the two computer won't recognize each other! What did I do wrong here? Please help!

I have the exact same problem. When setting up the new MacBook, I attached the firewire cable and restarted the PowerBook into target disk mode. The Firewire symbol appears on the screen but the MacBook gives the error message "There are no versions of MacOS X available on your old Mac". I wanted to test if it is a problem with the MacBook, and found that the MacBook will recognize and mount a portable firewire hard drive. Furthermore, when I tried attaching it to an intel iMac, it recognized it and was ready to import files from it. Therefore it seems that the problem is that the OS X 10.4.11 on the PowerBook is somehow 'invisible' to the MacBook migration assistant. I tried repairing permissions on the old PowerBook, but that didn't help. In the meantime I also ran software update on the MacBook, which brought it up to the very latest version of Leopard.
Could it be that the version of OS X needs to be the same on both machines? Next I am going to backup the PowerBook, then upgrade it to Leopard, then try again. I am surprised more people haven't had this problem, at least I have seen few postings about it.

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Migration Assistant Won't Recognize "old" MBP via Fire Wire

I purchased a new MacBook: 2.16 GHz, Intel Core 2 Duo, 1 GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, 160 gig drive
As usual when I get a new Mac, I erased the drive installed OS X.4.11-Tiger and personalized the mac.
Along the way, something odd happened. I cannot double click on any application and open it—unless—I place its alias into the dock. Then it opens.
I have run disk repair as well as permissions repair to no avail.
Want to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from my MBP to the MB. However, when I connect the Fire Wire, restart the "old" MBP with the "T" key depressed, the firewire wheel shows—but—the MB will not recognize the MBP. So, I can't transfer any data.
MBP has OS 10.4.10 while the MB has OS 10.4.11. Could this be the issue?
Anyone have any ideas as to how I can get past this?
Thanks,
Tek

I have the exact same problem. When setting up the new MacBook, I attached the firewire cable and restarted the PowerBook into target disk mode. The Firewire symbol appears on the screen but the MacBook gives the error message "There are no versions of MacOS X available on your old Mac". I wanted to test if it is a problem with the MacBook, and found that the MacBook will recognize and mount a portable firewire hard drive. Furthermore, when I tried attaching it to an intel iMac, it recognized it and was ready to import files from it. Therefore it seems that the problem is that the OS X 10.4.11 on the PowerBook is somehow 'invisible' to the MacBook migration assistant. I tried repairing permissions on the old PowerBook, but that didn't help. In the meantime I also ran software update on the MacBook, which brought it up to the very latest version of Leopard.
Could it be that the version of OS X needs to be the same on both machines? Next I am going to backup the PowerBook, then upgrade it to Leopard, then try again. I am surprised more people haven't had this problem, at least I have seen few postings about it.

Migration Assistant Won't Recognize External Hard Drive

I have a PowerPC G5 and made a bootable backup of the computer's content to an external firewire hard drive. I tested the backup to make sure that it booted and everything was fine. So, I then did a clean install of Leopard to the machine. After the computer restarted, I reconnected my external drive and it mounted fine. However, when I went to use Migration Assistant to bring over all of my applications, it would not recognize the hard drive as an option to migrate files from.
The hard drive is formatted as Apple Partition Map, and works fine as a bootable copy. Does anyone know why Migration Assistant will not recognize it?
I recently did a clean install of Leopard on my Macbook this weekend using a different external drive with a bootable backup of the drive (GUID formatted) and then used the migration assistant to move all of my files and everything worked just fine.
I can't find any reason that I shouldn't be able to get my applications through migration assistant from the external hard drive but maybe someone knows how to fix this or of a workaround.

Very curious, indeed.
Welcome to the Apple forums where we do try to sort things out
Your delineation of the problem and comparison to your MBP is perfect.
I migrated my G5 from a second internal disk, but actually used the setup assistant when Leopard came alive.
You might see what happens if you eject your external HD and then do what you need to to connect it back (turn off/on - unplug/plug, etc.)
Are there any errors when Migration assistant runs?
It is perhaps that Spotlight is doing its thing and the drive is not available until it is indexed?
I would remove the external HD temporarily from the SpotLight indexing list and then see what happens.
I recall that there were some odd issues with external drives taking up to 1/2 hour to be recognized by Leopard, but I don't recall why.
I am not sure these things will help, but they will eliminate some of the possibilities, and when we have eliminated the probable, what is left is where the answer lies
I wonder if Leopard is confused by the external drive not being GUID?
Try this - - connect the GUID external drive to your G5 and see if Migration assistant sees it. Obviously do not migrate anything, but if you can see that one, we may have a solution.
Keep us posted.

Migration Assistant Won't Recognize My Old iBook

Well ... my brand new MacBook ... all set to move an account from my old iBook ... over ... and it won't go ...
I have followed the instructions exactly ... restarted my iBook in Target Disk Mode .... firewire attached ... and Migration Assistant says ...
"There are no versions of MacOS X available on your old Mac .....
Any suggestions .... it's not my firewire cable ... I use it all the time ... everythings hooked up right ..

I have the exact same problem. When setting up the new MacBook, I attached the firewire cable and restarted the PowerBook into target disk mode. The Firewire symbol appears on the screen but the MacBook gives the error message "There are no versions of MacOS X available on your old Mac". I wanted to test if it is a problem with the MacBook, and found that the MacBook will recognize and mount a portable firewire hard drive. Furthermore, when I tried attaching it to an intel iMac, it recognized it and was ready to import files from it. Therefore it seems that the problem is that the OS X 10.4.11 on the PowerBook is somehow 'invisible' to the MacBook migration assistant. I tried repairing permissions on the old PowerBook, but that didn't help. In the meantime I also ran software update on the MacBook, which brought it up to the very latest version of Leopard.
Could it be that the version of OS X needs to be the same on both machines? Next I am going to backup the PowerBook, then upgrade it to Leopard, then try again. I am surprised more people haven't had this problem, at least I have seen few postings about it.

Migration Assistant won't recognize Time Machine Backup

I recenly got my old thunderbolt-less macbook pro back from a repair and I can't seem to resotre my data. My external drive it reconized in finder, but not in Migration Assistant. I have updated to the newest OS and still nothing. I was tunning mavrics before the repair so this should be working right? Thanks for any help you can offer.

A possible reason for backups not to be available in Migration Assistant is that the computer doesn't have a name, or the name is corrupt. Open the Sharing preference pane and check the name. If you can't do that, reset the PRAM. Credit to ASC member Csnote for this observation.
Most likely, some folders were excluded from your backups as the result of a failed or aborted software installation.
Starting from a clean installation of OS X, set up a new administrator account and log in. Enter Time Machine and press the key combination shift-command-C. The front window will show all mounted volumes. All snapshots should now be accessible.* Select the one you want and navigate to your home folder (in the Users folder at the top level of the old startup volume.)
You should now be able to restore your user data. I suggest you do this in two stages. Quit all applications except the Finder before you begin.
Restore all the visible items at the top level of your home folder.
Hold down the option key and select Go ▹ Library from the Finder menu bar. Enter Time Machine and restore all items in the Library folder. Log out and log back in as soon as the restore is complete.
Any other invisible folders or files at the top level of your home folder that you want to preserve will have to be restored separately. For most users, that isn't necessary.
You'll have to reinstall all third-party applications from scratch, or restore them from another kind of backup, if you have one.
You'll have another problem if this is a new computer, or if you erased the startup volume: The next time you back up, Time Machine won't recognize any files as being the same as they were before, and will make a full copy of all files. There might not be enough space on one or more of your backup volumes for that. There are different ways of dealing with that situation, depending on your needs. The easiest way is to set your backup drives aside, if possible, until you're sure you'll no longer need the data on them, then erase them and start over. Meanwhile start a new backup on one or more empty storage devices. If that solution isn't workable for you, ask for instructions.
*If you don't see any snapshots in Time Machine, exit the time-travel view and then hold down the option key while selecting
Browse Other Backup Disks...
from the Time Machine menu, which has an icon that looks like a clock running backwards. Select the backups of your computer by its previous name. If you don't have the Time Machine menu, open the Time Machine preference pane in System Preferences and check the box marked
Show Time Machine in menu bar

Migration Assistant Won't Recognize Time Machine Back Up

My old white macbook just died. I bought a new macbook air to replace it. I am trying to use the time machine back up in migration assistant but it won't work. Since the Air doesn't have firewire I am connecting the external drive to my AirPort Extreme. It recognizes the drive but when I click to use it I get a connection error message. I tried hooking up the drive by USB but it won't mount at all. What am I doing wrong? I don't really want to do a full Time Machine restore because the Air has iLife '11 and the macbook only had iLife '10 and I don't want to have to pay for it again.

First of all, Migration Assistant is smart enough to keep the newer version of iLife.
Second, your MacBook Air came with a restore drive (a little flash drive) that has iLife on it. You don't have to purchase it again.

HT4796 I started Migration Assistant and then my old computer spontaneously restarted. I am back in Migration Assistant but my [new] iMac is still waiting for input from my old computer, and my old computer is waiting for the iMac to connect. What do I

I have a new iMac. I'm using Migration Assistant to transfer files. My old computer spontaneously shut down. I restarted it and am trying to use Migration Asst again, but each computer is waiting on input from the other one. What do I do?

Let me see if I've gotten this right! You want to remove an account from BOTH machines? Do this for your new machine first, then for the other.
Click the Apple logo on the top left of the screen, System Preferences, Users and Groups (under Systems), unlock the lock in the window if its locked (you need to know the password), select the user that you wish to remove, and click the - sign next to the + sign for Login options. A window will pop up with some options. Select Delete this user and securely, and click 'Delete user'.
After this, do an update from the App Store.
Thats all there is to it.
For the other machine repeat the process except for one thing. Before you delete the user in this case YOU, you will have to give Administrator priviledges to your son bu checking the box 'Allow user to administer this computer'.
Do NOT do anything from Finder ... if you dont know how to fix the consequences of the problems caused.
There is no need to unauthorize your iTunes account on your new machine. Do it on the old machine though.

Migration Assistant Won't Recognize My Backup Drive

Before swapping out my MacBook Core 2 duo Intel 2.0 GHz HDD for a spankin' new Crucial M4 SSD, I backed up everything to my external LaCie drive. After doing a clean install of Snow Leopard and updating it to 10.6.8 to my SSD I tried Migration Assistant (MA) to integrate my backups. I had my LaCie conected via firewire to the MacBook and the partitions on the drive appeared on the desktop. But when I asked MA to open the external drive, which is the middle of the 3 options offered, nothing happens except for the spinning wheel - not the beach ball but the progress wheel. And it never stops. Why can't I access the drive that shows up on the desktop?

I ran Disk Utility and "repaired" the volume that has my backup on it.There was nothing to be repaired. DU set it as a bootable volume. Migration Assistant still doesn't recognize it. Guess I'll just reinstall my old apps and drag and drop files to them.

Migration Assistant doesn't recognize old iMac OSX

I just bought a new iMac 20 inch running Tiger. In the migration assistant (first initial setup), it asks if I would like to transfer files and settings from an old iMac using a FireWire cable (I do). After it prompts me, I boot my "old" iMac (PowerPC G4 running OS 10.2.8) in FireWire Target Disk Mode (pressing "T" while restarting). Then connect the FireWire cable from my old iMac to the new iMac. The migration assistant says that OSX is not installed on my "old" computer (which it is).
I've done some research on this forum about this topic. I've checked if my old Mac needs a firmware update (it doesn't). How can I fix this problem - I would really like to run the migration assistant from the get-go. Any assistance would be very appreciated. Thanks.
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.4)

One thing I don't know if it is relevant, but I found having the same username already created on my new machine when I ran the migration assistant caused it to fail.
If you haven't created anything essential on your new Mac, run the restore disks over again, and create an alternative user name:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61802
Once that is done, then try to run the Migration Assistant from the Applications -> Utilities folder, and then login the old username and delete the new one.

Migration Assistant won't recognize computers-Snow Leopard to Lion

Hello everyone-
I just bought a new Quad Core MacBook Pro that came with Lion installed. I am trying to use Migration Assistant to transfer data from my older Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro that has Snow Leopard installed. When I run Migration Assistant with the computers connected, it doesn't recognize either computer... It just sits there indefinitely acting as if it is searching but never sees either of the machines. I have tried with both computers connected via Firewire (using several different cables just to be sure the cables were good) and also with an Ethernet cable. I experience the same problem, regardless. Also, I have downloaded the Migration Assistant update for Snow Leopard, and it hasn't helped. Am I missing something obvious? Thanks in advance-

make sure that both computers are up to date
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1420
and for your lion, it should be at least 10.7.1

Migration Assistant won't recognize my Time Capsule's sparse-bundle so I can migrate to my new iMac

Background.......
iMac (intel core duo) hard drive crashed while backing up to time capsule. Had Snow Leopard OS 10.6 (100% up-to-date)
2. Purchased new iMac with Lion. 100% updated.
3. Want to migrate from Time Capsule to new iMac
Problem.......
4. Migration Assistant does not see (recognize) my sparsebundle, message says it's "possible that it is in use." But it's not of course.
5. If I mount the Time Capsule from the Finder, I can see the sparsebundle I want to migrate. So, it present but the Migration Assistant doesn't see it!
6. Time Capsule recognizes the sparsebundle of my other Mac (#2) that backs up to the same Time Capsule
Question.......
What do I have to do to get Migration Assistant to recognize my sparsebundle so I can migrate to my new iMac?
Thanks

I finally solved the problem by disconnecting the Time Capsule ethernet cable from the internet. Then the sparsebundle suddenly appeared.

Migration Assistant can't see old computer

I just got a new MBP running Snow Leopard 10.6.3. I want to transfer the contents of my old computer, a Power Book G4 running 10.5.8. I have them connected with a Belkin Firewire 800/800 9 pin to 9 pin cable. When I launch the MA on the MBP, I get to the screen that says to restart the old mac holding down the T key until the Firewire symbol appears. I do that and the MA screen is still "waiting for the other Mac to restart". It doesn't see the old Mac. Any ideas as to why? Thanks.

Took the computer to the Apple store and like your car at the mechanic, it behaved perfectly. No problem with target disk, and the old volume mounted on the new desk top. All data migrated successfully. Thanks.

Migration Assistant Won't Recognize Time Machine Disk

Hi,
I'm trying to restore a Time Machine backup using migration assistant. The backup is on a USB disk connected directly to the computer. I can open the volume and browse the files. I used Disk Utility to check the volume and it found no errors.
When I run Migration Assistant, it sees no backup disks and instead tries to search the network for other computers, even though I said I had a disk.
This is very frustrating. What am I doing wrong?
Frank

You may have been bitten by a bug we've just identified.
See #D10 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
If so, home folders are not affected, and there may be a way to recover them.
Post back with your results and we'll work on a recovery plan.

Migration Assistant - won't find other computer on network

Hello,
I have a brand new MacBook Air, and I am trying to use the Migration Assistant to transfer data from my old MacBook Pro via wireless network.
Both computers don't get any further than "looking for other computers" and they just sit there for ages looking but don't find anything. Both are connected to the same network.
Any suggestions?

Rather than connecting "on the same network", use Create Network from the airport menu icon and connect the two notebooks directly and thus get an "N" connection. Ensure that you turn on file sharing, turn off the firewalls on both computers on this singular network you have created. Then you should be able to migrate if you are the "owner" or administrator as set up on both computers. Follow the directions... post back if this does or does not work.

Migration assistant won't recognize maxtor one touch

I have a Maxtor One Touch 4, 250 GB external hard drive, used for PC backups with about 230 GB of data. I have connected it to my iMac, using the USB 2.0 interface cable, and I can see all the folders and files on the drive through Finder. I can even open them up with Office for Mac, etc. However, I want to migrate these files onto my iMac using Migration Assistant, but Migration Assistant cannot find the drive it seems. It just sits there spinning forever, and never finds the drive...dumbfounded.

Yes, that is the case. I have since run Migration Assistant from the original source PC, and they came over to my Mac successfully. But I am disappointed with a number of issues I now face: e.g. importing music files into ITunes account has resulted in duplicate songs, no playlists preserved, etc. I guess I expected more from the Migration Assistant, now I've got lots of work ahead to make sense of where all the files ended up...

Migration Assistant won't recognize old computer

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