TM Backup isn't listed in Migration Assistant - help!

Hello all,
The WD hard drive in my 24" iMac (Jupiter) recently crapped out. Apple Care to the rescue! They replaced the drive and loaded up a fresh install of 10.6.1. I came home with the intent to just restore from my Time Machine backups. But...
My backups aren't showing up in Migration Assistant, while the backups from my wife's MacBook are. The facts:
* My backups are there, but don't display in Migration Assistant.
* My backups, admittedly, excluded system files, but my understanding is that I should still be able to use Migration Assistant to restore user accounts/files, etc.
* My wife's backups are there, and do display in Migration Assistant.
* My wife's backups do include system files.
* In my backup folder (Backups.backupdb/Jupiter) there is a fairly large file called "2009-10-25-173341.inProgress", but it does not contain enough of a backup to be useful.
* The "Latest" backup is 2009-10-25-164450, but the folder in there only has the Applications and Developer folders, whereas every other backup folder (2009-10-25-143643 all the way back to 2009-2-26-185723) contains what I would expect to see; Applications, Developer, Library, Users, and a few extraneous files.
My question is: what do I do? I've tried a couple things already, but with no luck:
* I copied the "2009-10-25-173341.inProgress" file to the Desktop and deleted it from the Backups.backupdb/Jupiter folder, in case it was confusing Migration Assistant; this had no effect.
* I tried changing the "Latest" symlink to point to the backup that I think is valid (2009-10-25-143643) by copying over 10.5's version of fsaclctl (doesn't exist in 10.6) to disable ACLs for the Backups.backupdb folder, but it didn't appear to have any effect as far as Migration Assistant was concerned.
Is trying to get my backups to show up in Migration Assistant a lost cause? Would I be better off trying to manually copy files from the last full backup (2009-10-25-143643)? Please help; your time and help in this matter will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Lee

jlgoolsbee wrote:
* My backups, admittedly, excluded system files, but my understanding is that I should still be able to use Migration Assistant to restore user accounts/files, etc.
I think that's true, but hope once this is sorted out you'll remove that exclusion.
* In my backup folder (Backups.backupdb/Jupiter) there is a fairly large file called "2009-10-25-173341.inProgress", but it does not contain enough of a backup to be useful.
Yes, that's a failed or interrupted backup. The full restore option, Setup Assistant, Migration Assistant, and TM's "Star Wars" interface will all ignore it.
* The "Latest" backup is 2009-10-25-164450, but the folder in there only has the Applications and Developer folders, whereas every other backup folder (2009-10-25-143643 all the way back to 2009-2-26-185723) contains what I would expect to see; Applications, Developer, Library, Users, and a few extraneous files.
That's likely the problem. Setup Assistant and Migration Assistant only look at the last completed backup. (Why nothing else is there is separate mystery.)
My question is: what do I do? I've tried a couple things already, but with no luck:
* I copied the "2009-10-25-173341.inProgress" file to the Desktop and deleted it from the Backups.backupdb/Jupiter folder, in case it was confusing Migration Assistant; this had no effect.
+*Never, ever, move, change or delete anything in TM's backups via the Finder.+* This may not have caused damage, but it's possible to hopelessly corrupt your backups that way. And do not try to put it back.
* I tried changing the "Latest" symlink to point to the backup that I think is valid (2009-10-25-143643) by copying over 10.5's version of fsaclctl (doesn't exist in 10.6) to disable ACLs for the Backups.backupdb folder, but it didn't appear to have any effect as far as Migration Assistant was concerned.
Ditto. That may have been the "kiss of death." Change it back if you can.
Is trying to get my backups to show up in Migration Assistant a lost cause? Would I be better off trying to manually copy files from the last full backup (2009-10-25-143643)? Please help; your time and help in this matter will be greatly appreciated!
First, do a +*Repair Disk+* (not permissions) on your TM volume.
Then use TM to try to delete the 2009-10-25-164450 backup. (See #12 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum.)
That might then let MA see the 2009-10-25-143643 backup. If so, immediately go buy a lottery ticket -- you're one lucky fellow!
If not, your only remaining option is probably to try copying via the Finder. That's going to be rather "iffy" and, especially if you have a multi-user setup, will give you all sorts of permissions problems on the copied items.
Good luck!

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