No0b Needs Lil' Help w/NRMBP

Hi,
Been lurking around here for a while and now after doing many searches I'm unable to migrate from my "old" MBP running SL 10.6.8 to the new MBP with Mt.Lion.

Done support @Apple, called Apple Support got kicked up to a "supervisor" who was also unable to help me. I hope someone here will be able to punch me in. I'll review what I've done to see if someone can detect a flaw that is preventing this transfer.

I connect the two computers w/firewire. Turn Airport off on both machines.

Put the "old" computer in to target disc mode and see the firewire icon on the desktop.

The "old" hard drive icon appears on the new machine's desktop. (I can click on the icon and browse the old computer apps, files etc. so it's connected)

Go to migration asst. on the new computer.

The new machine cannot detect the old machine in migration asst. .

Ok, different approach:

Open migration asst. on old machine, tell it to search for the new and transfer info to the new. Searches but does not find new.

Go to the new open migration asst. tell it I want to go from a mac to a mac and it finds the old machine but the old never finds the new.

Then I reverse the procedure and the old machine finds the new but then the new cannot find the old machine.

Waz-sup'? Neither myself or the people at Apple are able to figure this all out.
I'm hoping someone will have a solution to this perplexing problem. I know that prior planning prevents perplexing problems. I planned but am still perplexed.

Final question: Use the Apple superdirve for CD/DVD or is there a better alternative.

I hope I've given enough information, Thanks

duervo said:

1. Backup the old system with Time Machine.
2. Use Migration Assistant on new machine to migrate you onto it from the Time Machine backup.

That's what I did when I got my new system in December.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the prompt reply.

This method is, to me, a little sketchy. I've got about 300 gigs on my hard drive and the time machine only wants to migrate 29.6 gigs.

Seems like something is missing. I have thousands of pages doc's, and about 45gigs in iTunes plus PDF's videos and photos in iPhoto and whatnot so I'm still a little confused. (I know, not that hard to do)

I know I will only migrate the Apps that I've added so ..........

Anyway, it's a good idea I'm just a little skeptical that it's really migrating all that I've added to the old computer.

Thanks again for the help

switon said:

Hi MacMan48,

Migration Assistant with Time Machine is not perfect, but if all of the videos, music, photos, etc. are in your home folder, then it should move it over. Are you using the same accounts (short usernames) on both machines?

I would do the migration, and since you can use Target Disk Mode, then any directories that did not migrate with MA you can always manually copy them in Target Disk Mode. Personally I'd use the Terminal commands "ditto" or "rsync" to do this copy, but that is just me.

Good luck,
Switon

Click to expand...

My issue with the TM is it's only moving about 30 gigs of 300 gigs so I'm thinking something isn't right. It may be me that isn't right in the chain but I think the TM should move all my files etc. .

I'm sorry, I must not have been clear. Target Disk Mode is a no go on this effort. Been trying to figure out why but neither my self or Apple has an answer.

Using the Terminal commands sounds interesting but is probably above my pay grade i.e. I don't know how to use that.

Thanks for the ideas.

KPOM said:

Normally, it should. Are you sure you are selecting all the files in the dialog box?

Another option, if you can't get target disk mode working (perhaps it's something with the Thunderbolt Firewire adapter you are using to connect your new Mac to the old one?), is to clone your old drive to an external USB drive, and run Migration Assistant from that drive. If you get a USB 3.0 enclosure, it should take a couple of hours on your new Mac.

Click to expand...

Yes I'm selecting all the files in the dialog box.

I was wondering if the adaptor could be the problem. I'm having to use one for the ethernet connection from the TM as well.

I may have to do the clone method since nothing else is working out.

Thanks for the help.

switon said:

I MacMan48,

Do I understand you correctly, you are using a Thunderbolt -> ethernet adapter from your MBP and then also using a TB -> ethernet adapter for a separate Thunderbolt disk volume that your TM backup is on? If so, then this I believe will not work, as your TM disk does not have the necessary drivers for the TB -> ethernet adapter to work.

I thought that in your first post you said you were able to get Target Disk Mode working from your new ML MBP to your old SL system. If so, then you should be able to copy the files without problems. Perhaps you didn't start the Target Disk Mode properly?

Good luck,
Switon

Click to expand...

I think we're saying the same thing. I have tried the Target Disk Mode with a firewire adaptor into the new MBP Thunderbolt port.

Also when I connect the TM via ethernet cable I use an adaptor from ethernet to Thunderbolt into the new MBP.

Target Disc Mode in functional on the old machine. But, when in TDM the new machine is unable to "find" the old. Prior to opening up Migration Asst. the old machine's icon is on the desktop of the new machine. You can enter the hd of the old machine from the icon and browse but in Mig Asst. it is unable to "find" the old one.

Apple sent me so sort of Migration Asst. upgrade for the SL on the old one but that didn't help.

Thanks again for the help.

switon said:

Hi MacMan48,

So, let me get this straight: your TM backup is on a NAS having an ethernet port, and you attach an ethernet cable to the ethernet port on your TM NAS disk, run the ethernet cable to an Ethernet->TB adapter that you plug into your MBP? If so, then then should work. I thought you were using TB-Ethernet adapters on both ends---my mistake.

Also, it seems like TDM is working when your old machine is in TDM and your new machine mounts the old machine's disk. It is just that MA does not work in this situation. But since TDM does work, then you can copy any directories from your old machine to your new one by standard means (not MA). So do your MA to begin with, and any directories that did not copy over to the new machine then use TDM and perform a regular copy from the old machine to the new. As I mentioned, I would use "rsync" to perform this copy, as it does checksumming to make certain that the copied files are identical to the originals.

Regards,
Switon

Click to expand...

Yes, ethernet adaptor only on the TB side.

I will give your suggestion a try and just copy the directories directly w/o MA.

How would I use the "rsync"? I'm not proficient on the terminal utility.

Thanks for the help.

switon said:

Hi,

The utility "rsync" is easy to use and is well-documented by its manpage. Just open a Terminal window and type "man rsync" and you will see how to use it. There are even examples near the bottom of the manpage.

As I mentioned, the beauty of rsync is that it performs checksumming so you are assured of an exact copy and it knows about owners, permissions, and links and does the right thing in these cases. And you can copy either between directories on the same volume, or locally between volumes on the same machine, or even over the network between different machines.

Switon

P.S. I think I would do the MA first and then check what it didn't copy over, then use rsync to copy over the things that MA did not do.

Click to expand...

Switon, you da man. Thanks for the help. I just used this for my wife's new RMBP and it worked flawless.

Now I have to figure out how to get my non-native programs over. Mt. Lion doesn't play nice with older software.

switon said:

Hi MacMan48,

I'm glad that "rsync" worked for you. It turns out that many "syncing" apps simply use the rsync remote update protocol and the rsync utility itself to accomplish their magic (for instance, Carbon Copy Cloner uses rsync to do a complete clone of the boot drive)...so I always think that if the apps are using rsync, then why don't I use rsync? The rsync utility turns out to be quite nice.

Another utility I like is "ditto", ditto can copy files based on a `Bill of Materials' file and it does the right things with respect to permissions and links. Ditto also attempts the copy under all circumstances and if it fails for some reason it doesn't kill the copy, it just records the failure and continues. All of these are nice advantages.

Regards,
Switon

Click to expand...

Great information. I will use both in the future. Thanks again.