Migrant assistant logs off automatically

[NorthantsPete]

So ive inserted a new SSD intot he mac mini, Ive done a full time machine backup prior.

Ive installed fresh Big Sur, come to migrate and as soon as i insert the time machine backup drive it switches user (screen slides desktop to the left) and im left with my user ID and Setup User

It only does this when i insert the usb drive, it does it IMMEDIATELY if the drive was already inserted, so it must be crashing trying to access it

Repair says it cant repair it but the archives are accessible to open and it works ok when logged in normally.

IF i log in as me it just shows a migratio window sayign it needs to log off, the setup user i cant log on with any password

Frustratingly stuck now... any ideas?

 

[Fishrrman]

"Frustratingly stuck now... any ideas?"

Yes, I have ideas.
But probably not what you're thinking.

You said you just put a new SSD in.
What did you do with the previous (old) drive?
Do you have it sitting there on the table?

If you do, then quit fooling with a time machine backup that doesn't work.
(I've never used tm and wouldn't recommend it to anybody.)

Again, if the old drive is "in your hand", get this for it:

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

www.amazon.com

Very nice (I have a few), it snaps together, no tools needed.

Now, connect it to the Mini, and run the initial setup procedure again. When setup assistant asks from where you wish to migrate, select the old internal drive. It will work just fine.

 

[NorthantsPete]

That's great, thanks - being senior Windows engineer for the last 25+ years Im trying to adopt the 'Mac way' of doing things often getting my wrists slapped for doing things we may do differently in a windows environment... or extreme cases, unix way, which may break things proprietary.

In the end, as I cant let a challenge lie, i exported all the info i needed from the old disk, imported the apps and data files to a new build, verified its contents with a comparison job and just now have my external drive as a storage backup location syncing from the minis drive, another job syncing to B2 cloud. I think, for me it works better to know what processes are going on rather than trust something to do it all for me (which i thought should have been nailed by now and was hoping to adopt if thats the mac way, which it seems on their official forums). it was a nice idea, having an external device with an image of my system but alas it was not to be

cheers