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Migration assistant and old MBP

T

th3godf4th3r

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 21, 2013
20
0
So i just got my MBA today and i have a 2009 MBP that I would like to transfer my stuff from. I went out and bought and thunderbolt to thunderbolt adapter and read that you had to put the source mac in target mode (which i did) and then choose import from disk but even with the two computer connected via thunderbolt i cannot get them to see one another. They can see each other over wifi but i do not want to wait 10 hours for it to finish.


Is there some trick i am missing or does is it not supported?

old mbp: is snow leopard
new mba: mountain lion
 
I went from a 2008 MBP to a 2011 MBA. Just plugged in my USB time machine backup disk, went out for a walk, and when I returned my MBA was setup exactly the same as the old MBP.

Upgraded to a 2013 MBA this summer and used the same technique to move all the stuff from the 2011 MBA. Also worked like a charm. Don't you have a time machine backup of your old MBP? That's all you need, it's not necessary to connect the actual computers themselves.
 
th3godf4th3r said:
So i just got my MBA today and i have a 2009 MBP that I would like to transfer my stuff from. I went out and bought and thunderbolt to thunderbolt adapter and read that you had to put the source mac in target mode (which i did) and then choose import from disk but even with the two computer connected via thunderbolt i cannot get them to see one another. They can see each other over wifi but i do not want to wait 10 hours for it to finish.


Is there some trick i am missing or does is it not supported?

old mbp: is snow leopard
new mba: mountain lion
Click to expand...

Your problem is a 2009 MBP does not have Thunderbolt. I suspect you are putting that TB cable in the display port, but that is not going to work for a TB connection.

Do you have a spare disk around you can use for a Time Machine backup, then you can use that as the source of the Migration Assistant import.
 
I had the same exact problem the other day with a Mid-2010 MBP -- it was a horrible design decision to use the same port for a display-out connector and a data connector. The only way to tell them apart is a tiny symbol on the side of the case that's very hard to see.

You can solve this with a Thunderbolt-to-FireWire adapter and a FireWire 800 cable. I don't remember if the 2009 MBPs had the 800 port, so if not, use a 800-to-400 cable or adapter.
 
Completely forgot about that, I am an idiot. Guess I get my $40 back though!

Thanks guys
 
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