New MBP won't restore form Time Machine ?

[dealmaker]

So I bought a new top spec latest model MacBook Pro Touch Bar machine to replace my 2015 15" Retina model.

I have backed up my old machine on an Apple Time Machine - the 3TB version .

I have also backed it up on an older 2TB version.

I have tried numerous times to start the new machine and tell it to set up from the Timeport. The restore either keeps failing part way through - or only partially pulls the files over (only circa 100GB off an entire 350GB back up)

I have tried doing it from from the other older TimeMachine....I have tried wiping the 3TB time machine - doing an entirely new Back Up and restoring from that - still failing.

I have also tried doing a Peer to peer transfer by connecting both machines (using Net work cables via a Router) - but again its not doing a full restore.

I am at my wits end as I need to have all this data on my new machines as the old one is promised to one of my staff.

Anyone have any suggestions or bright ideas what might be causing it to fail or not transfer the entire machine? I have not had problems in the past - whenever I have bought a new iMac its restored perfectly......so not sure if its an issue with the MacBook Pro - or High Sierra - or something else! ??

 

[Mike Boreham]

My experience of restoring from a Time Machine backup has never been good. I have had much more success cloning the old Mac onto an external drive and connecting this to the new Mac, and pointing Setup Assistant at the clone.

You could try connecting the two machines in Target Disk Mode directly , not via a router. Might need to buy a dongle.

 

[deeddawg]

2018's run a special version of High Sierra. You can't just restore a non-2018 TM backup onto a 2018 as I understand it. Instead, you need to point migration assistant at the TM backup as part of the new-system-setup.

Now your specific problem may be different, but my suggestion at this point is grab an external HDD of sufficient size and do a new Time Machine backup to it (or close your 2015 system to the drive). Then boot the new machine into Internet Recovery mode. Wipe the SSD with Disk Utility. Quit Disk Utility. Then re-install High Sierra, clicking on Reinstall macOS.

Then during the reinstall you'll have the option to use MigrationAssistant to bring in your data; this is where you'd then select the TimeMachine backup.

 

[dealmaker]

2018's run a special version of High Sierra. You can't just restore a non-2018 TM backup onto a 2018 as I understand it. Instead, you need to point migration assistant at the TM backup as part of the new-system-setup.

Now your specific problem may be different, but my suggestion at this point is grab an external HDD of sufficient size and do a new Time Machine backup to it (or close your 2015 system to the drive). Then boot the new machine into Internet Recovery mode. Wipe the SSD with Disk Utility. Quit Disk Utility. Then re-install High Sierra, clicking on Reinstall macOS.

Then during the reinstall you'll have the option to use MigrationAssistant to bring in your data; this is where you'd then select the TimeMachine backup.

Deedawg.

Thanks for this - yes this is indeed the way I am trying to do it - still fails unfortunately!!

 

[Naimfan]

2018's run a special version of High Sierra. You can't just restore a non-2018 TM backup onto a 2018 as I understand it. Instead, you need to point migration assistant at the TM backup as part of the new-system-setup.

Thanks for explaining it.

That is ludicrous.

And worse - Migration Assistant doesn't work either.

Apple has lost the plot.

 

[iMacDragon]

I'm not sure what the issue is, but I restored from a 2015 time machine backup onto 2018 no problems.

 

[deeddawg]

.Thanks for this - yes this is indeed the way I am trying to do it - still fails unfortunately!!

Odd, not sure what to suggest then. The process I outlined is how I migrated from my 2012 Mac mini to my 2018 MBP. Worked perfectly. About 400GB or so.

Thanks for explaining it.

That is ludicrous.

IMHO you shouldn't be doing a "Restore from Time Machine Backup" onto a different system than the one you backed up, so I'm not sure what exactly is ludicrous about it not working.

And worse - Migration Assistant doesn't work either.

Worked perfectly for me as mentioned above. No idea what the issue you had was.

I'm not sure what the issue is, but I restored from a 2015 time machine backup onto 2018 no problems.

Interesting. Perhaps I'm incorrect about it working/not working -- you truly did the restore and not reinstall?

 

[iMacDragon]

Interesting. Perhaps I'm incorrect about it working/not working -- you truly did the restore and not reinstall?

Actually, sorry, I may be mistaken, I did a migration onto freshly installed OS from time machine. A full restore onto system with no OS installed would not be expected to work due to needing the new drivers etc.

 

[deeddawg]

Actually, sorry, I may be mistaken, I did a migration onto freshly installed OS from time machine. A full restore onto system with no OS installed would not be expected to work due to needing the new drivers etc.

Okay, that makes more sense -- sounds like you did the same as I described; wipe the drive, reinstall macOS, point Migration Assistant at the TimeMachine backup during setup.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Try it "my way".
Is the OLD MacBook still running?
If so, I suggest you do this:

1. On the OLD MBP, download CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper. Both are FREE to download and use for 30 days. "Doing it my way" will cost you nothing except some time.

2. Use CCC to do a "Full clone" of the OLD MBP to an external drive. Make sure that you ERASE whatever is on the drive before you do the clone.

3. I would suggest you remove any "already-transferred data" from the NEW MBP. If it was me, I'd do it this way:
a. On the NEW MPB, create a new administrative user account. Call it "temp". It's not going to be your "regular" account.
b. Log into the temp account.
c. DELETE your "regular" account folder (don't archive it, DELETE it)
d. Now, you should have only the OS and the temp account on the new MBP.

4. Connect the cloned backup.
5. Open migration assistant
6. Select what you wish to migrate over
7. Let migration assistant "do its thing". It may take a while.

When done, you should have your "regular" user account, plus the temp account.
You can now delete the temp account if you wish, but I recommend that you "leave it there". It will consume very little space and may come in handy as a "diagnostic tool" in the future.

If you do it this way, I guarantee your chances of success will be 90+%...

 

[dealmaker]

OP:

Try it "my way".
Is the OLD MacBook still running?
If so, I suggest you do this:

1. On the OLD MBP, download CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper. Both are FREE to download and use for 30 days. "Doing it my way" will cost you nothing except some time.

2. Use CCC to do a "Full clone" of the OLD MBP to an external drive. Make sure that you ERASE whatever is on the drive before you do the clone.

3. I would suggest you remove any "already-transferred data" from the NEW MBP. If it was me, I'd do it this way:
a. On the NEW MPB, create a new administrative user account. Call it "temp". It's not going to be your "regular" account.
b. Log into the temp account.
c. DELETE your "regular" account folder (don't archive it, DELETE it)
d. Now, you should have only the OS and the temp account on the new MBP.

4. Connect the cloned backup.
5. Open migration assistant
6. Select what you wish to migrate over
7. Let migration assistant "do its thing". It may take a while.

When done, you should have your "regular" user account, plus the temp account.
You can now delete the temp account if you wish, but I recommend that you "leave it there". It will consume very little space and may come in handy as a "diagnostic tool" in the future.

If you do it this way, I guarantee your chances of success will be 90+%...

You Sir, are a Steely-eyed Missile man...and I salute you!!!!

"Your way" worked (admittedly on the second attempt) - and I am overjoyed to avoid a half day ball-ache working with an Apple "Genius"

Thank you so much.

This has highlighted to me how useless Time Machine really is!

 

[Mike Boreham]

You Sir, are a Steely-eyed Missile man...and I salute you!!!!

"Your way" worked (admittedly on the second attempt) - and I am overjoyed to avoid a half day ball-ache working with an Apple "Genius"

Thank you so much.

This has highlighted to me how useless Time Machine really is!

Your experience confirms what I said in post#2 .... migrating from Time Machine is flaky, and much better to migrate from a clone.

I am pretty sure (for next time and benefit of others) my similar suggestion in post#2 would have worked for you, ie restore from a clone but use Setup Assistant (which is Migration Assistant run at the end of the install process).

This avoids creating temporary users and deleting them, which can lead to your finally migrated account being UUID 502 or higher. If the UUID was 501 on your original machine, you may have permissions problems with files on externals unless UUID is also 501 on your new machine.

What is the UUID of your migrated user? ....Sys Prefs>Users and Groups>right click your user>Advanced options

 

[dealmaker]

Your experience confirms what I said in post#2 .... migrating from Time Machine is flaky, and much better to migrate from a clone.

I am pretty sure (for next time and benefit of others) my similar suggestion in post#2 would have worked for you, ie restore from a clone but use Setup Assistant (which is Migration Assistant run at the end of the install process).

This avoids creating temporary users and deleting them, which can lead to your finally migrated account being UUID 502 or higher. If the UUID was 501 on your original machine, you may have permissions problems with files on externals unless UUID is also 501 on your new machine.

What is the UUID of your migrated user? ....Sys Prefs>Users and Groups>right click your user>Advanced options

Yes indeed - may thanks - I guess at that stage I was still convinced that the Apple Time Machine "Just works" - maybe not. The UUID of my account not he new machine is indeed now 502....I hope that doesn't create an issue for the future!

 

[Mike Boreham]

Yes indeed - may thanks - I guess at that stage I was still convinced that the Apple Time Machine "Just works" - maybe not. The UUID of my account not he new machine is indeed now 502....I hope that doesn't create an issue for the future!

Depends if you have data on externals which was put there by the UUID 501 user on your old Mac. Try opening stuff if you have. May be OK...what was your UUID on your old Mac?

It is not too late to redo the install and migrate with Set-up Assistant which will move your user to new Mac with same UUID.

 

[IngerMan]

Delete