Old late'08 MBP transfer to new '16 iMac

[ObuckiO]

Hi folks.
Late 08 MBP(Yosemite) to new 16 iMac(Sierra)
Trying to manually transfer files with Apple support on screen share didn't work out after hang up.

-I first bought Thunderbolt cable(2m) in the attempt to target disc mode. MacBook only showed "Y" shaped symbol(2 = 1 box with circle in middle). Plus, no disc showed up on iMac.

-Then, we skipped the migration assistant and shot for sharing "Back to My Mac" procedure.
We got that to work until iTunes music folder(near 300 songs), got about 25% transferred***Hung up with Apple care here*** 10mins later, transfer then failed. Which it showed it was estimating 1hr 30mins to finish.

-My question is: does anyone know the compatibility on Thunderbolt between these two on why the target disc mode has that symbol and not the lightning bolt symbol? Or, is there another way I could use the thunderbolt cable in another fashion to help with the unsure Back to my Mac finish?

Thanks, everyone in advance.
PS: Migration assistant was only bypassed at first due to not wanting entire MacBook to transfer to iMac.

 

[shinyleaf]

Hi folks.
Late 08 MBP(Yosemite) to new 16 iMac(Sierra)
Trying to manually transfer files with Apple support on screen share didn't work out after hang up.

-I first bought Thunderbolt cable(2m) in the attempt to target disc mode. MacBook only showed "Y" shaped symbol(2 = 1 box with circle in middle). Plus, no disc showed up on iMac.

The Late 08 MBP doesn't have Thunderbolt. Look at that port on the side carefully. It's a displayport symbol, not the Thunderbolt lightning one. So when you put it into target disk mode, it's going to FireWire instead (that's the Y symbol).

The assistant transfer is slow probably because it's going over wifi. Because that's the only connection it could find.

 

[dangerfish]

Can you plug them both into a router via Ethernet?

 

[ObuckiO]

The Late 08 MBP doesn't have Thunderbolt. Look at that port on the side carefully. It's a displayport symbol, not the Thunderbolt lightning one. So when you put it into target disk mode, it's going to FireWire instead (that's the Y symbol).

The assistant transfer is slow probably because it's going over wifi. Because that's the only connection it could find.

Thanks. Didn't notice that.
Does the Back to my Mac seem my best luck? I'm unsure if migration assistant goes over wifi or not(?).
I assume there are some other slow methods if all fails, but I rue to get failed for hours of attempts.

I very appreciate the reply, Thanks
[doublepost=1478573877][/doublepost]

Can you plug them both into a router via Ethernet?

Yes, good call. However, I need to find my extra ethernet cord.
How do you of about this method? Back to my Mac?

 

[ObuckiO]

2 ethernet cables worked on getting iTunes and iPhoto(main concern), thru iMac's Finder~share and drag.
Although, I wanted some selections out of Documents, but wasn't able to drag the items at all. Even tried some app's, which I assumed wasn't going to work anyhow.

Nevertheless, I got the main bunch I was hoping for and i'll get the rest in another sort.

Thanks to all that helped.

 

[kiwipeso1]

Hi folks.
Late 08 MBP(Yosemite) to new 16 iMac(Sierra)
Trying to manually transfer files with Apple support on screen share didn't work out after hang up.

-I first bought Thunderbolt cable(2m) in the attempt to target disc mode. MacBook only showed "Y" shaped symbol(2 = 1 box with circle in middle). Plus, no disc showed up on iMac.

-Then, we skipped the migration assistant and shot for sharing "Back to My Mac" procedure.
We got that to work until iTunes music folder(near 300 songs), got about 25% transferred***Hung up with Apple care here*** 10mins later, transfer then failed. Which it showed it was estimating 1hr 30mins to finish.

-My question is: does anyone know the compatibility on Thunderbolt between these two on why the target disc mode has that symbol and not the lightning bolt symbol? Or, is there another way I could use the thunderbolt cable in another fashion to help with the unsure Back to my Mac finish?

Thanks, everyone in advance.
PS: Migration assistant was only bypassed at first due to not wanting entire MacBook to transfer to iMac.

Thunderbolt was introduced on the 2011 macs.
You have Mini displayport on the 2008 MBP, which is the same port size, just not the same cable. (MDP is video only.)

I would suggest that you connect ethernet via your router, or if you know what you're doing, direct ethernet to ethernet with the correct settings in network preference panel.