Post Time Machine Restore-Basic Apple apps missing

[radman08]

I replaced a full 1T 7200 apple hd with a OWC SSD 2T and restored from Time Machine from an Apple Air Port time capsule on MBP 13" 2013 - I think (I say I think b/c one of the apps missing is Disk Utilities so 'About this Mac' doesn't work).
It came with Snow Leopard, I believe. It updated to High Sierra which is where it was.

I've now restored 3 times from different Time Machine backup files. I attempted just a reinstall of the OS which it updated to High Sierra. Then I did a restore from Time Machine - all attempts with the same results: Missing Applications - including:

• Disk Utilities
• Notes
• Calendar
• App Store
• Siri
• Activity Monitor
• About this Mac (it flashes when clicked but other than color wheel for a 5 seconds, no other action results)
• That's as far as I've progressed in looking for Apple applications.
• Other applications such as MS Office which I know have to be reinstalled.

I've googled and did a preliminary search on this forum without any definitive results.

I own 6 Mac computers (iMac (3); MBP (2); dating from 2009 to 2017).

This MBP was purchased for my wife but was running so slow it was hard to use. Original 1T HD was close to full so I assumed a larger and an SSD drive would fix the slow problem. RAM is maxed at 16 (I think it's 16) with OWC ram upgraded 2 years ago - which tested fine before changing HD for SSD.
I mention all this as in attempting to send the screen shots below, the color wheel came up and spun a long time when trying to select; to add file; to be able to email them to this iMac I'm on. Frustratingly extended color wheel spinning for certain functions - even after SSD install.

So

1. I'm lost on the MAIN issue with missing Applications...
   1. I attached screenshots of
      1. the FULL list of applications;
      2. all applications showing when selecting Launchpad
      3. inner folder of Mac Utilities from Launchpad
2. And frustrated with the slow functionality with the SSD upgrade.
   1. So there must be something else at work.

Thank you in advance for any direction. The last time I took a MBP out of warranty to both Apple and an authorized dealer, all I got was chastised for non Apple Ram & HD and ultimately no resolution.


[doublepost=1557666896][/doublepost]UPDATE: Posting this brought up a list of similar threads.
One had posted a screenshot that I had forgotten had occurred in this week-long event.

I copied it here as I had a similar looking screen the first time or two I attempted the restore from Time Machine and then it rebooted. It never came up again after that. I added this in case that triggers any other ideas on this problem.

(last attached screenshot is NOT from my MBP but from the other post)

 

[treekram]

If your SSD is 4" x 2.75" and is fully enclosed except for a set of 2 connectors at one end, you have a mid-2012 non-Retina MBP. If your SSD is a card with exposed chips, you have a 2012 Retina MBP or later.

I'm assuming that you used the Recovery restore from Time Machine. Instead (presuming my assumption is correct), I would suggest the following: Wipe the disk clean, re-install High Sierra. When you do that, create the login with the same primary login id that you have on your backups. Do not use the Migration Assistant at this point. My experience has been that the OS installers for the last update of OS version does not come with the later security updates (presuming you were at 10.13.6). So install the latest security updates. Turn the computer completely off, boot, and then run the Migration Assistant using the Time Capsule as a source. Since you will already have a viable macOS and the latest version of the Apple apps, Migration Assistant should not try to overwrite these. When asked, have Migration Assistant replace the existing primary user.

Since you other have Macs, it may be beneficial to download the High Sierra installer, save it some place and create a USB installer to install High Sierra back on the MBP. Better yet, if you have a bootable High Sierra disk, you can copy the installer to that disk and run the installer with the internal SSD as the target. Also, you may want to download the security update for possible future use and install the security update from that instead of installing from the App Store.

What's gone wrong? There are different possibilities but if multiple people are having the same problem, it's likely an Apple issue and that would take somebody some work to figure it out. If you are worried about future problem and want to try to figure this out, I have some suggestions but it will be a time-consuming process and will mean that whatever Mac you use will tied up with the testing until you're done.

 

[radman08]

Thank you treekram for your response.

SSD was a fully enclosed one.
I think 9,2 June 2012 MBP.
I attempted both ways (clean install of OS & Restore) but the last 2 attempts were to restore from Time Machine.
I did NOT use Migration assistant.
I just restored from the opening screen following a Command-R startup. (attached)

Just now:
I erased the drive after rebooting with Command-R. Chose Disk utility and erased the drive.
Back on the Recovery screen, I chose Reinstall OS. It is installing Mountain Lion.
Once completed with M Lion, it rebooted and is installing OS X (High Sierra, I assume).

Not so. It installed M Lion, 10.8.5. I went to App Store and High Sierra is not available. I don't want to run Mojave on this MBP.
I do have an iMac still on High Sierra. Is there a way to get a dmg file from that machine? Or is there another suggestion to get it back to HS before migrating data back ? All the applications are there.

Ok it is updating a series of items (not OS however). I will continue this until it is finished. And it is running NORMAL (fast) like it should. ?

______________________________________________________________________​

While waiting, I was googling how to make a bootable disc. Unfortunately, this iMac is on Mojave. Apple store says, HS not available.

______________________________________________________________________​

What's wrong? if you're referring to the bios looking screen shot, it hasn't returned. But this MBP isn't used much as it is my wife's. I was trying to get it working better so she would use it. So if extended work is needed, it can be offline as long as needed.

______________________________________________________________________​

But I do need help on why this is running so slow. It has been this way for a long time. It is much slower than my 17" MBP which is older than this 13" MBP. I will capture a video once it is running to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with.

 

[treekram]

Thank you treekram for your response.

SSD was a fully enclosed one.
I think 9,2 June 2012 MBP.
I attempted both ways (clean install of OS & Restore) but the last 2 attempts were to restore from Time Machine.
I did NOT use Migration assistant.
I just restored from the opening screen following a Command-R startup. (attached)

Just now:
I erased the drive after rebooting with Command-R. Chose Disk utility and erased the drive.
Back on the Recovery screen, I chose Reinstall OS. It is installing Mountain Lion.
Once completed with M Lion, it rebooted and is installing OS X (High Sierra, I assume).

Not so. It installed M Lion, 10.8.5. I went to App Store and High Sierra is not available. I don't want to run Mojave on this MBP.
I do have an iMac still on High Sierra. Is there a way to get a dmg file from that machine? Or is there another suggestion to get it back to HS before migrating data back ? All the applications are there.

Ok it is updating a series of items (not OS however). I will continue this until it is finished. And it is running NORMAL (fast) like it should. ?

______________________________________________________________________​

While waiting, I was googling how to make a bootable disc. Unfortunately, this iMac is on Mojave. Apple store says, HS not available.

______________________________________________________________________​

What's wrong? if you're referring to the bios looking screen shot, it hasn't returned. But this MBP isn't used much as it is my wife's. I was trying to get it working better so she would use it. So if extended work is needed, it can be offline as long as needed.

______________________________________________________________________​

But I do need help on why this is running so slow. It has been this way for a long time. It is much slower than my 17" MBP which is older than this 13" MBP. I will capture a video once it is running to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with.

For a download of the High Sierra installer:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208969
Look at #4 - you have to have a working AppStore app for this link to work.

For making a USB installer:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

For a download of the latest High Sierra security update:
https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1997?locale=en_US

Hopefully, once your machine is done, you'll either be at Mountain Lion or High Sierra. If you're at Mountain Lion, download the installer. Copy it somewhere as after you run it, it will be erased. If you have a working Mountain Lion install, you can run the High Sierra installer directly from that computer. Or if it does not go well, download the High Sierra installer, create a USB installer and try again. So, the main thing again is to make sure your login ID that you enter matches what you had on the backup. Once you have a working High Sierra, install the security update. And as I mentioned before, shut down the computer, boot up and try the Migration Assistant.

Since the previous methods you tried did not work, and a very specific problem (missing Apple apps) occurred, I think you should try this method since it should not make an attempt to overwrite the existing apps since you'll have the latest version already installed if the High Sierra install and security update works properly.

On most Macs, you won't find an installer of the OS that is being used on that computer. You can try different variations of cloning the computer but that has it's own issues that you would need to resolve since in most cases, it will make an exact replica of what's on the computer which is not what you want.

As far as the slow performance, if it was slow before your current odyssey, it might have been the HDD, especially if it's the original one. If it was slow after you did the Time Machine restore, it was probably because the restore had a problem.

One thing to consider as well - since it appears you do have the mid-2012 non-Retina MBP, there are known issues with the HDD cable as it ages. It is common for the cable to work fine with a HDD but not a SSD. That being said, the issues you mention are not typical of this cable problem. If you continue to have problems installing an OS or running it (before you do Migration Assistant), it could be the cable and at that point you should probably try moving the SSD to an external USB 3 enclosure and try it there and at that point, I would re-do the install with the SSD in the external USB enclosure to see if that works. If that works noticeably better than it did when the SSD was internal to the computer, then there probably is a problem with the HDD cable.

ADDENDUM. If you have a screen similar to the last screenshot you posted which you say somebody else posted - this actually looks like it could be a HDD cable problem.

 

[radman08]

Update:
Made it this far:

• MBP Mid 2102 9,2 has High Sierra installed on it with security updates completed.
• High Sierra dowloaded to external drive for use
• Bootable disc complete

MBP is running like it should and fast.
Cable is ordered.

Attempting Migration Assistant.
Logged into Time Machine (AirPort Time Capsule). Selected May 4 backup. Hit Continue.....

I can't tell it is doing anything.. Continue button is now greyed out....
I will let it alone and report back.

 

[treekram]

Update:
Made it this far:

• MBP Mid 2102 9,2 has High Sierra installed on it with security updates completed.
• High Sierra dowloaded to external drive for use
• Bootable disc complete

MBP is running like it should and fast.
Cable is ordered.

Attempting Migration Assistant.
Logged into Time Machine (AirPort Time Capsule). Selected May 4 backup. Hit Continue.....

I can't tell it is doing anything.. Continue button is now greyed out....
I will let it alone and report back.

Hopefully, things are working. However, if it get's stuck, there are other options:
1) Try connecting the MBP directly to the Time Capsule using an Ethernet cable. If you don't have one, maybe look at the next options before trying this.
2) If the only problem you were having when the old HDD was in the MBP was response time - that is, you had beachballs, things were slow, etc. but you didn't have kernel panics (reboot followed by a message that there was a problem with the computer), mysterious shutdowns, etc., then there's a decent chance that the HDD is OK and you can run Migration Assistant using the HDD - but you'd need an external enclosure for the HDD (you could put it back in the computer but it seems since you've handled the cable multiple times, it might be safer to use another enclosure).
3) You can try to copy the backup on the Time Capsule to an external HDD. There's some information in the following link:
https://www.howtogeek.com/335090/how-to-migrate-a-time-machine-backup-to-another-drive/
The 2nd paragraph in Step 3 talks about copying from the Time Capsule to a local disk. NOTE: Copying a Time Machine backup takes a long time, particularly if you are doing it from a Time Capsule.

Again, hopefully you won't need any of these steps but if you do - yeah, it sucks. It seems people are having more problems with Time Capsule recently.

 

[radman08]

as of this morning, I checked the MBP.
Transferring Your Information screen is still up.
Showing "About 28 minutes remaining at 9 MB/s" with about ¼" of the 3-¼" blue progress line left (~90% done).

But it appears it isn't doing anything. And it should have been done by this time period.
Only option on the screen is 'cancel'. I clicked a lot around to see if anything would wake up. But no change in the time since I started this reply. I'll leave it alone but probably headed for 'cancel'.

One thing different about Migration assistant (first time to use it) vs Time Machine Restore - there was only 1 backup choice available. Whereas Time Machine shows a list of backups to choose from.

IF I have to cancel this migration, I don't yet know what the state of the MBP will be: whether it deletes everything it transferred? or stops where it is? So I don't yet know how far I have to go back to start over once this fails.

Thank you for all your help. I'll continue on my own unless I discover another dead end. Thank you for staying with me.

Comment on Addendum: yes, I re-read that and saw that conclusion. New cable should be here this week.

And many minutes later, the progress bar/time estimate has not changed. I would say it is stuck.

NEW COMMENT: your last post just showed up on refresh of this screen. I had not read it when starting this reply. Thank you !!