Time Machine backup + missing Startup Disk

[HDH]

Installed an SSD into my MacMini late 2012 in the upper tray, HDD is in my lower tray. Formatted, partitioned with GUID blah blah blah the SSD the correct way.

I wanted to copy over my time machine backup but couldn't decide how cause I had 7 backups over the past month. I don't think copying over the folder Backups.backupdb with all 7 folders was the correct way. So I just drag/dropped the last backup folder into my SSD, which according to its size made me think everything was in there (roughly around 400GB, which is how much my backup should've been).

I then installed TRIM enabler and everything looked fine. The drive was showing up on my desktop. But when I went into Startup Disk to choose that disk over the HDD, I noticed it wasn't there. Only the HDD was there. I booted with Option key, again, nothing there except my HDD.

Was I supposed to do a clean install of Yosemite then copied over the backup? Or was my mistake in the way I did the time machine backup copy?

 

[Weaselboy]

I'm confused what you are trying to do. Are you wanting to use the TM backup to get everything onto the new SSD?

If that is what you want, option key boot to the TM disk and you will see a recovery screen. From there use Disk Util to format the new SSD to Mac OS Extended (Journaled), then quit Disk Util and click restore. The entire OS and all your apps and data will be put on the new SSD from the TM backup.

 

[HDH]

I'm confused about one thing.

The original disk which I used to have Time Machine backup off of was 500GB, the external HDD I used to copy onto is 1TB. On that disk I see 7 backups over the past month. I'm not sure how there can be that many considering each backup is about 400GB. Are they somehow being compressed to all fit on there? It's confusing.

So when I tried to have TimeMachine copy back onto my new drive, it said it had no space because my new drive is only 512GB.

 

[Weaselboy]

I'm confused about one thing.

The original disk which I used to have Time Machine backup off of was 500GB, the external HDD I used to copy onto is 1TB. On that disk I see 7 backups over the past month. I'm not sure how there can be that many considering each backup is about 400GB. Are they somehow being compressed to all fit on there? It's confusing.

So when I tried to have TimeMachine copy back onto my new drive, it said it had no space because my new drive is only 512GB.

Time Machine uses "hard links" to make it look like each backup set is really the whole drive, when it really is not. That is why it appears like you describe.

http://pondini.org/TM/Works.html

Give this a read.

 

[HDH]

Time Machine uses "hard links" to make it look like each backup set is really the whole drive, when it really is not. That is why it appears like you describe.

http://pondini.org/TM/Works.html

Give this a read.

Thanks man, all is working fine! I've got a bunch of software and plug-ins that have lost their permissions and I gotta register them again. Not sure why that happened.

Out of curiosity, every time I install new software I should disable TRIM Enabler? Or does that only apply to major System upgrades?

 

[Weaselboy]

Thanks man, all is working fine! I've got a bunch of software and plug-ins that have lost their permissions and I gotta register them again. Not sure why that happened.

Out of curiosity, every time I install new software I should disable TRIM Enabler? Or does that only apply to major System upgrades?

In Mavericks and prior it would often get disabled on its own with OS updates, but you did not need to manually disable. But now with Yosemite, yes you want to make sure you disable for every point update, not just the total OS update. The way the kext signing works now with Yosemite, if you do not disable for an update you can find yourself with a system that is not bootable.

Good article here on this.

 

[HDH]

In Mavericks and prior it would often get disabled on its own with OS updates, but you did not need to manually disable. But now with Yosemite, yes you want to make sure you disable for every point update, not just the total OS update.....

Thanks a lot for your help!!