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Russell910

Q: Migration assistant doesnt see external hard drive

Mac OS 10.7.5  Intel 2 gHx Core 2 Duo.  Just replaced a crashed hard drive.  Migration assistnat doesnt see external hard drive, although it is on desktop and working fine.  Connected by USB.  I have a backup on the external drive.  Too large to place on internal hard drive.  So frustrating!  I looked at forums online, no help.  Any ideas?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Oct 25, 2012 5:11 AM

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Q: Migration assistant doesnt see external hard drive

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  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Oct 25, 2012 6:20 AM in response to Russell910
    Level 9 (58,461 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 25, 2012 6:20 AM in response to Russell910

    How is the EHD formatted, is it a Time Machine backup or a bootable clone. If it's just a random external EHD then it cannot be used for Migration Assistant.

  • by Russell910,

    Russell910 Russell910 Oct 25, 2012 4:00 PM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 25, 2012 4:00 PM in response to rkaufmann87

    Thanks.  I dont know.  How do I check the answer to that?

     

    It has a full backup on it from time machine among other files. The file is 110 gb. 

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Oct 25, 2012 4:08 PM in response to Russell910
    Level 9 (58,461 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 25, 2012 4:08 PM in response to Russell910

    OK it's  your TM drive so it's formatted correctly, now take your time and tell us exactly what you have done and what you are trying to achieve. I am also assuming your profile is correct and you are using Lion 10.7.5.

  • by Russell910,

    Russell910 Russell910 Oct 25, 2012 5:38 PM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 25, 2012 5:38 PM in response to rkaufmann87

    1.  Definitely 10.7.5

    2.  I'm not convinced it is a TM drive.  It has been used as such, but I am not sure of its current status.  Of note, Time machine is currently using it, but I get the sense that it only uses part of the drive.  The file I want to use is in a seperate directory of the external hard drive than backups.backupdb, where Time machine is currently writing.  The file I want to use is called "Untitled - 2012.01.16-10.17.00.766.FullBackup" and the file type is package.  Of note, Time machine let's me have the option to restore the stuff it has been writing for the last few days.  Migration assistant, however, is not so cooperative.

    3.  I have been opening migration assistant, putting in password, choosing "from a Time machine backup or other disk", and then it shows only "Mac OS" as an option under "select your system". 

     

    Thanks for your interest and help!

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Oct 25, 2012 6:13 PM in response to Russell910
    Level 9 (58,461 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 25, 2012 6:13 PM in response to Russell910

    You don't move TM files off of a TM drive, that's how you totally screw up TM. It's easy to tell if it's connected, simply start TM and it will tell you if the drive is connected or not. That is all you need to do at this time. To learn more about TM I'd seriously recommend you read Time Machine FAQs. Also NEVER EVER EVER use a backup drive of any type for anything but backup. If you do you are simply asking for trouble, if that drive fails (and they ALL) do you will have lost not only your data but it's backup too! Simply foolish thing to do.

     

    You should also have the TM drive connected ALWAYS and using TM so it can backup your system. It should also be checked periodically to ensure it's backing up OK.

  • by Russell910,

    Russell910 Russell910 Oct 25, 2012 6:30 PM in response to Russell910
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 25, 2012 6:30 PM in response to Russell910

    The other thing I would mention is that all I really want is my photo library.  I have obtained everything else.  I have discovered that I can't get my photos back from my Iphone as that is apparently a one-way process.

  • by Russell910,

    Russell910 Russell910 Oct 25, 2012 7:06 PM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 25, 2012 7:06 PM in response to rkaufmann87

    Thanks.  But I still don't understand why migration assistant doesn't see the drive.  My other question is, if I can't use migration assistnat, whether I can re-integrate this 110 gb backup file into time machine and use it in that manner.