Macs will not connect using Migration Assistant

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Level 1

43 points

Macs will not connect using Migration Assistant

I'm in a quandary. I'm trying to migrate my 2011 Mac to a "new" 2017 machine I just bought. Both machines were updated to the latest OS. I followed the instructions on the Web using Migration Assistant an all went well for about 15 hours when I noticed that the migration was stuck with 4 hours to go. I had used a J45-to-J45 Ethernet connection between the machines.

The new Mac said "none" for connection. I have tried everything. I have disconnected and reconnected the Ethernet connection. I have gone in and edited the setup for Networks to be sure I had the right connection on both machines. I have gone back to wifi on both machines.

Nada. These machines refuse to connect using Migration Assistant no matter what I do. Any suggestions appreciated.

iMac 27" 5K, macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 9, 2019 9:29 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Luis Sequeira1

Level 9

65,150 points

Nov 9, 2019 9:48 AM in response to wizard_chef

Just connecting the two macs with an Ethernet cable without properly configuring them is not going to work. You’d have to manually configure the network.

As macjack said it os much easier to migrate from the Time Machine backup, or from a clone of the old mac drive. Just connect the external drive via usb and run Migration Assistant.

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Answer 2

macjack

Level 10

111,180 points

Nov 9, 2019 9:33 AM in response to wizard_chef

Connect your Time Machine backup disk directly to your new Mac and choose to Migrate from that. It's the fastest and surest method to migrate. Starting migration over will not migrate any previously migrated items that are already on your new Mac.

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Answer 3

wizard_chef Author

Level 1

43 points

Nov 9, 2019 9:58 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Yes, I finally just did that and started the backdown from the Time Machine backup. While Apple has tried to make this process transparent, it is not. And why did I get 10 hours of transfer with the Ethernet cable before it stalled even though I did not tweak the configuration? And, why don't the instructions for using Migration Assistant warn about the extra setup requirements using Ethernet cable? I am still not clear about the repeated messages I am getting to authorize the backdown using the Time Machine backup. It will be interesting to see what I get in 24 hours or so when the backdown is completed.

It would be nice if someone could write a comprehensive document detailing the various ways to transfer data to a different machine, including all the things that can go wrong with each method.

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Macs will not connect using Migration Assistant

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